Club Overview

Everton FC was founded as St. Domingo FC by St. Domingo Church in 1878. After changing their name, becoming one of the Football League founders, and gaining a huge fan base, the team moved from Anfield Stadium, the current home of Liverpool FC, to Goodison Park, the first English Stadium built specifically for football that also had under-soil heating. Everton FC’s best years were during the of the beginning of the twentieth century, 50’s, 60’, 80’s and late 2000’s, as superstars such as Dixie Dean and Wayne Rooney wore the famous blue jersey. Currently, under the management of David Moyes the team is doing well, as they are in fifth place behind their arch rival Liverpool FC.

Club History

Everton FC, originally name St. Domingo F.C. after its founders, the St. Domingo Church was created in 1878 in order for the youngsters that attended the church to have a sport to play during the fall season. A year later the team changed its name in order to represent the surround area from which people that did not attend the church, but played for the football club where from. In 1888 Everton became one the founded members of the Football League and won their first championship on April 20th 1906 against Newcastle United at Crystal Palace. They played out of Anfield Stadium in Liverpool to large crowds that showed up to the games. However in 1892, after a dispute with the landlord the team relocated to Goodison Park, which was the first stadium in England built for the sole purpose of holding football matches. Their first match at the new stadium was on September 3rd and resulted in a tie against Nottingham Forest.

With players such as Harold Makepeace, Harold Hardman and Jack Sharp in the squad, Everton entered the 20th Century positively, but it was 1906 before the FA Cup trophy finally ended up at Goodison Park. They clinched the Football league title during the 1914/15 season with Bobby Parker scoring 35 goals in 36 games. Soccer legend Dixie Dean, signed to Everton FC in 1925, and became one the greatest players to ever play in Goodison Park. During his time with the team, which lasted till December 1937, Everton FC won numerous titles and champions including the FA Cup, Charity Shield, and First Division. When they got relegated in 1930 Dean took The Toffees them back up the First Division, by winning the Second Division title. By the end of his career, Dean scored 383 goals in 433 matches.

After the departure of Dixie Dean, during the 1940s and 50’s Everton had some its worst years. Other members of the team that played with Dean such as Tommy Lawton and Joe Mercer got traded to other football clubs. The underfinanced Everton FC got relegated in 1950 and were not able to bounce back up to first division till 1954.

However, the 1960’s was a golden era for the team, under the management of Harry Catterick the team was able to win the F.A Cup and First Division twice. Catterick introduced a new style play similar to the “Push and Run” way, which proved effected as Everton conceded fewer goals than any other team and finished fourth in the division. Alex Young and Roy Vernon became the leading players on the team during this time period.

Unfortunately, the team’s success did not last into the 70’s as they finished 4th, 15th, 17th and 7th place at the start of the decade. The club did so bad that they almost got relegated. Catterick ended up resigning in 74 due to his poor health.

During 80’s the club hired Howard Kendall in order to reshape the team into contenders for the titles. He coached players like Neville Southall, Gary Stevens, and Peter Reid to an amazing season in 85 as they won the UEFA Cup and the league title. Under Kendall’s coaching the team also won the league titles in 84 and 87. Kendall gave up his position to Colin Harvey, who was fired only after year, because Everton FC was third from the bottom in the division.

The nineties was a time of turmoil for Everton, as they went through several coaching changes. The club was one of the founding teams in the English Premier League, even though they were not considered to be one of England’s top teams. During their first season in the League, they ended up in thirteenth place, despite Kendall returning as the manager. In 93 Mike Walker took over the managing position. Under his leadership, the team won their final game of the season against Wimbledon, but had a terrible start in the 94/95 season, which led to him being replaced by Joe Royle. Under Royle, Everton excelled as they avoided relegation and won the FA Cup in 95, with Paul Rideout scoring the game winning goal. However, in 96 Everton FC was not able to build on a promising season, and Royle got replaced by Dave Watson, only on a temporary basis. In 97 Kendall got appointed as manager for the third time with main purpose of keeping Everton FC from being relegated. The club finished 17th that season with a tie to Coventry City, and avoided relegation. Soon after Kendall resigned and former Rangers manager Walter Smith took over the position in 98. Under Smith the team hardships continued as they ended up at the bottom of the League for the next three seasons.

In 2002 the Smith was fired, with Everton being on the brinks of relegation. David Moyes was appointed to the manager position in order to improve the performance of the club. Moyes helped the team reach seventh place in his first season with the team. Wayne Rooney emerged as a superstar for the Everton FC as he broke records on both the club level and on England’s national team. Even though Rooney transferred to Manchester United in 2004, the team continued to prosper as they finished the season in fourth place, the highest position since 1988. Till present day Moyes is the coach of club and continues to help them prosper. Recently Everton finished fifth place in the Premier League as injuries to their key players has plagued them throughout the season.

