Former Everton goalkeeper, Tim Howard, was inducted into the USA’s National Soccer Hall Of Fame this weekend and he had some glowing things to say about the Blues and his former manager, David Moyes, during his acceptance speech.
Initially joining Everton on loan in 2006, the New Jersey native was then signed permanently by Moyes and would go on to play 414 times for the Club, including in the FA Cup Final against Chelsea, over the following decade.
The high point of his international career came during the 2014 World Cup where he became a household name in America for his exploits against Belgium in which he made a record 16 saves as part of the United States’ valiant extra-time defeat in the Round of 16.
Now a regular pundit on NBC Sports’s coverage of the Premier League, the 45-year-old Howard who was capped 121 times by the US was added to his country’s roll of honour in a ceremony in Frisco, Texas.
“Everton Football Club and David Moyes…” he said. “If Manchester United is the biggest football club in the world, then Everton, without doubt, is the greatest. Everton is one of the best things that ever happened in my life.
“I am so very proud to be an Evertonian and what that means and how much of a fabric of the Club that I am.
“David Moyes is the greatest manager I ever played for. I stand before you today to tell you that if he asked me to run through the gates of Hell seven days a week, I’d smash them every single day because that’s how great it was.
“He instilled in me leadership, accountability, responsibility, taught me to be mature… I grew up into the person that I always hoped I’d be playing for David Moyes.”