Column

Which Everton Are You?

I dug out the Everton Official History Video the other day, you know, the BBC one narrated by John Motson in the late 80s. I hadn?t seen it for years and it gave me a timely reminder about what this grand old club is all about. We were the Mersey Millionaires, the School of Science. Back then we were even a member of the ?big four?. Yet there were also times that weren?t so successful, when we struggled, and were even relegated!

Fast forward to today, and it seems the fans are divided as ever as to whether Everton are making progress at the moment, and if the next chapter in our History will be one of success or continued mediocrity. But recently the amount of infighting and vitriolic criticism of fellow Blues' opinions on this subject (and even the questioning of their credentials as Evertonians!) especially on this site, got me thinking....

As our great history has showed, success is relative, and it seems the fans of this great club are moulded by what they have seen previously and been brought up on. Their first Everton team, their star player, a key event or historic moment that set them off on what will become a lifelong path of Evertonia. While we all support the same team (and will always support them, just as passionately, regardless of whether you keep going to games, buy the shirts etc...), we all have our own personal version of what Everton is all about and what it means to be a blue.

Take me for example, the first season I started to watch Everton regularly was 1993-94. Not the best I?m sure you will agree. In fact every game I went to that year we seemed to lose, pushing us further towards relegation. It got to the point where I was so paranoid that I was jinxing the team I refused to go to the games because I was so desperate for us to get some points! For THAT Wimbledon game I even refused to listen to the radio (because we always seemed to lose then as well) and resorted to looking at teletext!

So as a young Evertonian I was exposed early to disappointment and despair. But following our ?great escape? and the clean slate of a new season I was determined to show my support and attend as many games as I could. As you all know at the start of the 1994/5 season, when still under Mike Walker, we couldn?t even score let alone win. Yet still I was attracted; the games were rubbish, the players were poor, but I still went, somewhere deep inside there was a hope that it would all be worth it. Queue my first hero, Mr D Ferguson, THAT goal in the derby and come May, our first silverware of the 90s.

All those disappointments suddenly became worth it, the glory years that I could only see on video or hear about from older blues were suddenly here, and I loved it....while it lasted.

Sadly as we all know the rest of the 90s proved frustrating and at times humiliating. But I was hooked, the hope of another miraculous cup run, or another hero like big Dunc emerging meant that I developed an in-built reaction to keep positive, despite Everton letting you down year after year. A 13th place finish in 1999-2000 became a good season because ?we were in the top 10 most of the year?. This wasn?t a case of lowering standards, I still wanted Everton to be the best, but, given what I had sat through previously any progress is seen as a good thing.

So when David Moyes took charge and slowly started to sift away the deadwood of Walter Smith'0s reign, I suddenly had reason to feel more positive than ever. Europe was a word that started to be muttered around Goodson, but this time we weren?t joking! Along with my first home game, my first derby, and my first away game, I was longing to watch Everton in Europe for the first time, and it was no longer a pipe-dream anymore.

As we look forward to an extended run in Europe for the first time in over 20 years and with the chances of us being relegated slim, I have plenty of reasons to feel reasonably contended the way things are going and the progress we are making.

I know this view point will get some peoples backs up but I have my reasons. After the Everton I have been brought up with, I am prepared to take some disappointing results and scrappy performances because compared to what I am used to, we are going in the right direction, albeit slowly. You can?t blame me for that; my passion for Everton and desire to see them succeed is the same as every Evertonian.

Similarly, I can understand (even if I don?t agree with) those who want Moyes out and demand free-flowing attacking football. They were probably those who were present at those events I can only watch on video. They were there when Everton was the greatest name in football and see this present team as a shadow of what has gone before.

Before you all start, this isn?t a pro-Moyes rant, far from it. I feel has made mistakes and come the end of the season we will all assess his position and see whether he can take us to that mythical ?next level?. But what I am saying is that if someone is happy with the way things are going, or conversely wants the Manager and Board out, it doesn?t make them any less of an Evertonian and their opinion worth criticizing. Everton is as much my club as it is yours and what makes it great is the passion of our knowledgeable fans and the contrasting emotions supporting them gives us

I?m all for debate, I wouldn?t spend most of the day on this site instead of working if I didn?t. It's what makes footie interesting and gives us something to talk about in the pub before the game! But please boys and girls, respect your fellow blues and leave the infighting to those reds across the park.

Reader Comments

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer