Everton Football Club
Everton FC (full name: Everton Football Club) is an English football club based in the city of Liverpool in the metropolitan county of Merseyside. It was founded in 1878. Everton is one of the most successful English football clubs; played the most seasons in the top flight and won 9 championships.
The home stadium, Goodison Park, has a capacity of 40,569. Everton fans are called "Evertonians". Everton are also known by the nickname "The Toffees", and recently the club adopted the motto "The People's Club", following the arrival of manager David Moyes. Everton has a traditional rivalry (Merseyside derby) with Liverpool FC, whose Anfield stadium is less than a kilometer away.
History
Origin
In 1868, the New Connexion English Methodist congregation decided to build a new chapel in Liverpool. The following year they bought land on Breckfield Road North between St. Domingo Vale and St. Domingo Grove. The land was located near the borough of Everton, which became part of the city of Liverpool in 1835.
A new chapel was opened in 1871 and six years later the Rev. BS Chambers appointed minister. He was responsible for starting the parish youth cricket team. Since cricket could only be played in the summer, they looked for an activity that could be played in other seasons as well. Therefore, in 1878, the football club St. Domingo FC
Many people from outside the parish wanted to join the club, so it was decided to change the name. In November 1879, at a meeting at the Queen's Head Hotel, the name was generalized to Everton Football Club.
In 1884, Everton started playing at Anfield Stadium and in the 1890/1891 season they won the English First League (then called "First Division") for the first time. In 1892, however, the club did not agree with its owner and moved to the opposite side of Stanley Park, to the new Goodison Park stadium. A new club, Liverpool FC, was founded at Anfield, which became Everton's traditional rival in the future.
1930s: The Dixie Years
"Dixie" Dean was perhaps the best shot England ever had. While playing for Tranmere Rovers (averaging a goal per game), he was lured across the Mersey River to play for Everton. In his first season (1925–26) he scored 32 goals in 38 games (including two goals in the first game). A year later, 21 goals in 27 games, and the next season (1927–28) in his peak form, he scored 60 times in 39 games, setting a league record that has not yet been broken.
Nevertheless, just two years later, Everton were relegated to the second division. But when Dean started to thrive again, he hit 39 goals in 37 games and pulled the Toffees back into League One.
The following season, Dean scored 45 goals and Everton won the title again. In 1933 they won the FA Cup and Dean became the first 'number 9' in the final against Manchester City. The 'Number 9' became synonymous with quality, scoring goalscorers, which Dean embodied.
The origin of the nickname 'Dixie' is unclear, but it is believed that Dean earned it due to his hairstyle, which was similar to the hair of the African ethnic group, who were then nicknamed 'dixies'. He played his last game for Everton on 11 December 1937. He scored 383 goals in 433 games throughout his career. Died at the Merseyside Derby in 1980 (March 1).
In the 1938-39 season, Everton with Joe Mercer, TG Jones and Tommy Lawton won the English league for the fifth time. Lawton, who was only 19 years old, scored 34 goals. However, the Second World War interrupted for six years the career of a team that could dominate for several years.
The 1940s and 1950s: The Bad Years
Although the 1990s are considered a bad time, this decade was even worse. The great pre-war team fell apart after the war. Tommy Lawton was disaffected and moved to Chelsea, Joe Mercer fell out with manager Theo Kelly and was sold to Arsenal, and TG Jones was also considered for sale to AS Roma. Moreover, Ted Sagar quit his active career soon after.
Under the new management of Cliff Britton, Everton were relegated (for the second and last time) to the Second Division. This time it took three seasons for the Toffees to bounce back in 1954.
Even so, some great players such as Dave Hickson and Bobby Collins played for Everton at this time. In 1956, Everton won 5–2 at Old Trafford, ending Manchester United's long unbeaten run.
1960s: The Return of the School of Science
The 1960s are considered by many fans to be the golden era of Everton football. After the unsuccessful 1950s, Harry Catterick took over the club in 1961. The team began to be referred to as the "School of Science", due to a return to the traditional style of play practiced by the Toffees in the 1920s (a creative and imaginative style, very similar to Tottenham's play), which earned the team this nickname. In Catterick's first season under management, the team conceded the fewest goals in the league and finished fourth.
The following season, Everton lost just six games and won the league title. The attacking duo of Roy Vernon and Alex Young scored a combined 46 goals (it was the last time two Everton players scored more than 20 times in a season). The team then consisted of players such as Billy Bingham, Jimmy Gabriel, Derek Temple, Bobby Collins and Brian Labone.
In 1966, when England won the World Cup, the Toffees won the FA Cup (overturning a 0-2 deficit against Sheffield Wednesday in the final). In 1968, Everton again reached the final, but lost to West Bromwich Albion FC.
A year later (in the 1969/70 season) the team won the league again thanks to the goalscoring ability of Joe Royle (who later led the club to the FA Cup in 1995). The team played all-out football and were managed by the 'holy trinity' of Howard Kendall, Alan Ball and Colin Harvey. With captain Labon in midfield and Royle in attack, the line-up was considered the strongest in the club's history.
1970s: A few successes but no trophies
Everton's dominance looked set to continue, but the team finished 14th, 15th, 17th and 7th in the following years. Manager Harry Catterick's health deteriorated (perhaps due to a poor team) and resigned in 1974. Billy Bingham took over the team and for a long time it looked like the Toffees would win the league again, but a few surprising losses against weak teams took Everton to finish fourth. Bingham left after two more relatively poor seasons (11th and 9th) in 1977. During the managerless period, the team reached the League Cup final but failed (losing to Aston Villa). In the 1977/78 season, Bob Latchford scored 30 goals.
