“Who Do You Support?”

Cosa Nostra! Definitely.

Football and Everton in particular is the other woman in my life.

My poor dogs. My wife. They all suffer, but I'll never give up the one true constant in my life.

I can't explain it. I can't hate them. I can only follow. I always will. Always have.

I'm weird in a way.

I have no time for people who support teams miles away from where they grew up. Usually Man Utd or Kopite glory hunters. I usually give them short shrift as I feel that football should be community-led and you should follow your local team regardless.

Here's the weird bit... I make allowances in the above regard for Evertonians.

Had my dad taken me (and brother) to Tranmere games when growing up, like he did his two brothers, I too may have ended up supporting them. But something just pointed me at Everton at about 6-7 years of age and I've been a fan ever since.

Apparently my dad was a red; my brother, although he goes to Tranmere, he supports Man Utd as well but, having been to a charity match at Old Trafford ONCE, it's more than him. 💙UTFT COYB ETID NSNO

Rhys, good read that thank you. Had me nodding my head and chuckling in recognition far too many times for it to be healthy,

I have a real loathing for car registrations that have “kop” within them and others that “YNWA” not so discreetly printed or stuck on the windows. But I find myself grinning and out my thumb up to drivers who have any sort of EFC related theme on their vehicle.

A great article than me and many others can relate to but I dispute your claim to hate them more than any of us!

Dave Lynch - I agree but it's not just Everton I respect people from miles away supporting. I've met fans of West Ham who live in Merseyside who I respect as it's not the obvious choice. My mate is Irish and he chose Spurs years ago when growing up in Ireland when all around him were picking the shite and I respect that too. What I detest is people who pick Liverpool, United, Chelsea and now City simply because they are the fashionable team. It displays a lack of imagination and a massive character flaw in the person making that choice.

I also detest people from the City who ‘support' Liverpool but have never actually set foot in Mordor. You know the types - they festoon their house in red and white come the Champions League final and flock to the city centre to watch the trophy parade yet they aren't one of the five and a half thousand with an ‘L' postcode who actually bother themselves with ever going to the match but they can certainly make the effort to put their replica shirt and scarf on to watch a home game in the pub.

Me and my son often laugh and play spot the Kopite on holiday. You see them by the pool in their kit and you just know that they will inevitably be from Devon or Plymouth or some such place and will inevitably be a gobshite to match their kit.

Thankfully in the lovely place where I live, no Kopites. Bliss. There is a small group interested: fans of Villa, Ipswich and Man City respectively. We all get on and I get sympathetic messages regarding our matches.

Though, as I've told my Villa friend, my general positive attitude towards them is a bit on hold now Stevie Gobshite manages them. He understands!

That Michael Bay quote was spot on.

I have nothing Red in my house. Absolutely nothing. In any way. Shape. Or form.

It's simply not an option.

Can't say I actually support this incarnation of Everton despite confessing allegance when pressured. It's a shit club with shit players bereft of ambition, character, and ability – and has been since peak Moyes and Kenwright. The sheer ineptness leaves me cold.

The attachment is better categorised as battered wife syndrome with delusion supplanting knowledge in the mad notion things are on the verge of changing.

Quite disconcerting as life used to revolve around this club when I was a young 'un brainwashed to the nth degree. But truth, logic and basic reason entered my life and unthinking cult rationale (which is really what fandom is about) exited stage left.

I always hope a miracle might happen and we will regain our rightful position as kings of the city but that requires a dynasty hoovering up trophy after trophy for years on end. I guess that's the problem. When some talk of mid-table stability or qualifying for Europe now and again as 'success', I just roll my eyes.

Hi Rhys,

Like yourself, I was born into an Everton family, and while I have no proof, I believe that my Granddad (on my mother's side) would have (at the age of 13) attended the first Everton game staged at Anfield on 8 September 1888, a 2-1 victory against Accrington. To complete the picture, my six uncles were also avid 'Blues'.

I'm of a different age group to you, in my schooldays and youth, the rivalry between Everton and Liverpool was not as bitter as it is today. I have been watching Everton since 1948 but have to confess that I can't recall my first game.

In those far distant days, if I was a youngster living in Middlesbrough, I would have supported Middlesbrough FC, and my hero would have been inside forward Wilf Mannion. I would hazard a guess that, if I was to visit Middlesbrough today, there would be youngsters wearing the shirts of Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea. Barcelona, and Real Madrid, etc.

In the debate that sometimes rears its head, I would regard those who attend matches as supporters; there are some who buy the shirt of a particular club and sit in a Pub miles away from the team they claim to support.

You are absolutely sane Rhys! There is love of life and then there is plod your way through. You only know if it is worth the intensity by going over the top with it. I haven't had a real go at a Red for a while but I did get a good dig in on one trying to just make a joke suggesting I could come over to their side if relegated. He was left pondering if it was worth it when he read my punchline. It will be deliciously uncomfortable when our next visit is in person.

I enjoyed reading that - great stuff.

I can't stand them. Like you the stick taken at school stoked my dislike of them. The 80s when we had a real go and won silverware galore was a really enjoyable time for the most part. The so called good times since haven't.

The ones I despise the most are the shirt wearing know alls, who don't go the games but wear the shirt to boost their non existent self esteem and make themselves look good watching the matches in the pub. Though they are the first to sod off when the RS let them down.

When on hols I've met a few really nice footie fans but the RS ones are so bloody arrogant and patronising. Everton ffs, why do you support them ? The other fans, mostly say they can't stand LFC and their supporters and treat my support of EFC, with respect. Here's to City winning a fine treble. At least then we can all order a treble at the bar, next time a RS, in his new top and new scarf is standing next to us !! Oh the JOY !

Barry @ 9. When, exactly, was "peak Moyes"?

I've struggled with this for some time now, as I enjoy watching non-league footy more than “Premier League”. But on days like Saturday, when Goodison is bouncing, even if for the wrong reasons, it's a fine place to be.

I stood outside the church after the match, and watched the throngs turning the corner of Gwladys Street onto Goodison Road, and eventually saw above the heads my 7 year old grandson, effectively surfing the wave, 7 foot high on my son's shoulders, beaming the most wonderful smile.

Then, 3 minutes later, Rob Halligan appeared, looking like he had gone through an emotional mangle.

I'm not getting carried away, but the last two home games have been quite special.

You always see them of a weekend with their horrible shirts on.

‘Where are you going' you ask. ‘Off to the game' they answer.

‘No you're not, you're going to the pub to watch the telly'.

‘Yes' they say without any hint that it's not even remotely the same. Dickheads.

Rhys - you're totally normal, mate. I don't see a problem.

Hate em.

Know someone who is a Man City supporter / he always hated Man U but hates the shite far more than he hates them now. He said he never used to understand but now gets it.

So many instances why to hate them, they are utter gobshites.

I'm lucky - I live in Christchurch, New Zealand and all my friends support teams Like Norwich, Newcastle and Aston Villa (making allowances for the idiots who follow the All-Blacks). So we all are of a kindred spirit.

No supporters of the Dark Side that we can ignore. No wait – my wife supports Liverpool!!! I have to forgive her though as love is blind and she doesn't know any better.

Rhys, your article sums up a great deal of what many Evertonians feel about supporting our club but I do have to thank you for identifying the previously unknown to me "work" of Michael Bay.

Having read up on him he seems to be a total pandering-to-the-masses no-mark show-biz cunt, but, even so, slightly more palatable than Kenwright is to any viable Evertonian.

Cheers!

Rhys

Thanks mate. I thought it was just me but I hate these fucking vapid, characterless Michael Bay films. Have you seen his latest shit with Jake Gyllenhall stealing the ambulance? Complete garbage and yes, very reminiscent of watching Everton.

Bernie #18. I'm up in Nelson but unlike you, my club FC Nelson is full of them. My favourites are those who assume I'll support the shite in European games. Even my Irish mate Damian, hearing this commented 'You know fekkin not'n abewt football man'.

Who was it on here who has a T shirt with the slogan 'I'd rather walk alone'? I love that.

Paul -I want that tee-shirt!

I've always found that most kopshites of my age differed to is in three ways.

(1) They love to stroll around kitted up, even in their 60's. I wouldn't be seen dead in a football kit at my age. I noted something very interesting when I got to the departure lounge at Liverpool Airport to go and watch our away leg at Villareal. Dozens of middle aged blues with barely a scarf on them (most had small pin lapel badges, as did I) bit no ostentatious, loud, wanky displays. As we went into the boarding area… there they were. Five kopshite gobshites, all dressed up in red, kitted up. (En route back to Ireland as the vermin had been playing at home that weekend.) Needless to say, they were suitably mocked and humiliated.

(2) All of the Blues of my age that I know of that had our affliction handed down to us from our Dads and Granddads. Kopshites, on the other hand. Especially those of my age have no such heritage or tradition. They merely looked about in the mid ‘70s at who was winning stuff, and lumped in with them. Vapid, vacuous glory-hunters. Like my late Dad used to say… 'Liverpool? You're joking aren't you son? Nobody supported them when I was a kid. They were in the 2nd Division!'

(3) Roll a ball towards the gobbiest/kitted up kopshite and there's a fair chance he'll miss it or fall on his arse. Most of the best amateur players I played with (on a Saturday) were Blues.

So there you have it, not quite as comprehensive or scientific as I could have made it, but I hope this raises a smile in these difficult times…COYB.

Very long line of blues in my family's so there was never an option (Google ToffeeWeb Everton's first mascot – my older bro John). The club is very lucky it's passed down from generations to be a blue.

Notice the away section makes me feel very old they all look well under 30. As I say, we are unique in that way at least. Nothing manufactured, as we say.

“ an extremely debauched week of drug-taking, womanising, cricket-watching, bestiality and using the Lord's sacred name in vain”

You say that like it's a bad thing.

Don't get me started!!

