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Everton F.C.
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Everton Football Club are a professional English football club located in the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League and has contested more seasons in the top flight of English football than any other. Currently managed by David Moyes, Everton have won the League Championship nine times—the fourth highest of any team. Additionally, they have won the FA Cup five times and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup once. The club's most recent major trophy was the 1995 FA Cup.
Everton were founded in 1878 and have a notable rivalry with Liverpool F.C., known as the Merseyside derby.
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Encyclopedia
Everton Football Club are a professional English football club located in the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League and has contested more seasons in the top flight of English football than any other. Currently managed by David Moyes, Everton have won the League Championship nine times—the fourth highest of any team. Additionally, they have won the FA Cup five times and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup once. The club's most recent major trophy was the 1995 FA Cup.
Everton were founded in 1878 and have a notable rivalry with Liverpool F.C., known as the Merseyside derby. Liverpool were formed fourteen years later than Everton (in 1892) after a dispute over the rent at Anfield, Everton's old ground; since then Everton have been based at Goodison Park as a result of the split. In 2006, it was announced that the club and Knowsley Council were discussing the construction of a new 55,000 seater stadium in Kirkby. The club have a large fanbase and regularly attracts large crowds, averaging over 36,000 (90% of capacity) during the 200506 season.
Numerous well-known footballers have had a career at Everton F.C. Since 2000, the club has annually recognised successful former players as "Giants" of the team. Dixie Dean, who played for the team in the 1920s and 1930s, is the most prolific goal-scorer in English football history, and in 1927-28 set the record for league goals in a single season by scoring 60 times.
History
Everton were founded as St. Domingo in 1878 so that people from the parish of St. Domingo's Methodist Church could play a sport in non-summer months (cricket was played in summer). A year later, the club was renamed Everton F.C. after the surrounding area, as people outside the parish wished to participate. The club was a founding member of the Football League in 1888, and won their first League Championship title in 189091. They won the FA Cup in 190506 and the League title again in 191415, but it was not until 1927 that Everton's first sustained period of success began. In 1925 the club signed Dixie Dean who, in 192728, set the record for league goals in a single season (60 goals in 39 league games, a record that still stands to this day), helping Everton to achieve their third league title.
Everton were relegated to the Second Division two years later but won the title and thus promotion at the first attempt. On their return to the top flight in 193132, Everton wasted no time in reaffirming their status and won a fourth League title at the first opportunity. They also won their second FA Cup in 193233 with a 30 win against Manchester City in the final. The era ended in 193839 with a fifth League title. The advent of World War II saw the suspension of League football, and when official competition restarted in 1946 the Everton team had been split-up and paled in comparison to the pre-war club. Everton were relegated again in 195051 and did not return until 195354, when they finished as runners-up in their third season in the Second Division. The club have been a top flight presence ever since.
Everton's second successful era started when Harry Catterick was made manager in 1961. In 196263, his second season in charge, Everton won the League title and in 1966 followed with a 32 FA Cup win over Sheffield Wednesday. Everton again reached the final two years later, but this time were unable to overcome West Bromwich Albion at Wembley. A year later in 196970, Everton won the First Division, nine points clear of nearest rivals Leeds United. However, the success did not last; the team finished fourteenth, fifteenth, seventeenth and seventh in the following seasons. Catterick retired but his successors failed to win any silverware for the remainder of the 1970s. Though the club mounted title challenges and finished third in 197778 and fourth the following season, manager Gordon Lee resigned in 1981, after Everton slid down the table and fell further behind local rivals Liverpool.
Howard Kendall took over as manager and guided Everton to their most successful era. Domestically, Everton won the FA Cup in 198384 and two league titles in 198485 and 198687. They were also runners-up to neighbouring Liverpool in both league and cup competitions in 198586 and were again on the losing side to Liverpool in the 1984 League Cup final and the 198889 FA Cup final. Everton won their first and only European trophy in 198485, the European Cup Winners' Cup. After first beating , Inter Bratislava and Fortuna Sittard, Everton defeated German giants Bayern Munich 31 in the semi-finals, despite trailing at half time (in a match voted the greatest in Goodison Park history) and recorded the same scoreline over Austrian club Rapid Vienna in the final. Having also won the league title that season, Everton came very close to winning a treble, but lost to Manchester United in the FA Cup final.
After the Heysel Stadium disaster and the subsequent ban of all English clubs from continental football, Everton lost the chance to compete for more European trophies. A large proportion of the title-winning side was broken up following the ban; Kendall himself moved to Athletic Bilbao after the 1987 title triumph and was succeeded by assistant Colin Harvey. Everton were founder members of the Premier League in 1992, but struggled to find the right manager. Howard Kendall had returned in 1990 but could not repeat his previous success, while his successor, Mike Walker, was statistically the least successful Everton manager to date. When former Everton player Joe Royle took over in 1994 the club's form started to improve; his first game in charge was a 20 victory over derby rivals Liverpool. Royle dragged Everton clear of relegation, and also led the club to the FA Cup for the fifth time in its history, defeating Manchester United 10 in the final. The cup triumph was also Everton's passport to the Cup Winners' Cuptheir first European campaign in the post-Heysel era. Progress under Joe Royle continued in 199596 as they climbed to sixth place in the Premiership.
The following season, 199697, was not as successful and the club finished in fifteenth place. Royle quit in March. Club captain, Dave Watson, was given the manager's job temporarily and he helped the club to Premiership survival. Howard Kendall was appointed Everton manager for the third time in 1997, but the appointment proved unsuccessful as Everton finished seventeenth in the Premiership; only avoiding relegation due to their superior goal difference over Bolton Wanderers. Former Rangers manager Walter Smith then took over from Kendall in the summer of 1998 but only managed three successive finishes in the bottom half of the table.
The Everton board finally ran out of patience with Smith and he was sacked in March 2002 with Everton in real danger of relegation. The current manager, David Moyes, was his replacement and delivered Everton to a safe finish in fifteenth place. After that harrowing season, Everton finished seventh, seventeenth, fourth (their highest ever Premiership finish) and eleventh. It was under his management that Wayne Rooney broke into the first team, before being sold to Manchester United for a club record fee of £23 million.
Moyes has broken the club record for highest transfer fee paid on four occasions, signing James Beattie for £6 million in January 2005, Andy Johnson for £8.6 million in summer 2006, Yakubu Aiyegbeni for £11.25 million in summer 2007, and Marouane Fellaini for £15 million in September 2008.
200607 saw Everton finish sixth in the league and attain UEFA Cup qualification. In 2007, Everton completed the takeover of the Toxteth Tigers basketball team, with the rebranding of Liverpool's first ever top-flight basketball franchise, the Everton Tigers. 2007-08 saw Everton once again gain European football with a fifth place league finish, although they were eliminated from the UEFA Cup prior to the group stages by Standard Liege.
Colours
During the first decades of their history, Everton had several different kit colours. The team originally played in blue and white stripes but as new players arriving at the club wore their old team's shirts during matches, confusion soon ensued. It was decided that the shirts would be dyed black, both to save on expenses and to instil a more professional look. The result, however, appeared morbid so a scarlet sash was added.
When the club moved to Goodison Park in 1892, they first played in salmon shirts with blue shorts before switching to ruby shirts with blue trim and dark blue shorts. The famous royal blue jerseys with white shorts were first used in the 190102 season. Occasionally Everton have played in lighter shades of blue (such as 1930–31 and 1997–98) but these have proved unpopular with fans. Everton's traditional away shirt was amber with either amber or royal blue shorts and various editions appeared throughout the 60s, 70s and 80s. Recently however black, white, grey and yellow away shirts have been used.
| Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
|---|
| 19741979 | Umbro | none | | 19791983 | Hafnia | | 19831985 | Le Coq Sportif | Hafnia | | 19851986 | NEC | | 19861995 | Umbro | | 19951997 | Danka | | 19972000 | One 2 One | | 20002002 | Puma | | 20022004 | Keijan | | 2004 | Umbro | Chang |
The kit today remains royal blue shirts, white shorts and white socks although when playing teams away who also wear white shorts Everton typically wear all blue. For the 200809 season, the away kit is a predominantly white shirt with a navy and grey trim across the chest, accompanied with navy shorts and socks. A third kit was issued consisting of luminous yellow shirt and socks with dark blue shorts, which will also be used as an away kit in European games. Everton's goalkeepers will wear a lime green shirt with light grey shorts and socks at home and all black away.
Shirt sponsors and manufacturers
For the 2008–09 season Everton became the first Premier League team to sell junior replica jerseys without the current name or logo of its main sponsor Chang beer, following a recommendation from the Portman Group that alcoholic brand names be removed from kits sold to children.
