Everton Football Club

Everton FC: A Bitter Liverpool Rival With a Sweet Name

Everton FC History and Highlights

Known as The Blues, The Toffees, and The People’s Club, Everton FC is a football club based in Liverpool, England. It was founded in 1888 with the name St. Domingo’s FC and now plays in the English Premier League. The history books are full of Evertonians and their glory.

The Toffees, as the nickname goes for this Liverpool club, is an odd name for a football club. However, it has historical reasoning behind it. During the 1700s, there were lots of toffee shops in the area. Still to this day, the toffees shops have given a much-needed sugar boost before and during the game.

Founding and Early Years

Everton FC was founded in 1878 to play all year round cricket in summers and football in all other seasons. Since its origin, the club was never far from success; they won the first League Championship in 1890-91 after joining the Football League. The first taste of cup success was received in 1906 when they went on to win the FA cup.

The first few years were jittered with success and failures as a club. The more consistent form of sustained dominance came in 1927. From their origin to 1939, they went on to win 5 League Championships, and two FA cups. And most of them came in that twelve-year period where they went down a division, came back up, and won these silverware.

WWI and WWII Influence and Repercussions

Unfortunately, the two world wars were devastating for Everton FC, as for many. They were league leaders when wars broke out. However, the league was suspended in the 1914-15 season and again in the 1939-40 season. The wars affected many lives and dismantled the ruthless side Everton FC had built that dominated English football, leaving a split-up side competing for glory from the past.

After the war era was a period of restructuring at the club. They were relegated for the second time in 1951, but came back up in 1954. Since then, the club has never been relegated to the second tier.

New Management Success

As the tide of the time changed, so too did the fortunes of Everton FC. It came with the appointment of new manager, Harry Catterick, who led them to a FA cup win in 1966, a League Championship in 1970, and five consecutive years of European football from 1962 to 1967, the first team in the country to achieve the feat.

The fortunes again turned, and they were not able to win any silverware till the 1980s. Again, a new phase came in this story of the blues when Howard Kendall was given the command, and it saw the most successful era of the blue side of Liverpool. They won the league in two of the three years between 1985 – 1987 and also managed to win a European cup in 1985. They could have been the first team to win a treble, but the cruel irony is that they were defeated by Manchester United in the FA Cup, who then went on to win the treble themselves in 1999.

Modern Era

The present state of Everton FC has not been a fairy tale story by any means; they have been in too many relegation battles for their own comfort and have not won the league since their most successful period.

Rivalry with Liverpool

Everton FC’s fiercest rivals are Liverpool, who has been much more successful recently. The Merseyside derby, as the locals call it, originated from a friendly game where fans were in close proximity, with no forced separation. But it got worse as time progressed, and the two teams faced off at the highest level. They first went toe to toe in the 1970s, and since then, it has continued and seen the most red cards in premier league history.