|
News Headlines & Features
Top Man of 2001/02
31 May - Pretty much as expected, David Weir has been voted ToffeeWeb's Player of the Season for 2001/02. You chose the Scottish international ahead of second-placed David Unsworth who was some 328 votes behind in the final reckoning. Congratulations to Davey and many thanks to all who voted — let's hope he doesn't end up leaving the Blues this summer like so many of the recent recipients of this honour!
New sponsor next month
30 May - Michael Dunford, Chief Executive at the Club, has revealled that negotiations are proceeding (with whom he cannot say) and he expects to be able to make a "major" announcement regarding a new shirt sponsor in June, with the new kit due for release in July.
Another great Moyes quote
29 May - David Moyes seems to know instinctively the right things to say to the masses of Evertonians he inherited when he became manager: "Everton's supporters are incredibly passionate, but I get the feeling they understand the difficulties the club has been in. They realise the club will perhaps have to look at a different route to getting back to the elite of English football. But the support is the strongest part of this football club — stronger than anything else."
Mad-Dog's ice-in-shorts caper
28 May - Bored by the lack of a major personality clash in the Danish squad, Mad-Dog Gravesen and his hard-as-nails enforcer teammate, Stig Tofting, decided it would be a barrel of fun to jump Jesper Gronkjaer, spray him with water, and shove ice down his shorts during a recent World Cup training session. But things deteriorated after Gronkjaer hurt his eye and had a serious bust-up with Tofting over the merry jaunt, while our Tommy was off somewhere, polishing his dome...
How far away does August seem?
27 May - Lee Doyle takes a last lingering look at Everton's post-season situation as we approach the World Cup that promises a month-long hiatus in Club activities. He considers some of the names among the host that have been linked, although David Moyes is still at least a month away from making his first signing.
Not-so-Great Expectations
25 May - With Manchester City about to splash a small fortune on Niclas Anelka, Everton fans can be forgiven for wondering why we can't do the same thing. Neil Wolstenholme's summary re-states the realities of our current situation and concludes that the approach of David Moyes holds more promise for us now than the questionable strategy of throwing around money we simply do not have.
Not a selling club anymore
23 May - David Moyes makes another seminal statement that gets right to the heart of what is needed at Everton if the dreadful trends of the last 12 years are to be reversed. "I am here to build a football club, not dismantle one. I want to keep the players I want and if players are sold it's because I feel it's right to move them on." Just as it should be.
KD news anticipated
23 May - Impatient to pre-empt the news itself, the Liverpool Echo is speculating that the Project Monitoring Committee, which oversees applications for Objective One European funding, will today invite Everton and its public partners to submit their application for £35M — meeting a key component of the stadium's £155M projected cost. This would be a promising sign, coming after months of detailed presentations on the project by Liverpool Vision, NWDA, and English Heritage.
The Ruleteros Society
22 May - Everton fan John Shearon's next pilgrimage to visit CD Everton, namesakes of the Chliean Second Division, has been picked up on by the Daily Post, which features a fine story about John's plans to enhance the links between the two clubs through formation of the Ruleteros Society.
Possible plans for Goodison
21 May - More information on Everton's possible transition from Goodison Park to the Kings Waterfront was released today in a document from Liverpool Vision. It includes thoughts about over 300 urns containing the remains of loyal Evertonians buried beneath the hallowed turf, and part of Goodison Park possibly becoming an extension of St Luke's church garden to accomodate them. However, proceeds from the sale of Goodison are required to finance the new project, in which the private partners will be required to make legally binding committments to provide their share of the money...
Gravesen story is a myth
20 May - David Moyes has reacted to the nonsense spouted by the Sunday People at the weekend, in which the paper claimed that Thomas Gravesen would be leaving the club after having a bust-up with the manager about joining up with the Danish squad prior to Everton's last game of the season at Arsenal. "It's just wild speculation," said Moyes. No doubt it won't be the last as we head into the silly season...
Blues let Blomqvist go
18 May - In what you would hope is a decision motivated by the club's meagre budget (and not the clash of personalities between player and manager hinted at during a recent pitch-side spat), Everton will not be renewing Jesper Blomqvist's contract for next season. It will come as a blow to the midfielder who recently learned of his omission from Sweden's World Cup squad despite appearing to have overcome the worst of his injury problems. Since signing in November, Blomqvist was in and out of the team due to injury; he had shown signs that he could be a valuable player at Goodison. For whatever reason, David Moyes felt otherwise.
