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'''Everton Football Club''' are an [[England|English]] [[Football (soccer)|football]] club from the city of [[Liverpool]], founded in [[1878]]. The club has a passionate fanbase who refer to Everton as "the peoples' club" of Liverpool. They are one of the most successful clubs in English football, having played more seasons and won more points in the top division than any other team.
'''Everton Football Club''' are an [[England|English]] [[Football (soccer)|football]] club from the city of [[Liverpool]], founded in [[1878]]. The club has a passionate fanbase who refer to Everton as "the peoples' club" of Liverpool.
They are one of the most successful clubs in English football, having played more seasons and won more points in the top division than any other team. They are also in the top 20 richest clubs in the world, having generated £60m of revenue in 2004-05 (18th).


Their home ground, known as [[Goodison Park]], has a capacity of 40,260. Their fans are known as Evertonians and the club's nickname is the Toffees.
Their home ground, known as [[Goodison Park]], has a capacity of 40,260. Their fans are known as Evertonians and the club's nickname is the Toffees.

Revision as of 21:42, 20 April 2006

Everton
Everton's crest
Full nameEverton Football Club
Nickname(s)The Toffees, The Blues
Founded1878
GroundGoodison Park, Liverpool
Capacity40,260
ChairmanEnglish Bill Kenwright
ManagerScottish David Moyes
LeagueFA Premier League
2004-05Premier League, 4th

Everton Football Club are an English football club from the city of Liverpool, founded in 1878. The club has a passionate fanbase who refer to Everton as "the peoples' club" of Liverpool.

They are one of the most successful clubs in English football, having played more seasons and won more points in the top division than any other team. They are also in the top 20 richest clubs in the world, having generated £60m of revenue in 2004-05 (18th).

Their home ground, known as Goodison Park, has a capacity of 40,260. Their fans are known as Evertonians and the club's nickname is the Toffees.

History

Origins

The club's roots lie in an English Methodist congregation called New Connexion founded by Liam Jones in 1865, who decided to build a new chapel in the Liverpool area in 1868. The following year, the church bought some land on Breckfield Road North, between St. Domingo Vale and St. Domingo Grove. This was located near the district of Everton, which had become part of the City of Liverpool in 1835.

St. Domingo Methodist Church's new chapel was opened in 1871 and six years later, Rev B.S. Chambers was appointed Minister. He was responsible for starting a cricket team for the youngsters in the parish. Because cricket can only be played in the summer, they had to find something to play during the other seasons as well. So a football club called St. Domingo F.C. was formed in 1878.

Many people outside the parish were interested in joining the football club so it was decided that the name should be changed. In November 1879 at a meeting in the Queen's Head Hotel, the team name was changed to Everton Football Club, after the surrounding district.

Founder members of the Football League, they lost two FA Cup finals, 1-0 against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Fallowfield on March 26, 1893 and 3-2 against Aston Villa at Crystal Palace on April 10, 1897 before winning at their third attempt on April 20, 1906 again against Newcastle United at Crystal Palace. Their second sucessive final on April 20, 1907, however, finished in a 2-1 deafeat by Sheffield Wednesday.

The 1930s: The Dixie Years

Quite simply, "Dixie" Dean was the greatest scoring machine that the English game has seen, or ever is, likely to see. After averaging a goal a game for Tranmere Rovers, prolific striker Dean was lured across the River Mersey to play for Everton. In his first season for the Toffees, the 1925-26 season, Dean netted 32 league goals in 38 games (getting his first two on his debut), scored 21 in 27 the next year, and made history in 1927-28: in a seasonal performance that is unlikely to ever be bettered, Dean hit 60 league goals in 39 matches, setting a record that has stood ever since and almost single-handedly gifting Everton the league title.

In a turn of events that seems unbelievable today, Everton were relegated into the second division two years later. Predictably, Dean was on top form in the secondary league, hitting 39 goals in 37 games and lifting the Toffees to promotion at the first time of asking.

The following season, Dean hit 45 goals and Everton regained the league title. In 1933, they won the FA Cup, Dean becoming Everton's first ever number 9 in the 3-0 final win against Manchester City. The number 9 would become synonymous with commanding and high-scoring strikers at domestic and international level football, something Dean embodied.

