Everton – Unreliable History, Club Records & Information

Coming out of St. Domingo’s Sunday School one day, a group of students decided to have a game of football in Stanley Park.  They enjoyed the experience so much that decided to play regularly and did so, practicing religiously.  After a year, they decided to change their name to Everton and wearing the kit dyed black with a red sash across it, they became known as the Black Watch.  This was primarily because they were thought to be practicing Satanism and locals were spying on them to make sure that no celebratory masses took place in their area.

The club established themselves amongst the elite and also as a moneyed club, in 1893 signing Jack Southworth from Blackburn Rovers for £400.  However, an argument over the rent meant that the move to Goodison from Anfield (where they shared the ground) took place in 1892 and to open the stadium there were fireworks, a concert and an athletics meeting !! The site they moved onto had been neglected and had turned into a “howling desert”, which needed a lot of clearing up to turn into the major football ground of the day.  However, the Christian attitude of the club carried through as they once delayed a game so that the Harvest festival in a nearby church could go ahead unhindered by spectators going to the match and on another occasion, the Goodison Park ground hosted a prayer meeting for those souls who had been lost to Anfield.  Indeed to keep the religious theme they even had a church built into the corner of the ground.  At one stage the club installed £70,000 worth of under-soil heating, but they only found after it had been put in that it was unsuitable and the money was wasted.

Everton had already won the First Division before the move and in the next 40 years, they won it four times (one in 1915 when they recorded the lowest points total of 46) and finished second on another four occasions.  They also won the FA Cup twice and reached the final another twice, with the 1933 win against Manchester City being the first time players were numbered … from 1 to 22.  In 1931, five forwards scored in a match at Charlton Athletic in a 7-0 win in just 18 minutes.  The strike rate was not always that prolific though.  The majority of their history has been spent in the First Division and Premiership, but they have dipped down a couple of times for a change.  After the Thirties, they suffered a period of calm until the Sixties when Liverpool really came alive.

A FA Cup and a Championship preceded the Seventies team with Alan Ball, Sandy Brown, Joe Royle and Brian Labone took the side to the top of the tree again.  In fact, the trio of Colin Harvey, Alan Ball and Howard Kendall became known as the Holy Trinty, a logical nod to their theological past. That side managed by Harry Catterick went on to do nothing else.  It was really in the late Eighties that the Howard Kendall era kicked in. Two FA Cup finals (one successful), one League Cup final and two titles  and a runners-up place were consolidated by a European Cup Winners Cup victory in 1985.  Not to forget losing finals in the League Super Cup, Zenith Data Systems Cup and the Simod Cup in the following few years, but these could not compensate for the ban from Europe, just when it looked like Everton might take Liverpool’s mantle. 

In more recent times, there have been struggles against relegation and despite their Toffee nickname has seen them nearly come unstuck. The doldrums have resulted in a massive turnover of players and disruption behind the scenes with financial shenanigans keeping them from finding stability.  The highly successful Walter Smith has been brought in from Glasgow Rangers to try and recreate the good times at the club, but unfortunately for him, there are more than two good teams in the Premier League.

He left under a cloud and up and coming manager David Moyes was installed as manager, but again his ability was undermined by board-room battles and financial fiddling.  This came to a head when Wayne Rooney became a pawn in the game of chess that left the fans as the ones being taken by the kings who are in positions of power, but only leave the club wondering where they will end up.

The devotion of players and staff to the club is shown by the fact that both Catterick and record goal scorer Dixie Dean both died watching the team at Goodison.  They would have been proud of the 2004-05 team, who finished in a Champions League placing in the Premier League, but failed to recapture their previous European glory by going out in the qualifying rounds. 

Blighted by bad starts, the Everton charabanc rolls on with Moyes doing well with what he is given, but not being able to be given the chance elsewhere to see what he could achieve.  This is lucky for Everton, but with sales of young players a regular occurrence, like the search for a new ground, it is a case of constant rebuilding. 

In 2013, the rebuilding had to be done in the manager’s office, with Moyes anointed as the successor at Old Trafford and Everton moved to secure Roberto Martinez as the new boss. A cool character, the Spaniard settled into the position well and took the team into the top six with some neat football, but failure to maintain that status saw them go Dutch with Ronald Koeman as the big cheese, but having left a bad smell around Goodison, they turned to Sam Alladyce to take them to a brighter future.  Then to Marco Silva, then Carlo Ancelotti …

FAMOUS PLAYERS : –  Sam Chedgzoy, Alan Ball, William “Dixie” Dean, Neville Southall, Joe Royle, Paul “The Devil” Rideout, Geoff Nulty, Peter Slack, Martin Dobson, Alex “Sandy” Brown, Peter Reid, Garry Batt, Frank Northaw.

FAMOUS FANS : – Derek Hatton (Politician/Radio presenter), Simon O’Brien (TV presenter/actor), Freddie Starr (Comedian), Steve Smith (GB Olympic high jumper), Ed Stewart – (Radio presenter), John Parrott (Snooker player), Bill Kenwright  (Theatre impresario), Michael Owen (Footballer – Liverpool); Ed “Stewpot” Stewart (1970s DJ), Wayne Rooney (Footballer – Manchester United), Sylvester Stallone (Actor – “Rambo”, “Escape To Victory”).