The club have two megastores, one located near to Goodison Park on Walton Lane and the other at Birkenhead Pyramids shopping centre, and have a partnership deal with sportswear retailers JJB.
Everton's current shirt manufacturers are Umbro, who have designed the club's shirts for the majority of its history. However Everton have reportedly decided not to renew their deal with Umbro when it expires at the end of the 2008-09 season and are rumoured to be entering into a new deal with Le Coq Sportif for the 2009-10 season onwards. Le Coq Sportif already have a notable association with Everton, having previously designed the clubs shirts during the years 1983-86, arguably Everton's most successful era. It is also being reported that Kitbag will replace JJB as distributors.
Crest
At the end of the 193738 season, Everton secretary Theo Kelly, who later became the club's first manager, wanted to design a club necktie. It was agreed that the colour be blue and Kelly was given the task of designing a crest to be featured on the necktie. Kelly worked on it for four months, until deciding on a reproduction of Prince Rupert's Tower, which stands in the heart of the Everton district.
The Tower has been inextricably linked with the Everton area since its construction in 1787. It was originally used as a bridewell to incarcerate criminals, and it still stands today on Everton Brow in Netherfield Road. The beacon was accompanied by two laurel wreaths on either side and, according to the College of Arms in London, Kelly chose to include the laurels as they were the sign of winners in those days. The crest was accompanied by the club motto, "Nil Satis Nisi Optimum", meaning "Nothing but the best is good enough". The ties were first worn by Kelly and the Everton chairman, Mr. E. Green, on the first day of the 193839 season.
The club rarely incorporated a badge of any description on its shirts. An interwoven "EFC" design was adopted between 1922 and 1930 before the club reverted to plain royal blue shirts, until 1973 when bold "EFC" lettering was added. The crest designed by Kelly was first used on the team's shirts in 1980 and has remained there ever since, undergoing gradual change to become the version used today.
Nickname
Everton's most widely recognised nickname is or "The Toffeemen", which came about after Everton had moved to Goodison. There are several explanations for how this name came to be adopted, the most well known being that there was a business near the ground called Mother Noblett's Toffee Shop which advertised and sold sweets, including the Everton Mint, on match days. This also led to the Toffee Lady tradition in which a girl walks around the perimeter of the pitch before the start of a game tossing free Everton Mints into the crowd. Another possible reason is that there was a house called Ye Anciente Everton Toffee House near the Queen's Head hotel in which early club meetings took place. The word "toffee" was also slang referring to Irishmen, of which there was a large population in the city at the turn of the century and who tended to support Everton rather than city rivals Liverpool.
Everton have had many other nicknames over the years. When the black kit was worn Everton were nicknamed "The Black Watch", after the famous army brigade. Since going blue in 1901, Everton have been given the simple nickname "The Blues". Everton's attractive style of play led to Steve Bloomer calling the team "scientific" in 1928, which is thought to have inspired the nickname "The School of Science". While the battling 1995 FA Cup winning side were known as "The Dogs of War". When David Moyes arrived as manager he proclaimed Everton as "The People's Club", which has been adopted as a semi-official club nickname.
Stadium
Everton originally played in the southeast corner of Stanley Park, which is the site for the new Liverpool F.C. stadium, with the first official match taking place in 1879. In 1882, a man named J. Cruitt donated land at Priory Road which became the club's home before they moved to Anfield, which was Everton's home until 1892. At this time, a rent dispute with Anfield's owner, John Holding, led to Everton leaving the ground and to the formation of a new, rival team. The new club, Liverpool, made Anfield their home ground and Everton moved to Goodison Park, which has been their home ground to this day. Ever since those events, a fierce rivalry has existed between Everton and Liverpool, albeit one that is generally perceived as more respectful than many other derbies in English football. This was illustrated by a chain of red and blue scarves that were linked between the gates of both grounds across Stanley Park as a tribute to the Liverpool fans killed in the Hillsborough disaster.
Goodison Park has staged more top-flight football games than any other ground in the United Kingdom and was the only English club ground to host a semi-final at the 1966 FIFA World Cup. It was also the first English ground to have undersoil heating, the first to have two tiers on all sides and the first to have a three-tier stand. Goodison is the only stadium in the world that features a church in its groundsSt Luke the Evangelistat the corner of the Main Stand and the Gwladys Street End.
