Season › 2023-24 › Opinion › Talking Points Boys From the Blue Stuff by Danny O’Neill | 29/05/2024 8 Comments [Jump to last] Boys From The Black Stuff was the iconic TV series that captured the early '80s in the city of Liverpool and is currently available on the BBC iPlayer. But an equally iconic Everton banner is Boys from the Blue Stuff. That’s who we are. Once again, Everton, you put us through it, and I don’t mind admitting, it was draining at times. But I never stopped believing in them and they didn’t stop and pulled us through, which should have been with relative comfort. It was in the end. Not so much a post-season review. We’ve covered most of it throughout the season. Magnificent from the Blue Army, you were tremendous, every single one of you. No other support compares and never will. Desire, passion, sheer commitment and never giving in, no matter how dire it seemed at times. You all turned up and watched in the stadiums around the country and from around the globe. It was a tough ride but we kept going in the face of adversity. We are made of stronger stuff and won’t give in on what we care about deeply and what means so much to us, no matter what. We are Everton to the core. We all are. We came through the apparent targeted vendetta with sheer belief and faith. No matter what was thrown at us, we wouldn’t lie down and be trodden on and came out fighting as Evertonians always do. The suits picked on the wrong supporters, and congratulations to Nottingham Forest too. It’s what you do on the pitch that matters. The authorities seem to have lost that thought with no consideration for the supporters. I hope they are comfortable in their London Paddington offices smoking cigars and drinking gin. I’ll leave that there, so I don’t use foul language. So a chance for some random light-hearted discussion whilst we eagerly wait for August to come around for our 71st undisrupted season in the topflight of English football. With me having been born in 1971, it could be a sign that we may pick up a trophy. Can we please finally win the League Cup? And bring her straight back to Goodison. That’s going to be tough. I don’t want to think about that too much right now, as it is already making me emotional. As we will probably get a new strip, what are opinions? Blue socks or white socks? Black socks or even amber socks as per the iconic Alan Ball photo? I’m personally a fan of blue socks with a white top fold over, Alex Young style from the footage I’ve viewed. Wear all blue even? It looked quite smart against Arsenal at the Emirates on the last day. Away strip. We’ve had white, silver and even the so called “Black Watch”, which I quite liked. The salmon kit this season was a monstrosity in my opinion. I think that experiment with yellow with dark stripes around 1996 wasn’t easy on the eye and would give that a miss. I did like that green away top we had under Moyes. Interestingly the training tops have been green recently. I quite like that. For me it has to be amber, blue, amber. Statues: Scratched record time, but I’m still in tangles over what we do with the statues. Take them to the Everton Stadium or leave them where they are? I still can’t make my mind up. And build one for the 80s team with Sheedy at the centre. Southall making his flying save against Sheffield Wednesday, better than his one against Tottenham, although the one against Luton at Villa Park kept us in the semi-final and we went on to win. Peter Reid pointing. Ratcliffe holding up the cup. You could take your pick from many from that team. Obviously there can only be one Holy Trinity, so I don’t know what we’d call it. Can we replicate St Luke’s in some way? Sorry, my mind is running away with itself!!! Badge on the shirt? We have the club crest, but what do we wear on the kit? It has changed over the years and we have never always worn the official club crest, which is always there and always will be. I’m not precious about that. As you approach Goodison, especially for a night match, it strikes you as you look up. It warms the heart on cold winter nights. I hope they take that to the new stadium. If you look at footage of the 60s, we didn’t wear anything on the shirt. I’m a big fan of the diagonal and simple EFC from the 70s. I also like the modest representation of Prince Rupert’s Tower on the current silver away kit and is on the back of the current home top. Sean Dyche and the players deserve total respect for remaining focused on what they needed to do with the challenges faced. The manager, players and supporters have performed magnificently in the face of adversity. But the supporters are the true stars. Always there in numbers and in spirit for the club that we care about and means so much to us. Unbelievable throughout the season. God speed Evertonians. Go and rest although I doubt many of us will. As always, it’s been a pleasure meeting many of you as well as debating on these pages. And special thanks to John, Mike, Neil, my nephew Patrick and many others who have helped me out this season when my membership didn’t kick in. I can’t express my gratitude enough. See you all pre-season and next season. Oh, for those concerned, my sister and nephew have said they will provide me with a jacket! I told them I’ve got one, I just forget to take it with me!! 1878 The Originals. Everton the Gear. Born to be blue. We shall never be moved. Return to Talking Points index : Add your Comments » Reader Comments (8) Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer () David Currie 1 Posted 30/05/2024 at 21:49:49 I love seeing us play in all blue kit, I use to love the Amber away kit.In the 1970's I liked EFC on the shirt, also used to love back in the day the away team coming out first and getting loads of stick. I