The nickname "Dixie" has ambiguous origins, but it is thought that it was given to Dean because his curly hairstyle was similar to that sported by many people of African ethnicity, popularly nicknamed "dixies" at the time. Dean is said to have disliked but reluctantly accepted the tag. He played his last match for Everton on 11 December 1937 and fittingly died at a Merseyside derby at Goodison in 1980, leaving behind a legacy of 383 goals in 433 matches overall.

In the 1938-39 season Everton with Joe Mercer, the classy T.G. Jones and Tommy Lawton won the Football League Championship again. Lawton scored 34 goals in this season at the age of 19. Sadly the outbreak of World War II interrupted the careers of this team for six years which otherwise might have dominated for several years.

The 1940s and 1950s: The barren years

Although the nineties have been regarded as a poor decade, this era was worse. The great pre-war team were quickly split up in 1946. Tommy Lawton was restless and joined Chelsea, Joe Mercer disagreed with the manager Theo Kelly and was sold to Arsenal, and they tried to sell T.G. Jones to A.S. Roma. Soon only Ted Sagar was left.

Under the management of the uninspired and under-financed Cliff Britton, Everton were relegated after the 1950-51 season for only the second time in their history to the Second Division. This time it took three seasons before Everton were promoted in 1954 as the runners-up. The final match of the season decided promotion when the Everton beat Oldham away 4-0.

The era nevertheless had some notable players such as Dave Hickson and Bobby Collins. Memorable matches included ending Manchester United's long unbeaten run at Old Trafford with a 5-2 win in 1956.

The 1960s: The "School of Science" again

The 1960s is regarded by many fans as the golden era of Everton Football Club. After the barren period of the 1950s, Harry Catterick took charge of the Everton in 1961. The team were soon to be dubbed the "School of Science" after their methodical approach in the tradition of the Everton team in the 1920s- one of inventive, flowing football similar to Tottenham's "Push and Run" style, who were first given this name. In Catterick's first full season as manager Everton conceded fewer goals than any other team and finished fourth.

The following season, the Toffees lost just six of their 42 matches and took the title, with the striking partnership of Roy Vernon and Alex Young scoring 46 goals between them (the last time two Everton players have scored more than 20 goals each in one season). Other notable players included Billy Bingham, Jimmy Gabriel, Derek Temple, Bobby Collins and Brian Labone.

In 1966, the same year the English international team won the World Cup, Everton took home the FA Cup after overturning a two-goal deficit against Sheffield Wednesday in the final to win 3-2. Everton went on to reach the 1968 final, but were unable to overcome West Bromwich Albion at Wembley.

A year later in the 1969/70 season, Everton won the Championship again thanks in part to the scoring sensation of one Joe Royle, who would later manage the club to FA Cup success in 1995. The success of the team could be seen from the number of points won (one short of the record) and nine clear of Leeds United. The team won the league in style, playing what was virtually a form of Total Football orchestrated by the "Holy Trinity" midfield of Howard Kendall, Alan Ball and Colin Harvey. With Labone at centre-half and club captain and Royle up front, this is regarded by many fans as the club's finest side ever.

The 1970s: A few highs but no trophies

Harry Catterick's team of 1969/70 seemed destined for greatness but declined quickly. The team finished 14th, 15th, 17th and 7th in the following seasons. The stress of an under-performing team was said to be a factor in Harry Catterick's poor health and eventual resignation in 1974. Everton were on course to win the Championship in the 1974/75 season under Billy Bingham (some bookmakers had even stopped taking bets at Easter) but some surprising losses to lowly opposition ended the challenge and they finished 4th. After two relatively poor seasons (11th and 9th), Bingham left in 1977. During the interregnum, Everton reached the League Cup final in 1977 losing late in extra time of the second replay. Bob Latchford scored 30 league goals in the 1977-78 season.

Under Gordon Lee Everton finished third in 1977/78 and fourth in 1978/79 after looking title contenders for much of these seasons, but expectations were high given the success of Liverpool and so Lee departed in 1981.