Aston Villa 0 - 1 Everton
18 May - Everton's Youth Team salvaged a little pride with a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa at Villa Park on Saturday in the FA Youth Cup Final. Trailing 4-1 from the first leg, the young Blues weren't able to pull off a miracle comeback but Scott Brown scored the game's only goal with 12 minutes left.
Another Rollercoaster
15 May - Everton's 99th season in top-flight English football has ended and Lyndon Lloyd has taken time to make some sense of the wild rollercoaster that saw Everton top after 3 games, but eventually plunging toward relegation in a dismal spell prior to Walter Smith's long overdue sacking. David Moyes saved us from that inevitable fate, and created his own slice of Everton folklore in the process.
Check out also our 2001-02 statistics page which illustrates that success over the bottom 10 teams ensured Premiership survival.
Everton 1 - 4 Aston Villa
14 May - Wayne Rooney notched his 8th goal of the competition — one short of the record — but Everton's young Blues have a mountain to climb in the 2nd leg of the Youth Cup Final after this heavy defeat in front of a bumper crowd of 15,000 at Goodison Park. Everton drew first blood when Rooney (who else?) headed home in the 24th minute but Villa equalised 13 minutes later when Stefan Moore sent an unstoppable header past Andrew Pettinger. The same player put the visitors ahead on 53 minutes, Peter Hynes made it 3-1 and Luke Moore increased the lead to 4-1 with 11 minutes to go. Report by Richard Marland
Arsenal 4 - 3 Everton
11 May - What promised to be a festive season finalé against the new Champions took just three and a half minutes to kick into gear — Dennis Bergkamp dispossessing Alan Stubbs in the area before firing home to make it 1-0. Kevin Campbell and Thierry Henry missed good chances before Lee Carsley slammed home the equaliser after good work by Tomasz Radzinski and Radz himself put the Blues into the lead with another fine goal. Two minutes later, though, Henry restored parity for the home side, and added his second later on after Everton squandered many, many chances. Salt was then rubbed in firmly when the party was rounded off by Frances Jeffers scoring against the team he loved as a lad. But Watson had the last laugh with Everton's third goal.
More Moyes Muses
11 May - On the eve of the last game of the season, David Moyes talks to the Sporting Life about his expectations for the players he must blend and cajole into a smooth new Premiership force: "All the players who are here now will be here next season," so there is little point in Evertonians playing Championship Manager with a massive roll-over of the current squad: it just ain't gonna happen. The emphasis must be on fitness and training.
Matt McKay forced to retire
10 May - Everton reserve team player Matt McKay has been out injured for most of the season, and that injury has now forced him to retire form football at the age of only 21. McKay joined Everton from Chester for £500k four years ago, but failed to make an appearance for the first team.
An Interview with English Heritage
9 May - Mickey Blue Eyes has secured an interview with Rob Burns of English Heritage. His main thrust is that they are not responsible for the recent delays announced in the project, but they do have definitive ideas about a number of aesthetic aspects in the design.
Arsenal – deservedly Champions
8 May - Everton will travel to the home of the new Champions for the final match of the season on Saturday after Arsenal beat Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford, to achieve only the second ever season-long unbeaten record in away games. Preston were the only other side to do this, way back in 1888-89 when the Football League consisted of only 12 teams.
Ruining the Party
7 May - David Moyes will be determined to ruin Arsenal's Championship party this coming weekend with an Everton win at Highbury. He wasn't around four years ago when the Gunners sealed the title with a humiliating 4-0 defeat of Howard Kendall's team, but we were and what could be a better way to celebrate another escape from the drop than to lay to rest the ghost of that horrible day in May 1998?
Feature article on David Weir
6 May - Scotland's Sunday Mail Sport Monthly for May features this article on Davie Weir, in which he talks about life at Everton, both under Walter Smith and David Moyes, and recalls his scholarship to Evansville University, Indiana, where he got a degree in advertising and public relations.
Feature article on David Moyes
4 May - This article Colm Kavanagh found for us (and kindly typed in by hand!) is from the Celtic View magazine and gives more insight into the background and philosophy of Everton manager David Moyes, including another great quote: "This is the kind of club I've always wanted to manage. It's a club which makes a real difference to the lives of thousands of people."
Swedes leave out Jesper
3 May - Everton midfielders Niclas Alexandersson and Tobias Linderoth are both named in the Swedish squad that will take on England in the group stages of next month's World Cup in Japan & S Korea. But Jesper Blomqvist was overlooked; does that relate to Moyes's limited use of the player since he arrived? Or did the Achillies injury do him in? Either way, Jesper's not happy and has sounded off at his national side's coaching duo.
Pembridge ready for action
2 May - Mark Pembridge, selected for the Wales squad against Germany on May 14th, is presumably considered fit again after playing in three reserves games and at Falkirk on Tuesday — and scoring three goals in the process. It will be interesting to see if Pembridge, who was always a first choice under Smith, is given a starting role at Arsenal in just over a week, given the paucity of Everton's recent midfield performances.
Monaco must decide on Nyarko
1 May - As part of the original loan agreement with Everton, Monaco have 14 days to negotiate an exclusive deal for Alex Nyarko… then he's up for grabs by anyone interested. Or will David Moyes encourage him to return to Goodison for a fresh start?
|
|
Snippets & Rumours
Sampling the Orient
31 May - A true student of the game, David Moyes is in the Far East for the start of the World Cup where he intends to run the rule over some of the hottest prospects from Japan, South Korea and China, who would likely come cheap and offer huge marketing possibilities for the club.
Calling Berkshire-based Blues!
31 May - Dave Robinson has set up a fledgeling supporters club which is
based in Reading, Berkshire (but will be open to
anyone) and aims to offer buses/trains to matches (subject
to demand). The Berkshire Blues will be
affiliated to the club (this means official ticket allocations, etc) if Dave can get 30 members. If you're based in Berks, drop him a line at berkshireblues@yahoo.co.uk (address corrected).
Sub of the Season?
28 May - Buried deep among the list of season's plaudits handed out by Telegraph jurno Henry Winter, there hides the name of Davie Weir, who makes the subs bench in Winter's Premiership Team of the Season — his only Everton-related accolade.
Everton to play Anderlecht
27 May - A new game has been added to the pre-season schedule, with Wrexham presumably making way for a trip to Anderlecht on 6th August, and a return for Tomasz Radzinski to his previous club, who finished 3rd in the Belgian league.
2nd Annual BlueBlood Dinner
25 May - On Friday 24th May 2002, Rushden & Diamonds FC hosted the 2nd Annual Sports Dinner in Aid of BLUEBLOOD Everton Former Players Foundation. Present among the many guests and former stars was Steve Bickerton, who recorded the unfolding of events in the manner of a Play in Five Acts... I II III IV V
Final Fabulous Match in place
24 May - The final juicy piece of Everton's mouth-watering pre-season tour in far-flung Hibernia has now slotted neatly into place: a massive crowd is expected for the fearsome clash against lowly Queens Park, who managed to finish bottom of Scotland's Third Division last season. A fitting precursor to our historic 100th season in the top flight, eh?
Five Steps to Success
24 May - Welcome to our new columnist, Matt Gill, who starts off what we hope will become a regular item by lining up five players that he believes could do a job for David Moyes.
All change at Aberdeen
24 May - Everton's pre-season fixture at Aberdeen has been called off, apparently over fears of crowd trouble (?). Everton will now play Dunfermline Athletic at 3pm on Saturday 27 July.
Bradford stop the bleeding
23 May - Danny Cadamarteri is one of nineteen Bradford City players (including Benito Carbonne) whose contracts have been terminated after the club went into administration last week, mainly as a result of overspending on players, as well as the ITV Didital debacle.
Gemmill on target
23 May - Scott Gemmill scored in Scotland's 4-0 win over a Hong Kong XI today, reversing an unpleaseant losing trend under Berti Vogts.
If Everton watched, they must be keen?
21 May - Well, no… But the most tenuous of links has not stopped this highly dubious speculation about Everton's "interest" in a couple of South Africans from reaching the Daily Post.
International Appearances
20 May - David Weir and Scott Gemmill participated in Scotland's fourth successive defeat under Berti Vogts (Job opening for Walter Smith soon…???) when they lost 2-0 to South Africa in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Joe-Max Moore came on as a late sub for USA against Holland as the Yanks went down by the same score.