I come from a family of reds. My dad was a red, the uncle who lived with us was a red, yet from the age of seven, I've been a blue. My first football match was December 5th 1953, it was at Anfield and Liverpool were playing Blackpool. I was taken to see Stanley Matthews, whose famous Cup Final I'd listened to on the wireless a few months earlier, and whom my family thought would soon retire. Liverpool won 5-2 and my Liverpool "supporterhood" should have been signed and sealed.
However, a couple of months later, my dad who was at that stage a merchant seaman ,came home and when he came home he went to the match on a Saturday, Liverpool were his team, but Everton were a team from his city and if they were at home he went to watch them.

So off we went to Goodison to see Everton play the mighty Plymouth Argyle. At this stage I hadn't really got a team, I was seven, football daft, I'd have probably said if pushed that I was a red, but it wasn't really a deep commitment.
By the end of that February afternoon, my commitment was total. Everton won 8-4(never sixty-nine years later have I seen anothe rtwelve goal game) and Everton had a centre forward with blonde hair who entranced me. Dave Hickson became my football hero. I know John-Willie Parker scored four goals, but it was Hickson who persuaded this little boy he was an Evertonian.
So when people say Evertonians ( or Liverpool supporters )are born, I smile. I should be a red by all the genetic laws, but I'm not, in a family that was predominantly red, I became a blue.
Liverpool's relegation that season and Everton's promotion confirmed my choice and thus started basically seventy years of being an Evertonian.
I now live in Rutland, most people here support Man United, Liverpool and one or two even support Leicester which is basically at twenty miles away our local team, but it's Everton for me and one son and grandson.
Heritage supporters from the local area are a rarity nowadays, when I question local inhabitants about their choice of Man U. or Liverpool, they basically say when I was seven I watched a game on tv, probably a big final and Man U. or Liverpool won and that really isn't all that different from what happened to me at Goodison in February 1954 when I saw Dave Hickson against Plymouth.

My mum and all her siblings (13 of them!) were reds, my dad was a blue but his brother was a red. That's how it goes in families from Liverpool.

My approach to my red shite relations is relentless mockery of their inflated sense of entitlement. It has been hard over the last few years with Kloppo, so my new line is that their modest revival will die when he leaves in 2024.

Some good accounts above. My dad was a fanatical Evertonian, so I followed suit. My 2 brothers and younger sister also. My other sister didn't really do the football thing, but if pushed, she has blue leanings. Her husband and 2 of her sons are red with her other one being a season ticket holder at Goodison. In fact both of my sisters managed to marry Koppites even though neither of my brothers-in-law are from Liverpool (Northern Ireland and Somerset respectively)!!!

I see some sights here in London when Liverpool play. I even once got "advised" that I should be supportive of my city. The irony and audacity was not lost on me!!

Talk about passion for their club I've just seen on Sky Sport News the 1958 Man Utd supporters are staging protests at the way the club is run saying it's in a mess - ffs have a look at the way we are run and how we react 🤷💙

My lad who generally follows the Blues everywhere is a 5th generation Evertonian, he got no say in the matter like me !

I am a proud half scouser. My mother was born 800 yards from Goodison. She never went to matches but fondly remembered seeing Dixie bring home the Cup in 1933.
After the May blitz In 1941 the family, by then living on the edge of Bootle, moved 15 miles away to a village in the Lancashire countryside where she met my father.

He was a cricket and Rugby League fan but had been to Goodison occasionally, as it was convenient to get there by train, and he saw the legendary 6-4 Cup replay v Sunderland in 1934.

My first match was v Chelsea in 1961, a 1-1 draw with goals from two legends, Roy Vernon and Jimmy Greaves. Ironically I went with a red who is still a great friend after all those years.

My favourite team will always be the 1969-70 Champions, favourite match the 1966 Cup Final, closely followed by Bayern Munich in 1985. Biggest regret? Kenwright.

I have never worn red apart from the remembrance poppy and red rose of Lancashire CCC.

Living 28 miles away in mid Lancashire for many years, I travel to matches with my wife by car and Merseyrail. Kirkdale Station has been transformed but the walk to the ground has changed very little since the sixties. It is very sad that Goodison has had its day, but I am looking forward to BMD, one stop further down the line at Sandhills.

Some complicated family situations here !

My old dad is a red, says his Parkinson's gets worse when he watches them, imagine if he was an Evertonian, he'd be dead and buried. One brother is a smug red, we don't talk football or watch footballl together due to the simmering animosity we both know is there.

My other brother is a blue but is a doctor and has more perspective about things so doesn't get too emotional about it. My mum was a neutral, Switzerland, best not to get involved and prayed for Derby draws to keep family harmony.

In the early eighties I had a beautiful girlfriend who lived on Gwladys Street. Seemed very strange going to her house and parking opposite the entrances to the ground. Shame she dumped me !

I've got the "I'd rather walk alone" t-shirt. At 50 years old, I was branded a child.

Link

Well this is all important stuff and has changed dramatically during my lifetime. I have no idea why I support Everton, my dad died when I was 7 and I am not sure whether he was interested in football, and I have no siblings who might have influenced my choice.

Anyway the first football match I ever saw was at Goodison in 1962. How privileged I felt, we were in the 1st Division and " they " were in the 2nd. My esteem grew further when I later visited " their " ground. In those days it did not compare favourably with our ground. At school we were divided equally between blue and red, and when we played the game of picking the best joint team it was usually 6 from us and 5 from them.

Times change of course and when my own two sons were born I let them choose their own colours maybe thinking they would follow me. How wrong I was. Still they are mad keen football supporters and have had years of pleasure and easy watching. They could of course have travelled to games with me and shared my often heartache.

For me the best times were when Merseyside was top of the football world and I hope I see that day again. In the meantime we have a significant Derby on the horizon and oh I hope we can from somewhere readdress the years of hurt and get a favourable result.

How good it would be to finish the season on a high with Super Frank and a world class new stadium on the horizon. We just need six new players to get into that joint Merseyside team.

Rick (28), well Rick about five years after that Everton v Plymouth game Everton beat Tranmere Rovers 8-5 in the final of the Liverpool senior cup at Anfield and your idol and mine Davie Hickson played and was on the score sheet, I think Peter Farrell and Tommy Eglington played for Tranmere that summers night.

I was born and grew up in Exeter. We visited Merseyside quite a lot to see our courtesy aunt in the early 1970's. My brother had become a blue before those visits, on account of being bought a blue shirt for football lessons at school on the suggestion of my mum's boss's son. He had collected football stickers before then and the one thing he knew was that he didn't like the page dedicated to the filth. On our visits to our aunt the prospect of going to Goodison was never raised - my mum hated football and my dad was completely indifferent - my aunt was nominally red. In truth I didn't show an interest in football until later in the seventies.
My brother took me to St James' Park - home of the Grecians, but in all honesty I just didn't feel welcome. I watched the 1978 World Cup, and priest friend of the family tried to interest me and my brother in Celtic during a holiday to Scotland. Again it just didn't feel right.
Then on October 28th 1978 I saw my brother's reaction to Andy King's belter against the filth. I saw the celebrations of the faithful, Gordon Lee's interview and Mick Lyons giving Thompson an Everton tie...and it just felt right.
It was once said to me that Love is a decision. And on that day there was no turning back. Luckily, my class at school had a real mixture footballing allegiances - United, West Brom, Coventry City, Forest, and one weirdo who said he supported the filth. Nevertheless, there was a one boy in the year below who was a very vocal filth supporter. Of course, he was from London and his mother a die-hard Palace fan, but he was my first taste of the arrogance and sense of entitlement that I would witness ever after from their 'supporters'.
Some of you might remember that when Andy King's goal beat them in 1978 we were in the middle of brilliant run, which was scuppered by a fixture at Highfield Road that should never have been played. That 3-2 loss to Coventry was my first taste of what it really means to be an Evertonian, and it upset me for weeks afterwards. The official's decision to play the game and the press reaction showed me early on that we are a club that are treated with contempt. Does it stop me ? No. Fast forward to 20th September 1980. My second visit to Goodison - my first had been to visit the shop in the summer holidays - but this was my first match. Against a sprightly Palace side, my dad, my brother ( it was his eighteenth birthday), my sister and I sat in the lower Bullens towards the Park end. Palace turned us round for the first half. 0-0 at half time, but after the break - a hatrick from Latchford, one from Eastoe and penalty from Gidman...and all the goals at our end. One of the most joyful moments of my life.
Nevertheless, the question of 'who do you support?' and its ensuing deal breaking answer has actually got me into quite a lot of hot water over the years. Naturally, it is 'supporters' of the filth who I detest the most, but I have also met plenty of their apologists who go under the guise of supporters of other teams. A lot of them don't even know when the filth are playing, whereas as Evertonians we are programmed to live and breathe every moment of every game.
I am a teacher in Cornwall - Goodness knows I wish I wasn't- and I see plenty of red pencil cases, sports bags and other paraphernalia. If challenged I will simply interrogate them on 'their' club's history. Most don't even know how they were formed. None know their manager before Shankly, in fact some don't even know Shankly. The usual response is 'well, I don't support them like that', which is a very lame defence and I know that I have made my point.
But for every little victory, it is their coverage in the press, the profile on the BB(LF)C and the profusion of decisions that go their way that we, as Evertonians, have to live with, and the reference above to living in a Nazi occupied state is apposite.
One day they will be shown up for the fly blown, festering heap of accumulated filth that they are. In the meantime I know that nobody supports Everton lightly. You just can't. And that is why when two Evertonians meet they don't even bother with 'hello' - it is straight into a discussion of the various merits of our last outing.
I sometimes feel self conscious about being an Evertonian from the South West, but any Evertonian knows that we all do the hard yards. And I am sure that everyone will understand when I say that listening to the games ( courtesy of Darren Griffiths and Snods or Diamond) over the 'radio' is more nerve shredding than being there or watching on TV. It is hard work - especially at the moment - but I will never give up as I believe ( since that day in 1978) that Everton stand for something that I resonate with. Something that is right. I loved Brian Labone's Corinthian spirit, as much as I loathe it when Richarlison dives - leave that to the filth. I loved it when Jimmy King took me on a personalised tour of Goodison, whilst Dave Thomas was finding it hard to get a signed shirt out of Mordor for his guide dog's charity.I loved it when my brother won a season ticket for the main stand, but asked the club to exchange it for two the Gwladys street, so he could go with his girlfriend ( Anfield born and as blue as you can get), which they did, whilst they are getting t-shirts printed to support someone who is accused of racism on the pitch.
In short Everton's nobility is why I am blue, as opposed to other clubs moral bankruptcy.
As a banner at a derby once read ' I would rather die with our reputation than live with yours'.