The 1980s: A Golden Era

Everton were strong contenders in the 1980s as one of Europe's top footballing sides thanks to the efforts of manager Howard Kendall and his impressive, though cheap, playing squad which included the likes of Neville Southall, Gary Stevens, Trevor Steven, Kevin Sheedy, Andy Gray and Peter Reid. Gary Lineker also graced Goodison for a season and hit 40 goals in all before moving on to Barcelona in 1986.

Domestically, Everton won the FA Cup in 1984 and league title in 1985 and another league title in 1987. They were also league title/FA Cup runners-up to neighbouring Liverpool in 1986 and were again on the losing side to Liverpool in the 1984 League Cup final and the 1989 FA Cup final.

Significantly, European success at last reached Goodison in 1985 in the shape of the European Cup Winners' Cup. After going through two-legged rounds against University College Dublin, Inter Bratislava and Fortuna Sittard, Everton defeated German giants Bayern Munich 3-1 in the semi-finals despite trailing at half time (in a match voted the greatest in Goodison Park history) and recorded the same scoreline against Austrian club Rapid Vienna in the final.

1985 was the year in which Everton almost recorded the "treble". They managed to capture the league title and the Cup Winners' Cup but were defeated by Manchester United in the FA Cup Final thanks to Norman Whiteside's extra-time goal. Nevertheless, it was arguably the club's most successful season since its creation and has not been equalled by future Everton teams since.

Fans contend that the 1980s Everton team would have gone on to win even more European silverware after their 1985 Cup Winners' Cup success were it not for the banning of all English clubs from continental competitions by UEFA after the Heysel Stadium disaster (involving, in dark irony, Liverpool fans). Indeed, a large proportion of the title winning side was broken up following the ban. By the time the ban was lifted, Everton were no longer the team they were in 1985.

Kendall left in 1987 to hand over the reins to assistant Colin Harvey.

The 1990s: Few Highs and Many Lows

The 1990s was perhaps the most depressing decade in the history of Everton football club. The club started 1990 under the stewardship of Colin Harvey. Harvey failed to make an impact and by November he had made way for the returning Howard Kendall. Unfortunately for Everton, the return of the great manager made little difference to the club's playing fortunes and in 1993 Kendall left the club for a second time. In an attempt to turn around flagging fortunes, Everton brought in the services of the Norwich City manager Mike Walker. Walker arrived in controversial circumstances: Norwich accused Everton of approaching him illegally and Everton were fined by the FA. Despite Everton's zeal in attracting him to the club, however, Walker was shown the exit after less than one year in charge. By now, the great squad of the 1980's had been substantially eroded - only Neville Southall and Dave Watson remained - and the bulk of Everton's squad was now made up of ungainly journeyman players such as Brett Angell and Matt Jackson. In 1993-94, Everton again narrowly avoided relegation - and in dramatic style - with a 3-2 victory against Wimbledon, recovering from a 2-0 deficit, a match that is widely reguarded as, despite the cup finals and semifinals, as the greatest ever Everton match. At the end the supporters converged onto the pitch in a display of relief and joy at Everton's survival. Things were looking up.

For a while it looked like new manager Joe Royle was in the process of re-establishing Everton as a footballing force. Indeed his impact was immediate: in his first game in charge his bottom-of-the-league side pulled off a memorable 2-0 victory over Liverpool. Royle guided Everton to their only silverware of the 90s: in 1995 Everton conceded only one goal en route to winning the FA Cup for the fifth time, defeating Manchester United 1-0 in the final. Paul Rideout scored the winner with a header in the first half. But after finishing 6th in the 1995/96 premiership and a promising first half of 1996/97, Everton's sub-standard league form returned. In 1997 Royle left to make way for the third and final spell of Howard Kendall, which lasted for only one season in which Everton, in what was becoming a depressingly regular pattern, avoided relegation on the final day of the season. A 1-1 draw with lowly Coventry at Goodison Park was greeted by a pitch invasion; a sad reflection of the seemingly interminable decline of a once-great club.

