Everton FCEverton FC owes its present home, and indirectly the existence of its greatest rival, to a dispute over rent. The club was founded in 1878 as St Domingo FC, a team linked to a church in Liverpool, and took the name Everton in 1879 after the district in which it grew up. From 1884 it played at Anfield, but a quarrel with the landlord John Houlding led the club to leave in 1892 and move across Stanley Park to Goodison Park. Houlding stayed at Anfield and founded Liverpool FC. Goodison Park, where Everton played for 133 years, is regarded as the first major stadium in England built specifically for football.
Everton were among the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and won their first championship in 1890/91. The club later added titles in 1914/15, 1927/28, 1931/32 and 1938/39. The 1927/28 season belongs to Dixie Dean, who scored 60 league goals, a record for the English top flight that has never been beaten. Relegation in 1930 proved short-lived: Everton won the Second Division in 1931 and the First Division a year later. The club's traditions are summed up in its motto, Nil Satis Nisi Optimum ("Nothing but the best is good enough"), while the crest shows Prince Rupert's Tower, a landmark in the Everton district. Supporters and the club are known as the Toffees, and blue has been the colour of the shirts for generations.
The 1960s brought a new golden age under manager Harry Catterick. Everton won the league in 1962/63 and 1969/70, and the FA Cup in 1966, when they came back from 0-2 to beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-2 in the final. The midfield of Alan Ball, Colin Harvey and Howard Kendall, nicknamed the "Holy Trinity", became one of the most admired in English football. Kendall later returned as manager and led the club through its greatest decade.
The team that Howard Kendall built in the 1980s, with goalkeeper Neville Southall as its anchor, won the FA Cup in 1984, then the league title and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1984/85. On the way to the final Everton beat Bayern Munich 3-1 at Goodison Park in the second leg of the semi-final, after a goalless draw in Munich. In Rotterdam on 15 May 1985 they defeated Rapid Vienna 3-1, with goals from Andy Gray, Trevor Steven and Kevin Sheedy. Three weeks earlier the team had missed out on a treble when it lost the FA Cup final to Manchester United. A second title followed in 1986/87, the ninth in the club's history. The Heysel disaster of May 1985 and the resulting five-year ban on English clubs denied this side the chance to test itself in the European Cup.
The last major trophy was the FA Cup of 1995, won by a 1-0 victory over Manchester United, and the club's five FA Cup wins in total (1906, 1933, 1966, 1984, 1995) remain a point of pride. Everton have also been a reliable fixture at the highest level: apart from the early 1950s and the single season in 1930/31, they have been a top-flight club since 1888, and since 1954 without interruption for more than seven decades. The academy produced Wayne Rooney, who made his debut at the age of 16 in 2002.
In 2025 the men's team left Goodison Park for a new stadium on the Mersey waterfront at Bramley-Moore Dock, which staged its first competitive match on 24 August 2025, a 2-0 win over Brighton. Goodison Park was spared from demolition and is now used by the women's team, so the old ground still belongs to the club.