James - congratulations on submitting your first article to ToffeeWeb ? As David Moyes would say "Long may it continue".

Regarding your friends at college you can tell them that, as an Evertonian you are, because Brian Labone said so, "worth 20 Liverpudlians".

The reason I love Everton can be summed up in the words of Alan Ball who said "Once Everton has touched you, nothing will be the same". This is what happened to me ? my dad loved Everton (God rest his soul) and introduced me to Goodison when I was 10 (49 years ago), and that was it ? it was great.

Lastly, let me leave you with a quote from another great Evertonian (my dad) ? "We will be great again".

Da da daaa, de da da da da, da da daaa, de da da da ------

We know, no matter what the other lot win across the park, we were here first, and we will still be here at the end when they have done a Leeds. We are born not manufactured... COYB

It?s nearly 10 years since I was last at Goodison, almost 40 since I left the UK. My family can?t understand why I get up at ridiculous hours of the night to watch my beloved Blues on TV, and I can?t explain it.

I too remember the greats, Brian Labone, Alan Ball, the "Holy Trinity", the Golden Vision etc. I remember the ecstacy of Wembly in 1966 and the despair in 1968. I was there when the young Joe Royle took the place of "God" and the fans told Catterick what they thought. We all took it so very personally.

I was here in Australia when I felt the anger when he sold Bally. I still feel the bile rise up in my throat when I think of the Red Shites who killed our European hopes in the 80s after their Juventus disgrace. All of these things are what go toward making me love Everton. Your reasons will be different. It doesn?t matter. Just keep the love affair alive!

Following Everton is never going to be easy. I guess you’d call it "character building". I think that is ONE of the things that marks us apart from some other teams’ supporters. Combine that with our past glories/ long history and you have quite a mixture. I think we all know how difficult it is for us to overcome the Sky 4 cartel etc but if & when we do then it will so much sweeter than any of their victories.

The reason why we love the Blues is that they are always kicking us in the bollocks! We all must be masochists. I?ve been watching the Blues home and away for over 50 years and still get butterflies on the morning of the match. Long may it continue.

When I was a kid I was a football boffin, I read everything and always used to say to armchair reds during the 70s and 80s "we will be back as football goes around in circles, big clubs always come back" as the history books proved this. They scoffed at my words ? the same words, by the way, Alex Ferguson used not too long ago.

Anyhow, the 70s and 80s tears made me love the Blues more and guess what? I left in 1985 and guess who was top of the football tree? Oh how I reminded those armchair reds...

So, for all those young Blues out there sitting in your classroom with those arrogant bastards, most of whom wont ever visit that shithole, keep the faith as Zeppelin sang in my car coming to work ?Your time is gonna come?!

Thank you for the compliments Laurie. Funnily enough having beat The Shite, the very next day at college, I couldn?t resist the temptation of wearing my 1 is worth 20 t-shirt. To demonstrate how proud I was and to rub it in the face of a Gobshite Red. They call me two-faced and maybe I am but these moments are priceless and I wanted to revel in every minute of it.
COYB FTRS

James, welcome to the board.

I cannot explain how Everton makes me feel, as it is totally illogical due to my passion for them.

I actually lost my last girlfriend because of the Blues, as I placed going the match above spending quality time with her and for not listening to her enough, I think that is what she said ? I wasn?t really paying attention, as the match was on.

I thought I loved her but Everton took over and the weekends were usually spent at the match or watching it in the First National, so the weekends were a washout to her.

What I think I am trying to say is that Bally got it right and once you let the Blueboys in you will never be the same.

It is character building, especially for the new lads who have never experience the absolute delight of winning something, that is why we are worth 20 of those horrible, smug, classless and arrogant glory-hunters across the park. Always remember that and you will do fine!

With regards to the rings for Everton stuff, do you have to purchase them off the official site or is there a place where you can download them for free???
Thanks in advance

Supported the Blues for over 40 years and I too have my ring tone as ?Z Cars? and ?Grand Old Team? as message alert ? full version. I got mine via Bluetooth from my Blue daughter. She passed it around the blue side of the family ? yes we have reds in there... niece, cousins etc.

