Everton F.C.

This article is about the English men's football club. For the women's English football club, see Everton L.F.C. For the Chilean men's football club, see Everton de Viña del Mar. For other uses, see Everton.

Everton

Full name	Everton Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Toffees, The Blues, The School of Science, The People's Club,
Founded	1878 (1878) as St Domingo's F.C.
Ground	Goodison Park, Walton, Liverpool
Ground Capacity	39,572
CEO	Robert Elstone
Chairman	Bill Kenwright
Manager	Roberto Martínez
League	Premier League
2014–15	Premier League, 11th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Everton Football Club /ˈɛvərtən/ are an English football club based in Liverpool, playing in the Premier League. The club has competed in the top division for a record 112 seasons (playing just four seasons in the second tier) and has won a number of major honours including the League Championship nine times and the FA Cup five times.

Formed in 1878, Everton were founding members of The Football League in 1888 and won their first league championship two seasons later. Following four league titles and two FA Cup wins, Everton experienced a lull in the immediate post World War Two period until a revival in the 1960s which saw the club win two league championships and an FA Cup. The mid-1980s represented their most recent period of sustained success, with two League Championship successes, an FA Cup, and the 1985 European Cup Winners' Cup. The club's most recent major trophy was the 1995 FA Cup. The club's supporters are known as Evertonians.

Everton have a rivalry with neighbour Liverpool and the two sides contest the Merseyside derby. The club have been based at Goodison Park in Walton, Liverpool, since 1892, after moving from Anfield after a row over its rent.

The club's home colours are royal blue shirts with white shorts and socks.

History

Main article: History of Everton F.C.

Chart showing the progress of Everton F.C. through the English football league system

Everton were founded as St Domingo's in 1878 so that people from the parish of St Domingo's Methodist Church Everton could play sport year round —cricket was played in summer. The club was renamed Everton a year later after the local area, as people outside the parish wished to participate.

The club was a founding member of The Football League in 1888–89, winning their first League Championship title in the 1890–91 season. Everton won the FA Cup for the first time in 1906 and the League title again in 1914–15. The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 interrupted the football programme while Everton were champions, something that would again occur in 1939.

It was not until 1927 that Everton's first sustained period of success began. In 1925 the club signed Dixie Dean from Tranmere Rovers who, in 1927–28, set the record for top-flight league goals in a single season with 60 goals in 39 league games, a record that still stands to this day. Dean helped Everton to achieve their third league title.

Everton were relegated to the Second Division two years later during internal turmoil at the club. However, the club was promoted at the first attempt scoring a record number of goals in the second division. On 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. Everton also won their second FA Cup in 1933 with a 3–0 win against Manchester City in the final. The era ended in 1938–39 with a fifth League title.

The outbreak of the Second World War again saw the suspension of League football, and when official competition resumed in 1946 the Everton team had been split and paled in comparison to the pre-war team. Everton were relegated for the second time in 1950–51 and did not return until 1953–54, finishing as runners-up in their third season in the Second Division. The club have been a top-flight presence ever since.

Finishing positions in the top flight since 1955

Everton's second successful era started when Harry Catterick was made manager in 1961. In 1962–63, his second season in charge, Everton won the League title and in 1966 the FA Cup followed with a 3–2 win over Sheffield Wednesday. Everton again reached the final in 1968, but this time were unable to overcome West Bromwich Albion at Wembley. Two seasons later in 1969–70, Everton won the League championship, nine points clear of nearest rivals Leeds United. During this period, Everton were the first English club to achieve five consecutive years in European competitions—seasons 1961–62 to 1966–67.

However, the success did not last; the team finished fourteenth, fifteenth, seventeenth and seventh in the following seasons. Harry Catterick retired but his successors failed to win any silverware for the remainder of the 1970s. Though the club mounted title challenges finishing fourth in 1974–75 under manager Billy Bingham, and under manager Gordon Lee, third in 1977–78 and fourth the following season. Manager Gordon Lee was sacked in 1981.