don't like both teams coming out together except for finals.I hope at the new stadium we introduce standing which I believe will take us to 61,000 and that they do it from the first game.The loyalty of the fans is second to none and I just hope that this Great Football club can rise again and we can get new owners in who want to win!! Mick O'Malley 2 Posted 31/05/2024 at 15:30:17 David, agreed about the standing, I've always preferred to stand to watch the game, loved the atmosphere in the 80s crammed together in the enclosure. I also loved the amber and blue away kits, can't stand these silver kits we wear today, I liked the white away shirts with Blue shorts and socks. I also don't understand why we don't wear Blue away from home when our kit doesn't clash with the home team. For me, we should always have some Blue in our away strip and wear the home kit as long as it doesn't clash. Dennis Stevens 3 Posted 31/05/2024 at 16:20:50 Completely agree regarding standing - always prefer to stand for a match, or a gig!Completely disagree regarding wearing all blue. It just makes us look like any number of other clubs. If we can't wear blue & white, then either wear a change kit or wear blue shirts & black shorts. It's more distinctive.Further to the kit issue, why do we sometimes wear a change kit when we could have worn blue & white, but don't wear a change kit when we end up wearing all blue instead? Danny O’Neill 4 Posted 31/05/2024 at 16:53:30 Interesting on the standing.At away matches, it has become standard practice to stand for the entire match, which doesn't do much for my back!I don't know the science behind it, but so-called safe standing could apparently increase the capacity up to around 60,000. There are examples on the continent. John Raftery 5 Posted 31/05/2024 at 17:30:52 Danny, thanks for the article. For what it’s worth I think the existing statues belong at Goodison providing the local people wish to retain them there. We have not heard much of the Goodison Legacy project recently. Obviously there have been too many other priorities to worry about. But at some point that project will need to be reenergised. In doing that the statues should be part of what we leave behind for future generations to learn about the marvellous history of Glorious Goodison we have been fortunate to experience. If at some point in the future it becomes clear they are no longer valued or wanted they can be moved to the new stadium. The new Fan Zone and the West Stand plaza will have plenty of space for new statues and murals to celebrate the whole history of the club. Arsenal have statues of Herbert Chapman, Tony Adams, Denis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry plus pieces of artwork representing their greatest moments, legendary players and managers. We can do likewise while hoping that the new stadium soon witnesses new golden moments, new legends and most of all new silverware.For the away kits I would like to see a return to the amber and blue we wore in the late sixties, most notably in our glorious title winning season of 1969/70. Boys from the Blue Stuff. I strongly recommend the book of that title by Gavin Buckland. It tells the story of our years of frustration from 1973 onwards culminating in unprecedented triumph in 1985. Only eighteen days before the fixtures are published. That’s when fans can start planning for our final season at Goodison. Nineteen league matches plus, we hope, a cup tie or three. Christine Foster 6 Posted 31/05/2024 at 18:29:02 Danny, blue blood..pride, emblems of faith, not the religious sort. I'm torn because the walk to the ground up the valley will be painful one once Goodison is no more. A hole in the sky and my heart. Ghostly sounds of thousands cheering, chatter of voices and laughter when we win, silent shuffles when we don't.Make the site something to be proud of, not a token to history, Goodison Park deserves that, as we, our families before us and before them, know that our very being is etched into the walls. We paid millions to design the future but let go of our past, if a stadium it cannot be, then make it iconic for the future, not flats, not somewhere that in 10 years is forgotten. That's simply not right, no matter how cost-effective, how practical or financially profitable for some it might be. Give the site to Everton in the community to build an icon to the people, give it to the academy, performing arts, something that shines a beacon not forgotten.Not a park with a few statues waiting to be vandalized, a few park benches amongst the roses... we need a golden vision for its future, not its demise. Danny O’Neill 7 Posted 31/05/2024 at 19:27:59 It's going to hurt Christine.I've said before, I would have liked the club to have put a small stadium in place on the site for the U21s and U18s.Like you say, just make it something that reflects the history and the community that has served Everton for all of its history.And support those businesses. It's always something I think about as they practically survive on Everton. To your point about Everton in the community I suppose.The new ground is only just over 2 miles from County Road, so I'm sure many will carry on with their traditional rituals in the short term. Mark Murphy 8 Posted 02/06/2024 at 08:40:41 “If you look at footage of the 60s, we didn't wear anything on the shirt.”"Badges? We don't need no steenkin badges!"Harry Catterick, when asked why we didn't have the crest on the shirt… I think his actual words were “We don't need to wear a badge, they know who we are.” Add Your Comments In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site. » Log in now Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site. How to get rid of these ads and support TW © ToffeeWeb