60 Fun Facts About Everton

Under what name were Everton founded in 1878, so a Methodist congregation could play sport year-round?

They played cricket in summer; the club took the name of the local area in November 1879 as outsiders wanted to join.

Which forward was top scorer with 21 goals as Everton won their first League title in 1890-91?

He scored in each of the first six matches; Everton finished two points clear of Preston North End.

Everton's first FA Cup win, at the third attempt in 1906, was against which club at Crystal Palace?

They lost the next year's final 2-1 to Sheffield Wednesday.

Everton's second title, in 1914-15, was won by a single point ahead of which club?

Bobby Parker was the league's top scorer with 35; Everton were reigning champions when both world wars halted football.

Everton signed Dixie Dean in 1925 from which club?

His statue now stands near the Park End on Walton Lane; he once lived in a club house built into the stand.

How many league goals did Dixie Dean score in 1927-28, a top-flight record that still stands?

He did it in 39 games and Everton won their third title.

Which club did Everton beat 3-0 in the 1933 FA Cup final?

A fifth championship followed in 1938-39, the last season before the Second World War.

After WWII, Everton tried to sell T. G. Jones to which Italian club?

Soon only Ted Sagar was left, and the club was relegated in 1950-51.

Everton missed just four top-flight seasons up to 2025-26. Which decade had three of them?

They were down for 1951-52 to 1953-54, the other absence being 1930-31; their 123 top-flight seasons are a record.

Which manager, appointed in 1961, won Everton the title in his second season and the FA Cup in 1966?

He also delivered the 1969-70 championship, nine points clear of Leeds; Colin Welland played him in the TV film The Fix.

Everton's 1966 FA Cup final win over Sheffield Wednesday is remembered for what?

Two years later they lost the final to West Bromwich Albion.

Everton's 1969-70 'Holy Trinity' midfield was Howard Kendall, Colin Harvey and who?

Many fans regard that near-Total Football side, with Joe Royle up front, as the club's finest ever.

Everton were the first English club to achieve what between 1961-62 and 1966-67?

The Catterick era ended with the 1970 title before a sharp decline in the early 1970s.

Which Everton striker topped the First Division scoring chart with 30 goals in 1977-78?

Gordon Lee's side finished fourth the following year, but he was sacked in 1981 with Liverpool dominant across the park.

Which club did Everton beat 3-1 in the 1985 Cup Winners' Cup semi-final, voted the greatest match in Goodison history?

They beat Rapid Vienna by the same score in the final for their only European trophy.

Everton's only European trophy, the 1985 Cup Winners' Cup, was won 3-1 in the final against which club?

Everton had also won the league that year and lost the FA Cup final to Manchester United, narrowly missing a treble.

Whose 1985 arrival from Leicester sparked Andy Gray's departure back to Aston Villa?

Lineker stayed one season, then left for Barcelona after Everton finished second in both league and Cup in 1985-86.

After winning the 1987 title, Howard Kendall left Everton to manage which Spanish club?

The Heysel ban had shut English clubs out of Europe; assistant Colin Harvey took over and reached the 1989 FA Cup final.

Which early Premier League-era manager is statistically the least successful in Everton's history?

Joe Royle replaced him in 1994 and won his first game 2-0 against Liverpool.

Who scored the only goal when Everton's 'Dogs of War' beat Manchester United in the 1995 FA Cup final?

Neville Southall made vital saves; it remains Everton's most recent major trophy.

In 1997-98 Everton stayed up only on goal difference at the expense of which club?

Howard Kendall was in his third spell as manager; Walter Smith replaced him that summer.

Wayne Rooney's first Everton goal in October 2002 ended which champions' unbeaten run?

At 16 he became the youngest league scorer in English history; he was sold to Manchester United for £28 million in 2004.

What nickname did the incoming manager give Everton in 2002, now semi-official?

'School of Science' came from a 1928 Steve Bloomer remark and 'Black Watch' from the club's brief black kit.

Which signing in September 2008 set a then club record fee of £15 million?

Moyes broke the record four times: Beattie £6m, Johnson £8.6m, Yakubu £11.25m and then Fellaini.

How many points did Everton earn in 2013-14, Roberto Martínez's first season and their best total in 27 years?

He was sacked two years later with the club 12th after semi-final exits in both cups.

Which manager was sacked in October 2017 after a 5-2 home defeat left Everton in the relegation zone?

The club had spent around £150 million that summer, including a British-record £25 million for goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.

Which former player was caretaker for three games in December 2019 before Ancelotti arrived, then stayed as assistant?

Ancelotti left in June 2021 to return to Real Madrid.

Rafael Benítez's 2021 appointment made him only the second person to manage both Everton and which club?

He was dismissed in January 2022 after nine losses in 13 games and replaced by Frank Lampard.

How many points was Everton docked in November 2023, the Premier League's biggest deduction, for breaching PSR rules?

It surpassed the nine taken from Portsmouth in 2010; the club had lost £124.5 million over three years against a £105 million limit.

Which American billionaire, owner of Roma, completed his purchase of Everton in December 2024?

A previous deal with Miami-based 777 Partners had collapsed; the Friedkins later launched Pursuit Sports to run both clubs.

Early Everton dyed their shirts black to save money, then added what to look less morbid?