Southall

Mountfield

Ratcliffe

Stevens

Van Den Hauwe

Bracewell

Reid

Steven

Sheedy

Gray

Sharp

1985 European Cup Winners' Cup Final starting line-up.

Howard Kendall took over as manager and guided Everton to their most successful era. Domestically, Everton won the FA Cup in 1984 and two league titles in 1984–85 and 1986–87 and the club's first and so far only European trophy securing the European Cup Winners' Cup in the 1985 final.

The European success came 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 won both the league and Cup Winners Cup in 1985, Everton came very close to winning a treble, but lost to Manchester United in the FA Cup final. The following season, 1985–86, Everton were runners up to neighbours Liverpool in both the league and the FA Cup, but did recapture the league title in 1986–87.

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. Harvey took Everton to the 1989 final, but lost 3–2 after Extra time to Liverpool.

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, leading the club to the FA Cup for the fifth time in its history, defeating Manchester United 1–0 in the final.

Roberto Martínez, the current manager of Everton.

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. A fifteenth-place finish the following season saw Royle resign towards the end of the campaign, to be temporarily replaced by club captain, Dave Watson. Howard Kendall was appointed Everton manager for the third time in 1997, but the appointment proved unsuccessful as Everton finished seventeenth in the Premiership; only avoiding relegation due to their superior goal difference over Bolton Wanderers. Former Rangers manager Walter Smith then took over from Kendall in the summer of 1998 but only managed three successive finishes in the bottom half of the table.

The Everton board finally ran out of patience with Smith and he was sacked in March 2002 after an FA Cup exit at Middlesbrough, with Everton in real danger of relegation. David Moyes, was his replacement and guided Everton to a safe finish in fifteenth place. In 2002–03 Everton finished seventh, their highest finish since 1996. A fourth-place finish in 2004–05, ensured Everton qualified for the Champions League qualifying round. The team failed to make it through to the Champions League group stage and were then eliminated from the UEFA Cup. Everton qualified for the 2007–08 and 2008–09 UEFA Cup competitions and they were runners-up in the 2009 FA Cup Final.

Moyes broke the club record for highest transfer fee paid on four occasions, signing James Beattie for £6 million in January 2005, Andy Johnson for £8.6 million in summer 2006, Yakubu for £11.25 million in summer 2007, and Marouane Fellaini for £15 million in September 2008. It was under David Moyes's management that Wayne Rooney broke into the first team, before being sold to Manchester United for a club record fee of £28 million.

At the end of the 2012–13 season David Moyes left his position at Everton to take over at Manchester United. He was replaced by Roberto Martínez, who led Everton to 5th place in the league in his first season, amassing the club's best points tally for 27 years.

Colours

Everton's first home colours

During the first decades of their history, Everton had several different kit colours. The team originally played in white and then 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 instill a more professional look. The result, however, appeared morbid so a scarlet sash was added.

When the club moved to Goodison Park in 1892, the colours were salmon pink and dark blue striped shirts with dark blue shorts then switching to ruby shirts with blue trim and dark blue shorts. Royal blue jerseys with white shorts were first used in the 1901–02 season. The club played in sky blue in 1906, however the fans protested and the colour reverted to royal blue. Occasionally Everton have played in lighter shades than royal blue (such as 1930–31 and 1997–98).

Everton's traditional away colours were white shirts with black shorts, but from 1968 amber shirts and royal blue shorts became common. Various editions appeared throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Recently however black, white, grey and yellow away shirts have been used. The away shirt for the 2011–12 season was reverted to an amber shirt with navy blue shorts.

The home kit today is royal blue shirts, white shorts and blue socks although when playing teams away who also wear white shorts, Everton may wear all blue to avoid any colour clashes. Everton's home goalkeeper attire for the 2014–15 season was all yellow.

Crest

Since 1938, the local Prince Rupert's Tower has featured on Everton's 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.

