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Everton FC
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Everton FC Information
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| Address: |
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Goodison Park, LIVERPOOL. L4 4EL |
| Telephone: |
(0151)
330 2200 |
| Fax: |
(0151)
286 9112 |
| Founded: |
1878 |
| Stadium: |
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Noticias del Everton FC |
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Everton FC History
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Everton F.C. is an English
football club from the city of Liverpool and was founded in
1878. The club's nickname is the Toffees and their home ground,
known as Goodison Park, has a capacity of 40,260.
Origins
The club's roots lie in an English Methodist congregation called
New Connexion, which decided to build a new chapel in the
Liverpool area in 1868. The following year, the church bought
some land on Breckfield Road North, between St. Domingo Vale and
St. Domingo Grove. This was located near the district of Everton,
which had become part of the City of Liverpool in 1835.
St. Domingo Methodist Church's new chapel was opened in 1871 and
six years later, Rev B.S. Chambers was appointed Minister. He
was responsible for starting a cricket team for the youngsters
in the parish. Because cricket can only be played in the summer,
they had to find something to play during the other seasons as
well. So a football club called St. Domingo F.C. was formed in
1878. A lot of people outside the parish were interested in
joining the football club so it was decided that the name should
be changed. In November 1879 at a meeting in the Queen's Head
Hotel, the team name was changed to Everton Football Club, after
the surrounding district.
Ground
Everton originally played in the southeast corner of Stanley
Park 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 for a couple of years before moving onto
Anfield in 1884 which was Everton's home until 1892 when a rent
dispute led to Everton leaving the ground and to the formation
of a new, rival team. The new club, which was named Liverpool
F.C., set up at Anfield and Everton moved onto Goodison Park
where they remain to this day. Ever since those events a fierce
rivalry has existed between Everton and Liverpool.
Goodison Park has staged more top flight football games than any
other ground in the country and became the only English club
ground to host a World Cup Semi-Final in 1966. It was also the
first English ground to have undersoil heating, two tiers on all
sides and a three tier stand. Goodison is the only ground in the
world that features a church in its grounds- St Luke the
Evangelist at the corner of the Main Stand and the Gwladys
Street End.
Crest
At the end of the 1937/38 season, club secretary Theo Kelly, who
later became The Toffees first post-war manager, wanted to
design a club necktie. It was agreed that the colour should be
blue, but Kelly was given the task of designing a crest to be
featured on the tie.
Kelly put thought into the matter for four months until deciding
on a reproduction of the ‘Beacon’ which stands in the heart of
the Everton district. ‘The Beacon’ or ‘Tower’ has been
inextricably linked with the Everton area since it’s
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 Heraldry
and Arms in London, Mr. Kelly chose to include the laurels as
they were the signs of winners in classical times. The crest was
accompanied by the club motto, "Nil Satis, Nisi Optimum", which
means "Only 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.
Interestingly however, the club rarely incorporated a badge of
any description on its shirts. An interwoven ‘EFC’ design was
adopted between 1922-1930 before reverting back to plain royal
blue shirts until 1973 when bold ‘EFC’ lettering was used. The
crest designed by Kelly was first used on the teams shirts in
1980 and has remained ever since, undergoing gradual change to
become the version used today.
Colours & Nicknames
During the first decades Everton had several different colours
and nicknames. The team originally played in blue and white
stripes but these were soon turned into a mess when new players
wore their old team's shirts during matches. Soon it was decided
that the shirts would be dyed black to both save on expenses and
look more professional. During this time, Everton were nicknamed
"The Black Watch", after the famous army brigade.
When the club moved to Goodison Park, they played in salmon
stripes with blue shorts before switching again to ruby shirts
with blue trim and dark blue shorts. The famous royal blue
jerseys with white shorts were first used in 1901-02 which is
obviously the origin of the familiar nickname "The Blues". The
scientific style of play employed by the team at one period lead
to the name "The School of Science".
The most widely recognised nickname which continues to be used
even now came about after Everton had moved to Goodison, when
they became known as "The Toffees" or "The Toffeemen". There are
several possible explanations for how this name came to be
adopted, the most well known is that in those days, 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 will walk 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. And finally, 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.
Recent Events
The 1990s were a difficult time for the Toffeemen, with
financial difficulties and several end of season near-escapes
from relegation. However, since the appointment in March 2002 of
a new manager, David Moyes, they improved greatly and finished
the 2002-2003 season in seventh place, narrowly missing
qualification for the UEFA Cup. However in the 2003-2004 season
they finished 4th from bottom, the lowest league position to
avoid relegation, with the lowest season points total in the
club's history.
Another key factor in Everton's recent revival was the emergence
of a rising young star, Wayne Rooney. In one of his first games
for the club, in October 2002, he entered football folklore by
scoring a sensational last-minute winner against the then League
champions Arsenal, consigning them to their first league defeat
for almost a year. He has also figured prominently in recent
England international matches, after having become the youngest
ever player to play for England, in a friendly against
Australia, in February 2003. Rooney went on to establish himself
as a true superstar at Euro 2004. Rooney requested a transfer on
August 27 giving the reason that he wanted to play European
football on a regular basis, which wasn't happening at Everton;
on August 31, 2004, he moved to Manchester United in a deal that
may eventually be worth between £20 million and £27 million (the
final amount will depend on both United and Rooney's success).
Everton have started the 2004-2005 season in surprisingly good
form, having been tipped by many in the media to be relegated
this year. After an opening game 4-1 loss to champions Arsenal
they have embarked on a remarkable run and are challenging for a
Champions League spot. In fact with just six games left in the
season they are above their rivals Liverpool and are in a
Champions League spot.
Late in 2004, the club was in talks with Liverpool regarding
sharing that club's proposed new stadium at Stanley Park. Among
the more contentious terms in the negotiations was ownership of
the new facility - Liverpool wanted to retain ownership of
Stanley Park while Everton wanted an even share. Historically it
has appeared that Everton would be more willing to groundshare
than Liverpool, although both sets of fans are fiercely opposed
to the idea. On January 11, 2005, the clubs announced that they
were abandoning the groundshare plan. |
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Everton FC Honours, Trophies & Awards
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- League
Champions: (9) 1890-91, 1914-15, 1927-28,
1931-32, 1938-39, 1962-63, 1969-70, 1984-85,
1986-87
- FA Cup:
(5) 1906, 1933, 1966, 1984, 1995
- Charity
Shield: (9) 1928, 1932, 1963, 1970, 1984,
1985, 1986 (shared), 1987, 1995
- European
Cup Winners' Cup: (1) 1985
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