• July 31: Everton made their dubious annual trip to Peter Johnson's other team, Tranmere Rovers, for Johnny Morrissey's testimonial, drawing 1-1 with a goal from trialist Ronnie Ekelund.

• Meanwhile, Everton Reserves beat Bamber Bridge (near Preston) 4-3 in their first pre-season runout.

• July 30: Craig Short, who recently signed a contract "that would keep him at Goodison until 2002" has reluctantly accepted a move to relegated Blackburn Rovers after Everton's board of directors snapped up Brian Kidd's ridiculous £2M offer.
• July 29: The Slaven Bilic / West Ham saga is reportedly dead after everyone's favourite Croat tried to screw too much out of 'Arry the Napp. Walter Smith is not going to take up any options on Ronnie Ekelund after his week-long trial at Everton.
• July 28: Francis Jeffers scored the only goal of the game for Everton as they beat Manchester City in a testimonial match for the unfortunate ex-Blue John Ebbrell.

• July 27: Everton are still rumoured to be interested in Benfica's unwanted Welshman, Mark Pembridge, but they could be put off by a price tag as high as £750k.

• July 26: The Slaven Bilic saga is set to resume this week, now that the Eastend spiv and his jammy lads are back from Finland... Youngster's Wayne McDermott and Mick O'Brien have been released by the club.
• July 25: The American-owned cable giant, NTL, are believed to be looking to make financial stakes in five Premiership clubs, one of which is Everton. Tony Grant sets off to the continent and NAC Breda (or is it NEC Nijmegen?) for a week's trial, with a view to a cut-price move for between £250k and £750k.
• July 24: Kevin Campbell's solitary goal secured victory for Everton at Rotherham United in the One-2-One Charity Cup pre-season run-around.
• July 23: Walter Smith is giving ex-Brondby, Barcelona, Manchester City, Southampton, Coventry City, Odense, midfielder Ronnie Ekelund a trial, including a run-out against Rotherham tomorrow.  Dean Delaney and Gary Dempsey are included in the Republic of Ireland U-18 squad for European Youth Championship 1st Round match against Italy. Everton are giving fans access to the training session at Goodison Park today: £2 admittance.
• July 22: Everton's second pre-season friendly saw them beaten 1-0 by Burnley. One bright spot in a lethargic display was Kevin Campbell's first appearance since the completion of his long drawn out transfer.
• July 21: In an extreme measure of cost-cutting, Everton are apparently prepared to allow Harry "Barra Boy" Redknapp to snap up the old wastrel Slaven Bilic for a mere pittance. An embarrassing loss of an embarrassing player... Dean Delaney and Gary Dempsey are included in the Republic of Ireland U-18 squad for European Youth Championship 1st Round match against Georgia. Everton youngsters Sean O'Hanlon and Ben Willetts have been picked for the England U-16 team.
• July 20: Everton opened their pre-season warm-up series with a close 3-2 victory over Chester City this evening. Late goals from Unsworth and a couple from Barmby did the business for an odd-looking Blues line-up. Francis Jeffers missed the match with an injured achilles tendon, as did Tommy Myhre (with two broken bones!).
• July 19: Sunderland manager Peter Reid tries shopping in Goodison's Tesco outlet, only to be told that £750k for Johnny O won't cut it. Meanwhile, the £600k link to Mark Pembridge of Benfica just won't die a natural death... maybe he's our next cut-price hero. Also, Dean Delaney and Gary Dempsey are included in the Republic of Ireland U-18 squad for European Youth Championship 1st Round match against Spain.
• July 18: Despite a resurgence of tabloid rumours, Bill Kenwright has stated that he will not be making a takeover bid this week.
• July 17: Shirt numbers for the new season's awe-inspiring Everton Squad have been announced. A few changes, but no room for Farrelly or Branch. Slaven Bilic is apparently asking for an incredible £2M golden handshake since he has not asked to leave the club.
• July 16: Everton have only sold 21,500 season tickets – way fewer than the likes of Newcastle, Aston Villa or Sunderland, who all have long waiting lists – leaving an estimated 12,000 unclaimed seats available.
• July 15: A relieved Kevin Campbell joined the rest of his team-mates in their Italian training retreat, happy to take on the mantle of number one striker.
• July 14: Michael Branch changed his mind about joining Portsmouth for a bargain £600,000, but Alan Ball had already bought Rory Allen from Spurs, leaving Branch out on a limb (Ouch!).
• July 13: Kevin Campbell, who flew out to Turkey today to secure his long-awaited transfer to Everton, has finally been signed for the princely sum of £3M. Michael Branch has turned down Alan Ball's offer of a move to Portsmouth after failing to agree personal terms.
• July 12: John Oster, Mitch Ward and Michael Branch could all be on their way this week, with offers in the works from Sunderland, Sheffield United and Portsmouth, respectively.
• July 11: The latest in the line of family jewelry to be auctioned off is rumoured to be Nick Barmby, who may be off to Celtic for £4M???
• July 10: There are strong suggestions that Michael Branch will move to Portsmouth for a mere £600k. And Big Joe could have had him for a cool £1M...
• July 9: The £4.5M absent Croatian defender Slaven Bilic is to be sacrificed for a pittance, in order to trim the wage bill. Wouldn't it make more sense to have him play his lazy arse off for a few matches first? Then charge a realistic fee.
• July 8: Everton say goodbye to another good player, as Marco Materazzi finally moves back to Perugia, for just £3M. Meanwhile, a squad of 20 players jets off to Tuscany for a week of gruelling training in Tuscany: Simonsen, Gerrard, Cleland, Watson, Ward, Short, Unsworth, Dunne, Weir, Gough, Unsworth, Ball, Phelan, Gemmill, Hutchison, Collins, Barmby, Degn, Branch, Cadamarteri, Jevons. Jeffers has an achilles problem, and Bilic just has a problem. Tommy Myhre was due to have the cast removed from his broken ankle today.
• July 7: The FA have called in the £50,000 fine, suspended from last season, for the abysmal disciplinary record of Everton's Badboys, and slapped on another £75,000, suspended until next season.
• July 6: The  pre-season training starts today as Everton players return to Bellefield. But not Kevin Campbell, who's agent called a press conference to highlight the plight of his player; Cambell must train alone while Everton and Trabzonspor lock horns. Leicester City wanted £1M from Walter Smith for the aging but goal-happy Tony Cottee.
• July 5: Marco Materazzi has turned down a £3.5M move to Celtic; he apparently wants to return to Italy. Leicester City wanted £1M from Walter Smith for the aging but goal-happy Tony Cottee.
• July 4: Season ticket sales have already passed the 20,000 mark following Everton's discounting scheme for those buying early.
• July 3: One of the more plausible recent links, given our limited ambition, is that of midfielder holder, Per Frandsen – disgruntled of Bolton Wanderers.
• July 2: Walter Smith was up before the FA beaks to plead for mercy before they throw the book at Everton's Badboys for an abysmal disciplinary record. The verdict is due on Wednesday.
• July 1: The fear and trepidation that Everton could be banned from one or both Cup competitions, because of Peter Johnson's continuing illegal ownership of two clubs, has been abated by assurances from the FA, who did nothing about this problem last season.

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