The Tower has been inextricably linked with the Everton area since its construction in 1787. It was originally used as a bridewell to incarcerate mainly drunks and minor criminals, and it still stands today on Everton Brow in Netherfield Road. The tower 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. 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 1972 when bold "EFC" lettering was added. The crest designed by Kelly was first used on the team's shirts in 1978 and has remained there ever since, undergoing gradual change to become the version used today.

In May 2013, the club launched a new crest to improve the reproducibility of the design in print and broadcast media, particularly on a small scale. Critics suggested that it was external pressure from sports manufacturers Nike, Inc. that evoked the redesign as the number of colours has been reduced and the radial effect have been removed, making the kit more cost efficient to reproduce. The redesign was poorly received by supporters, with a poll on an Everton fan site registering a 91% negative response to the crest. A protest petition reached over 22,000 signatures before the club offered an apology and announced a new crest would be created for the 2014–15 season with an emphasis on fan consultation. Shortly afterwards, the Head of Marketing left the club.

The latest crest was revealed by the club on 3 October 2013; after a consultation process with the supporters, three new crests were shortlisted, and of the final vote the new crest was chosen by almost 80% of the supporters that took part, and began being used in July 2014.

• 

  Monochrome Everton crest (2000–13)

• Everton F.C. (2013).svg

  2013–14 season crest

• 

  Current crest - 2014–15 season onwards.

Nickname

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 best known being that there was a business in Everton village, between Everton Brow and Brow Side, named Mother Noblett's, a toffee shop, which advertised and sold sweets, including the Everton Mint. It was also located opposite the lock up which Everton's club crest is based on.

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 symbolises the connection. Another possible reason is that there was a house named Ye Anciente Everton Toffee House in nearby Village Street, Everton, run by Ma Bushell. The toffee house was located near the Queen's Head hotel in which early club meetings took place.

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 regiment. 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". 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.

Stadium

Goodison Park

John Houlding, former Everton chairman and Anfield landowner

George Mahon arranged for Everton to move to Goodison Park.

Everton originally played in the southeast corner of Stanley Park, which was 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 dispute of how the club was to be owned and run emerged with Anfield's owner and Everton's chairman, John Houlding. A dispute between Houlding and the club's committee over how the club should be run, led to Houlding attempting to gain full control of the club by registering the company, "Everton F.C. and Athletic Grounds Ltd". In response, Everton left Anfield for a new ground, Goodison Park, where the club have played ever since. Houlding attempted to take over Everton's name, colours, fixtures and league position, but was denied by The Football Association. Instead, Houlding formed a new club, Liverpool F.C.

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.

Goodison Park, the first major football stadium to be built in England, was opened in 1892. Goodison Park has staged more top-flight football games than any other ground in the United Kingdom and was the only English club ground to host a semi-final at the 1966 FIFA World Cup. It was also the first English ground to have undersoil heating, the first to have two tiers on all sides.

The church grounds of St Luke the Evangelist are adjacent to the corner of the Main Stand and the Gwladys Street Stand.

On matchdays, in a tradition going back to 1962, players walk out to the theme tune to Z-Cars, named "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, although on two separate occasions in the 1994, they ran out to different songs. In August 1994, the club played 2 Unlimited's song "Get Ready For This", and a month later, a reworking of the Creedence Clearwater Revival classic "Bad Moon Rising". Both were met with complete disapproval by Everton fans.

Everton's reserves play at Halton Stadium in Widnes.

Training facilities

From 1966 to 2007 Everton trained at Bellefield in the West Derby area of Liverpool. They moved to the Finch Farm training complex in Halewood in 2007. The training ground houses both the Everton first team and the youth academy.

Proposed new stadia

Main article: The Kirkby Project

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, with the city council rejecting the proposal in 2003. Late in 2004, driven by Liverpool Council and the Northwest Development Corporation, the club entered talks with Liverpool F.C. about sharing a proposed stadium on Stanley Park. Negotiations broke down as Everton failed to raise 50% of the costs. On 11 January 2005, Liverpool announced that ground-sharing was not a possibility, proceeding to plan their own Stanley Park Stadium.