Victory for Chilean Evertonians
20 May - The 'other' Everton, the Chilean 2nd Division side from Viña del Mar, beat Ovalle 5-1 yesterday to secure their place in the top 4 at the end of the First Phase of their convoluted league season. Follow their exploits at John Shearon's unique website.
Gravesen may be next…
19 May - So speculates the Sunday People, which tells the tale of a pre-match "bust-up" with David Moyes over Mad Dog and the Danes before the Arsenal game.
Blues may appeal to FA
17 May - Everton are mulling over the possibility of appealing the fine for their part in the fracas at Craven Cottage this season after Fulham escaped their £30,000 penalty.
Unsworth testimonial confirmed
17 May - Spanish club Athletic Bilbao will be the opposition at Goodison Park on 10th August for David Unsworth's testimonial game.
Now it's Poom
17 May - As David Moyes does the rounds of potentially available goalies, he is now said to be considering Mart Poom of Derby County. But his £4M price-tag may prove to be a stumbling block...
Moore starts for US team
16 May - Joe-Max Moore made a rare start for the US National team at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, setting up the first goal as the Yanks ran out 5-0 winners over Jamaica.
Monaco no-go for Nyarko
16 May - Alex Nyarko could be forced to make another go of his Everton career after Monaco decided against making his loan move permanent. With no other interest in him, David Moyes could inherit the challenge of accommodating the talented but emotional Ghanaian.
Radz on fire for Canada
16 May - Tomasz Radzinski scored two goals (and put one over Pinky, Stefan Henchoz) for Canada as the Canucks scored a surprise 3-1 victory over Switzerland in last night's friendly match-up. The Rad's first was described on the Canadian national side's website as "one of the finest that Canada have ever scored."
Interest in Davis cools
16 May - David Moyes now appears unlikely to persue any interest in Kelvin Davis after the Wimbledon goalie failed to impress sufficiently during a 2-day trial… or the Wombles wanted too much for him.
Ginola money madness
16 May - The Ginola folly by Walter Smith wasted Everton over £350k (£1,000 for every minute he spent on the pitch) for very little in return. David Moyes fortunately shows no sign of indulging in the madness of high Premiership wages or rushing into any quck purchases.
Millsy's Season Review
16 May - Ian Mills has worked up his review of the season, with emphasis on marks out of 10 for the players David Moyes has at his disposal. But 8/10 for the mad fist-waver? Surely not, Ian?
A none-too glamourous pre-season
15 May - Despite rumours of an excursion on the Continent or to the USA, the highlight of Everton's pre-season tour will be Scotland, with games against Aberdeen, Hibernian and an as-yet unconfirmed third club north of the border. Shrewsbury, Wrexham and the annual Everton XI clash with Chester provide further evidence of a meagre budget at Goodison.
Everton release Ginola
15 May - Everton have set David Ginola free to ply his wears. A once-great player, Ginola's arrival was perhaps the saddest and most pathetic last act of the Smith Era; he did absolutely nothing to halt the inevitable slide towards relegation. Alex Cleland has also been released. Jesper Blomqvist's fate is still uncertain, but is expected to be sorted out within 48 hours.
Kelvin Davis on trial
15 May - Wimbledon keeper Kelvin Davis has been having a trial with Everton for the past two days as David Moyes confirms his desire to improve the goalkeeping position at Goodison. He is also chasing Michael Duberry of Leeds.
Player of the Season
15 May - April's Player of the Month is unveiled here and we're now asking you to vote for your Player of the Season for 2001/02… or should that be top candidate for departure this summer!
Rooney: "My biggest night yet"
14 May - Fresh from more goalscoring exploits with England U-17s, Wayne Rooney tells the Official Website about his big moment leading the Everton attack against the Young Villains in the FA Youth Cup Final.
Pre-season with the Dons
14 May - Everton will travel to Aberdeen on Saturday 27 July for one of their pre-season friendly matches; kick off is at 3pm.
Youth Captain ready for action
13 May - The Daily Post has this nice feature on Youth Team captain, Stephen Schumacher.
Moyes blames individual errors
13 May - Although he does not name names, David Moyes knows who the guilty individuals were on Saturday, and plans to deal with the problem!
Joe-Max Moore in action
12 May - Joe-Max Moore played a small part in the US victory 2-1 over Paraguay, coming on as a second-half sub at RFK Stadium.
Be afraid, be very afraid..
