Everton Club Information
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Everton Football Club is an English football club located in the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League and have contested more seasons in the top flight of English football than any other. They are one of the top five most successful English clubs in terms of major honours, having won the League Championship nine times, the FA Cup five times and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup once. The club's most recent major trophy was the 1995 FA Cup. Currently managed by David Moyes, the first team have made significant progress, with three European qualifications and four top eight finishes during his six-year tenure.
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 attract 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 recognized successful former players as "Giants" of the team. Dixie Dean, who played for the team in the 1920s and 30s, is the most prolific goal-scorer in English football history.
The Everton Colours and Crest
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.
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 2007–08 season, the away kit is a white shirt with black shorts and socks.
At the end of the 1937–38 season, Everton secretary Theo Kelly, who later became the club's first post-war 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 deciding it for four months, until deciding on a reproduction of Prince Rupert's Tower, which stands in the heart of the Everton district.
The 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 Arms in London, Kelly chose to include the laurels as they were the sign of winners in those days. The crest was accompanied by the club motto, "Nil Satis Nisi Optimum", meaning "Nothing but 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.
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. Some old crests are illustrated on the right; the top is the original shirt crest, the second is the first shirt crest with beacon and laurels and the third is the first shirt crest to use the club motto.
Everton Nicknames
Everton's most widely recognised nickname is "The Toffees" 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.
Everton have had many other nicknames over the years. When the black kit was worn Everton were nicknamed "The Black Watch", after the famous army brigade. Since going blue in 1901, Everton have been given the simple nickname "The Blues". Everton's attractive style of play led to Steve Bloomer calling the team "scientific" in 1928, which is thought to have inspired the nickname "The School of Science". While the battling 1995 FA Cup winning side were known as "The Dogs of War". When David Moyes arrived as manager he proclaimed Everton as "The People's Club", which has been adopted as a semi-official club nickname.
Everton Fans and Support
Everton have a large fanbase with the seventh 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, 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.
Everton supporters sing several songs on matchdays but the most common is "It's a grand old team"; it is adopted from the version sung by Celtic supporters, making changes like "we don't care what the red side say"—a reference to red-wearing-rivals Liverpool. Also popular is singing the club name "Everton" to the tune of "Here we go". They are generally very welcoming to former players returning to Goodison while playing for new clubs. Notable exceptions include Wayne Rooney, who has become extremely unpopular with fans after he left Everton for Manchester United, having previously been pictured wearing a t-shirt declaring: "Once a Blue always a Blue" and is now roundly booed whenever he returns. Rooney claims Moyes forced him out of the club in his book, however David Moyes has taken legal action denying the claims made. David Moyes won in court and was awarded damages.
Everton's biggest rivalry is with fellow Merseyside team Liverpool, against whom they contest the Merseyside derby. This stems from Liverpool's formation after a dispute with Everton officials and the owners of Anfield (the ground Everton were using at the time). Religious differences have been cited as a division, with Everton usually placed on the Catholic side; however, both teams were founded with Methodist involvement, somewhat undermining the notion of a Catholic–Protestant split. The Merseyside derby is usually a sell out fixture and tends to be a scrappy affair; it has had more red cards than any other fixture in Premiership history.
On January 14, 2007, Sylvester Stallone was at Goodison Park to promote Rocky Balboa, and to watch Everton take on Reading in an English Premier League game. The match ended as a 1–1 draw. Stallone paraded on the field at half time adorned in a home team scarf and received a warm reception from the 40,000 fans. Stallone has claimed to be a keen football fan since filming Escape to Victory in the 1980s and now claims to be an official Everton fan. |
