ToffeeWeb » Recent Seasons » 1997-98 » Season Diary

• 29th:  Everton advertise in the Daily Mail for the Manager's position.  Latest hot tip: Gordon Strachan!
• 28th:  Add Walter Smith; remove Danny Wilson and Brian Kidd.
• 27th:  The list of potential replacements for Howard Kendall includes: Martin O'Neill, Brian Kidd, Danny Wilson, Wim Jansen, Ron Atkinson, Dave Jones, Gerard Houlier, and Kevin Keegan!
• 26th: The serious daily papers in England all have Manchester United rebuffing Everton's overtures to Brian Kidd as the main choice for replacing Kendall.
• 25th:  Howard Kendall is finally informed that his services as Everton Manager are no longer required, 2 days short of the 1st Anniversary of his third stint in the Goodison hot-seat. Adrian Heath assumes charge as caretaker-manager.
• 24th:  In the World Cup, Daniel Amokachi is rested for Nigeria's 3rd Group D match, against Paraguay, which they lose 1-3.
• 23rd:  Scotland crash 0-3 to Morocco, producing the inevitable "What if...?" questions about the impact of Duncan Ferguson's decision not to play for his country.
• 21st:  Ex-Blue Pedrag "Preki" Radosavijevic comes on as sub to save the ailing United States but they go down anyway 2-1 to Iran in the Ayatollah's Revenge, otherwise known as the World Cup.  The loss means USA are eliminated.
• 20th:  Slaven Bilic is again solid at the back for Croatia as they beat a plucky Japan side 1-0 in their second Group H match to go through to the 2nd Round of World Cup 98.
• 19th:
  • Everton FC have acknowledged an "informal" bid of £70M bid has been made for Peter Johnson's 68% stake, by the Wiggins Group.  Johnson's response was that a successful bid needs a willing seller – which he is not!
  • Daniel Amokachi returned to the Nigerian front line and set up the excellent sole match-winning goal for Ipkeba against Bulgaria at the World Cup today.
• 18th:  Everton's Shareholder's Association have been very successful in mobilising their members and forcing an Extraordinary General Meeting to pressure Peter Johnson and the Board.  They needed support of 20% – 132 out of 660 shareholders – to validate the request; they got 272 positive responses.  Now we just have to wait 4 to 6 weeks...
• 17th:  Everton have backed out of the deal for Neil Alexander, the young keeper from Stenhousemuir.  Apparently, he is not young enough to play in the U-19's (as they had hoped) and would not get many games for the reserves...
• 16th:  
  • Keith Newton, Everton defender and 1970 World Cup star, died of cancer today after a long illness.  
  • Everton acknowledge that season ticket sales are 20% below last year's level.  Other sources suggest the shortfall may be closer to 40%...
• 15th:  
  • Martin O'Neill has resolved his problems at Leicester City, bringing to an end the rabid press speculation that he was to replace Howard Kendall.
  • Next season's Fixtures are published: Everton kick off at home to Aston Villa on 15 August.
• 14th:  Slaven Bilic puts in a solid performance for Croatia in their first World Cup match against Jamaica, which they win 3-1.
• 13th:  Nigeria upset Spain in a great 3-2 win but without ex-Everton favourite, Daniel Amokachi, who is injured.
• 12th:  The last day for renewing existing season ticket reserved seats is tomorrow, and reports suggest that sales are well down as Everton fans protest against the current state of affairs by staying away in droves.
• 11th:  Everton are apparently one of three clubs to approach Italian defender Moreno Torricelli, who is with Juventus.
• 10th:  Scotland open the World Cup in France without Duncan Ferguson, and fall 2-1 to Brazil. Thomas Myhre spends Norway's World Cup opener on the bench watching Grodas let in 2 goals against Morocco.
• 9th:  Dave Watson's bid to move into management at Carrow Road has been thwarted as another ex-Blue, Bruce Rioch, is appointed manager of Norwich City.
• 8th:  Howard Kendall returns from a holiday in Spain to intense and unrelenting media speculation that the decision to sack him has already been taken by Peter Johnson. Kendall's predicament is believed to rest on the position of Martin O'Neill, who continues to spin out the uncertainty over his future at Leicester.
• 5th:
  • Everton's board hold a special meeting, but Howard Kendall remains the manager of Everton despite rabid levels of speculation that Martin O'Neill of Leicester would replace him.
  • Everton transfer target, Alan Thompson, has joined Aston Villa from Bolton Wanderers for £4.5M. Meanwhile, Liverpool have completed the signing of Evertonian Sean Dundee from Karlsruhe.
• 4th:  Season ticket sales at Everton are reportedly way down on last season, with only 20% of the paying customers coming pack for more punishment so far, and reserved seats ending on June 13th.
• 3rd:  Neville Southall is applying for the manager's position at his first club, Bury.
• 2nd: Everton's Shareholder's Association are trying to gather enough support for an Extraordinary General Meeting at which they plan to confront Peter Johnson with concerns over his mismanagement of the club.
• 1st:  The speculation bandwagon is on a roll, with names like Carsley, Thompson, Irwin, Stubbs, Collins, Hässler, even Roberto Baggio coming in; Barmby, Bilic, Short, Cadamarteri and Gerrard leaving.  Perm any 1 from 12. 

Copyright © 1998 Marko Poutiainen. This webpage was prepared by Michael Kenrick.
Last Update: 29 June 1998.