Everton F.C. supporters
is an English professional football club based in Liverpool that competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Supporters of the club are known as Evertonians or "blues".
Demographics
Everton has a large fan base by virtue of being an original founder member of The Football League and contesting more seasons in the top flight than any other club. For the first nine seasons in the football league, Everton had the highest average league attendances of any team in England. The club has recently averaged attendances of around 36,000 to 38,000 in league games at their home stadium Goodison Park, which has a capacity of 39,572, despite having the most obstructed views and poor sight lines in the Premier League. A 2006–07 fan survey by the Premier League listed 15% of Everton fans as being unhappy with sight lines at Goodison Park, and only 19% described match views as "very good". For the 2009–10 season, Everton sold over 24,000 season tickets. For the 2016–17 season, this had been upped to 31,000. In the same season, around 7,000 Evertonians travelled to Lisbon for a match against Benfica. The highest ever season average attendance at Everton was in 1963 with 51,603, the best of any club in that particular season. The following season, the club was once again the best supported side in England.The 2004–05 Premier League survey, which asked almost 1,400 Everton fans various questions, found that 30% of those fans lived in Liverpool. The 2007–08 survey found that Everton fans on average live 44 miles away from Goodison Park, three miles less than the average and a huge difference compared with fans of rivals Liverpool and Manchester United, who were on average 82 and 78 miles from their respective stadiums. Everton draws the vast majority of its support from Merseyside, Cheshire, Southern parts of Lancashire, Western enclaves of Greater Manchester and North Wales. Everton also has a notable amount of supporters in countries such as Australia, Ireland, South Africa, Thailand, and the United States.
The 2003–04 survey found that 71% of Everton fans earn under £30,000 a year, the lowest average income in the league. The 2002–03 report found Everton had the highest number of season ticket holders from the two lowest social classifications with 16%. A study in August 2012 by property website Zoopla found that houses around Goodison Park were the cheapest of any Premier League club, averaging £66,000, almost £30,000 less than the entry above it.
Social media
In February 2009, Everton became the first Premier League club to have an official page on Facebook. As of July 2020, the club has the following social media statistics:Website | Followers | Link |
3.1 million | ||
2 million | ||
1.6 million | ||
YouTube | 240,000 |
Rivalries
A 2003 survey by The Football Fans Census found that Liverpool are still Everton's main rivals. The intra-city rivalry between the two is regarded as friendly, and it is not uncommon for families and households in the city to have both Everton and Liverpool fans. Whilst performances on the pitch are heated and passionate, the off-pitch behaviour of fans is largely amicable in comparison to other rivalries.Fan clubs
Everton have fan clubs located all over the world. The three largest clubs outside England are Emerald Everton Supporters Club in Ireland, ESCNI in Northern Ireland,and the Everton Supporters Club on the Isle of Man.Notable supporters
Footballers
- John Bailey
- Eirik Bakke
- Michael Ball
- Ross Barkley
- Joey Barton
- Jim Bentley
- Dan Birkey
- Delial Brewster
- Nathan Broadhead
- Jamie Carragher
- Harry Charsley
- Luca Connell
- Tom Davies
- Dixie Dean
- John Ebbrell
- Phil Edwards
- Gareth Farrelly
- Morgan Feeney
- Robbie Fowler
- Danny Fox
- Ronnie Goodlass
- Tony Grant
- Colin Harvey
- Wayne Hennessey
- Tony Hibbert
- Dave Hickson
- Andy Holden
- Lewis Holtby
- Barry Horne
- Eddie Howe
- Bryan Hughes
- Francis Jeffers
- Dave Jones
- Jonjoe Kenny
- Brian Labone
- Adam Lallana
- Callum Lang
- Henrik Larsson
- Anders Limpar
- Mick Lyons
- Cliff Marshall
- Jay McEveley
- Steve McMahon
- Steve McManaman
- Callum McManaman
- Billy Meredith
- Derek Mountfield
- Carlo Nash
- David Nugent
- Iffy Onuora
- Michael Owen
- Billy Paynter
- Kevin Ratcliffe
- Gary Roberts
- Jack Rodwell
- Wayne Rooney
- Joe Royle
- Ian Rush
- Kevin Sheedy
- Gylfi Sigurðsson
- Neville Southall
- Gary Speed
- Alan Stubbs
- Derek Temple
- Mickey Thomas
- David Thompson
- Lee Trundle
- David Unsworth
- Roy Vernon
- Mike Walker
- Jonathan Walters
- Tony Warner
- Ian Woan
- Billy Wright
- Stephen Wright
- Eddie Youds
Actors and entertainers
- Jake Abraham, actor
- Paul Angelis, actor
- Helena Bonham Carter, actress
- Billy Butler, entertainer, radio presenter
- George Christopher, actor
- Alan Clarke, director
- Jodie Comer, actress
- Ryan Coogler, filmmaker
- Kenneth Cope, actor
- George Costigan, actor
- Matt Damon, actor
- Bill Dean, actor
- Judi Dench, actress
- Jennifer Ellison, actress
- Gareth Evans, filmmaker
- Andrew Gower, actor
- Ian Hart, actor
- Sam Hoare, actor
- Amanda Holden, television presenter
- Gordon Honeycombe, newscaster, writer
- Geoffrey Hughes, actor
- John Hurt, actor
- Rob James-Collier, actor
- Gethin Jones, television presenter
- Ken Jones, actor
- Andrew Lancel, actor
- Fred Lawless, playwright
- Dolph Lundgren, actor
- Roger McGough, poet
- Victor McGuire, actor
- Jimmy Mulville, comedian
- Simon O'Brien, television presenter
- Tom O'Connor, comedian
- Mike Parry, radio presenter
- Luke Roskell actor
- Leonard Rossiter, actor
- Will Sliney, comic book artist
- Sylvester Stallone, actor
- Freddie Starr, comedian
- Ed Stewart, broadcaster
- Claire Sweeney, actress
- David Thaxton, singer
- Bill Tidy, cartoonist, writer
- David Vitty, radio presenter
- Finty Williams, actress
- Michael Williams, actor
Musicians
- Ian Astbury, The Cult
- Ian Ball, Gomez
- Pete Best, The Beatles
- DCUP, record producer
- DMA's, band
- Paul Draper, Mansun
- Lee Latchford-Evans, Steps
- She Drew the Gun, band
- John Lennon, The Beatles
- Mike Lewis, Lostprophets
- Keavy Lynch, B*Witched
- Lee Mavers, The La's
- Shane MacGowan, The Pogues
- Paul McCartney, The Beatles
- Liz McClarnon, Atomic Kitten
- Damon Minchella, Ocean Colour Scene
- Paul Molloy, The Zutons
- Keith Mullin, The Farm
- Nas, rapper
- Sean Payne, The Zutons
- Howie Payne, musician
- Nicola Roberts, Girls Aloud
- Bill Ryder-Jones, The Coral
- Osmo Tapio Räihälä, composer
- Donny Tourette, Towers of London
- Circa Waves, band
- The Wombats, band
- Gang of Youths, band
Politicians
- Joe Anderson, Mayor of Liverpool
- Joe Benton, Labour MP for Bootle
- Warren Bradley, former Liberal Democrats councillor
- Andy Burnham, Labour MP
- Nigel Dodds, DUP MP for North Belfast constituency
- Mark H. Durkan, SDLP MP for Foyle
- Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Trade and Industry
- Derek Hatton, former Labour Deputy Leader of Liverpool City Council
- Eric Heffer, former Labour MP for Liverpool Walton
- Baron Jones, former Labour MP for Alyn and Deeside
- Trevor Lunn, former Alliance, Independent MLA for Lagan Valley
- Chris Matheson, Labour MP for City of Chester
- Eddie McGrady, former SDLP MP for South Down
- Eugene McMenamin, former SDLP MP for West Tyrone
- Steven Norris, former Conservative MP for Oxford East
- Albert Owen, Labour MP for Ynys Môn
- Pat Wall, former Labour MP for Bradford North
- Bob Wareing, former Labour MP for Liverpool West Derby
Other sports
- Eddie Alvarez, mixed martial artist
- Tony Bellew, boxer
- Riddick Bowe, boxer
- Robbie Brookside, professional wrestler
- Daniel Bryan, professional wrestler
- Ian Cockbain, cricketer
- John Conteh, boxer
- Matt Dawson, rugby union player
- Tommy Fleetwood, golf
- James Graham, rugby league player
- Austin Healey, rugby union player
- Jacob Hester, American football player
- John Higgins, snooker
- Adam Jones, rugby union player
- Drake Maverick, professional wrestler
- Christopher McDermott, handball player
- John McEnroe, tennis player
- Iafeta Paleaaesina, rugby league player
- John Parrott, snooker player
Journalists
- Roger Bennett, journalist
- Tony Chambers, former Editor-in-Chief of Wallpaper magazine
- Henry McDonald, writer
- Ken Reid, UTV political editor
- Ian Ross, sports writer and Everton Director of Communications
- Brian Viner, writer
- Elton Welsby, sports presenter
Businesspeople
- Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England
- Terry Leahy, former CEO of Tesco
In popular culture
- Ken Loach's 1968 docu-drama The Golden Vision concerned a group of Everton fans and was named after Alex Young, who also appears on-screen.
- In Alan Bleasdale's Liverpool-based series Boys from the Blackstuff, socialist plasterer Snowy Malone tells Chrissie that his militant trade unionist father brought him up "to believe in what was good and proper." Loggo quickly quips, "I didn't know your dad supported Everton."
- The Rutles, a parody of Beatlemania, sees Eric Idle interviewing respected Liverpool poet Roger McGough. He introduces him to the camera as "he was born in Liverpool, grew up in Liverpool, drank in Liverpool, wrote about Liverpool and his football team is of course... Everton".
- The 1997 television drama The Fix told the story of the exposure of a match fixing scandal in 1963 that centred around Everton player Tony Kay. Jason Isaacs played Kay while Colin Welland portrayed then manager Harry Catterick with a broad Liverpool accent, despite the fact Catterick himself was from Darlington. The drama also featured lifelong Liverpool fan Ricky Tomlinson playing Gordon, a fictitious character and Everton fanatic.
- The 1979 television advertisement for ITV's ORACLE teletext service a disembodied voice in the strong Liverpool accent asks, "How Did Everton do?" To which he receives the response, when the page is searched on the teletext service, "Everton 1 Stoke 1."
- In the comedy series Harry Enfield and Chums episode "The Scousers Visit That London", one of the three stereotype Scousers is an Everton fan. Starting off on the National Express coach to Wembley, he sits cross from the two Liverpool fans singing "You'll Never Walk Alone". When they finish he replies "up the toffees", which then erupts into an argument.
- The 1994 episode "To Be a Somebody" of Cracker, in which Robert Carlyle plays a Liverpool fan who becomes a serial killer after the mental impact of the Hillsborough and the death of his father. With the police looking for a Liverpool supporter with a skinhead he is questioned by DS Beck but he manages to avoid arrest by claiming he has been diagnosed with cancer. He further avoids suspicion by claiming he is from St. Helens and supports Everton.
- A 1972 episode of BBC Sitcom The Liver Birds, "Liverpool or Everton", which features future Everton chairman and actor Bill Kenwright playing a Liverpool supporter dating Sandra who has to endure Evertonian Beryl and her friends returning home celebrating a derby win.
- 1975 ITV sitcom The Wackers starring Ken Jones returning home from a stint in prison to his family described as a "mixed marriage" which is split between the maternal Catholic Evertonians and paternal Protestant Liverpudlians.
- Coronation Street villain Pat Phelan often discussed Everton in his lighter moments.
- In the 1990s sitcom Keeping up Appearances, Onslow discusses whether discovering his wife was a Liverpool supporter on their wedding night was grounds for divorce.
- 2017 ITV Drama Little Boy Blue focusing on the murder of Rhys Jones. The series recreated the Jones family appeal for information and the minute silence at Goodison Park.