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Sunday, March 1, 2009

Everton Football Club

Everton F.C.

Everton F.C.
Everton's crest
Full name Everton Football Club
Nickname(s) The Toffees, The Blues,
The People's Club,
The School of Science
Founded 1878 as St. Domingo F.C.
Ground Goodison Park
Liverpool
England
(Capacity: 40,158)
Chairman Flag of England Bill Kenwright
Manager Flag of Scotland David Moyes
League Premier League
2007–08 Premier League, 5th

Team colours
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Home colours
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Away colours
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Third colours

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 2005–06 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

Chart showing the progress of Everton F.C. through the English football league system from the inaugural season in 1888–89 to 2007–08 when Everton finished fifth in the Premier League

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 1890–91. They won the FA Cup in 1905–06 and the League title again in 1914–15, but it was not until 1927 that Everton's first sustained period of success began. In 1925 the club signed Dixie Dean who, in 1927–28, 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 1931–32, 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 1932–33 with a 3–0 win against Manchester City in the final. The era ended in 1938–39 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 1950–51 and did not return until 1953–54, when they finished as runners-up in their third season in the Second Division. The club have been a top flight presence ever since.

Flag of Wales
Southall
Flag of England
Stevens
Flag of England
Mountfield
Flag of Wales
Ratcliffe
Flag of Wales
Van Den Hauwe
Flag of England
Steven
Flag of England
Bracewell
Flag of England
Reid
Flag of Ireland
Sheedy
Flag of Scotland
Gray
Flag of Scotland
Sharp
1985 European Cup Winners' Cup Final starting lineup.

Howard Kendall took over as manager and guided Everton to their most successful era. Domestically, Everton won the FA Cup in 1983–84 and two league titles in 1984–85 and 1986–87. They were also runners-up to neighbouring Liverpool in both league and cup competitions in 1985–86 and were again on the losing side to Liverpool in the 1984 League Cup final and the 1988–89 FA Cup final. Everton won their first and only European trophy in 1984–85, the European Cup Winners' Cup. After first beating 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 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 2–0 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 1–0 in the final. The cup triumph was also Everton's passport to the Cup Winners' Cup—their first European campaign in the post-Heysel era. Progress under Joe Royle continued in 1995–96 as they climbed to sixth place in the Premiership.

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.

Colours

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Everton's first home colours
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Everton's second home 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 1901–02 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
1974–1979 Umbro none
1979–1983 Hafnia
1983–1985 Le Coq Sportif Hafnia
1985–1986 NEC
1986–1995 Umbro
1995–1997 Danka
1997–2000 One 2 One
2000–2002 Puma
2002–2004 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 2008–09 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.

Crest

At the end of the 1937–38 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.[26]

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.

Stadium

Goodison Park

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.

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


Goodison Park, the current home of the blues

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

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 nith 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.

Other famous Everton supporters include John Parrott, John Hurt, Judi Dench, Jennifer Ellison, the late Kenny Everett, Derek Hatton, the late Leonard Rossiter, Freddie Starr, Claire Sweeney, Matt Dawson, Alan Khan, Austin Healey, Rory Buchanan and Roger McGough.

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.
No.
Position Player
1 Flag of England GK Carlo Nash
2 Flag of England DF Tony Hibbert
3 Flag of England DF Leighton Baines
4 Flag of Nigeria DF Joseph Yobo (1st vice-captain)
5 Flag of England DF Joleon Lescott
6 Flag of England DF Phil Jagielka
7 Flag of the Netherlands MF Andy van der Meyde
8 Flag of Ecuador MF Segundo Castillo (on loan from Red Star Belgrade)
9 Flag of France FW Louis Saha
10 Flag of Spain MF Mikel Arteta (2nd vice-captain)
11 Flag of Brazil FW (on loan from Manchester City)
12 Flag of Scotland GK Iain Turner
14 Flag of England FW James Vaughan
15 Flag of Denmark DF Lars Jacobsen
17 Flag of Australia FW Tim Cahill

No.
Position Player
18 Flag of England MF Phil Neville (captain)
19 Flag of Portugal DF Nuno Valente
20 Flag of South Africa MF Steven Pienaar
21 Flag of England MF Leon Osman
22 Flag of Nigeria FW Yakubu Aiyegbeni
24 Flag of the United States GK Tim Howard
25 Flag of Belgium MF Marouane Fellaini
26 Flag of England MF Jack Rodwell
28 Flag of Nigeria FW Victor Anichebe
32 Flag of England MF Dan Gosling
34 Flag of England DF John Irving
35 Flag of England FW Kieran Agard
37 Flag of England FW Jose Baxter
38 Flag of Ireland MF James Wallace
–– Flag of Ireland DF Seamus Coleman

Out on loan

No.
Position Player
27 Flag of Poland FW Lukas Jutkiewicz (at Huddersfield Town)
30 Flag of England GK John Ruddy (at Crewe Alexandra)
36 Flag of England MF John Paul Kissock (at Accrington Stanley)

Coaching staff

Current management team

Position Name
Manager Flag of Scotland David Moyes
Assistant Manager Flag of England Steve Round
Goalkeeping Coach Flag of England Chris Woods
First Team Coach Flag of Scotland Jimmy Lumsden
Reserve Team Manager Flag of Wales Andy Holden
Coach Flag of England Alan Stubbs
Club Doctor Flag of England Ian Irving MBE
Head of Sports Medicine Flag of England Mick Rathbone
Masseur Flag of England Jimmy Comer
Kit Manager Flag of England Jimmy Martin
Head Strength & Conditioning Coach Flag of the United States Kyle Thorne
Assistant Fitness Coach Flag of England 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

  • Keith Tamlin

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.