The arrival of Walter Smith as manager brought more drab football and prolific underachievement. Smith, who had won seven successive Scottish titles with Glasgow Rangers, found success south of the border somewhat harder to come by. Although widely criticised by the Everton faithful for a lack of inspiration, Smith was severely hampered by financial constraints and by frequent injuries to key players. Smith brought a number of good players to the club, such as John Collins, Marco Materazzi and Kevin Campbell, but Smith was unable to foster a team spirit and many of his signings left the club without having realised their potential. The 90s ended with Everton as perennial relegation candidates and even the most optimistic supporters wondering whether the good times would ever return.

The New Millennium: Moving Forward?

Smith was dismissed in March 2002 after four unsuccessful seasons as manager, which had seen a side full of highly paid and under performing players fail to finish any higher than 13th place in the Premiership.

Since then, promising new manager David Moyes has started to move the club forward. They surprised all the observers in 2002-03 by finishing seventh in the Premiership and narrowly missing out on a UEFA Cup place, in a season which was dominated by the emergence of brilliant 17-year-old striker Wayne Rooney. In October 2002, he entered football folklore by scoring a sensational last-minute winner against league champions Arsenal, consigning them to their first league defeat for almost a year. He also became the youngest ever player to play for England, in a friendly against Australia, in February 2003. Seven months later, he became the youngest to score for England, in a Euro 2004 qualifier against Macedonia.

Everton suffered a setback in 2003-04, avoiding relegation by just one place (although this time their safety was confirmed with several games of the season left), and accumulating the lowest season points total in the club's history. It was feared that the club's half-century stay in the top level of English football could be over when Rooney was sold to Manchester United in August 2004 for a fee which could eventually rise to £27million (depending on whether payments triggered by Rooney winning silverware with his new team occur).

However, Everton's now-diminutive squad pulled together in the 2004-05 season, thanks greatly to the five-in-the-midfield tactic of Moyes and the galvanising presence of Danish midfielder Thomas Gravesen. Despite Gravesen's sale to Real Madrid midway through the season, Everton managed to finish fourth in the table, their highest position for nearly twenty years, and achieve Champions League qualification, ahead of rivals Liverpool. In this amazing season, Everton also recorded their first victory of the new millennium over Liverpool and their first win over Manchester United since the 1995 FA Cup final.

Everton in Europe / Season 2005-06

Everton started the 2005-06 season badly, with their Champions League campaign ending in the qualifying stages. They were defeated 4-2 on aggregate by Spanish side Villarreal, after a controversial decision (yet again), by Italian referee Pierluigi Collina to disallow an apparently legitimate Everton goal late in the second leg when the score was at 3-2.

With the new challenge of the European football to add to the Premiership demands on his limited resources, Moyes tried to strengthen the squad in the summer of 2005. Simon Davies, a right-sided midfielder, was signed from Tottenham, Mikel Arteta (midfield) transferred from Real Sociedad following his successful loan spell, Danish international centre-back Per Krøldrup arrived from Udinese, longtime Man United defender/midfielder Philip Neville was signed, and Portuguese international Nuno Valente arrived at Goodison for an undisclosed fee from Porto, as did Italian centre-back Matteo Ferrari on a year-long loan from A.S. Roma with a view to a £3.7m deal in the summer of 2006. Inter Milan's Dutch international winger Andy van der Meyde also arrived for an undisclosed fee on transfer deadline day.

When the transfer window shut, Moyes was thought to have built Everton's best squad in years, troubled only by failure to improve in the attacking department. However, the 2005-06 league season began disastrously, with Everton at the bottom of the table at the end of September.

On 23rd October 2005, Everton stopped Chelsea's nine match winning run with a 1-1 draw in a 'top v bottom clash' and with decisive 1-0 victories over Birmingham City and Middlesbrough F.C. to follow close after, 80's Everton veteran Andy Gray tipped the Toffees to bounce back despite a lacklustre start to the season.