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, expandable to over 60,000, in Kirkby. The club took the unusual move of giving its supporters a say in the club's future by holding a ballot on the proposal, finding a split of 59% to 41% in favour. Opponents to the plan included other local councils concerned by the effect of a large Tesco store being built as part of the development, and a group of fans demanding that Everton should remain within the city boundaries of Liverpool.

Following a public inquiry into the project, central government rejected the proposal. Local and regional politicians are attempting to put together an amended rescue plan. Liverpool City Council have called a meeting with Everton F.C. with a view to assess some suitable sites they have short listed within the city boundary.

Liverpool City Council Regeneration and Transport Select Committee meeting on 10 February 2011, proposes to open the Bootle Branch line using "Liverpool Football Club and Everton Football Club as priorities, as economic enablers of the project". This proposal would place both football clubs on a rapid-transit Merseyrail line circling the city easing transport access.

In September 2014 the club, working with Liverpool City Council and Liverpool Mutual Homes, outlined initial plans to build a new stadium in Walton Hall Park.

Supporters and rivalries

Everton have a large fanbase, with the eighth highest average attendance in the Premier League in the 2008–09 season. The majority of Everton's matchday support comes from the North West of England, primarily Merseyside, Cheshire, West Lancashire and parts of Western Greater Manchester along with many fans who travel from North Wales and Ireland. Within the city of Liverpool support for Everton and city rivals Liverpool is not determined by geographical basis with supporters mixed across the city. However Everton's support heartland is traditionally based in the North West of the city and in the southern parts of Sefton. Everton also have many supporters' clubs worldwide, in places such as North America, Singapore, Indonesia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Thailand, and Australia. The official supporters club is FOREVERTON, 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.

Merseyside derby in 2012, Everton's Sylvain Distin defending against Liverpool's Luis Suárez

Everton regularly take large numbers away from home both domestically and in European fixtures. The club implements a loyalty points scheme offering the first opportunity to purchase away tickets to season ticket holders who have attended the most away matches. Everton often sell out the full allocation in away grounds and tickets sell particularly well for North West England away matches. In October 2009, Everton took 7,000 travelling fans to Benfica, their largest ever away crowd in Europe since the 1985 European Cup Winners' Cup Final.

Everton's biggest rivalry is with neighbours Liverpool, against whom they contest the Merseyside derby. The Merseyside derby is usually a sellout fixture, and has been known as the "friendly derby" because both sets of fans can often be seen side by side red and blue inside the stadium both at Anfield and Goodison Park.

Recently on the field, matches tend to be extremely stormy affairs; the derby has had more red cards than any other fixture in Premiership history. The rivalry stems from an internal dispute between Everton officials and the owners of Anfield, which was then Everton's home ground, resulting in Everton moving to Goodison Park, and the subsequent formation of Liverpool F.C., in 1892.

Players

Current squad

As of 2 January 2016.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Joel Robles 2 DF Tony Hibbert 3 DF Leighton Baines 4 MF Darron Gibson 5 DF John Stones 6 DF Phil Jagielka (captain) 7 MF Aiden McGeady 8 MF Bryan Oviedo 9 FW Arouna Koné 10 FW Romelu Lukaku 11 FW Kevin Mirallas 12 MF Aaron Lennon 14 FW Steven Naismith 15 MF Tom Cleverley 16 MF James McCarthy

No. Position Player 17 MF Muhamed Bešić 18 MF Gareth Barry (third-captain) 19 FW Gerard Deulofeu 20 MF Ross Barkley 21 MF Leon Osman (vice-captain) 22 MF Steven Pienaar 23 DF Séamus Coleman 24 GK Tim Howard 25 DF Ramiro Funes Mori 27 DF Tyias Browning 28 FW Leandro Rodríguez 30 DF Mason Holgate 32 DF Brendan Galloway 35 FW Conor McAleny 38 DF Matthew Pennington

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 29 DF Luke Garbutt (on loan to Fulham until 30 June 2016) — DF Felipe Mattioni (on loan to Doncaster Rovers until January 2016) — FW Shani Tarashaj (on loan to Grasshopper Club Zürich until 30 June 2016)

Reserve Team and Academy

• See Everton F.C. Reserves and Academy

Notable former players

See also List of Everton F.C. international 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.

