Everton's Biggest Transfer Coups

Everton fans have not had much to shout about in recent seasons, with two successive relegation battles highlighting how far the club has fallen. The days of regularly finishing in the top half of the Premier League are a distant memory, while winning silverware has become the impossible dream.

Based on Everton’s lack of activity during the current transfer window, it is difficult to imagine next season offering any respite for supporters. While there is transfer drama aplenty elsewhere, the players linked with a move to Goodison Park have largely been a mix of veterans and underperformers. On that basis, anyone thinking of wagering on the next big-name player to move to Everton would need to think carefully before placing a bet.

Thankfully, some of the best betting sites will have various promotions for punters to take advantage of during the transfer window. This could help them to wager without using their own bankroll on Everton’s next big transfer once the club decides to step up their activity this summer.

The current state of play at Goodison Park is quite different from years gone by when the club regularly dipped into the transfer market. With that in mind, we head back in time to look at six of the biggest transfer coups in Everton’s history, starting with one player who went on to become a club legend.

Neville Southall

Howard Kendall acquired some useful knowledge of players in the lower leagues during his successful spell as player/manager at Blackburn Rovers. Kendall returned to Everton in 1981 and quickly used that familiarity to sign goalkeeper Neville Southall from Bury for £150,000.

His decision paid off in style, with Southall helping the club win five major trophies during a truly memorable spell for the club in the 1980s. Southall is rightly lauded as the greatest goalkeeper ever to play for Everton and Kendall’s move for him is the club’s top transfer coup of all-time.

William ‘Dixie’ Dean

For anyone who thinks professional football started with the launch of the Premier League in 1992, the name William ‘Dixie’ Dean may be a mystery to them.

Dean signed for Everton from Tranmere Rovers in March 1925 for £3,000 - a record fee at the time for any Third Division player. His goalscoring exploits became the stuff of legend, most notably when he netted an English record 60 goals in 39 league appearances in 1927/28.

Dean ended his Everton career averaging almost a goal per game for the club. As transfer moves go, his signing is one of the best in history.

Peter Reid

Injuries scuppered an earlier move to Everton for Reid, but the club eventually signed the defensive midfielder from Bolton Wanderers in 1982. Reid rarely featured during his first season at Goodison Park, but never looked back once he broke into the starting XI.

His best season was in 1984/85 when he played an integral role in the club winning the League Championship and UEFA Cup-Winners' Cup double. Reid’s long pass for Gary Lineker’s goal in the 1986 FA Cup Final highlighted there was much more to his game than doggedness.

Howard Kendall 

Everton already had a solid midfield with Alan Ball and Colin Harvey in their line-up, but Kendall was the icing on the cake after he was signed from Preston North End for £80,000 in 1967. He helped the Toffees win the First Division title in 1969/70, with the team finishing nine points clear of runners-up Leeds United.

Kendall subsequently had spells with Birmingham City, Stoke City and Blackburn, before returning to his beloved Everton as player/manager in 1981. After a sticky start at Goodison, he oversaw a truly golden age for Everton and is rightly lauded as one of the most legendary figures in the club’s history.

Kevin Sheedy

There is certain degree of satisfaction attached to taking a player off your biggest rivals and watching him blossom into a top talent. Kevin Sheedy’s £100,000 move from Liverpool to Everton in 1982 angered Reds manager Bob Paisley and the winger soon demonstrated why.

His magical left foot made him a joy to watch, bringing imagination to an Everton attack that became the scourge of teams at home and abroad. Sheedy was also part of the Republic of Ireland squad during their famous run to the quarter-finals of the 1990 World Cup. As the cliche goes, he was a top, top player.

Tim Cahill

David Moyes made several inspired signings as Everton manager, but his acquisition of Tim Cahill from Millwall for £1.5 million in 2004 is the pick of the bunch. The talismanic Australian was a key component of Everton establishing themselves in the upper echelons of the Premier League.

His five goals in Merseyside derbies is the second highest post-war tally behind Graeme Sharp and showcased his appetite to shine on the biggest stage. While Cahill was never part of a trophy-winning team at Everton, he will go down as one of the best signings ever made by the club.

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