page_title: Everton F.C.
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Everton F.C. / History
caption_attribution_description: The Everton FC championship winning team of 1891
context_page_description: Everton Football Club are an English football club from the city of Liverpool. The club currently competes in the Premier League and have played more seasons in the top league of English football than any other team.
  Everton were founded in 1878. They have a long rivalry with Liverpool, whose ground is nearby. When they play each other the match known as the Merseyside derby. In the 1890s Everton played at Anfield, which later became Liverpool's stadium. The owner of the stadium put the rent up by so much the club decided to stop paying and leave and build their own instead. Everton were then based at a new stadium called Goodison Park. They still play there today.
context_section_description: Everton started out in 1878 with the name St Domingo's FC. At first it was only for people who went to St Domingo's church, but so many people were interested they let people from the local area join as well. A year later the club was renamed Everton Football Club, after the area. Everton Football Club's first ever match was against a team called St Peter's in 1879. Everton won 6-0.
  Everton entered the FA Cup in the 1886/87 season. They were beaten 1-0 by Rangers in the first round. As football became more and more popular around England, the clubs realised they needed an organised league. In 1888 the Football League was founded. Everton were one of the 12 founding members. Preston North End won the first two leagues and Everton won the third in 1891. They won their second ever trophy, the FA Cup, in 1905 but did not win another until 1916. It was not until 1927 that Everton had their first period of long success. In 1925 they signed Dixie Dean and in 1927 he scored 60 goals in 39 games, setting a new world record and taking Everton to another league title. Everton were relegated to the the second division in 1930/1931. Within a year they were promoted again, and the club has not been relegated again since, apart from in 1950/51 (which resulted in three seasons in the second tier). This makes them the English football team with the most consecutive seasons in the top league of English football, apart from Arsenal who have been in the top flight continuously since 1919/20.
  Everton's second successful period came after 1961 when Harry Catterick was appointed manager. With Catterick in charge Everton won two league titles and four cups between 1961 and 1970. This success did not last however, and after three years of low league finishes Catterick quit his job. The club finished in mid-table positions for the rest of the 1970s with a line of unsuccessful managers. In 1981 the club appointed Howard Kendall to be the new manager. He turned Everton around and eventually became the most successful manager in the clubs history, winning two league titles and three cups between 1981 and 1987. This era also brought Everton's one and only European title, the Cup Winners Cup in 1985. They won the final 3-1 against Rapid Vienna of Austria. The semi final saw Everton beat German champions Bayern Munich 3-1, a match voted the greatest of all time at Goodison Park. 
  In 1985 several Liverpool and Juventus fans died when the crowd started fighting at a stadium in Heysel, Belgium. UEFA decided that Liverpool fans were mainly to blame. Because of this all English clubs were not allowed to play against European teams untl 1991. This denied Everton the chance to defend their European title and the team gradually broke up, selling many of their best players to other European clubs. The club did not do very well in the early 90s, nearly getting relegated twice and going through lots of money problems. However they still became one of the first members of the new English Premier League when it started in 1992. They were quite successful under manager Joe Royle,who took over in 1994. In his second season in charge he kept Everton clear of relegation and won the FA cup, the club's first trophy in seven years. The club had steady improvement under Royle, finishing 6th and 7th in the 1996 and 1997 seasons.
  After two seasons however the club's performance went downhill and Kendall was sacked after barely avoiding relegation in the 1998-99 season. Former player Walter Smith took over for three seasons, but failed to perform well. He spent a lot of money but didn't bring the team to good league positions. David Moyes took over in 2002 and has been one of the club's most successful managers to date. Under his management the club has become a regular top 10 side, finishing 4th in 2005, their highest ever Premier League finish. The 4th place finish meant they qualified for the next season's UEFA Champions League. He left the team in 2013, after 11 years.
  Under his management Wayne Rooney was brought into the first team and he was quickly sold to Manchester 
caption: The league winning Everton team of 1891
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