Hell hath no fury like an Evertonian scorned, as we saw two years ago around this week when it was announced that the Toffees had been deducted 10 points for a breach of Premier League financial rules.
It is still difficult to comprehend the justification for the biggest punishment in English top-flight history, even though, in the fullness of time, it became clear Everton had been sailing close to the wind for a couple of years.
It sparked unprecedented scenes at Goodison for their next match against Manchester United, as supporters vented their anger at the Premier League and shrouded the stadium with pink cards labelled ‘corrupt’.
But the reality was that, with the punishment applied straightaway and any appeal months away, Everton were once again heading into the winter facing a relegation battle. A 3-0 defeat to United left them five points adrift of safety, and they sank to the bottom shortly before their late kick-off at Nottingham Forest the following week.
That sinking feeling is a familiar one to Everton fans, putting the current side’s relative position of comfort into perspective. Not since the Covid season of 2020–21 have the Blues gone into December in this healthy a position in the table.
One year on from the United game, Everton were in between two dour goalless draws with West Ham and Brentford, forming part of an 11-game run that yielded just one win and resulted in Sean Dyche’s sacking at the start of January.
Before that in 2022, Everton were still smarting from two thrashings by Bournemouth in the space of five days going into the World Cup break – making it three losses in a row in all competitions and leaving them just one point clear of the drop zone in 17th.
Things would not improve when the Premier League resumed. Everton lost five and drew one of their next six games and Frank Lampard was sacked.
Scroll back to 2021 and things were equally grim. The Rafa Benitez era was rapidly beginning to unravel, with defeat against Manchester City in the first match after the November international break the first of three on the spin, making it six in seven and including a 4-1 home hammering by Liverpool. A last-minute win over Arsenal briefly raised spirits, but three defeats in the next four league games led to a now all-too-familiar January sacking.
Such a sustained spell of struggle and managerial churn was always going to take some time to recover from. And that is before you throw in the PSR struggles and takeover drama, with the club teetering on the brink of financial oblivion.
So, while there is some frustration at performances this season, it pays to remember how far the club has come given the myriad issues facing it on and off the pitch.
There are obvious deficiencies in the team, but all the issues were never going to be solved in one window, and the legacy of financial mismanagement still hamstrung their ability in the transfer market.
But the magnificent new arena is a powerful symbol of the club’s new era. Its slow rise on the waterfront between 2021 and 2025 was both a beacon of hope and a financial millstone that very nearly pushed the club over the edge. Meanwhile, the looming threat of relegation – and the potential chaos that would follow – weighed heavily on Evertonian shoulders.
Let’s get things straight: this is not shaping up to be a vintage season, and things could still go wrong (this is Everton, remember). But even a distinctly average one will be a refreshing change given what has been endured since the start of the decade. And for the first time in a while, it feels like the club is on an upward trajectory, even if there are sure to be a few bumps along the way.