On matchdays players walk out to the theme tune to Z-Cars, called Johnny Todd, a traditional Liverpool children's song collected in 1890 by Frank Kidson which tells the story of a sailor betrayed by his lover while away at sea.
Everton's reserves play at Halton Stadium in Widnes.
Proposed new stadium
There have been indications since 1996 that Everton will move to a new stadium. The original plan was for a new 60,000-seat stadium to be built, but in 2000, a proposal was submitted to build a 55,000 seat stadium as part of the King's Dock regeneration. This was unsuccessful as Everton failed to generate the £30 million needed for a half stake in the stadium project, and it was dropped in 2003.
Late in 2004, driven by Liverpool Council and the Northwest Development Corporation, the club was in talks with Liverpool regarding sharing that club's proposed new stadium at Stanley Park. Negotiations broke down over ownership of the new facility Liverpool wanted to retain sole ownership of Stanley Park while Everton sought an even share. On 11 January 2005, Liverpool announced that groundsharing was not a possibility, and they continue to plan for their own stadium.
On 16 June 2006, it was announced that Everton had entered into talks with Knowsley Council and Tesco over the possibility of building a new 55,000 seat stadium in Kirkby. The club took the unusual move of giving its supporters a say in the club's future by holding a ballot on whether or not to move to Kirkby. This ballot ended up in a yes vote (59.27% in favour) so negotiations will continue. However, an inquiry into the move to the Kirkby stadium was filed 6 August 2008, possibly delaying the construction by a year or more.
Supporters
Everton have a large fanbase with the ninth highest average attendance in England. The majority of Everton's matchday support comes from the North West of England, primarily Merseyside and Cheshire. Everton also have many fans who travel from North Wales and Ireland. Everton also have many supporters' clubs worldwide, in places such as North America, Singapore, Lebanon, and Thailand. Everton also have a large supporter base in Australia, with midfield player Tim Cahill being Australian. The official supporters club is Evertonia, and there are also several fanzines including When Skies are Grey and Speke from the Harbour, which are sold around Goodison Park on match days.
Everton supporters sing several songs on matchdays but the most common is "It's a grand old team"; it is adopted from the version sung by Celtic supporters, making changes like "we don't care what the red side say"a reference to red-wearing-rivals Liverpool. Also popular is singing the club name "Everton" to the tune of "Here we go". They are generally very welcoming to former players returning to Goodison while playing for new clubs. Notable exceptions include Wayne Rooney, who has become extremely unpopular with fans after he left Everton for Manchester United, having previously been pictured wearing a t-shirt declaring: "Once a Blue always a Blue" and is now roundly booed whenever he returns. Rooney claims Moyes forced him out of the club in his book, however David Moyes has taken legal action denying the claims made. David Moyes won in court and was awarded damages.
Everton's biggest rivalry is with fellow Merseyside team Liverpool, against whom they contest the Merseyside derby. This stems from Liverpool's formation after a dispute with Everton officials and the owners of Anfield (the ground Everton were using at the time). Religious differences have been cited as a division, with Everton usually placed on the Catholic side; however, both teams were founded with Methodist involvement, somewhat undermining the notion of a CatholicProtestant split. The Merseyside derby is usually a sell out fixture and tends to be a scrappy affair; it has had more red cards than any other fixture in Premiership history.
Typically for a club with a large fanbase, Everton have had a number of well-known supporters over the years, including John Parrott, John Hurt, Judi Dench, Jennifer Ellison, Kenny Everett, Derek Hatton, Leonard Rossiter, Freddie Starr, Claire Sweeney, Matt Dawson, Alan Khan, Austin Healey, Rory Buchanan, Roger McGough, Sylvester Stallone, Paul McCartney, Pete Best, and John Lennon.
Players
Everton F.C. has a training ground at Finch Farm which provides facilities for both the first team and the Academy. A number of players have successfully graduated from the Academy to the first team, including Wayne Rooney and Francis Jeffers.
Current squad
- As of 13 February 2009.