COYB

Danny #35, me too at the age of 53 (a few years ago)!

On the internet, there is a photograph of Jurgen Klopp on holiday recently in South Africa. He enters a restaurant in Cape Town with his wife. At a table, are the captains of the SA Rugby team, Siya Kilosi and the SA cricket team, Faf du Plessis. Kilosi, an ardent LFC fan embraces Klopp, who turns to Du Plessis and asks: "Who do you support?" The reply is: 'Everton', leading to a frosty silence and a slightly embarrassed photo!

Nicholas #40 cracking bloke that Faf du Plessis!

Nicolas (40), that is so cool! Faf du Plessis is the captain of my local IPL team - Royal Challengers Bangalore! Need to catch up with him sometime and talk about Everton :-)

Ajay,

He spent a year in Liverpool when 18/19 as the overseas professional at Liverpool Cricket Club, during which time he was introduced to EFC.

Danny. Already owner of two of them tee-shirts. This big kid just ordered same caption with the zebra crossing Beatles scene on it. Dead cool well I think it is. Teepublic if anyone interested. It's thee little innocent digs (yeah right) that still get to them. Keep the faith.

Nicholas (40) - Is that so? You sure? Let's see what Faf DuPlessis has to say about that photo. Du Plessis' picture from that meeting generated a lot of cross-sport talk.

Asked by a journalist whether Klopp recognised him, du Plessis' answer was short: "No" But he elaborated: "He [Klopp] said he watches cricket. The Liverpool guys watched the Cricket World Cup and he knew about how well England did, so that's great.”

Du Plessis doesn't usually follow football, he said, but one meeting with Klopp is all it took for him to become a fan. “For someone to be that famous, he is a great guy, and that's what I believe real leadership is about” du Plessis said.

“It's about connecting with people, having great relationships with people, so I became a massive fan. I am not a huge football fan, I don't support a lot but I do support him now.”

We're touting Klopp on ToffeeWeb now?

I'm currently living in Swaziland, and there are the usual glory hunters which you find in the African countries that I have visited (mainly Man Utd & a disproportionate number of Arsenal fans) but I have yet to find another Everton fan here, although I know one West Ham fan and one Newcastle fan.

A while ago, one of my subcontractors (a Swazi) came into my office wearing a redshite tracksuit top, so I gave him two options:

Option 1 - Get the fuck out of my office.
Option 2 - If he really wanted to come in and discuss his issues with me then take off the offending garment and leave it outside.

He cracked up with laughter for a few seconds until it dawned on him that I wasn't joking. He went with Option 2.

My dad was from the west coast of Scotland, and was a Celtic fan. My mum's family was from Sunderland (I have some Sunderland-supporting cousins). I was born in Edinburgh.

My dad's work moved to Liverpool in 1965 (Dista Products in Speke - if any of you know it), when I was 18 months old.

We lived just off Mather Avenue, and the open-topped bus parades went past the bottom of our road on the way from Allerton Station. The first team team to pass with a trophy was Everton with the 1966 FA Cup. Now I was 2 at the time, and can't remember that, but when I started school 2 years later, I was definitely a Blue.

"We do not choose, we are chosen"

A few years ago I was stretched out on a sun lounger by the pool of my favourite hotel in Turkey.
Chatting away to Mrs Alan the guy close by asked if we were from Liverpool. Nice guy, from near Tunbridge, we got chatting and then the inevitable. " who do you support then Alan ?".
My heart sank...he was going to be a MASSIVE Liverpudlian wasn't he ?
So I did the usual..."I'm a blue, for my sins etc"
Thank God, he said..so am I ! Although from Kent his dad had come from Old Swan. He went on to say there were scores of reds in his area but only four or five blues. But all the blues had, like him, a direct connection to the city.
Just had to buy him an Efes...was also a Dylan fan so it was with a raki chaser.

I support the Blues because as an 8 year old I got locked out of OT when my dad took me to my first game. We went back to where he had parked his Moggie on an old bomb site at Trafford Park and had to wait until the end of the game before we could get off. The same season I watched us lose to WBA in the cup on telly and was hooked.

I was born in Stockport, on the banks of the Mersey in fact, at Stepping Hill. My dad was a big Utd fan and I should have followed In that family tradition. Thank god we could not get in the ground! I have not regretted a day since.

My nephew is also a Blue as I took him to games in the 80's. He also grew up in Stockport but now lives in Kent. His 11 year old is also a Blue 😀.

On a final note my Dad was the steward at Stockport County social club in the late 60's early 70's. County are my other football love. I have watched them against Everton twice, but always wanted the Blues to win.

I now live near Ely in Cambridgeshire but still manage to see the boys with my nephew 4 to 5 times a season. Also watch County, top of the National League, when I can.

Funny how things work out!