Dixie Dean Statue, outside the Park End

Inducted	Name	Position	Everton playing career	Everton managerial career	Appearances	Goals
2015	Mick Lyons	DF	1971–82		390	48
2014	Bobby Collins	MF	1958–62		133	42
2013	Derek Temple	FW	1957–67		234	72
2012	Brian Labone	CB	1958–71		451	2
2011	Duncan Ferguson	FW	1994–98, 2000–06		240	62
2010	Trevor Steven	MF	1983–89		210	48
2009	Harry Catterick	FW	1946–51	1961–1973	59	19
2008	Gordon West	GK	1962–72		402	0
2007	Colin Harvey	MF	1963–74	1987–1990	384	24
2006	Peter Reid	MF	1982–89		234	13
2005	Graeme Sharp	FW	1979–91		447	159
2004	Joe Royle	FW	1966–74	1994–97	275	119
2003	Kevin Ratcliffe	CB	1980–91		461	2
2002	Ray Wilson	LB	1964–68		151	0
2001	Alan Ball	MF	1966–71		251	79
2000	Howard Kendall	MF	1966–74, 1981	1981–87, 1990–93, 1997–98	274	30
2000	Dave Watson	CB	1986–99	1997	522	38
2000	Neville Southall	GK	1981–97		751	0
2000	Bob Latchford	FW	1973–80		286	138
2000	Alex Young	FW	1960–67		272	89
2000	Dave Hickson	FW	1951–59		243	111
2000	T. G. Jones	CB	1936–49		178	5
2000	Ted Sagar	GK	1929–52		500	0
2000	Dixie Dean	FW	1924–37		433	383
2000	Sam Chedgzoy	MF	1910–25		300	36
2000	Jack Sharp	MF	1899–09		342	80

Greatest ever 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.

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

• Dixie Dean (2002 inductee)
• Paul Gascoigne (2002 inductee)
• Alan Ball (2003 inductee)
• Tommy Lawton (2003 inductee)

• Gary Lineker (2003 inductee)
• Howard Kendall (2005 inductee)
• Peter Beardsley (2007 inductee)
• Mark Hughes (2007 inductee)

• Neville Southall (2008 inductee)
• Ray Wilson (2008 inductee)
• Joe Mercer (2009 inductee)
• Harry Catterick (2010 inductee)

• Peter Reid (2014 inductee)

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.

• Alan Ball
• Dixie Dean

• Paul Gascoigne
• Tommy Lawton

• Gary Lineker
• Joe Mercer

• Neville Southall
• Alex Young

Coaching staff

Roberto Martínez in 2013

Position	Name
Manager	Roberto Martínez
Assistant Manager	Graeme Jones
Goalkeeping Coach	Iñaki Bergara
Head of Performance	Richard Evans
Chief Scout	Kevin Reeves
First Team Development Coach	Dennis Lawrence
First Team Coach	Duncan Ferguson
Under 21 Head Coach	David Unsworth
Development Director	Joe Royle

Ownership and finance

Everton F.C. is a limited company with the board of directors holding a majority of the shares. The club's most recent accounts, from May 2014, show a net total debt of £28.1 million, with a turnover of £120.5 million and a profit of £28.2 million. The club's overdraft with Barclays Bank is secured against the Premier League's "Basic Award Fund", a guaranteed sum given to clubs for competing in the Premier League. Everton agreed a long-term loan of £30 million with Bear Stearns and Prudential plc in 2002 over the duration of 25 years; a consolidation of debts at the time as well as a source of capital for new player acquisitions. Goodison Park is secured as collateral.