Out on loan
Coaching staff
Current management team
| Position | Name |
|---|
| Manager | David Moyes | | Assistant Manager | Steve Round | | Goalkeeping Coach | Chris Woods | | First Team Coach | Jimmy Lumsden | | Reserve Team Manager | Andy Holden | | Coach | Alan Stubbs | | Club Doctor | Ian Irving MBE | | Head of Sports Medicine | Mick Rathbone | | Masseur | Jimmy Comer | | Kit Manager | Jimmy Martin | | Head Strength & Conditioning Coach | Kyle Thorne | | Assistant Fitness Coach | Dave Billows |
Club Officials
Chairman
- Bill Kenwright - Elected to board October 1989; Chairman June 2004–present
Deputy Chairman
- Jon Woods - Elected to the board March 2000
Directors:
- Robert Earl - Elected to the board July 2007
- Sir Philip Carter CBE - Chairman August 1978–1991, November 1998–June 2004. Re-elected to board August 2008
Chief Executive Officer
- Robert Elstone - Appointed in January 2009 following his role of Acting C.E.O.
Life President
- Sir Philip Carter CBE - 2004–present
Vice Life President
Notable former players
Everton Giants
The following players are considered "Giants" for their great contributions to Everton. A panel appointed by the club established the inaugural list in 2000 and a new inductee is announced every season.
As of 9 May 2007.
Greatest ever team
| | | Greatest ever Everton team |
At the start of the 2003–04 season, as part of the club's official celebration of their 125th anniversary, supporters cast votes to determine the greatest ever Everton team.
English Football Hall of Fame members
A number of Everton players have been inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame:
Testimonial players
A number of Everton players have received testimonials, normally for playing 10 or more years for the club.
Football League 100 Legends
The Football League 100 Legends is a list of "100 legendary football players" produced by The Football League in 1998, to celebrate the 100th season of League football.
Dixie Dean
Joe Mercer
Tommy Lawton
Alex Young
Neville Southall
Alan Ball
Gary Lineker
Paul Gascoigne
Notable managers
The following managers have won at least one significant trophy with Everton:
Honours
(Old) First Division:
Champions (9) - 1890–91, 1914–15, 1927–28, 1931–32, 1938–39, 1962–63, 1969–70, 1984–85, 1986–87Runners-up (7) - 1889-90, 1894-95, 1901-02, 1904-05, 1908-09, 1911-12, 1985-86
(Old) Second Division
Champions - 1930–31
FA Cup
Winners (5) - 1906, 1933, 1966, 1984, 1995Runners-up (7) - 1893, 1897, 1907, 1968, 1985, 1986, 1989
Football League Cup
Runners-up (2) - 1977, 1984
Charity Shield
Winners (9) - 1928, 1932, 1963, 1970, 1984, 1985, 1986 (shared), 1987, 1995
European Cup Winners' Cup
Winners - 1985
World Soccer Magazine World Team of the Year
Winners - 1985
Full Members Cup
Runners-up (2) - 1989, 1991
FA Youth Cup
Winners (3) - 1965, 1984, 1998
Records and statistics
Neville Southall holds the record for the most Everton appearances, having played 751 first-team matches between 1981 and 1997. The late centre half and former captain Brian Labone comes second, having played 534 times. The longest serving player is Goalkeeper Ted Sagar who played for 23 years between 1929 and 1953, both sides of the Second World War, making a total of 495 appearances. The club's top goalscorer, with 383 goals in all competitions, is Dixie Dean; the second-highest goalscorer is Graeme Sharp with 159. Dean still holds the English national record of most goals in a season, with 60.
The record attendance for an Everton home match is 78,299 against Liverpool on 18 September 1948. Goodison Park, like all major football grounds since the recommendations of the Taylor Report were implemented, is now an all-seater and only holds just over 40,000, meaning it is unlikely that this attendance record will ever be broken at Goodison.
Everton's record transfer paid was to Standard Liege for Belgian midfielder Maurouane Fellaini for a sum of £15m. Everton bought the player on the deadline day of the 2008 summer transfer window.
Relationships with other clubs
Everton have a link with Republic of Ireland football academy Ballyoulster United based in Celbridge, Canada's Ontario Soccer Association, and the Football Association of Thailand where they have a competition called the Chang-Everton cup which local schoolboys compete for. Everton also host annual friendlies with both and , the latter because of manager David Moyes previous involvements.
The club also own and operate a professional basketball team, by the name of Everton Tigers, who compete in the elite British Basketball League. The team was launched in the summer of 2007 as part of the clubs' Community programme, and play their home games at the Greenbank Sports Academy.
Everton are also establishing links with Chile's Corporaciσn Deportiva Everton de Viρa del Mar who were named after the English club. Other Evertons exist in Colonia Department, Uruguay and in La Plata, Cσrdoba, Santa Fι and Moldes in Argentina.
Sources
External links
Official fan clubs
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