Latest news with #Toffees
Irish Daily Mirror
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Jake O'Brien comments will be music to the ears of Everton boss David Moyes
Jake O'Brien has a lot to be grateful for when it comes to Everton boss David Moyes - and he is only too happy to repay the Toffees chief by continuing this season to be as versatile as possible. The Corkman's Everton career appeared to be going nowhere before Moyes' January return to the Merseyside outfit. He had played just twice in the Premier League under Sean Dyche, the man who signed him from Lyon last summer for around €20million. Moyes was quick to utilise the 24-year-old, and O'Brien went on to play 18 more times in the top-flight after the Scot returned to Everton for his second spell in charge of the club. However, he did have to adapt to a new position, as Moyes saw the Irishman as the answer to his right-back dilemma - and O'Brien ended up playing the majority of his games in the second-half of the season in that unfamiliar position. While he favours a central role, ahead of the new campaign O'Brien has pledged to line out wherever his manager sees fit. He told the Everton website: 'I think it's important to be versatile, to not just know one position but to know various positions – and I think I'm still learning. 'But it's good to play out there. I'm happy to play in the two positions and if I'm needed there, I'll be ready.' O'Brien is back in pre-season training after a busy June international window with the Boys in Green. With two pre-season games already under his belt, he is eager for more action to fine-tune himself for the upcoming campaign. 'I know it's been a tough pre-season to start with, but we've got big games coming up and it's important we get valuable minutes in them and get the sharpness up,' he said. 'It's early and I'm just going to go back, train, and make sure that I get sharper and more fit. There are big games coming up so it's important that I keep training hard and become more sharp come the start of the Premier League.' Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email .
West Australian
5 days ago
- Sport
- West Australian
Everton, Everton, we're forever Everton
For a moment, as I make my way through Stanley Park, my mind shoots to the late 1980s. Back then, the two leading clubs in English soccer were Liverpool and Everton, their stadiums at opposite ends of this rolling green space in this city by the River Mersey. For a variety of reasons — including glory-hunting and my affection for the colour blue and confectionery — I decided to become a fan of Everton, nicknamed the Toffees. My parents bought me a replica kit and during the school holidays, while visiting relatives in England's north-west, they took me to see the club's home, Goodison Park. It was a non-matchday and the area was very quiet. An elderly man approached us in the stadium carpark and introduced himself as Gordon. When he heard I was an Evertonian, he asked if we wanted to have a look around. This was back in the days before football was fully commercialised and before regular official stadium tours were really a thing. Gordon gave us, free of charge, an unofficial behind-the-scenes tour, taking us into the trophy room, the home changing room, up into the stands and beside the pitch with its lush green patterned turf. It transpired that this kindly soul was Gordon Watson, a former player in the 1930s who played alongside Dixie Dean — Everton's greatest-ever goalscorer — and held numerous roles with the club following his retirement. I've returned to Goodison several times since, either to watch games or take (official) stadium tours. But it's always that first time, and Gordon (who died in 2001), that I recall most fondly. The memories are trickling back again as I pass the manicured gardens, Victorian glasshouse and lakes of Stanley Park and clasp eyes on Goodison. Passing the statue of Dixie Dean, I walk around the perimeter of the stadium, beside the streets of tightly-packed terraced houses, pausing to browse murals and photographic timelines depicting iconic Everton players, managers and milestones. It's bittersweet as this 'Grand Old Lady', as Goodison is dubbed, recently staged its last-ever English Premier League men's match (the famously rickety stands shook for the last time as the Toffees beat Southampton 2-0 in front of an emotionally-charged crowd that included former fan favourites from my childhood such as Neville Southall, Peter Reid and Duncan Ferguson, not to mention Tim Cahill, the most popular Australian to play for Everton). This club was founded in 1878, as St Domingo's, after a local church, and renamed the following year after the north Liverpool district of Everton. After staging its first-ever game on an open pitch in Stanley Park, the club played eight seasons at Anfield (a new venue that would ultimately become the home of rivals Liverpool FC). In 1892, the Toffees transferred to Goodison Park, then the first purpose-built football stadium in England. Flanking Goodison Road, which had been named after a civil engineer, George Goodison, the ground was extended in the early 20th century by pioneering stadium designer Archibald Leitch, a Glaswegian whose handiwork can also be seen at other iconic UK stadia, including Anfield, Manchester United's Old Trafford and Rangers' Ibrox. In 1958, Goodison became the first English ground to install undersoil heating (handy for those frosty winter midweek evening games). Goodison has hosted more top-flight games than any other stadium in England — as well as a World Cup semifinal in 1966 between West Germany and the Soviet Union. I walk along Gwladys Street, by the stadium's north side, beneath the stand that suffered bomb damage during the World War II Blitz and has, since 2016, been named after the late Howard Kendall, Everton's most successful manager. Known for attracting the loudest and most passionate Evertonians, the 'Gwladys' has been silenced for now, but fittingly, I can hear boisterous children singing and playing in the playground of nearby Gwladys Street primary school. While Liverpool FC have gone from strength to strength in recent decades, winning a flurry of domestic and European cups and titles, and extending Anfield to host 61,276 spectators, it's fair to say Everton and Goodison have been in the shadows. The Toffees won the last of their nine league titles in 1987 — a few years after I became a fan — and the trophy cabinet hasn't witnessed any new additions for 30 years. The club are hoping for an upswing in fortunes when they begin their next chapter in August at Bramley-Moore Dock. A new, high-tech 52,888-capacity stadium, sponsored by Liverpool-based legal firm Hill Dickinson, has mushroomed by the River Mersey, almost 3km as the gull flies from Goodison. Initially the plan was to demolish the old stadium, and replace it with housing and other community schemes, but there has been a change of heart under the club's new billionaire American owners. Goodison is to be the home of Everton Women, becoming the UK's first major stadium dedicated solely to a women's team. It's quite a jump for them as they have been playing at a 2000-capacity stadium at Walton Hall Park, to Goodison's north. The future, however, remains up in the air for the businesses, pubs and takeaways around Goodison, who derived much of their income from the men's matchday footfall of almost 40,000 fans. The shutters are down on most of them as I and a small group of Chinese tourists walk past on this late-May, end-of-season weekday, but they're not yet down and out. Some neighbourhood pubs, including the Harlech Castle and the Winslow Hotel, which predates Goodison by six years, are hoping to keep pulling in the pre-match crowds by arranging coach transfers to the new stadium in time for kick-off. I eagerly await my first match — and tour — at Bramley-Moore Dock, but, like most Evertonians, I'm glad that the 'Grand Old Lady' that is Goodison Park will endure. And in breaking news that brings a smile to my face, it has been revealed that, due to high demand, stadium tours at Goodison will continue for the foreseeable future. + Goodison stadium tours are priced £25 ($52). For bookings and Everton club match fixtures, see + To help plan a trip to Liverpool and Britain, see and
Scottish Sun
6 days ago
- Sport
- Scottish Sun
Jordan Pickford on verge of four-year Everton deal with England goalkeeper in line for huge increase on £6m-a-year wages
Everton have already signed a new goalkeeper this summer JOR DROPPING Jordan Pickford on verge of four-year Everton deal with England goalkeeper in line for huge increase on £6m-a-year wages Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) EVERTON chiefs are close to shaking hands with England No 1 Jordan Pickford on a bumper new four-year contract. The Toffees want Pickford to carry on with them — as SunSport revealed two months ago — and talks have sped along as the experienced keeper is close to agreement. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 Jordan Pickford is close to agreeing a new four-year deal at Everton Credit: Reuters The 31-year-old could get a deal for four more seasons, an extension from his current terms which have two more years to go. The Three Lions star earns about £6million a year but that will be hiked. And, with annual rises, he will be looking at a huge increase by the end of the contract in 2029. Pickford is settled under David Moyes at Everton and has not pushed for a move to a bigger club despite his status as one of the Premier League's best. READ MORE IN FOOTBALL WILL I NEVER Will Ferrell sends crowd wild at Man Utd game as fans spot what's on T-shirt The experienced gloveman hasn't missed a Prem clash for Everton since 2022, and has now breached 320 top flight appearances. It's been his consistent high performance for the Toffees that has also seen him maintain the No1 shirt for England too. Over the years Pickford has seen off Nick Pope, Aaron Ramsdale, Dean Henderson and Sam Johnstone in the battle to be the Three Lions' starting shot-stopper. Pickford has now represented England in four major tournaments and racked up 76 caps. 3 CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS Everton have already announced the arrival of backup goalkeeper Mark Travers from Bournemouth this summer. Travers, 26, has penned a four-year deal on Merseyside and has his eyes on giving Pickford a run for his money. Upon signing for Everton, he said: "Jordan [Pickford] is an outstanding goalkeeper for Club and country. I'm looking forward to competing with everyone here and being a Premier League player. "Being in this environment is huge. We're going to push each other every day in training and whatever happens on the weekend, we're going to be there for each other and make the most of every opportunity that comes."
The Sun
6 days ago
- Sport
- The Sun
Jordan Pickford on verge of four-year Everton deal with England goalkeeper in line for huge increase on £6m-a-year wages
EVERTON chiefs are close to shaking hands with England No 1 Jordan Pickford on a bumper new four-year contract. The Toffees want Pickford to carry on with them — as SunSport revealed two months ago — and talks have sped along as the experienced keeper is close to agreement. 2 The 31-year-old could get a deal for four more seasons, an extension from his current terms which have two more years to go. The Three Lions star earns about £6million a year but that will be hiked. And, with annual rises, he will be looking at a huge increase by the end of the contract in 2029. Pickford is settled under David Moyes at Everton and has not pushed for a move to a bigger club despite his status as one of the Premier League's best. The experienced gloveman hasn't missed a Prem clash for Everton since 2022, and has now breached 320 top flight appearances. It's been his consistent high performance for the Toffees that has also seen him maintain the No1 shirt for England too. Pickford has now represented England in four major tournaments and racked up 76 caps. CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS Everton have already announced the arrival of backup goalkeeper Mark Travers from Bournemouth this summer. Travers, 26, has penned a four-year deal on Merseyside and has his eyes on giving Pickford a run for his money. Upon signing for Everton, he said: "Jordan [Pickford] is an outstanding goalkeeper for Club and country. I'm looking forward to competing with everyone here and being a Premier League player. "Being in this environment is huge. We're going to push each other every day in training and whatever happens on the weekend, we're going to be there for each other and make the most of every opportunity that comes." 2
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
🚨 Everton held to draw at Accrington Stanley in first pre-season game
🚨 Everton held to draw at Accrington Stanley in first pre-season game Everton stumbled to a 1-1 draw with a determined Accrington Stanley side in their opening pre-season game at the Wham Stadium. Scorers: Ward 50'; Beto (pen) 79' While the Toffees unsurprisingly had the better of the first half, they found Stanley goalkeeper Ollie Wright in inspired form. It was the 22-year-old's second game for the club following the confirmation of his season-long loan from Southampton. Advertisement Five minutes after the break, the hosts took a shock lead through Benn Ward who headed home past Harry Tyrer. David Moyes rang the changes throughout the game, and it was two substitutes who combined to draw them level. Young winger Isaac Heath drove down the left, and was taken down inside the box for a penalty. Beto stepped up to slot home in confident fashion to earn a draw for Everton. The Premier League side are next in action on Saturday when they make the short trip to Ewood Park to take on Blackburn Rovers. 📸 Matt McNulty - 2025 Getty Images
