A History of Everton Reserves
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The old Central League was the
mainstay of reserve football for many years from 1911. |
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PAGE CONTENTS |
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| Everton Swifts | 1886-87: Where they the first Everton Reserve Team? |
| Everton Athletic | 1890-91: The first trophy |
| The Combination | 1891-99: Everton – Champions all the way! |
| Lancashire Combination | 1899-1911: Everton – Champions 5 Times |
| Central League | 1911-81: Everton – Champions 4 Times |
| Central League - Division 1 | 1981-90: Everton – Runners-Up just once |
| Pontins Central League | 1990-96: Everton – Relegated! Promoted & Runners-Up |
| Pontins Premier League | 1996-99: The last gasp of the Central League |
| FA Premier Reserve League | 1999-2012: The new Reserves/Under-21 FA league |
| FA Premier Under-21 League | 2012-16: The FA Under-21 League drops the 'Reserves' |
| FA Premier League 2 | 2016-23: The new FA Under-23 Development League |
| Premier League 2 | 2023-__: The Under-21 League returns |
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EVERTON SWIFTS AND EVERTON ATHLETIC |
| Reserve teams have been around since the earliest days of organised
football. In the late 1800's, clubs like St Domingo's were
originally formed solely for the benefit of the players — pleasing the
fans came later. Playing members of the earliest clubs paid a
subscription, turned up at the appointed time, and got a game.
Initially, games with other clubs were a rarity and, when they occurred, the clubs usually agreed to play two games simultaneously. The best players would play at one club's home ground, and the second team would play at the other ground. So the pattern for first-team and reserve-team football was established. But it took some time before it was organised into leagues we would recognise today. And the reserve teams often took on other names. There are records of some matches played in 1886-87 by Everton Swifts. The first season of the Liverpool and District League was 1889-90. Its second season, 1890-91, featured a team called Everton Athletic — probably yet another name for the Reserves: Season P W D L GF GA Pts Pos
1890-91 19 8 2 9 51 43 18 9th
An interesting precursor to the imminent split in 1892 that briefly spawned a new club in Liverpool, called Everton Athletic and Football Grounds Limited before the FA forced that name to be changed to "Liverpool". |
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THE COMBINATION |
One of the other leagues to be established in 1890 was The
Combination. The Combination was unusual in that contained teams
covering a modest geographic range:
Everton Reserves joined The Combination in 1891, where they began a remarkable record, with three successive championships: Season P W D L GF GA Pts Pos
1891-92 22 17 2 3 99 20 36 1st
1892-93 22 18 2 2 107 13 38 1st
1893-94 18 15 2 1 77 19 32 1st
In 1894-95, Everton Reserves switched to the Lancashire Combination, and were duly crowned Champions of that competition also: Season P W D L GF GA Pts Pos
1894-95 24 20 3 1 137 33 43 1st
Look at that goal-scoring record — an average of almost six goals in each game! The next season, they returned to The Combination, continuing where they had left off: Season P W D L GF GA Pts Pos
1895-96 14 11 2 1 54 12 24 1st
1896-97 18 14 3 1 61 14 31 1st
1897-98 24 15 5 4 65 25 35 1st
1898-99 28 23 4 1 112 18 50 1st
In the words of Everton historian, Thomas Keates: "The Superiority of our Reserves to the teams they opposed was overwhelmingly demonstrated by the single and aggregate results of the matches played, as shown in detail by these tables." (History of the Everton Football Club, 1878 - 1928). |
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LANCASHIRE COMBINATION |
In 1899, Everton Reserves switched back to the Lancashire Combination,
where seeds of decline started to take root: they only managed 5
Championships over the next 12 seasons:
Season P W D L GF GA Pts Pos
1899-00 30 20 4 6 78 28 44 3rd
1900-01 34 29 2 3 114 22 60 1st
1901-02 34 24 3 7 86 35 51 2nd
1902-03 34 16 7 11 74 54 39 6th
1903-04 34 26 6 2 114 32 58 1st
1904-05 34 13 8 13 49 41 34 9th
1905-06 38 14 10 14 64 63 38 8th
1906-07 38 24 5 9 90 47 53 3rd
1907-08 38 26 7 5 109 38 59 1st
1908-09 38 23 8 7 104 51 54 1st
1909-10 38 22 8 8 87 39 52 1st
1910-11 38 21 7 10 82 35 49 2nd
Everton Reserves, along with a host of other reserves teams, left the Lancashire Combination in 1911 to join the new Central League. |
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THE CENTRAL LEAGUE |
The Central League started up in 1911-12 with 17 teams from the North
and the Midlands. Its compliment in the south was the London
Combination, later to be called the Football Combination (no connection to
the Lancashire / Northwest variety).