Great article, Rhys! I am an Evertonian who lives miles away from Liverpool (in India) but I don't consider myself any less of a fan than anyone who lives in the city. I lived in Liverpool for 2 years as a kid...in the mid 80s, when my dad was studying/working at Alder Hey. Was introduced to the club by my school friends - Peter Kellett, John Lynd and Mark Minard. Never got to go to a game at that time as it was too expensive.

Was hard to follow the team in India in the early 90s as football was not very popular then. Had to depend on letters from friends to let me know how Everton were doing. Once football started getting televised in India, we would only get to watch the games we played against Utd or Arsenal or similar "big teams".

Other than my family members, I am yet to meet an Evertonian in India (although Ajay Gopal does stay only 4 hours from where I live!). Most fans here are Utd or RS, with a few new age City and Chelsea fans.

Despite all the ups and downs, I still catch pretty much every game that we play and plan(and often re-arrange) my work roster according to the fixtures each year. I do not have the pedigree that many of you seem to have - with generations of Evertonians in your family. My kids are 12 and 9 and know that I am a fanatic supporter of the club and do join in the support when I watch games. I dream of someday sitting at BMD and watching a game with my wife and kids and yelling till I lose my voice(like I do while watching many games on TV as well - my neighbours all remark on how they know when a game is on from my yelling!)

Will end with one of my favourite quotes that is on my computer -
"Evertonians are born not manufactured. We do not choose, we are chosen. Those who understand need no explanation. Those who don't understand, don't matter"

I used to think I was a “proper supporter” because I have been travelling 4-5 miles to watch games at Goodison for 60 years.

Then I started reading this site, discovered the lengths people go to support the Blues, and began to feel quite inadequate.

None of us are no more or no less. We are all Everton and Evertonians.

Trains are in chaos for travelling blues for the Chelsea home match. 5 hours and 3 changes to get from Euston to Lime Street.

I'm flying to Manchester for the second time for a home match this season. Please send me back to Heathrow with the points Everton!!

Peter #51. Never mate. Blue is blue. End of. I had a season ticket for 10 years. Now I have a season ticket with Spark Sport on my laptop a 6am most Sunday mornings.

Rick Tarleton @28.

Where in Rutland do you live? I lived there for a while - Egleton, Nr Oakham - My Gran, bless her, ran a farm there and lived there with my Mum who worked at Oakham school when she left the WRNS after the war. I think the old farmhouse is now owned by a member of the McAlpine family. She was a Leicester supporter if anything (local club) although she had a strong allegiance to Everton because of myself.

We moved to the Wirral and I started to go to games at Goodison with a mate and his more elderly neighbour. All my kids and grandson have responded to treatment and are dyed in the wool Blues (for which I almost feel guilty this season) but I was intrigued by your Rutland comment, Rick.

Kim, I actually live in Oakham and think Egleton is a lovely little village. I've lived here since 1976, though in different houses within Oakham. One son lives in Oakham, he moved back a few years ago, the other ( the Evertonian) lives in Sileby near Loughborough. his eldest(almost 13)is vaguely affiliated to Leicester City and goes to training sessions there, he's a keeper and always wears his Everton kit which doesn't always go down well.

All true, no red clothes, cars etc.

Can't support any sports team wearing red either – even when England use that strip.

Irrational.

I was born and raised in Woolton and now in my seventies have lived in Australia for quite some years. An acquaintance of mine had a neighbour with an American accent and I asked where he was from in USA. My friend advised that some years ago his neighbour had a 3 week holiday in USA and has had the accent ever since. I still have my distinct Scouse accent and feel somewhat embarrassed when other Scousers on holiday ask only,"Are you a Red or Blue nose?" which makes me wonder if they ever worry about anything else.
I usually reply that I follow the senior and original team and when they get stroppy I remind them that they play on our old ground which usually shuts them up. Europeans and South Americans interested are usually surprised to find that out and indeed had a splendid night explaining our history with some South American ladies who had come to see on the big screen James debut for us.

Why am I an Evertonian, I don't know. My father always talked Everton but to my knowledge rarely went to a game but there were hundreds of old Everton programmes and my earliest memory is of Everton putting 6 past Gordon Banks in one of his first games for Leicester in the early '60s and St John's debut in a Liverpool Senior Cup Final when he scored a hat trick but Mickey Lill got the winner.

And like other Evertonians saw a lot of games from the Boys Pen until whisked into the Gladdy by an older brother from which there was no return.

This piece articulates so much about us as Evertonians, I'm sure it's the same for every fan at every club in the country and indeed the world.

What's harder about today compared to years gone by, is the realisation that our club doesn't appear to be able to compete as well as it should do, and the record against the other lot in derby games in the last decade or so and the comparable trophy hauls in the last fifty years, sometimes makes us feel ashamed of our club and causes their fans to seem more obnoxious and arrogant to us as Blues.

Take the other lot out of the equation, and we might not feel quite so discontented, although we would obviously be highly critical of our club for the last five or six years and the way it has wasted those years, which we'll never get back.