Position	Name	Amount of Shares owned	Notes
Chairman	Bill Kenwright CBE	9,044	Elected to board October 1989.
Deputy chairman	Jon Woods	6,622	Elected to board March 2000.
Director	Robert Earl	8,146	Elected to board July 2007.
Director, Life President	Sir Philip Carter	714	Died in April 2015
Total amount of club owned by board members		24,526
Chief executive officer	Robert Elstone	-	Appointed in January 2009 following his role of Acting C.E.O.

Figures taken from 2013–14 accounts.

Shirt sponsors and manufacturers

Since 2004 Everton's shirt sponsors are Chang Beer. Previous sponsors include Hafnia (1979–85), NEC (1985–95), Danka (1995–97), one2one (1997–2002) and Kejian (2002–04). For the 2008–09 season Everton sold 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.

Everton's current kit manufacturers are Umbro, who have three times previously been the club's kit manufacturer (1974–83, 1986–2000, and 2004–09). Other previous manufacturing firms are Le Coq Sportif (1983–86, 2009–12), Puma (2000–04) and Nike (2012–14).

The club currently has two 'megastores', one located near to Goodison Park on Walton Lane named 'Everton One' and a store in the Liverpool One shopping complex, named 'Everton Two', giving the second store the address 'Everton Two, Liverpool One'.

Managers

Current manager, Roberto Martínez, is the fourteenth permanent holder of the position since it was established in 1939. There have also been four caretaker managers, and before 1939 the team was selected by either the club secretary or by committee. The club's longest-serving manager has been Harry Catterick, who was in charge of the team from 1961–73, taking in 594 first team matches. The Everton manager to win most domestic and international trophies is Howard Kendall, who won two Division One championships, the 1984 FA Cup, the 1984 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, and three Charity Shields.

Records and statistics

Goalkeeper Neville Southall made a record 751 first-team appearances for Everton between 1981 and 1997

Neville Southall holds the record for the most Everton appearances, having played 751 first-team matches between 1981 and 1997, and previously held the record for the most league clean sheets during a season (15). During the 2008–09 season, this record was beaten by American goalkeeper Tim Howard (17). 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 Second World 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. Amazingly, there was only 1 injury at this game-Tom Fleetwood was hit on the head by a coin thrown from the crowd whilst he marched around the perimeter with St Edward's Orphanage Band, playing the cornet. Goodison Park, like all major English football grounds since the recommendations of the Taylor Report were implemented, is now an all-seater and only holds just under 40,000, meaning it is unlikely that this attendance record will ever be broken at Goodison. Everton's record transfer paid was to Chelsea for Belgian forward Romelu Lukaku for a sum of £28m. Everton bought the player after he played the previous year with the team on loan.

Everton hold the record for the most seasons in England's top tier (Division One/Premier League), at 111 seasons out of 114 as of 2014–15 (the club played in Division 2 in 1930–31 and from 1951–54). They are one of seven teams to have played all 22 seasons of the Premier League since its inception in August 1992 – the others being Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur. Everton against Aston Villa is the most played fixture in England's top flight, as of the 2012–13 season the two founder members of the Football League have played a record 196 league games.

Everton’s community department

Everton’s community department, Everton in the Community (EitC) is a sporting charity with multisport and other social activities. Also represents the club to the European Multisport Club Association.

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 named the Chang-Everton cup which local schoolboys compete for. The club also have a football academy in Limassol, Cyprus and a partnership agreement with American club Pittsburgh Riverhounds.

The club also owned and operated 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. The team was an amalgam of the Toxteth Tigers community youth programme which started in 1968. The team quickly became one of the most successful in the league winning the BBL Cup in 2009 and the play-offs in 2010. However Everton withdrew funding before the 2010–11 season and the team was re launched as the Mersey Tigers.