Born not manufactured is spot on and we a proper worldwide family.
COYB

I don?t know the answer to the question but in my case I just grew up with them from an age that was so young I don?t remember my first game in fact don?t remember much about my first season.They are just like a big brother who seems to have always been there. I guess they are just ?Family?
UP THE BLUES

James,
When you were up for the Villa game, don?t you think us Evertonians were the most handsomest, muscular sods youv?e ever seen as well? And the ladies, oo la la!!! Bloody ?ell where?s me tablets..........

I love them so those boys in blue, why do I??? DUNCAN FERGUSON! My hero, I loved him, I cried when he left the first time and when he came back I cried too! He was the main reason I fell in love with them.

However, in a world full of Plastic Armchair Fans only supporting the "Sky 4", I feel honoured to be a supporter of what really really is the most Magical Football Club in the World. I love Everton more than anything. COYB FTRS!!!!!! See you at Wembley, guys!

What does it mean to be an Evertonian? Well, as Max Bygraves used to say....’Let me tell you a story’.

My mate and I always go to the Supporters Club (upstairs in the Winslow) before every home game. But for some reason I can’t quite explain, we always have the last pint downstairs. We stay till the last minute because we have season tickets in the Park End and there is never a queue.

Just as we were getting ready to leave the Winslow before the Villa Cup game a group of people came in and they were looking for seats. It turns out that there was a Nan and Granddad , two of their sons,
a daughter-in-law ,a little girl of about 6 (in one of those pink Everton tops!) and two young lads about 8 and 10.

As we were leaving anyway and there were a few empty seats around us we called them over while we stood up to finish our Guiness. They took their seats and they were made up because they were right in front of the telly! They were all bedecked in their colours. We had a little chat to them all before we left and the Granddad was almost apologetic when he told us they would all rather be in the Stadium but that they all wanted to watch the game together and as a family there was no way they could afford it.

It turned out that the whole group came from the Dingle! (If you don’t know Liverpool, James, that’s about 8 or 9 miles away from Goodison)

They could have watched the match at home on the telly or in a local pub. But although they couldn’t afford to get into the Stadium, they travelled all the way from Dingle just to be as close to their beloved Blues as they could while they watched the game on television.

We wished them well before leaving and I had mixed feelings as I walked over to the turnstiles. On the one hand I was bloody furious at how people like that have been priced out of watching football and on the other I was absolutely proud to share a love of Everton with people like that.

Being an Evertonian is like being a member of a family. We are a massive Club with as much tradition and history as any other and more than most. We have suffered adversity and we are the unluckiest Club in the world. Three great teams have been knackered by events beyond our control....the First World War, the Second World War and the onslaught of the Barbarians (Heysel) How many trophies might we have won between 1914-18, 1939-45 and if Heysel had never have happened?

This adversity has bound us together and, just like any family, sometimes we bicker and have full blown family rows (like over Kirkby!) but there is nothing, absolutely nothing, like the atmosphere of Goodison Park and the feeling of togetherness once you are in there.

I just wish it was possible for people like that family from Dingle to experience it more often.

James ? I too consider myself a lifelong Everton fan but born and bred in the West Midlands. I have been supporting the Blues for 25 years now and as I young teenager at the time I suppose some might have regarded me as a bit of a "glory hunter" as at that time we were entering the heady days of the Howard Kendall era. I would love to call myself an Evertonian rather than an Everton fan though I suppose that special word is reserved only for those who live up on Merseyside and rightly so.

I have been driving the M6/M62 corridor now for all that time going up to our beloved Goodison. (I think I could drive it blind folded now!)

So what is it and what was it that made me choose Everton rather than Aston Villa who my Dad, brother and all my family support? I?ll tell you. It's feeling like you belong to something that?s worth belonging to. Something that has history, tradition and pride and a club that has respect for its fans and the community it serves as well as refusing to sell itself out to commercial interests that wouldn?t have the clubs best interests at heart. (I like the old fashioned stuff ? it?s a breath of fresh air in these times.)