After a shocking 4-0 reverse at West Brom on 19th November 2005, Everton bounced back to beat Newcastle United 1-0 on 27th November 2005 after Joseph Yobo scored the winning goal. This gave Everton their 4th 1-0 win of the season, and with a 2-0 win over Blackburn Rovers on 3rd December 2005, and a creditable 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday 11'th of December, looked to be the definite turning point of Everton's season. However, after successive home reverses against West Ham United and Bolton Wanderers (1-2 and 0-4 respectively), a 4-0 boxing day defeat at Aston Villa and a 1-3 derby reverse against neighbours Liverpool, Everton sank to 17th place, A poor game at Sunderland on New Year's Eve was won 1-0, with Tim Cahill heading the winner off a corner in stoppage time and went on to register four straight Premiership wins (five out of six), one notable win against Arsenal 1-0. The result of their best unbeaten run since October 1998 was a massive haul away from the relegation zone, and the potential for a top half finish.

The 2006 FA Cup campaign came to an end when Everton lost a 4th round replay against Chelsea 4-1 at Stamford Bridge. Mikel Arteta got the Toffees' only goal with a penalty after Robert Huth handled the ball inside the area.

In the January transfer window, Per Krøldrup was offloaded to Serie A side Fiorentina amid rumours that he "couldn't head", with Moyes recruiting Everton old-boy Alan Stubbs on a free transfer from bottom of the league Sunderland. Stubbs had left Everton in the summer, claiming that the Blues were insisting on a 'cancer clause' in his contract, in light of previously suffering - but recovering - from testicular cancer. On re-signing, Stubbs apologised for his tabloid outburst, saying that there had been misunderstanding on both parties' behalves.

Everton seem to have finally achieved safety after such a dismal start, and are looking for a UEFA cup place. A sound display against a flying Blackburn side earned them a 1-0 win despite being down to ten men for 80 minutes of the match, following the sending off of young goalkeeper Iain Turner 9 minutes into his league and home debut for handling outside the box. The result was another debut for a young goalkeeper, 4th choice John Ruddy, who kept a clean sheet, whilst at the other end James Beattie headed in his 10th goal of the season from a Mikel Arteta free kick. Although they went down 0-2 at Newcastle United, and managed only a 2-2 draw at West Ham, the Toffees reached the traditional 40 point safety zone with an easy 3-1 win over struggling Fulham, with a brace from Beattie and a delightful half-volley from James McFadden, at 30 yards out, sealing the points at 3-0.

Safety was finally confirmed on April 12 after Portsmouth could only draw 1-1 with underachieving Arsenal. However, at this time the target for Everton was a european place, rather than Premiership safety.

Everton's european dreams for the next season were dented heavily 3 days later as they were defeated at home by Spurs.

Ground

Everton originally played in the southeast corner of Stanley Park 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 for a couple of years before moving onto Anfield in 1884 which was Everton's home until 1892 when a rent dispute led to Everton leaving the ground and to the formation of a new, rival team. The new club, which was named Liverpool F.C., set up at Anfield and Everton moved onto Goodison Park where they remain to this day. Ever since those events a fierce rivalry has existed between Everton and Liverpool, albeit one that is generally perceived as being more respectful than many other "derbies" in English football.

Goodison Park has staged more top-flight football games than any other ground in the country and became the only English club ground to host a

Wikipedia has media related to 1966.

semi-final. It was also the first English ground to have undersoil heating, two tiers on all sides and a three-tier stand. Goodison is the only ground in the world that features a church in its grounds- St Luke the Evangelist at the corner of the Main Stand and the Gwladys Street End.

Recently, there was a proposal that Everton move away from Goodison. Late in 2004, the club was in talks with Liverpool regarding sharing that club's proposed new stadium at Stanley Park. Among the more contentious terms in the negotiations was ownership of the new facility - Liverpool wanted to retain ownership of Stanley Park while Everton wanted an even share. On January 11, 2005, Liverpool announced that groundsharing was not a possibility, although with a rumoured £75 million deficit, it is unlikely that Liverpool will be able to afford a new ground either.

Crest

At the end of the 1937-38 season, club secretary Theo Kelly, who later became The Toffees first post-war manager, wanted to design a club necktie. It was agreed that the colour should be blue, but Kelly was given the task of designing a crest to be featured on the tie.