At the end of the day, we're all Evertonians, we all want the best for the club and that won't change, whether we attend the games or watch from afar, but the club owes its fans big time and it has to somehow become more competitive in the near future.

Wherever the club play in whatever competition it plays in there will be Evertonians there to support them, I just hope that we see some players who care even half as much as those supporters in the future and who knows we may once again lift a trophy in time, but it is paramount that the club survives this season in the top-flight and with the help of the Goodison faithful, it is achievable, but it is very sad that this is the sum of our near-term ambitions.

Love this, Rhys. Brilliant.

Like others have said, I play spot the kopite too. Especially on holiday. Some tit from Basingstoke in a replica has my instant loathing because all they are are glory hunters who support them because they've won stuff. Support your local team!

I hate them with every bone in my body. I'll never ever forget being 10 and going the 1986 Cup Final and having to listen to the gloating bastards all the way home on the coach. Family included.

I've got spreadsheets showing how lucky they are. It's so irrational but it's deeply ingrained. Where I live now, they're absolutely everywhere – and like rats, you're never more than 10 yards from one of the fuckers. And if they say they support them, I just shut down the conversation.

The best is converting the non-reds and opening their eyes to it; the luck, the cheating, the despicable behaviour and most of all the self-entitlement.

But I can't put Everton down, and I hate hating them for being shit. And then I start all over again. And I rearrange things in the house in the vain hope that there's some kind of mystery force that will make them better. It's madness. But that's Evertonia. Forza Everton.

On this day like many thousands (I reckon close to 20 thousand) I was at Villa Park in 1987 when Sheedy scored a great volley to set us up for the title win.

We have never embraced the Sky era, 1992 onwards to present day. A few reasons we all know about (or should do). So sad if it ends completely in a few weeks. Part of me will die with them.

Superb thread.

I'm a fifth generation Evertonian, along with my older brother. We followed our Dad. But our kid, Mum and all her side are reds. My first proper football memory is the 86 Cup Final where me, Dad and our Ashley went off to watch the game with his lot in Bootle and Mum and a very very young Seb had a much happier afternoon in Wavertree.

My first match was a 1-0 win over Wednesday a few years later. Cottee got the winner. Of course, only a few weeks later came Hillsborough and Mum putting her foot down on nine and eleven year old lads going the footy until all seaters came in. So I was sadly only ever on the Goodison terraces the once.

The Reds in my family are alright, bar me cousins husband who is such a gobshite he's almost a parody. On my visits home every few years I have to give the soft get a wide berth. (For balance, my uncle Danny is almost as bad on our side, he literally walked out of a wedding reception he was a groomsman at because YNWA came on.)

I still watch from New Zealand and have done for nearly two decades but, to be honest, it's not entirely the same. Getting older, football becoming so unlikeable, and our club's long long period in the wilderness, have given me a lot more perspective and I find I can take it or leave it a lot more easily than I used to be able to. A blessed relief in light of the absolute shitshow this season has largely been.

A great thread, and I'd like to just shout out to all the foreign-based Blues and all those Evertonians without a direct connection to the city. Their unique journeys to becoming Toffees I always find strangely fascinating.

We are truly born, not made.

I think the only red stuff I have around the house on a regular basis are tomatoes and ketchup. Can't avoid those.

I am getting married in July, the colour scheme is blue and white, the invites have the Everton motto on. Red is banned – anybody contravening this will not be allowed to come in, they gave been warned.

Great to see this one still going. Martyn, a passionate red cousin of mine maintains it is unlucky to have red and white at a wedding. Her dad (my uncle) was an Evertonian and his dog that knew it's way around Speke better than anyone I knew was called Blue.

Blue and white always looks better. Like my Christmas Tree!!

Like most on here my Dad, Grandad, Uncles etc. were all blues and I followed.

Although born on Merseyside we moved to Chorley when I was very young and I went to school with mainly Man Utd and RS fans with a few Preston, Blackburn and Bolton thrown in for diversity.

35 years on from school I now live in Bedfordshire and work in West London and I'm still surrounded by the same red shirts, it drives me mad. Only one of them has ever been to an actual match, there is a guy originally from Tehran he visits Mordor about 6 or 7 times a year. Sky Sports has a hell of a lot to answer for.

Everyone looks back at life with regrets and mine is that I should have really signed for Liverpool. They were guaranteeing me an apprenticeship whilst I was still at school, and I was probably suited to their pass and move style, more than I was suited to anything else.

I couldn't do it though, but I'm definitely happier for living with my mistake. Although I was treated well by Liverpool, I'm absolutely certain I could have never played for them!

Everton is our club, always was, always will be. It's been hard, very hard at times, I live in hope, just like I did as a child in the '70s & early '80s.

When things eventually turn, I can guarantee it's something that is definitely worth waiting for, absolutely spine-tingling, it's everything you hoped it would be, as I drift back in time to Rotterdam, and We Shall Not Be Moved!

I was in Liverpool city centre yesterday afternoon. Me and the missus are going on a cruise in September on the Fred Olsen cruise ship The Borealis, which just happened to be berthed up and was due to sail around 6 pm last night, so she wanted to go and have a look at it, then have a couple of drinks. She didn't know the RS were playing last night, otherwise we wouldn't have gone, seeing as she knows how much I despise the bastards.

