History of Everton Football Club

Everton Football Club is one of the most successful clubs in English football, having won nine league titles, five FA Cup and a European Cup Winners' Cup and has featured in more top flight football than any other clubs. Everton plays its matches in the Goodison Park in Liverpool.

The club was formed in 1878 under the name of St. Domingo FC by the members of the St. Domingo's Church so that they can play an alternative sport in winter months. As the popularity of the club spread, the members changed the name to Everton FC since members from outside the Church expressed interest in playing for the club.

Everton was one of the 12 clubs that had an important hand in the creation of the Football League in 1888 and played in the inaugural season of the new league. The club's first league title came in 1891 and its first few years in the league were fairly successful ones.

Everton won its first FA Cup in 1906 and its second league title in 1915. The league win was followed by a period of inconsistent performances as the club final position fluctuated from as low as 20th to as high as 5th. However things began to change for the club from 1927, when it won its third league title.

However two years later, Everton was relegated to the second division for the first time in its history, though the club immediately bounced back as second division champions to reclaim its spot in the first division. And in its comeback season, Everton managed to chalk up its fourth league win in 1932 and also won the FA Cup the next season. Everton finished the pre-war era of football with another league title win in 1939 before the suspension of football following the start of the Second World War.

The Second World War had dealt a serious blow for the club and when the football league was reinstated in 1946, it found itself short of staff and players. As a result Everton was relegated to the second division in 1950, after four years of desperate attempts to stay alive in the top flight.

There was no immediate reaction from the club and Everton had to play three seasons in the second division as it set about in rebuilding the team. Everton gained promotion in 1954 after finishing as runners-up in the second division. This was to be the last time that Everton played in the second division, though it managed to come very close to getting relegated from top flight football for more than one occasion.

The appointment of Harry Catterick as the manager in 1961 started a period of success for Everton as it won the league title in 1962 and followed it up with a FA Cup victory in 1966. Though Everton managed to reach the final in 1968, it lost out to West Bromwich Albion. The club won its seventh league title in 1970, but the victory was followed by a period of decline which saw it finish in the lower end of the table for the next three season.

However things improved as Everton played consistent football to finish 4th in 1975 and in 3rd position in 1978. The rising fortunes of local rivals Liverpool put more pressure on manager Gordon Lee who resigned from his position 1981 and Everton was in danger of a decline.

The Everton board appointed Howard Kendall as the manager and the club enjoyed its most successful period of football under him. Kendall guided the club to its eight league title in 1985 and repeated the performance in 1987. Everton also won the FA Cup in 1984 and finished runners-up in 1985, 1986 and 1989. The club also featured in the League Cp final in 1984, but lost out to rivals Liverpool. Kendall also guided Everton to its only European success, the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1985.

When UEFA banned English clubs from participating in European competitions following the Heysel Stadium disaster in which 39 fans died, a large number of Everton players chose to move away from the club, including Kendall himself.

Recent Years

Everton was one of the clubs that played a role in the formation of the English Premier League in 1992. However the club was unable to find the lost glory and slipped into a decline that saw it spend the next 10 years in lower end of the league table with one exception in 1996 when the club finished 6th.

Everton also won its fifth and last FA Cup in 1995, defeating Manchester United 1-0 in the final. In 1997, Everton came very close to getting relegated but were saved due to superior goal difference after finishing in 17th position, level on points with Bolton Wanderers.

Walter Smith was appointed as manager in 1998 but was unable to improve the performances as the club finished 14th, 13th and 16th during his tenure. With Everton in real danger of relegation, Smith was sacked from his position in 2002 and David Moyes was appointed in his place with the immediate task of survival in the Premier League.

Everton finished 15th that season and in Moyes' first full season in charge shot up the table to end up in 7th position. However Moyes' tenure so far has been full of inconsistencies as the club finished 17th in 2003-04, 4th in 2004-05 and 11th in 2005-06.

It was under Moyes that striker Wayne Rooney broke into the first team and showed glimpses of his class. An exceptional Euro 2004 campaign was followed by a spat with Moyes which saw the club offload the striker to Manchester United for a club record fee of £23 million. Moyes then used the cash to bring in James Beattie for £6 million in 2005 and followed it with the £8.6 million purchase of Andy Johnson in 2006.

The signing of Andy Johnson proved to be an inspired one for Everton last season as the former Crystal Palace striker slammed home 11 league goals along with playing an important role up front. With Tim Cahill out for a long time following an injury, Everton were looking up to Mikel Arteta for inspiration and the Spanish midfielder did not disappoint the Toffees fans, chalking some determined performances over the season.

Consistent performances from Phil Neville, Leon Osman, James McFadden and Manuel Fernandes made sure that Everton was always in contention for a European spot. With the club already out of the cup competitions by February, the players gave their best shot at the league, finishing 6th in the league and grabbing the UEFA Cup spot.

Season 2007-08

Everton has spent a quiet summer so far, spending just £4 million on Phil Jagielka while getting Steven Pienaar on loan from Dortmund. While there have been talks of a number of clubs being interested in James Beattie, the club is playing with cards close to its chest.

With Tim Cahill back from injury, Moyes will be hoping that the team builds on its success from last season and performs at the same level, if not better. The club's first match is a home fixture against Wigan Athletic on August 11 followed by matches against Tottenham Hotspur, Reading and Blackburn Rovers.

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