12 May - According to this dubious source, the player fans love to hate could be coming to Goodison: Robbie Savage. Maybe Ginola was just to soften us up — but he at least once had devastating skill as a footballer.
Everton equal ancient record!
12 May - Duncan Ferguson is leading scorer for the season with eight goals overall and just six in the Premeiership. The last time Everton's leading scorer in the league managed a paltry six goals was in 1889 — the first season of the Football League — when they only played 22 games! His name was Edgar Chadwick and he played in every game. And Duncan Ferguson this season played in 22 league games.
End-of-term marks from Moyes.
11 May - We played very well but defensively we were awful and in attack we were profligate. Everton slip to a disapointing 15th and there will, of course, be no InterToto Cup jaunts in July.
Rooney hat-trick
10 May - Wayne Rooney restored some national pride as he helped England to secure 3rd place in the Uefa U-17 Championships in Denmark, banging in three goals against Spain in a 4-1 win.
Calculating success
10 May - Dr Chris Hope, Cambridge mathematician, has come up with a formula to measure a manager's success rate, weighted by recent results. Using his formula, Joe Royle was doing OK but Walter Smith should have gone in 1999.
Player of the Month
9 May - We're about to wrap up voting for April's Player of the Month, so get your votes in now for the player you feel made the greatest contribution to the team last month.
Jimmy: the new Archie?
8 May - David Moyes has persuaded Jimmy Lumsden to leave Preston and come to Everton where he will join Alan Irvine as first-team coach. 53-year-old Glaswegian…sans baseball bat?
Carsley is not for rolling over
7 May - With poor performances against Leicester and Blackburn still fresh in the mind, brave words ahead of the Arsenal match from Lee Carsley (who has been named in Ireland's World Cup squad) have a slightly hollow sound — and the fear remains that InterToto Cup ties could still disrupt family hols...
Blomqvist still waiting…
7 May - In the Daily Post, Andy Hunter seems convinced that Jesper Blomqvist will not be offered a new contract at Goodison, to compound his World Cup frustration. Despite promising signs of class, he has failed to make a telling difference under Moyes, and has been dogged by more injuries.
Backroom boys say No!
7 May - David Moyes has been rebuffed by his former assistant manager Kelham O'Hanlon and chief scout Clive Middlemass, who both turned down a move to Goodison Park.
Reserves lose mini-derby
6 May - Everton Reserves brought their disappointing season to an end with a mini-derby defeat at the hands of rivals Liverpool. With the likes of Clarke and Rooney on international duty, the Reds fielded a stronger line-up and ran out 1-0 winners.
Ginola to Portsmouth?
5 May - The Official Everton website is now generating its own transfer speculation, with Harry Redknap reportedly interested in picking up David Ginola's free contarct when the season ends.
Rooney scores again!
4 May - Wayne Rooney's seventh-minute strike gave England a 1-0 victory over Yugoslavia in their UEFA European Under-17 Championship quarter-final today. With England now through to the last four, Rooney is very unlikely to play any part in Everton's last game of the season against Cup Winners Arsenal.
More Transfer Rumours
3 May - Croatian goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa, Lecce striker Davor Vugrinec, and Italian international Massimo
Maccarone are the latest players to be linked with moves to Goodison as the rumour mill gears up for a busy summer. Meanwhile, Empoli are tracking the mad Dane, Thomas Gravesen. All to be taken with large pinches of salt, we're sure.
More Moyes Wisdom
3 May - Reinforcing the message, backed by the grim reality of limited cash, David Moyes says: "The fans know we are going down another road. Improvement is not difficult this way, it just makes it slow."
Harvey on Rooney
3 May - An excellent and eminently sensible piece on Wayne Rooney, from the Evertonian who has nurtured and protected this young talent so far… Colin Harvey.
Z Z Z Z Z Z Zamora…
3 May - The Echo appears to be employing astrology in resurecting the Zamora link via David Moyes (ex-Preston), now that Peter Taylor has left Brighton, and five major planets are forming a unique alignment in the heavens...
Russell Howarth
2 May - Not much new information in this piece from the BBC which just confirms David Moyes's obvious interest in the young York City goalie.
Fire Sale?
1 May - David Unsworth gives David Moyes high praise and believes he has what it takes to keep Everton making steady progress under his guidance; Blackburn was just a blip.
|
![[Season Diary]](/images/news/season_diary.gif){kind=small}
Top of the Page