Everton’s Resurgence Has Brought New Life To The Merseyside Rivalry
One of the most iconic rivalries in world sports history is one that most Americans know almost nothing about. If most Americans know anything about the city of Liverpool, it would be the fact that it was the hometown of the Beatles. But the city, once one of the great ports and shipping hubs of the Industrial Revolution and trans-Atlantic trade, also is home to the epic Merseyside Derby between its two most popular football clubs, Liverpool F.C. and Everton F.C, who both compete in the English Premier League.
Everton has a long and distinguished history-it boasts the most consecutive seasons ever in the top flight of English football (the Premier League is the most modern form of this), a whopping 118. Nevertheless, the 21st century has largely been the story of Everton being left in the shadow of rival Liverpool and the other dominant, wealthy clubs of the English Premier League.
The club did not have the financial resources to match up with its rivals, particularly Liverpool. No greater example of this could be found than Wayne Rooney, a local Merseyside kid turned product of Everton’s youth academy bound for superstardom. Rooney left his hometown club for the greener (in the sense of money) pastures of Manchester United, where he would go on to lead the club to multiple English Premier League titles as well as a European Champions League title in 2008.
Everton did continue to feature strong players over the intervening years, such as goaltender Tim Howard, who would feature as the goaltender for the U.S. Men’s National Team at multiple World Cups. However, they remained an also-ran, generally placing in the middle of the Premier League table and never placing in the top four (which would ensure entry to the UEFA Champions League competition and the financial windfall that goes along with it).
Meanwhile, Everton’s rival Liverpool would reach unprecedented new heights of success. In 2018–19 they won the UEFA Champions League (after having been a regular top four finisher in the English Premier League for years), and followed that up in 2019–20 by turning in one of the most dominant championship seasons in the history of the English Premier League, winning the title with an unprecendented points total. Everton, meanwhile, finished a mediocre twelfth in the Premier League table. The club had not won a championship of any kind since the FA Cup in 1995- a shakeup was desperately needed to disrupt the club’s current trajectory.
Into this picture would enter Carlo Ancelotti, who fans of “the Toffees” (as Everton is often nicknamed), hoped would deliver that needed shakeup. Ancelotti provided a championship pedigree that had rarely before been featured in an Everton manager. He had managed some of the top clubs in Europe, including A.C. Milan, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich. His clubs have won the UEFA Champions League three times, one of only three managers in history to accomplish this feat.
Perhaps even more significant than the hiring of Ancelotti as manager was the player acquisition that Everton made before the start of this current Premier League season. It represented a radical departure from the club’s past, when future stars like Rooney were gobbled up by the likes of Manchester United. Instead, it would be Everton acquiring a superstar, in his prime no less, who had previously played for the very biggest clubs in Europe. This would be the Colombian winger/midfielder James Rodriguez, often known as James for short.
James, a native of Colombia, burst onto the scene of world football at the 2014 World Cup. There, he lead his native Colombia to the quarter final stage, the first time ever in that nation’s history. In the group stage, he became the first player to score in every one of his country’s match since Ronaldo and Rivaldo in 2002. He won the Golden Boot as the top goal scorer in the tournament.
In the wake of his success on the world stage, it was inevitable the the biggest clubs in the world would come calling for his services, specifically Real Madrid. Madrid would pay James’ previous club, AS Monaco, a transfer fee of 63 million euros for his services, which would be the third largest transfer fee in the club’s history. He would spend the next three years at the club, helping them win two Champions League titles but struggling for playing time under manager Zinedine Zidane, who had succeeded Ancelotti as manager at Real Madrid. In 2017, he was loaned to fellow European powerhouse Bayern Munich.
The transfer to Everton reunited James with Ancelotti, and he immediately set about proving that he could still play at a high level, scoring three goals and three assists so far this season. But Everton would be led in goals by a young Englishman, Dominic Calwert-Lewin, whose seven tallies tied for second in the league lead with Liverpool star Mohamed Salah.
For the first time in many years, the Merseyside Derby has taken front stage as the main rivalry of the Premier League. Although the season is young yet, as it currently stands Liverpool and Everton sit at first and second in the Premier League standings, respectively. It is familiar ground for Liverpool, but for the Toffees, it represents heights the club has not achieved in decades.
Should Everton sustain its current pace, it will secure a top four place and guarantee itself Premier League placement for the first time in club history. The Premier League season is still in early stages, there is plenty of time for Everton to fall off its current pace, possibly to slump back to the mid-table once again. But the club has pedigree both on the field and the sidelines to ensure that it can sustain this strong start to the season. Even neutral observers with no direct dog in the fight should root for this most compelling rivalry to play out over the course of the season.