Club Rivalries

Liverpool FC and Everton FC have been rivals ever since Liverpool FC was created, and Everton FC moved from Anfield Stadium. The reason for this rivalry is close proximity in which the two teams play, in Liverpool England. The match between the two teams is named the Merseyside Derby, and is often nicknamed The Friendly Derby, due to the large amount of families that have supporters of both teams in one family. During a match it is not uncommon to see supporters of Everton and Liverpool sitting on the same side. The height of the rivalry came in the mid-to-late 1980s, when the two teams competed in two FA Cup Finals, including an emotion-filled day at Wembley in 1989, shortly after the Hillsborough disaster had killed 96 Liverpool fans.

Stars of the Current Squad

Philip Neville- Neville is the captain of Everton FC. He won six Premiership titles, three FA Cups and the European Cup with his previous club, Manchester United.

Joseph Yobo- Yobo is the vice captain of the Everton. He is originally from Nigeria and plays for the Nigerian national team. So far he was 251 appearances with the team.

Andrew Johnson- Johnson transferred from Crystal Place in a deal that was Everton’s most expensive purchase ever, in 2006. He scored his first goal for the team on August 16th 2006 in a game against Watford. He became Everton’s top scorer in the 2006/07 season with 11 goals.

Club Legends

Dixie Dean
Everton Appearances: 433
Everton Goals: 383
First Division Championship winner 1927/28 and 1931/32
Second Division Championship winner: 1930/31
FA Cup Winner: 1933
Charity Shield winner: 1928 and 1932
England caps: 16

Jack Sharp
Everton Appearances: 342
Everton Goals: 80
FA Cup winner 1906
First Division runner-up: 1901/02, 1904/05, 1908/09
England Caps: 2

Sam Chedgzoy
Everton Appearances: 300
Everton Goals: 36
First Division Championship: 1914/15
England caps: 8

Bob Latchford
Everton Appearances: 289
Everton Goals: 138
League Cup runner-up 1977
England caps: 12

Most Appearances

Most Goals

Player Recognition & Awards

European Footballer of the Year (Ballon d'Or)
1986 Gary Lineker (2nd)

African Footballer of the Year
1996 Daniel Amokachi (3rd)

Oceania Player of the Year
2004 Tim Cahill (Winner)

Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year
1985 Neville Southall
1986 Gary Lineker

PFA Players' Player of the Year
1985 Peter Reid
1986 Gary Lineker

PFA Merit Award
1977 Jack Taylor
1982 Joe Mercer
1986 Alan Ball (As 1966 England World Cup Squad)
1986 Ray Wilson (As 1966 England World Cup Squad)
1994 Billy Bingham
1997 Peter Beardsley

FA Premier League Player of the Month Award
1994-95 Feb Duncan Ferguson
1995-96 Apr Andrei Kanchelskis
1998-98 Apr Kevin Campbell
2006-07 Sep Andy Johnson

BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year Award
1995Neville Southall

BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year Award
2003 Wayne Rooney

Team Honours

First Division:
1890–91, 1914–15, 1927–28, 1931–32, 1938–39, 1962–63, 1969–70, 1984–85, 1986–87

Second Division:
1930–31

FA Cup
1906, 1933, 1966, 1984, 1995

Charity Shield:
1928, 1932, 1963, 1970, 1984, 1985, 1986 (shared), 1987, 1995

European Cup Winners' Cup
1985

Club Management

Bill Kenwright-- chairman--Kenwright is the chairman of Everton, the football club that he supported his whole life. He took over the position in 2004 after Sir Phillip Carter stepped down. Before joining Everton he was an actor and a theatre producer.

David Moyes- manager-- David Moyes joined Everton in 2002 in order to revolutionize the club. Under his leadership the team became serious contenders. He is the third longest serving manager with the club.

Uniforms

Stadium

Goodison Park was built in 1892 on Mere Green field in Goodison Road, Liverpool. It is first stadium in England intended for Football matches that has double-decker stands on all 4 sides, a 3 tier stand, and under-soil heating. It is nicknamed The Grand Old Lady. The stadium has hosted a variety of important matches including the semi-final of the 1966 FIFA World Cup, 1894 FA Cup, and England national team matches. Recently the team has been trying to build a new stadium that has a capacity of 55,000 in Kirby, a suburb of Liverpool.

Sponsors

Chang- official sponsor
JJB- official retail partner
Littlewoods Gaming- Pools and Gaming partner

Important Links

http://www.evertonfc.com/splash.php

References

http://www.everton-mad.co.uk/
http://www.evertonfc.com/history/10108/history.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everton_F.C.#Relationships_with_other_clubs
http://www.premierleague.com/page/everton
http://www.bluekipper.com/home.html