EVERTON SOCCER REPLICAS |
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EVERTON HOME JERSEY |
EVERTON AWAY JERSEY |
| Everton F.C. is
an English football club from the city of Liverpool and was
founded in 1878. The club's nickname is the Toffeemen and
their home ground, known as Goodison Park, has a capacity of
40,260. Originally the club played at Anfield, but in 1892 a rent dispute led to Everton being evicted from the ground and to the formation of a new, rival team. The new club, which called itself Liverpool F.C., stayed at Anfield and Everton moved to Goodison Park. The fierce rivalry between the two clubs has persisted to this day. Everton are the only club to have played 100 seasons in the English football league's top division. They were one of 12 founding members of the league in 1888, and have spent only four seasons outside the highest division since then, the last being the 1953-54 campaign. Only Arsenal has had a longer unbroken run in the top flight. 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 Man U's success in European competition). 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 sitting at 4th in the Premiership table. It remains to be seen if they can maintain this form, but nearly halfway into the season they are looking good for their position. 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 and rent it to Everton if they wish. 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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