Under Gordon Lee, Everton finished third (1977/78) and fourth (1978/79), but these results did not live up to expectations, which were high due to Liverpool's success at the time, and Lee left in 1981.
1980s: The Golden Era
In the 1980s Everton were one of the best football teams in Europe thanks to Howard Kendall and a stunning squad that included the likes of Neville Southall, Gary Stevens, Trevor Steven, Kevin Sheedy, Andy Gray and Peter Reid. Gary Lineker managed to score 40 goals in 42 games in the 1985/86 season. He then transferred to Barcelona.
At home, Everton won the FA Cup in 1984 and the league in 1985 and 1987. Lost the League Cup final in 1984. In 1986, they finished second in the league and lost the FA Cup final. And again lost the FA Cup final in 1989. In all cases, city rivals Liverpool FC rejoiced.
Everton achieved significant European success in 1985 when they won the Cup Winners' Cup (PVP). On their way to success, they defeated University College Dublin, Inter Bratislava, Fortuna Sittard, Bayern Munich and destroyed the Austrian club Rapid Vienna 3-1 in the final.
In 1985, Everton almost achieved the treble but lost to Manchester United in the FA Cup final. However, it was still probably the most successful season in the club's history.
After success in the Cup Winners' Cup, Everton were expected to achieve further major European success. Because of the fans of the second Liverpool club, all English teams were punished by a ban from starting in European cups (due to the incident in the PMEZ final at the Heysel stadium in Brussels). Everton were no longer the strong club they had been in 1985 after the ban.
Kendall left in 1987 and the club was managed by Colin Harvey.
1990s: Lots of setbacks
The 1990s was probably the most depressing decade in the club's history. In 1990 the club started under the management of Colin Harvey. Everton did not fare well and in November Harvey was replaced by Howard Kendall. The club was still not doing well and Kendall was sacked in 1993. Manager Mike Walker came from Norwich City. And after less than a year, he was dismissed. By this time, only Neville Southall and Dave Watson remained from the great team of the 1980s. Everton narrowly escaped relegation in the 1993/94 season.
For a while it looked like new manager Joe Royle would be a success. In his first game in charge, the Toffees memorably beat Liverpool 2-0 in the Merseyside derby. And in 1995, he led Everton to win the FA Cup (1-0 win over Manchester United in the final). But after a sixth-place finish in the league (1995/96) and a promising start the following season, a slump came and Everton again underperformed. Royle left in 1997 and Howard Kendall was appointed as manager for the third and final time. Kendall lasted only a year in the position, the Toffees saved themselves only in the last game of the season.
The arrival of Walter Smiths brought monotonous football and ... again failures. Smith, who won the Scottish league 7 times in a row with Glasgow Rangers, was not successful in England. The club was plagued by a poor financial situation and frequent injuries to key players. Although Smith brought in a lot of good players, such as Slaven Bilic, Marco Materazzi or Don Hutchinson, he was unable to build a functioning team and many of the players he brought in left without showing their potential. In the late 1990s, Everton were the club that pundits and football fans alike tipped as a relegation candidate every year.
New Millennium
Walter Smith was sacked in March 2002 after four traumatic seasons in which he failed to take the club to a better than 13th place.
David Moyes took his place and Everton began to move forward. He surprised everyone when, in the 2002/03 season, he led the club to 7th place overall and just missed out on the places ensuring participation in the 'European Cup'. This year also saw the emergence of a new star; only 17-year-old Wayne Rooney, who in October 2002 sensationally shot down Arsenal (almost a year undefeated) with his last-minute goal. He also became England's youngest ever international when he played against Australia in February 2003.
But the following season was again very poor, with Everton finishing just one place above the relegation zone and taking the fewest points in a season (39) in the club's history. In August 2004, Wayne Rooney was sold to Manchester United for 27 million pounds.
Despite having only a minimal playing squad, the club finished a sensational 4th in the league in the 2004/05 season, their best finish in nearly 20 years, and the Toffees finished higher than rivals Liverpool FC. This success was mainly due to Moyes' tactics with five midfielders, as well as the great performances of Danish midfielder Thomas Gravesen, who left for Real Madrid during the season.
Season 2005/2006
During the summer break, the club bought a number of new players - Simon Davies from Tottenham, Mikel Arteta from Real Sociedad, Danish stopper Per Kroldrup from Udinese Calcio, Phil Neville came from Manchester United, Nuno Valente was bought from Porto and Andy van from Inter Milan der Meyde. Everton also signed Matteo Ferrari, who arrived from AS Roma on a one-year loan.
At the very beginning of the season, the club failed to reach the Champions League, losing twice 1-2 to eventual semi-finalist Villarreal. The team did not do well even in the domestic competition, Everton was in the last place of the table for a long time and was still in the relegation position on December 28. But then came a significant improvement (7 games without a loss) and the Toffees ended up in 11th place overall. In the last match against West Bromwich Albion FC, Everton heartthrob 'Big Dunc' Ferguson, whose contract expired at the end of the season, said goodbye with a goal. In the Premier League, Everton achieved a record of 14-8-16, i.e. 50 points, at a score of 34-49. James Beattie was the top scorer with 11 goals (10 in the league + 1 in the cups).