Kelly put thought into the matter for four months until deciding on a reproduction of the "Beacon" which stands in the heart of the Everton district. "The Beacon" or "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 Heraldry and Arms in London, Kelly chose to include the laurels as they were the signs of winners in classical times. The crest was accompanied by the club motto, "Nil Satis, Nisi Optimum", which means "Only 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 1938-39 season.

Interestingly however, the club rarely incorporated a badge of any description on its shirts. An interwoven "EFC" design was adopted between 1922-1930 before reverting back to plain royal blue shirts until 1973 when bold "EFC" lettering was used. The crest designed by Kelly was first used on the teams shirts in 1980 and has remained ever since, undergoing gradual change to become the version used today.

Colours & Nicknames

During the first decades Everton had several different colours and nicknames. The team originally played in blue and white stripes but these were soon turned into a mess when new players wore their old team's shirts during matches. Soon it was decided that the shirts would be dyed black to both save on expenses and look more professional. However, to try and brighten up what was thought of as a 'morbid' kit, a scarlet sash was also added. During this time, Everton were nicknamed "The Black Watch", after the famous army brigade.

When the club moved to Goodison Park, they played in salmon shirts with blue shorts before switching again to ruby shirts with blue trim and dark blue shorts. The famous royal blue jerseys with white shorts were first used in 1901-02 which is obviously the origin of the familiar nickname "The Blues". The attractive style of play employed by the team led to Steve Bloomer calling the team "scientific" in 1928 leading to the name "The School of Science".

The most widely recognised nickname which continues to be used even now came about after Everton had moved to Goodison, when they became known as "The Toffees" or "The Toffeemen". There are several possible explanations for how this name came to be adopted, the most well known is that in those days, 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 will walk 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. And finally, 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 whom tended to support Everton rather than city rivals Liverpool.


Famous fans

Matt Dawson - Rugby player

Austin Healey - Rugby player

Paul McCartney - Beatle

Tricky - Rapper

Tom O'Connor - comedian

Leonard Rossiter - comedian

Kenny Everett - comedian

Frank Carson - comdian

Norman Wisdom - comedian

John Parrott - Snooker Player

Freddie Starr - Comedian

Claire Sweeney - Actress/Singer

Liz McClarnon - Singer/member of Atomic Kitten

Nicola Roberts - Singer/member of Girls Aloud

Michael Owen, Ian Rush, Jamie Carragher, Steve McManaman, Steve Thompson, Robbie Fowler, Steve McMahon, Stephen Wright - Liverpool FC players past and present

Domonic Johnson - BBC Sports Reporter

Graham Beecroft, Mike Parry, Charlie McCann - Talk Sport Presenters

Sophie Howard - Topless Model

Jennifer Ellison - Singer/actress

Ian Hart - actor

Judy Dench - actress

John Hurt - actor

Roger McGough - poet

Henrik Larsson - footballer Celtic FC

'Comedy' Dave Vitty - BBC Radio 1 presenter

Caroline Langrishe - actress

Major honours

Records

  • Youngest Ever Player to play in a league match: James Vaughan, 16 yrs and 271 days old, 4-0 v Crystal Palace, 10 April 2005
  • Youngest Ever Player to score in a league match: James Vaughan, 16 yrs and 271 days old, 4-0 v Crystal Palace, 10 April 2005 (i.e. he is also the second youngest player to score in a league debut beaten only by Jason Dozzell)
  • Everton have amassed third most points in the top division in England, with 4593 as at the end of the 2004-2005 season, (including both the old Division One and the Premiership), after Liverpool (4685) and Arsenal (4597). However, if 2 points are awarded for a win then Everton come out on top with 4223, ahead of Liverpool (4192), and Arsenal (4114).
  • They have scored more goals in the top division than any other club.
  • They have also conceded more goals in the top flight.
  • They hold the unusual distinction of being reigning League champions for the longest time. They won the championship in 1915 and thus remained reigning champions until the 1919-20 season due to the World War One league cancellation. They were also champions in 1939, and again remained reigning champions until the league resumed in 1946-7 after World War Two.
  • Everton have produced the leading goalscorer in the top flight in 12 seasons, more than any other club.
  • They were champions in 1985 by a margin of 13 points ahead of second-placed Liverpool, an English top flight record until 1999-2000 when Manchester United finished eighteen points ahead of Arsenal.
  • They are the only club to have played in the English top division for 100 years