I tried Villa as a kid, going with my Dad and brother but for some reason when I went there, I just couldn?t find that magical ingredient that makes you want to go back again and again. It therefore became a drag after a while. But my first visit to Goodison which was at the invitation of a young friend celebrating his birthday got me hooked from the minute we got out of the car in Stanley Park. After that I couldn?t get enough. The atmosphere and banter at times is just electric! And so for 25 years now I have been happily making that same journey to the north west to watch a team that doesn?t always perform, in a ground that is well past its sell by date, to eat pies that should have a health warning on them but also to mix with the friendliest bunch of supporters you ever want to meet.

I take my two boys now and every time I sit in the Bullen's Road or main stand and hear that Z-Cars tune start up and the team emerging from the tunnel I?m not embarrassed to say I get a lump in the throat and the eyes water a little.

I can?t explain it, but you know what? ?.that's what makes it so magical because you just can?t explain it. Once you?re hooked on Everton its for life!

Thanks for the comments, everyone ? most appreciated. And to your question, Dave Roberts, I can happily say I know where the Dingle is as my nan was born there. But as you pointed out, we can only imagine what we would have won if it weren?t for the two world wars and Heysel. We could have had a far grander history but for events completely out of our hands that knackered this. But as Evertonians, we are a proud bunch and a unique set of supporters that I just don't think you can find anywhere else.

As for Colin Potter's comment, I don't think anyone is better than Scousers in any department; simple as that ? if there's two things I go up to Liverpool for: the football and chips; how you lot who still live in the city are spoilt.... haha.
COYB FTRS

Mathew, James,

Just to put the issue to bed. It matters not one jot where you live or were you come from. If the ?smell? of Goodison and the sound of Z-Cars brings a lump to the throat and a tear to the eye then you are an EVERTONIAN!

Don?t confuse living beyond the sound of the 1-o?clock gun and being an Evertonian with all those Norwegians who go to Anfield just waiting for the next trophy!

(The reference to the 1-o?clock gun is an old scouse saying. It was fired from the docks at that time every day years ago and scousers used to say, if you couldn?t hear it from your house, you weren?t a scouser!)

Thanks, Dave.
I live in India, have supported Everton for 22 years now. Everytime the players walk out, I feel like I'm at Goodison watching em. Everytime they chant, "It's a Grand Old Team" or "We Shall Not Be Moved", I sing at home too. I have already said that I want to be buried in Everton colours coz I?ll never stop being an Evertonian. My wife and family are diehard fans and will always be too. COYB

Why do I love Everton? Wearing that royal blue jersey just keeps me going! Been a supporter since the 88-89 season, I have been through ups and downs but have never given up hope on our guys. Everton FC symbolises me: it?s never a stroll-in-the-park, but I ain?t fuckin? givin? up!

I still remember the fist-fights and black eyes I have received during games. Two came in 95 (short duration of two months):

#1. When Ferguson headed the goal that took the lives out of Man Utd in Goodison. The next day in school... let?s put it... things didn?t get too rosy between a few United mates of mine.

#2. The FA Cup Final. First time watching the game in a club, was running around screaming madly when the final whistle was blown. Didn?t know that a guy was actually stalking me from behind (must be a disgruntled Man Utd fan, but I can still remember his ugly face). He pushed me from behind and I hurt myself very badly while falling down. All hell broke loose... and the rest was history!

#3. In 2007, during the Twattenberg Derby. Yea we lost... and I was the only Blue in a club infested with RS species. But at least I had the guts to stand on top of a table which was closest to the screen and wearing my royal blue jersey proudly shouting "Referee kelong!! You don?t deserve the win!" As usual, that got some counter-reactions and an uncomfortable eye!

The moral of the story is... I?m not a trouble maker and nowadays I take victory and defeat with a little bit of dignity. But I?m not born in Liverpool, I?m not British, I?m not related by blood to any players or boardroom people of EFC and I have never been to Goodison... but if I stand up and take the pain all in the name of the game... then I share the same love and passion of every EVERTONIAN!!! Peace...

Dave (Roberts),
Thanks for the comments and the history of the 1 O?clock gun. Now I will proudly tell everyone i?m an Evertonian and not an Everton fan!

One little story for everyone:- living in this area of the West Midlands I am surrounded by Villa fans and Birmingham bluenoses. The blue noses are quite humble really and rarely shout their mouths off. Villa fans? ? say no more.

Anyway, when we played Villa in the recent FA Cup game, I took the kids down to a local club where Birmingham blue noses hang out to watch it on the big screen. They hate Villa so they were very welcoming when they saw my scarf and the kids shirts. My youngest also has an Everton flag which he bought from one of the sellers outside Goodison last season.

After the game he proudly stuck it out the window of the car as we drove the 3 miles home so everyone knew we were happy Evertonians. The best part was that as we drove up our road there was a house on the other side to ours about 100 yards down and guess what? It had a flag exactly the same as ours hanging out the bedroom window! That really made my day and it was the icing upon the cake. We?ve now met up and the kids have made some new ?Everton? friends.

So there really are plenty of us out there, even in the streets of the West Midlands!!

Why it?s special to be an Evertonian?

The history, oh that lovely history,
That Goodison roar under floodlights,
The feeling of being chosen,
Its people (every one a gem),
The feeling you get walking up to the grand old lady on matchday,
The class and dignity,
But all-in-all it's just the pride, honour and unmistakable feeling that we are all one that just makes you want to tell the world, "WE ARE EVERTON!"

It’s a bloody nightmare trying to explain some stuff to my mates, most of them are kopites/mancs and they just don’t understand why I support a team that isn’t in CL, competing year in year out etc. etc. same old shit. The highlight today was when they asked which Prem side I would support if Everton folded and I said I could never support another, one said, in his exact words:

"Why not? Chelsea are dead good, like"

Being an Evertonian... Maybe the greatest blessing, and a damn curse at times. But all of it seems to make sense when you follow the Toffeemen.

I was born at the end of the 70s so remember the all conquering 80s. It was apparently down to me we equalised twice in the 89 final (since whenever I went in the garden because I couldn?t stand the tension any more, we scored).I listened the the escape against relegation against Wimbledon on City, and jumped around the pitch after the 1-1 draw against Coventry.

We all revelled in the final victory in ?95. Most teams can mention ups and downs, celbrating victories and drowning sorrows when we?ve lost. But for some reason we seem to have so much more. So many pros, once touched by us, become blues.

We?re one of the oldest, one of the most successful, and certainly the proudest club in the world. And to me that sums it up. Us fans are all PROUD to be part of the FAMILY no matter what happens.
COYB.

I?ve only followed the club for 6 years so I can?t relate to the glory years nor the lowest points. Like all of us I hope we can get back to our former glory, but for me part of the fun is earning it. Watching this sleeping giant of a club claw its way back to the top of the tree.

Sure we have financial constraints, but we are not a club full of mercenaries with no passion for the badge.

I can respect how good a team Man Utd are but unless you are from Manchester I can?t understand what enjoyment fans get of watching a side that has been at the top for so long and is expected to win everything. To me, that's boring.

I?m 65 now and retiring but I?m certainly not retiring when Everton get mentioned!

Lumps in throats, shivers down the spine, going crazy when they win and especially when they won the league.......

It all began for me more than 50 years ago..... Sitting in the Bullens Road stand enjoying the contents of a picnic basket that my rather corpulent Aunt would produce at each match. A most unlikely fan you might say. Not a bit of it. She could swear like a trooper too when she had a mind to. She?d learned that in an aircraft factory during the war....

Well, I digress: Man Utd and Liverpool may say: we?re the biggest teams in the world. Ah, but Everton are the BEST team in world.
COYB !!

Been supporting the blues since the 80s. I can’t claim to be part of the Everton family, whatever that is, but I have Z-Cars on my ringtone, and the other times when I hear it, why does it make my eyes water?

Everton is a beautiful club surrounded by beautiful people, on and off the pitch. I take a lot of pride in having Dixie (60 league goals) and Alan Ball (MOTM World Cup Final 66) playing for us, in their pomp. But I named by second lad after a great Evertonian - Rhys. We are the People’s Club.

The best thing about being an Evertonian is that no matter where you are, which ever pub you sit down to watch the game in, there’s always another blue in there.

I love the fact that someone jumps up when I do.

I live in Newcastle and have done for years. Somedays my local used to have more blues in that barcodes.

I have no family connection to Liverpool, but was recruited to the blues by a family friend, just like his kids. I was too young to remember the glory days, instead growing up on a diet of big Dunc, Paul Rideout and an FA Cup win.

And now it’s my turn to spread the word, I’ve converted my geordie missus to the point where she’s the one jumping up in the pub and enjoying her trips to Goodison.

I took my youngser sister to her first game against Sunderland at Christmas and her eyes lit up when the boys came out to Z cars.

Once they get under your skin, there’s no way back.

James, just a wee ditty for you to spout at the rs, and for Gosling as well:

Handsome Dan, the Everton man,
Stood out like a thorn amongst bankers
He didn?t say much, just stood there all butch
And laughed at the red shite wankers!

Thank you for that song Colin i’ll keep it in mind.
WHO PUT THE BALL IN THE RED SHITE NET?
SUPER DANNY GOSLING
COYB FTRS

I have been following Everton since the ’86 FA Cup final against the RS. My brother said he was going for them so I went for the blues and even though we lost I was happy it was the blues that I had decided to follow. There has been plenty of ups and downs in that time but I am still glad to be a blue. Hopefully one day I will get to go to Goodison and have the same experiences that many on this board have had. Being an Australian it is not that easy to get there and experience a game day but I hope I get to one day. Maybe when I am in Germany later this year I could sneak away and catch a match.

My love affair with Everton streches back to the late seventies, watching a English footy show called the Big Match (back in those days, this was our only contact with English football. Now we get every match) here in Malaysia. Despite growing up witha brother who was a firm Man United fan, I duly fell in love with the likes of Latchford, Dobson, Lyons, Andy King and also the beautiful royal blue jersey. Blue has always been my colour see.

Over the years, there?s been more ups and downs, bar that glorious period in the eighties under Kendall where we were the team to beat in Europe, but the love has never faded.

Even after spending over a decade in the UK (most of it living in London), the thought of switching to another club, one nearer to where I lived for instance, like Arsenal or even Spurs, or even a team that was winning all the time and playing in Europe, never ever crossed my mind.

Don?t get me wrong, there have been many a time when i?ve thought to myself, fuck it, I?ve had enough, but that feeling never lasted more than couple of hours. Even when the football being played was utter tosh and the management from the directors down a joke, I never waivered.

I?m in my late-thirties now (how time flies) and still a staunch blue and proud of it. I can honestly say that supporting Everton at the moment under Moyes ranks up there with the best of times that I have experienced following our exploits.

I?m just so proud of the way we?ve managed to rise above all our obstacles with our integrity intact and our football improving all the time. I just know that success with this current squad and under the current manager is going to taste ever so sweet.

Favourite Everton moments? Beating Spurs and then United in the FA Cup 95, Barry Horne?s winner against Wimbledon to avoid relegation (both the worst and best day of my life that Saturday was), watching Trevor Steven and Kevin Sheedy play; Lineker?s 40 goal season; Greame Sharp?s wonder goal against the RS in the derby, thrashing Ravid Vienna in the CWC final.... the list goes on. COYB!!!!!

How can I forget winning the league... twice!!!! And beating Watford in the final.. and Super Dan Gosling’s goal against the RS.. finishing forth in the Prem and thus creating the nickname Rafa Beneathus... magic!!!