Everton FC Club History

 

History

When St Domingo Methodist Church Sunday School formed in 1870 they soon began playing Cricket. By1878 they had started adding football to their repertoire, but were recruiting players from outside the parish. In 1879 this necessitated a name change to Everton after a meeting in the Queen’s hotel in Village Street off Everton Road.

Their first competitive match occurred at Stanley Park beating St Peter’s 6-0. They played in their first FA Cup match in 1887, and then became founder members of the football league in 1888. Everton won their first league match against Accrington 2-1.

At the third attempt they won the First Division title but had to wait until 1906 for their first FA Cup triumph.

 

Cups and League Titles 

Apart from two very brief spells in the Second Division in the 1930’s and 1950’s, Everton have always been a top flight club. They have won their fair share of domestic honours, spread evenly throughout their history, but perhaps their best season was in 1985.

That year under the management of Howard Kendall they won the First Division title and the UEFA Cup Winners Cup, their only European triumph. They won the League title again in 1987, but due to the five year ban imposed on English teams following the Heysel Stadium tragedy in 1985, they never competed in the European Cup.

Although they won the FA Cup in 1995, they have not won a domestic trophy since then, but remain an established Premier League team.

 

  • First Division Championship (9)

1891, 1915, 1928, 1932, 1939, 1963, 1970, 1985, 1987

  • Second Division Champions (1)

1931

  • FA Cup (5)

1906, 1933, 1966, 1984, 1995

  • UEFA Cup Winners Cup (1)

1985

 

Stadium History

Everton first played matches in Stanley Park, before moving to land in Priory Road which had dressing rooms and a stand. They soon moved to Anfield, but an increase in rent by owner John Houlding forced their eviction from the ground, which was to become Liverpool’s stadium.

Church organist George Mahon led the move away from Anfield to a plot of land on the other side of Stanley Park. With the help of a loan from club director James Baxter, a purpose built stadium called Goodison Park was built, opening in 1892.

Everton have continued to play there and it has been gradually developed over many years, hosting cup semi-finals and World Cup matches. It has a capacity of just over 40,000, but there have been plans to move to a larger stadium.

 

Famous Players

  • Dixie Dean        

He is regarded as Everton’s greatest ever player scoring a record 60 League goals in one season. He amassed 383 goals in 433 appearances.

  • Joe Royle

Became Everton’s youngest player at 16 years old, and in his eight years as a player for the club he scored 119 goals. He later returned as manager.

  • Neville Southall

He made a record 751 appearances for Everton and was described at one time as the best goalkeeper in the world.

  • Alan Ball

He was signed after starring in the 1966 England World Cup win and became a midfield star playing 250 games for Everton and scoring 78 goals.

  • Brian Labone

He only ever played for Everton making 534 appearances as a centre-back, captaining the team to the FA Cup win in 1966 and league title in1970.

  • Alex Young

He was a Scottish midfield player who made 273 appearances during the 1960’s. He was almost hero worshipped for his passion during his time at Everton.

 

Other Interesting Facts

  • Everton were the first Football League team to wear numbers on their backs.
  • Everton’s nickname the ‘Toffees’ is said to originate from a nearby toffee shop called Mother Noblett’s which also sold Everton Mint.
  • They have played more top flight games than any other English team
 Posted by at 5:37 pm

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