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK England ENG Richard Wright
3 DF Scotland SCO Gary Naysmith
4 DF Nigeria NGA Joseph Yobo
5 DF Scotland SCO David Weir (captain)
6 MF Spain ESP Mikel Arteta
8 FW England ENG James Beattie
9 FW Scotland SCO Duncan Ferguson
10 MF Wales WAL Simon Davies
11 FW Scotland SCO James McFadden
12 MF China CHN Li Tie
13 GK Scotland SCO Iain Turner
14 MF Ireland EIR Kevin Kilbane
15 DF England ENG Alan Stubbs
16 MF Ireland EIR Lee Carsley
17 MF Australia AUS Tim Cahill
18 DF England ENG Phil Neville
19 DF Portugal POR Nuno Valente
20 DF Italy ITA Matteo Ferrari (on loan from AS Roma)
No. Pos. Nation Player
21 MF England ENG Leon Osman
22 DF England ENG Tony Hibbert
23 DF Italy ITA Alessandro Pistone
25 GK England ENG Nigel Martyn
27 MF Netherlands NED Andy van der Meyde
29 FW England ENG James Vaughan
30 GK England ENG John Ruddy
34 DF England ENG Sean Wright
36 DF Scotland SCO Patrick Boyle
37 MF England ENG James Harris
38 FW Nigeria NGA Victor Anichebe
39 MF England ENG Laurence Wilson
41 MF Iceland ISL Bjarni Vidarsson
— MF Brazil BRA Anderson Silva de França
— DF England ENG Lee Molyneux
— MF England ENG Scott Phelan

Managers

Notable Players

Listed according to year of Everton first-team debut (year in parentheses):

See Also: List of Everton F.C. players

Trivia

  • Everton were the first club to install undersoil heating in their stadium. They were also the first club to install a net behind the goalposts and bar.
  • They were the first team to wear the numbers 1-11 on their shirts in a football match. The match was the 1933 FA Cup Final against Manchester City, who wore numbers 12-22. Everton won 3-0, and Dixie Dean was the first ever number 9.
  • They appeared in the first live, fully televised football match, against Arsenal in 1936
  • Goodison Park, built in 1892, was the world's first complete purpose-built football ground.
  • Goodison Park hosted the 1894 F.A. Cup Final between Notts County and Bolton Wanderers.
  • Goodison Park was ajudged to be of such a high standard in 1966 that it was the only English club ground to host a semi-final in the 1966 World Cup. After playing all their matches at Goodison in 1966, the Brazilian national team were so impressed with the facilities at Everton's Bellefield training ground they took photographs and measurements and copied a similar format back in Brazil.
  • Everton, along with Tottenham Hotspur, were invited to participate in a tournament in Argentina in 1909 to help encourage the fledgling Argentinian game.
  • Everton were the first English club to appear in European competitions five seaons running (1962-63 to 1966-67).
  • Former player Dixie Dean and former manager Harry Catterick, both Everton legends, both died at Goodison Park, in 1981 and 1985 respectively.
  • Everton are the only club to have played 100 seasons in the top flight, and were one of the 12 founding members of the Football League in 1888, and have spent only four seasons outside the highest division since then, the last being in 1953-54. Only Arsenal have had a longer unbroken run in the top flight. During the club's remarkable top flight run, their top three positions have been as follows:
    • 1st: 9 times
    • 2nd: 7 times
    • 3rd: 7 times
  • Everton is one of an elite group of 7 clubs that has played in every Premiership season, They are: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.
  • Everton are the only founder member of the Football League never to have been relegated below the second level of English football.
  • There is a club in Chile also called Everton. C.D. Everton come from Vina del Mar and there is an organisation called Los Ruleteros Society aimed at fostering closer links between the two clubs.

Template:UEFA Cup 2005/06

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