Season P W D L GF GA Pts Pos
1911-12 32 14 8 10 66 51 36 3rd
1912-13 38 18 5 15 79 68 41 10th
1913-14 38 20 9 9 83 57 49 1st
1914-15 38 14 6 18 71 77 34 12th
1915-16
1916-17 Central League suspended
1917-18 during World War I
1918-19
1919-20 42 19 8 15 83 66 46 8th
1920-21 42 21 6 15 85 74 48 8th
The Football League's Division Three (North) was formed in 1921 and amongst its founder members were all the local clubs who were at that time playing their first teams in the Central League:
The composition of the Central League was relatively stable for the next 60 years, with 22 reserves teams from the north of England imitating the structure of the Football League's First Division. This is the record for Everton Reserves, who won the Championship on just three more occasions: Season P W D L GF GA Pts Pos
1921-22 42 19 13 10 76 58 51 3rd
1922-23 42 23 11 8 96 63 57 3rd
1923-24 42 14 18 10 68 72 38 12th
1924-25 42 27 6 9 90 49 60 2nd
1925-26 42 14 12 16 73 62 40 16th
1926-27 42 18 9 15 81 71 45 9th
1927-28 42 16 10 16 108 90 42 13th
1928-29 42 18 4 20 88 94 40 13th
1929-30 42 15 6 21 85 96 36 14th
1930-31 42 19 4 19 98 100 42 12th
1931-32 42 17 4 21 100 86 38 13th
1932-33 42 20 8 14 94 65 48 6th
1933-34 42 16 8 18 83 90 40 13th
1934-35 42 22 8 12 96 75 52 3rd
1935-36 42 20 4 18 85 79 44 11th
1936-37 42 15 15 12 85 81 45 10th
1937-38 42 31 3 8 109 44 65 1st
1938-39 42 20 7 15 69 74 47 6th
1939-40
1940-41
1941-42 Central League suspended
1942-43 during World War II
1943-44
1944-45
1945-46 40 12 4 24 72 99 28 20th
1946-47 42 18 8 16 79 75 44 10th
1947-48 42 22 8 12 87 63 52 5th
1948-49 42 18 4 20 49 58 40 13th
1949-50 42 13 14 15 45 49 40 13th
1950-51 42 19 11 12 77 74 49 5th
1951-52 42 25 8 9 86 47 58 2nd
1952-53 42 16 13 13 73 65 45 8th
1953-54 42 24 10 8 90 46 58 1st
1954-55 42 21 9 12 72 46 51 6th
1955-56 42 24 9 9 82 50 57 3rd
1956-57 42 20 9 13 88 65 49 6th
1957-58 42 22 9 11 89 56 53 2nd
1958-59 42 11 9 22 61 83 31 18th
1959-60 42 15 13 14 72 62 43 10th
1960-61 42 12 11 19 60 79 35 18th
1961-62 42 13 12 17 62 69 38 15th
1962-63 42 20 11 11 80 60 51 7th
1963-64 42 17 7 18 77 59 41 11th
1964-65 42 26 8 8 103 50 60 2nd
1965-66 42 24 5 13 92 62 53 4th
1966-67 42 26 7 9 100 50 59 2nd
1967-68 42 24 10 8 93 45 58 1st
1968-69 42 21 7 14 54 50 49 6th
1969-70 42 20 12 10 75 42 52 5th
1970-71 42 22 12 8 69 41 56 3rd
1971-72 42 25 9 8 82 41 59 2nd
1972-73 42 20 9 13 55 41 49 7th
1973-74 42 20 11 11 68 41 51 4th
1974-75 42 19 10 13 51 38 48 5th
1975-76 42 18 8 16 70 57 44 8th
1976-77 42 15 14 13 51 46 44 9th
1977-78 42 19 15 8 54 39 53 4th
1978-79 42 18 7 17 50 49 43 13th
1979-80 42 20 10 12 73 46 50 6th
1980-81 42 17 11 14 58 53 45 8th
1981-82 42 30 3 9 98 32 63 2nd
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CENTRAL LEAGUE � DIVISION ONE |
In 1982, the Central League expanded to 32 teams and split into two
divisions. Everton were ridding high in Division 1:
Season P W D L GF GA Pts Pos
1982-83 30 17 8 5 47 20 42 3rd
1983-84 30 16 3 11 53 35 51 5th
1984-85 34 16 3 15 73 59 51 9th
1985-86 34 12 6 16 36 44 42 13th
1986-87 34 17 8 9 58 31 59 5th
1987-88 34 14 5 15 57 46 47 8th
1988-89 34 19 7 8 70 35 64 2nd
1989-90 34 16 5 13 58 53 53 8th
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PONTINS CENTRAL LEAGUE |
Sponsorship began in 1990, with Pontins adopting the Central League, and
Everton Reserves are tempted to drift off on their own holiday by the sea:
Season P W D L GF GA Pts Pos
1990-91 34 16 5 13 59 51 53 5th
1991-92 34 10 7 17 44 67 37 15th
Everton Reserves were relegated for the first time ever... but they bounced right back into the top flight: Pontins League, Division 2
Season P W D L GF GA Pts Pos
1992-93 34 21 10 3 78 44 73 2nd
The best season for Everton Reserves in the Pontins League (1994-95) coincided with the year that the senior team won the FA Cup, and preceded one of the best early seasons for Everton in the new FA Premier League: Pontins League, Division 1
Season P W D L GF GA Pts Pos
1993-94 34 12 7 15 54 50 43 13th
1994-95 34 17 10 7 63 32 61 2nd
1995-96 34 14 10 10 50 41 52 7th
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PONTINS PREMIER DIVISION |
The Central League was reorganized in 1996, with Pontins reassigning the
13 top teams from the old Division 1 to form a new Premier Division for
the reserves. Everton Reserves did not impress in the new
structure:
Season P W D L GF GA Pts Pos ToffeeWeb Links
1996-97 24 8 6 10 31 42 30 10th Everton Reserves
1997-98 24 9 6 9 33 32 33 7th Everton Reserves
1998-99 24 11 5 8 35 28 38 5th Everton Reserves
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| With the development of new Youth Academy league competitions under the umbrella of the FA at Under-17 and Under-19 levels, then at Reserves/Under-21 for Premier League clubs, the make-up of the historic Central League followed that of the Football League some years earlier. The Central League and the Football Combination were subsequently made up of reserves teams from the Nationwide Football League Divisions. |
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FA RESERVE/U-21 PREMIER LEAGUE (North Section) |
The FA extended their revitalisation of youth football to form a new
Premier League for the reserves, with an emphasis on Under-21 players.
The league was split into two sections (North and South), initially with 13 teams
each. Everton Reserves started poorly in the Northern
Section of this new structure, but then came good in the second season,
winning the league in fine style: Season P W D L GF GA Pts Pos ToffeeWeb Links
1999-2k 24 7 10 7 44 40 31 9th Everton Reserves
2000-01 22 14 2 6 35 22 44 1st Everton Reserves
2001-02 24 8 8 8 30 30 32 9th Everton Reserves
2002-03 28 12 7 9 44 36 43 6th Everton Reserves
2003-04 26 10 8 8 37 33 38 7th Everton Reserves
2004-05 28 8 11 9 23 34 35 8th Everton Reserves
2005-06 28 10 8 20 31 35 38 8th Everton Reserves
2006-07 18 3 7 8 18 25 16 9th Everton Reserves
2007-08 18 4 4 10 21 31 16 8th Everton Reserves
2008-09 20 5 7 8 19 25 22 8th Everton Reserves
2009-10 18 5 3 10 17 30 16 9th Everton Reserves
2010-11 19 4 3 12 23 34 15 4th Everton Reserves
2011-12 22 9 8 5 38 29 35 3rd Everton Reserves
Subsequently, in recent years, the role and even the name of the Reserves has come more and more into question, with a thinner and thinner first-team squad, and younger and younger support players from Everton's Youth Academy who can in no way be considered as true "reserves". This progressive diminishment of the Reserves was accelerated in 2006 with the decision to remove from the FA Premier Reserves League all clubs whose first teams were not in the FA Premier League proper. Hence the reduction to 10 teams (north section) and only 18 games in the season. In 2010-11, the North section was split into Groups A and B, each team playing 19 games under some more bizarre fixture changes in response to Fulham, Birmingham and Newcastle pulling their sides out of the League. Everton were bottom of the five teams in Group B for most of the season until they moved up with only their 4th win of the season. The reserves represent the often overlooked and commonly maligned flipside from the glamour of first-team professional football. Yet this history demonstrates the roots of Reserves football can be traced right back to the earliest years of organized league football, at a time when Everton held absolute supremacy over all their local rivals at this level. With the latest incarnations, however. the "reserves" tag has finally been discarded... |
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FA PREMIER UNDER-21 LEAGUE (Group 1) |
On 3 August 2012, in line with the Premier League's Elite Player Performance Plan, it was formally announced that the Premier Reserve League would cease to exist, replaced by a new Professional Development League 1, to be commonly known as the FA Barclays Premier Under-21 League. A similar U18 league was also created. Teams were ranked according to the categorising of the club academy (a categorisation that would be re-assessed every three years). Everton are a Category A team. It marked the beginning of a new era for the increasingly irrelevant Reserves, whose history stretches back to an age that pre-dated the formation of the Football League in 1888. The Under-21s were designed to represent the end product of the Academies being strongly promoted at Premier League clubs to address the increasing dearth of decent English players coming up through the ranks as foreign players dominated the senior competition, arguably damaging the English National side. The competition was not optional, and participation from all 20 Premier League clubs therefore confirmed (although Wigan, QPR and Swansea were initially in Professional Development League 2, sitting outside of the U21 Premier Reserve League). The new FA Premier Under-21 League format included 17 Premier League sides and 6 Championship sides. Participating clubs were split into three National Groups for the first stage of the season, the 8 best then playing in an Elite Group for the second stage, with two Qualifying Groups of 7 teams each beneath them. . These seasons started to see more detailed internet coverage of all teams at the excellent Youthhawk Wiki site (season links included below). Season P W D L GF GA Pts Pos ToffeeWeb Links
2012-13 26 12 8 6 37 30 44 4th Everton Under-21s
2013-14 21 8 6 7 28 29 30 11th Everton Under-21s
2014-15 22 8 3 11 32 37 27 10th Everton Under-21s
2015-16 22 10 7 5 35 27 37 3rd Everton Under-21s
In the first season, Everton finished 4th in Group 1 and just missed qualification for the Elite Group but won their Qualification Group 1 in the second stage and did get into the playoffs where they beat Newcastle Utd fell at Spurs, who had the best combined league record but lost the Playoff Final to Manchester United. The format changed in subsequent seasons: However, with a high turnover of young players and very few able to step up to the senior squad, the revamped Under-21s
took a while to really raise the profile of the Academy among most rank-and-file fans, whose focus remained firmly on the senior squad and the excitement of new foreign players injected every six months via the far more interesting transfer window.
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FA PREMIER LEAGUE 2 (Division 1) |
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Premier League 2 debuted in the 2016-17 campaign as the new top tier of the Professional Development League. It was rebranded from the previous Premier Under-21 League, with the age range changed from Under-21 to Under-23. Clubs were also still permitted to field three 'over-age' outfield players and one 'over-age' goalkeeper. The match calendar was set to be fixed at the start of the season with no movement of match rounds permitted; clubs were only be permitted flexibility regarding on which weekend day (Friday to Monday) the games would be played. Promotion and relegation of two teams would continue to apply, with the teams finishing 11th and 12th in Division 1 relegated, with the team finishing top of Division 2 automatically promoted. Those teams finishing 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th in Division 2 would compete in a promotion playoff. In addition, a slew of mini-league/cup competitions were introduced in an effort to increase competiveness and narrow the gap to first-team football. In the first and third seasons of the new competition, Everton did superbly well under manager David Unsworth to clinch the Premier League 2 Championship trophy: Season P W D L GF GA Pts Pos ToffeeWeb Links
2016-17 22 15 3 4 48 21 48 1st Everton Under-23s
2017-18 22 9 3 10 32 36 30 7th Everton Under-23s
2018-19 22 12 5 5 31 14 41 1st Everton Under-23s
2019-20 18 5 7 6 32 33 22 8th Everton Under-23s
2020-21 24 10 6 8 44 28 36 5th Everton Under-23s
2021-22 26 8 5 13 33 54 29 11th Everton Under-23s
2022-23 26 10 4 12 39 50 34 8th Everton Under-21s
With a financial incentive to retain young players and very few able to step up to the senior squad, the revamped Under-23s attained greater visibility for the second string, with the recognition that an effective production line could pay for itself through the sale of promising youngsters to the lower leagues if they did not make the highly competitive Premier League grade. But these successes would later be viewed sourly by a section of the Everton fanbase, who believed David Unsworth was holding on to older players longer than he should so he could win trophies at the expense of preparing youngsters to play for the first team in the Premier League. David Unsworth left his post in the Everton Academy soon after Kevin
Thelwell became the Director of Football in April 2022, and PL2 chnaged the
age limit fro the following season, bringing it down to Under-21 again with
Paul Tait in charge and realising some small improvement over what had been
one of the worst seasons (Unsworth's last). |
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Michael Kenrick ToffeeWeb Editor © ToffeeWeb 2023 |
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