Everton also have links with Chilean team Everton de Viña del Mar who were named after the English club. On 4 August 2010, the two Evertons played each other in a friendly named the Copa Hermandad at Goodison Park to mark the centenary of the Chilean team, an occasion organised by The Ruleteros Society, a society founded to promote connections between the two clubs. Other Evertons exist in Rosario in Colonia Department, Uruguay, La Plata, and Río Cuarto in Argentina, Elk Grove, California in the United States, and in Cork, Ireland.

In popular culture

Like all of the major clubs in England, Everton are referenced in many films, books, television programmes, songs and plays such as Boys from the Blackstuff, The Rutles' "All You Need Is Cash", Harry Enfield's "The Scousers" and a 1979 television advertisement for ITV's ORACLE teletext service.

The 1997 television film The Fix dramatised the true story of a match fixing scandal in which the club's recent newly signed wing half Tony Kay, played by Jason Isaacs, is implicated in having helped to throw a match between his previous club Sheffield Wednesday and Ipswich Town. The majority of the story is set during Everton's 1962–63 League Championship winning season with then manager Harry Catterick played by Colin Welland.

First shown in 1969, the television movie The Golden Vision, directed by Ken Loach, combined improvised drama with documentary footage to tell of a group of Everton fans for whom the main purpose of life, following the team, is interrupted by such inconveniences as work and weddings. The film's title character, celebrated forward Alex Young, was one of several who appeared as themselves.

The club have entered the UK pop charts on four occasions under different titles during the 1980s and 1990s when many clubs released a song to mark their reaching the FA Cup Final. "The Boys in Blue", released in 1984, peaked at number 82. The following year the club scored their biggest hit when "Here We Go" peaked at 14. In 1986 the club released "Everybody's Cheering The Blues" which reached number 83. "All Together Now", a reworking of a song by Merseyside band The Farm, was released for the 1995 FA Cup Final and reached number 27. When the club next reached the 2009 FA Cup Final, the tradition had passed into history and no song was released.

Honours

Domestic

• First Division:
  • Champions (9): 1890–91, 1914–15, 1927–28, 1931–32, 1938–39, 1962–63, 1969–70, 1984–85, 1986–87
  • Runners-up (7): 1889–90, 1894–95, 1901–02, 1904–05, 1908–09, 1911–12, 1985–86

• Second Division:
  • Winners (1): 1930–31
  • Runners-up (1): 1953–54

• FA Cup:
  • Winners (5): 1906, 1933, 1966, 1984, 1995
  • Runners-up (8): 1893, 1897, 1907, 1968, 1985, 1986, 1989, 2009

• Football League Cup:
  • Runners-up (2): 1977, 1984

• FA Charity Shield:
  • Winners (9): 1928, 1932, 1963, 1970, 1984, 1985, 1986 (shared), 1987, 1995
  • Runners-up (2): 1933, 1966

• Full Members Cup:
  • Runners-up (2): 1989, 1991

• Super Cup:
  • Runners-up (1): 1985–86

• FA Youth Cup:
  • Winners (3): 1965, 1984, 1998
  • Runners-up (4): 1961, 1977, 1983, 2002

• Central League:
  • Winners (4): 1913–14, 1937–38, 1953–54, 1967–68

• Lancashire Senior Cup:
  • Winners (6): 1894, 1897, 1910, 1935, 1940, 1964

• Liverpool Senior Cup:
  • Winners (45): 1884, 1886, 1887, 1890, 1891, 1892, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1904, 1906, 1908, 1910 (shared), 1911, 1912 (shared), 1914, 1919, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1928, 1934 (shared), 1936 (shared), 1938, 1940, 1945, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958 (shared), 1959, 1960, 1961, 1982 (shared), 1983, 1996, 2003, 2005, 2007

European

• European Cup Winners' Cup:
  • Winners: (1): 1985

External links

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• Official website
• Everton F.C. on BBC Sport: Club news – Recent results – Upcoming fixtures
• Everton News – Sky Sports
• Everton F.C. – Premierleague.com
• Everton Former Players' Foundation
• Everton fans' site