Inducted ↓ Name ↓ Nationality ↓ Position ↓ Everton career ↓ Appearances ↓ Goals ↓
2008 Gordon West Flag of England GK 1962-1972 402 0
2007 Colin Harvey Flag of England MF 1963–1974 384 24
2006 Peter Reid Flag of England MF 1982–1989 234 13
2005 Graeme Sharp Flag of Scotland FW 1979–1991 447 159
2004 Joe Royle Flag of England FW 1966–1974 275 119
2003 Kevin Ratcliffe Flag of Wales CB 1980–1991 461 2
2002 Ray Wilson Flag of England LB 1964–1968 151 0
2001 Alan Ball Flag of England MF 1966–1971 251 79
2000 Howard Kendall[nb 1] Flag of England MF 1966–1981 274 30
2000 Dave Watson Flag of England CB 1986–1999 522 38
2000 Neville Southall Flag of Wales GK 1981–1997 751 0
2000 Bob Latchford Flag of England FW 1973–1980 286 138
2000 Alex Young Flag of Scotland FW 1960–1967 272 89
2000 Dave Hickson Flag of England FW 1951–1959 243 111
2000 T. G. Jones Flag of Wales CB 1936–1949 178 5
2000 Ted Sagar Flag of England GK 1929–1952 500 0
2000 Dixie Dean Flag of England FW 1924–1937 433 383
2000 Sam Chedgzoy Flag of England MF 1910–1925 300 36
2000 Jack Sharp Flag of England MF 1899–1909 342 80

Greatest ever team

SOUTHALL
STEVENS
LABONE
RATCLIFFE
WILSON
STEVEN
BALL
REID
SHEEDY
DEAN
SHARP
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.

  • Flag of Wales Neville Southall (1981–97)
  • Flag of England Gary Stevens (1982–89)
  • Flag of England Brian Labone (1958–71)
  • Flag of Wales Kevin Ratcliffe (1980–91)
  • Flag of England Ray Wilson (1964–69)
  • Flag of England Trevor Steven (1983–90)
  • Flag of England Alan Ball (1966–71)
  • Flag of England Peter Reid (1982–89)
  • Flag of Ireland Kevin Sheedy (1982–92)
  • Flag of England Dixie Dean (1925–37)
  • Flag of Scotland Graeme Sharp (1980–91)

English Football Hall of Fame members

A number of Everton players have been inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame:[62]

  • 2002 - Flag of England Dixie Dean, Flag of England Paul Gascoigne
  • 2003 - Flag of England Alan Ball, Flag of England Tommy Lawton, Flag of England Gary Lineker
  • 2005 - Flag of England Howard Kendall
  • 2007 - Flag of England Peter Beardsley, Flag of Wales Mark Hughes
  • 2008 - Flag of England Ray Wilson

Testimonial players

A number of Everton players have received testimonials, normally for playing 10 or more years for the club.

  • 1964 Flag of England Dixie Dean England XI vs. Scottish XI (both sides consisted of players from the 3 Merseyside clubs)
  • 1972 Flag of England Tommy Lawton vs. Great Britain XI
  • 1972 Flag of England Brian Labone vs. Liverpool
  • 1974 Flag of England Brian Harris vs. Newport County
  • 1989 Flag of Wales Kevin Ratcliffe vs. Athletic Club
  • 1995 Flag of Wales Neville Southall vs. Celtic
  • 1997 Flag of England Dave Watson vs. Rangers
  • 2000 Flag of England Joe Parkinson vs. Manchester City
  • 2001 Flag of Scotland Alex Young vs. Espanyol
  • 2002 Flag of England David Unsworth vs. Athletic Club
  • 2003 Flag of England Colin Harvey vs. Bologna
  • 2006 Flag of England Howard Kendall vs. Athletic 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.

  • Flag of England Dixie Dean
  • Flag of England Joe Mercer
  • Flag of England Tommy Lawton
  • Flag of Scotland Alex Young
  • Flag of Wales Neville Southall
  • Flag of England Alan Ball
  • Flag of England Gary Lineker
  • Flag of England Paul Gascoigne

Notable managers

The following managers have won at least one significant trophy with Everton:

Manager Tenure
Dick Molyneux 1889–1901
William C. Cuff 1901–1918
Thomas H. McIntosh 1919–1935
Theo Kelly 1936–1948
Harry Catterick 1961–1973
Howard Kendall 1981–1987
1990–1993
1997–1998
Joe Royle 1994–1997

Honours

  • (Old) First Division: 9
    • 1890–91, 1914–15, 1927–28, 1931–32, 1938–39, 1962–63, 1969–70, 1984–85, 1986–87
  • (Old) First Division Runners-up: 7
    • 1889-90, 1894-95, 1901-02, 1904-05, 1908-09, 1911-12, 1985-86
  • (Old) Second Division: 1
    • 1930–31
  • FA Cup: 5
    • 1906, 1933, 1966, 1984, 1995
  • FA Cup Runners-up: 7
    • 1893, 1897, 1907, 1968, 1985, 1986, 1989
  • Football League Cup Runners-up: 2
    • 1977, 1984
  • Charity Shield: 9
    • 1928, 1932, 1963, 1970, 1984, 1985, 1986 (shared), 1987, 1995
  • European Cup Winners' Cup: 1
    • 1985
  • FA Youth Cup: 3
    • 1965, 1984, 1998
  • World Soccer Magazine World Team of the Year: 1
    • 1985
  • Full Members Cup Runners-up: 2
    • 1989, 1991

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 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 Bury and Preston North End, 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.