At 3 pm, the city centre was swarming with steaming red shite. We walked along past the Liver Building to the cruise terminal.

After gawping at a ship for 20 minutes or so, we carried on down to Bramley-Moore Dock. We spoke to a security guard on the first gate we came too. Even though he was a red, he said he was really excited at seeing the stadium completed. The four corners are coming along nicely, and are really beginning to grow.

From there we went to the Titanic Hotel, across the road for a drink, and there was RS in there. My blood boils when I see them, it's like a red rag to a bull!

After a couple of drinks, we walked back to the cruise terminal, a walk of about 15 minutes, another 5 minutes and you're at the Liver Building. We stopped to gawp at the ship again, and as we did, the Isle of Man ferry was pulling in. Needless to say, cars and mini buses were coming off, full of steaming red shite.

For anyone who goes to away games, they will know the coach company Happy Al's. Next minute, five of these coaches drove past us, full of steaming red shite.

From here we went over to the Crowne Plaza, dying for a Geoff Hurst, and a couple more drinks and something to eat. Yet again, full of steaming red shite.

Standing at the bar, and they are next to me, I just want to punch their lights out. I can't stand them, I can't look at them or even speak to them, knowing full well they're not locals, just glory hunters.

Fuck me, we left around 7:30 pm and there were still a few in the hotel, decked out in red and white, going to watch the match on the telly!

“Evertonians are born, not manufactured,
We do not choose, we are chosen.
Those that understand need no explanation,
Those who don't, don't matter”

“I would rather die with our history, than live with theirs”.

ps: The Borealis still hadn't sailed by the time we left!!

Rob, you are my inner self on steroids!! I have it down here all the time. Glory hunters questioning why I support Everton when I come from Liverpool.

Tony, I was only talking to my sister yesterday and we have always said, when (not if) this club of ours is successful again, English football will not know what's hit it. And there will be nothing false or manufactured about it. Nothing staged or choreographed. Just sheer outpouring of emotion.

Okay maybe that's just me!!!

Those who understand, know. Those who don't, they don't matter.

Funny Rob, but it really is incredible how many people come to this city now, just to watch their game on TV.

I said it to my dad on Monday, Danny. The explosion in this city when Everton win again will be incredible, and I often think back to the famous Bayern Munich game, when according to reports, Everton's crowd was heard by Piston Clock. It always amazes me that

My Dad (Sid) was a Sutcliffe street lad with 2 brothers and a sister.
Grandad was a red,as was his youngest son, but my dad & my uncle we're blues.
I mentioned my aunt as she indirectly is responsible for us emigrating to Canada in the autumn of 66 when I was 5.
My aunt was a war bride & in the early 60s my Dads younger brother came over & Dad thought with 2 young kids & the way things were in Liverpool then, that he'd take a chance.
Mom was from Skerries & came over to England to fulfill her dreams of becoming a nurse when she met Dad after his 2 years in Germany with the RAF.
I remember things like me Dad leaving on the Thursday for the 66 final & me bawling my eyes out thinking that he was Eddie Cavanagh doing the run on the pitch.
Mom used to laugh telling that one about soft lad lol.
Mom & Dad both loved Liverpool & it was hard as Dad was tight with Grandad.
We lived near StMichaels parish in L6 near Boundry lane & West Derby rd.
Dad helped run the social club with his mate John O'Neil ( great blue!) who's grandson now plays for the Canaries and has started the last 3 games.
Dad was really involved in the “soccer “ over here & was my coach growing up, when back then most kids played baseball in the summer fboring shite.
It's great to see how the soccer has grown so much over the years.
I grew up with the stories of Royston Vernon, Labone, Gabriel etc,dads fav team was the 63 team.
I played til a few years ago when the knees made the decision for me, but absolutely loved playing & also coached my sons teams & my twin girls teams when they were growing up.
They're all blues, in fact I'll get steaming mad at the team & me lad will tell me they'll be all right they're just testing your patience lol.
Worst day of my life was when Dad passed at only 54 back in Nov of 83, it was a shock & the hurt was incredible we were great mates & luckily we did a trip back to Liverpool & Ireland in Nov of 81, got to go to Goodison to see us lose to Sunderland joy !!We had a great trip & I thank god for it, the memories are fantastic.
Now the best day was May 19/84 as we win the cup & I had season tickets for our hockey team, Edmonton Oilers & we win the Stanley Cup that evening ( drunk for days) what a day!! twas like Dad saying it'll be alright like...
Cmon Everton do us exiled blues proud tomorrow!!

Kieran, what's your mother's maiden name? My family is from Skerries, although living in Connecticut these days.

Hiya Darragh,

Mom's maiden name us Seavers and her younger sister, Carol, is married to Pat with the same last name as yours.

He's a good egg is Pat although his choice of footy teams leaves a lot to be desired.

Hi Kieran, I think my parents knew a Bella Seavers, if that's any relation? There are a few Seavers, and Farrells, still in the town.

I don't think Pat is one of ours! Us, the Rogans and Colemans all good Everton families in the town.