The team were nicknamed 'The Black Watch' after the army regiment; royal blue arrived in 1901-02.

When Everton played in sky blue in 1906, what happened?

Away colours were traditionally white with black shorts until amber and blue arrived in 1968.

The building on Everton's crest, chosen by secretary Theo Kelly in 1938, is what?

Built in 1787 to hold drunks and minor criminals, it still stands on Everton Brow; the laurels signify winners.

What does Everton's Latin motto 'Nil satis nisi optimum' mean?

Kelly designed the crest for a club necktie first worn on the opening day of 1938-39; it reached the shirts in 1978.

What negative response did a fan-site poll register to Everton's unpopular 2013 crest redesign?

A petition passed 22,000 signatures, the head of marketing left, and the replacement won almost 80% of the vote.

The best-known explanation of the 'Toffees' nickname involves Mother Noblett's, a shop that sold what?

A Toffee Lady still throws free mints into the crowd before kick-off; a rival theory credits Ma Bushell's Toffee House.

Everton left Anfield in 1892 after a dispute over rent with landlord John Houlding, who then did what?

The FA refused to let him keep Everton's name, colours and league place, so the Merseyside derby was born of an eviction.

By 1888 Houlding had raised Everton's Anfield rent from £100 a year to how much?

The land had originally been lent by John Orrell for a small rent before Houlding bought it in 1885.

Goodison Park was officially opened in August 1892 with what, rather than a football match?

Lord Kinnaird and Frederick Wall of the FA did the honours before 12,000 people; Celtic Park opened the same day.

Goodison Park was the only English club ground to host what at the 1966 World Cup?

Eusébio scored six of his nine Golden Boot goals there and called it 'the best stadium in my life'.

Everton's walkout song 'Johnny Todd' is better known as the theme to which TV series?

In 1994 the club tried 2 Unlimited and a Creedence reworking instead; both were met with complete disapproval.

Which stadium architect designed Goodison Park's Bullens Road and Gwladys Street stands?

His 1909 Goodison Road stand was nicknamed the 'Mauretania Stand' after the giant Liverpool-registered liner.

Which 1960s Everton legend played himself in Ken Loach's 1969 TV film 'The Golden Vision'?

The film mixed improvised drama with documentary footage of fans for whom following Everton was life's main purpose.

Goodison Park hosted the climactic fight in which 2015 film, with Tony Bellew as the opponent?

Crowd footage from a home game against West Bromwich Albion was used, and Bellew wore the Everton badge on his shorts.

Everton's biggest chart hit, 'Here We Go', reached number 14 in which year?

'All Together Now', reworked from The Farm's song, reached 27 for the 1995 Cup final.

Which Beatle is an Everton supporter?

Everton fanzines include When Skies Are Grey and Speke from the Harbour.

Which Chilean club, named after Everton, played them at Goodison in 2010 in the 'Copa Hermandad'?

The Ruleteros Society exists to link the two clubs; other Evertons have played in Uruguay, Argentina, California and Cork.

Everton's new home from 2025-26 was built on a dock infilled with how much sea-dredged sand?

The 52,888-seat ground cost an estimated £760 million and took the name of sponsor Hill Dickinson.

What is Goodison Park's role from the 2025-26 season?

It became the largest dedicated women's football stadium in the UK; the men's last game was a 2-0 win over Southampton.

In August 2025 Everton became the first Premier League club to commit to what for all staff?

The club's March 2026 accounts showed net debt of £159 million and turnover of £196.7 million.

Which manager returned to Everton in January 2025 to replace Sean Dyche?

Dyche had kept the club up on the last day of 2022-23 with a 1-0 win over Bournemouth.

How many league titles have Everton won?

Add five FA Cups and the 1985 Cup Winners' Cup and the club counts fifteen major trophies, though its last came in 1995.

Which Everton goalkeeper holds the club appearance record with 751 first-team matches?

Ted Sagar is the longest-serving player at 23 years, while Tim Howard broke Southall's clean-sheet record with 17 in 2008-09.

Who is Everton's second-highest goalscorer of all time, with 159 goals behind Dixie Dean's 383?

Sharp was the spearhead of Howard Kendall's mid-1980s title winners.

Everton's record home attendance of 78,299 came in 1948 against which opponents?

The only injury that day was to a bandsman hit by a coin while playing the cornet; all-seater Goodison later held under 40,000.

Everton's record signing, Gylfi Sigurðsson for £45m in 2017, came from which club?

That same summer the club sold Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United; Wayne Rooney had gone the same way for a then-record £28m in 2004.

Which captain won seven trophies for Everton, making him the club's most decorated skipper?

Peter Farrell was captain for nine years from 1948 to 1957 yet never lifted a trophy; Nick Ross was the first captain in 1888-89.

Which 1928 remark by Steve Bloomer is thought to have inspired the nickname 'The School of Science'?

Earlier, in their black kit, the team had been dubbed 'The Black Watch' after the army regiment.

What was the capacity of Everton's new Hill Dickinson Stadium when it opened for 2025-26?

Built by Laing O'Rourke at an estimated £760 million, it stands on 2,500 concrete piles driven into the infilled dock.

What was the name of the basketball team the club owned and ran from 2007 until pulling funding in 2010?

They won the BBL Cup in 2009 and the play-offs in 2010 before being relaunched as the Mersey Tigers.