EVERTON SEASON DIARY

• Mar 31:  Birmingham City obtained special dispensation to sign Thomas Myhre on loan until the end of the season to ease their goalkeeper injury crisis.

• Mar 30:  Everton Former Players Foundation was formally announced with the aim of alleviating the medical and other concerns of ex-players.
  The second Hall of Fame Dinner was held at the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool.

• Mar 29:  Everton Reserves drew 1-1 with Bolton Wanderers, Leo Osman the scorer.
  Danny Cadamarteri and Michael Ball were involved in England Under-21's European Championship match against Yugoslavia in Barcelona.  Ball was an unused substitute but striker Cadamarteri came on as a sub in the closing stages.

• Mar 28:  Tommy Myhre is reputedly dropped in order to save £300k that Everton would otherwise have to pay Viking Stavanager on his 80th appearance.
  Fulham have sacked manager Paul Bracewell.

• Mar 27:  Jeffers is still having problems with his ankle, and could be out for another month.
  Campbell is expecting word on the need for a knee operation.
  Weir has withdrawn from the Scotland squad with his rib injury.
  On Saturday 5 August, Everton will travel to Exeter City for Chris Curran's testimonial (KO: 3pm).  Everton will also play Plymouth on the 7th, and Yeovil later in the week.

• Mar 26:   Danny Cadamarteri is a late inclusion in the England Under-21 squad for the European Championship play-off game with Yugoslavia.

• Mar 25:  The Everton U-19 team edged past Tottenham Hotspur in the 1st Round Playoffs of the FA Youth Academy U-19 League with a solitary goal by Carl Howarth.  No report yet.

• Mar 25: Everton   but soon fell behind at Sunderland to Summerbee free-kick.  However, Nick Barmby equalised just before the break with a wonderful volley.  Then Phillips scored an excellent goal with 12 mins to go, and Everton crashed to their 3rd successive loss.

• Mar 24:  Contract rebel Don Hutchison has returned to the first-team squad with his tail between his legs after none of those Big Clubs came in to rescue him form his "Goodison Hell".

• Mar 23:  Unfulfilled by the challenges of Chester Zoo, Joe Parkinson has been appointed as the club's first Fans' Liaison Officer...  
  Walter Smith  made it clear that very little would happen on Deadline Day this season...  there were no movements either in or out at Everton today.

• Mar 22:  A strong line-up for Everton Reserves secured a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa tonight.  The team included Myhre, Ball, Dunne (goalscorer), Ward, Cadamarteri, and of course contract rebel Don Hutchison – for whom the club have repulsed a disgraceful £1M bid by Sunderland's Peter Reid – who should know better!

• Mar 21:  Francis Jeffers has returned to light training after recovering from ligament damage to his ankle.  He could be back in action next month.
  Michael Ball, Don Hutchison, Davey Weir and Tommy Myhre have received International call-ups.

• Mar 20:  Everton are giving a one-week trial to Icelandic midfielder, Arnar Gretarson, who is currently out of contract with AEK Athens.

• Mar 20: To compound the team's abysmal result yesterday, new Everton Badboy Mark Hughes picked up his 10th card of the season, and will be suspended for the match at Leicester.

• Mar 19:  Everton started very poorly in front of the Sky cameras, and finished in even worse form, gifting two stupid goals to Newcastle United and throwing away their unbeaten home record.

• Mar 18:  Contrary to earlier information, Everton's Under-19's play their first play-off match next Saturday, at home to Spurs.

• Mar 17:  Tommy Myhre is the latest Everton player to rock the boat, taking issue with Walter Smith's decision to play Paul Gerrard ahead of him.  Perhaps Walter was thinking of Tommy's performance in the Aston Villa match...

• Mar 16:  As if last night's defeat wasn't bad enough, Everton are now being linked with Chris Bart-Williams - surely just a bad joke? 

• Mar 15:  Everton travelled to Coventry City for the rearranged Premiership match, with Mark Hughes making his debut  up-front alongside Joe-Max Moore, who was later replaced by Danny Cadamarteri.  Everton held the line well to the last 5 mins when a rebound was lashed home by Everton's nemesis, Gary McAllister, and a sickening 1 - 0 defeat resulted.

• Mar 14:  Mark Hughes today signed a 14-month deal with Everton, completing a free transfer from Southampton.
  And Everton have cut a £6M shirt sponsorship deal with Puma for the next four years, dumping Umbro.
  Everton reserves lost to Sunderland tonight 0-1 at the AutoQuest Stadium, Widnes.

• Mar 13: Michael Ball and Richard Dunne have called off their silly appeal  following "adverse publicity".  Good lads!
  And the Everton Matchday Programme gained its regular 3rd place accolade from Programme Monthly in the annual Best Programme awards.

• Mar 12:  Today's Sensational Sunday Speculation for Suckers: Viduka from Celtic for £6M!!!
  Arsenal drew 1-1 with Everton in the women's Premier Division. The Gunners went ahead through Rachel Yankey in the 40th minute but Kelly McDougall headed the equaliser 10 minutes into the second half.

• Mar 11:  A heavily weakened Everton squad started brightly in today's Premiership match at Chelsea, with Stephen Hughes making his debut.  Although Wise put Chelsea ahead,  Danny Cadamarteri leveled it in the second half to set up a great closing game.  Everton held on brilliantly against the expensive and highly paid foreign barrage: it finished 1-1.

• Mar 10:  With strikers Kevin Campbell and Francis Jeffers already sidelined, Walter Smith is reeling from the news that David Unsworth, Michael Ball and Scot Gemmill have all been ruled out of the Chelsea match by a virus sweeping the club.  
  Rumours are rife that Everton are soon to complete the transfer of Southampton midfielder and Welsh manager, Mark Hughes as cover up-front following the loss of Kevin Campbell.

• Mar 9: The news about Kevin Campbell's knee injury is BAD!  Ruled out for 4-6 weeks, he needs complete rest, and possibly an operation. 
  Assistant manager Archie Knox will be helping out Craig Brown with the Scotland national squad on a part-time basis.

• Mar 8: The ill-advised public confrontation between Walter Smith and his wayward young charges, Richard Dunne and Michael Ball, set for tomorrow, has been postponed.  The players were taking their case to an FA Tribunal in an effort to reduce the 'harsh' punishment meted out by Walter Smith (fined two week's wages) when the two party-goers missed training on 1 January 2000. 
  Read McNulty's Opinion

• Mar 7: A strong Everton reserves side featuring Hutchison, Dunne, Gerrard, Cadamarteri and Watson beat Sheffield Wednesday 4-2 tonight at the AutoQuest Stadium, Widnes.  
  Everton finally completed the signing of Stephen Hughes from Arsenal.

• Mar 6: Francis Jeffers paid full price for his international call-up, when a scan revealed that his ankle has ligament damage after he was tackled just 4 mins into the England U-21 match with Argentina; he will now be out for at least another month.
  Everton have announced a two-year extension to the sponsorship deal with One2One, worth a paltry £2.5M.

• Mar 5:  Everton are expected to complete the transfer of Stephen Hughes this week, contingent on a medical.  

• Mar 4: Everton played host to strugglers Sheffield Wednesday at Goodison Park.   Davey Weir opened the scoring in the first half with a great header from a Barmby corner, but The Owls equalised after half-time and Everton struggled to a dismal 1-1 draw.
  Everton U-19s beat Stoke City 1-0 to finish as Runners Up in the North West Section of the FA Premier Academy Under 19 League; they now go forward to the playoffs.

• Mar 3: Richard Gough, who is a big doubt for tomorrow's match, has agreed to sign a one-year extension to his existing contract.
  Stephen Hughes  has finally agreed personal terms; he should sign for Everton by Monday, subject to a medical.
  And Everton have announced an InterToto U-turn, claiming they will now enter the much-maligned Euro curtain-raiser.

• Mar 2: The offer made by Bill Kenwright's TrueBlue Holdings to purchase Peter Johnson's shares in Everton FC Co Ltd has been accepted unconditionally.  Peter Johnson has now resigned his position as Director; he is replaced on the Board by Paul Gregg and Jon Woods.
  As many expected, the Stephen Hughes transfer may still go through.  Bill Kenwright has apparently reopened negotiations with the Arsenal midfielder. 
  And Slaven Bilic has signed up with Hajduk Split just 48 hrs after retiring from the Premiership.

• Mar 1: Paul Gerrard came through a practise match at Bellefield today, and is now expected to put pressure on Tommy Myhre in the Everton goal.