In Over A Century Of Football, Only Kendall’S Heroes Can Match Dyche’S EFC Record. Scousers Have Never Felt Inferior To Those In London, But Sean Dyche Has Taken Everton To Heights In The Capital Witnessed Only Once Before In Over A Century Of Football. While Some Corners Of ‘The Smoke’ Have Proven Happier Hunting Grounds For Everton Than Others Over The Years – Last Month’s 1-0 Victory At West Ham United Kept Up Their Winning Record At The Hammers – Trips To The Capital Have Generally Proven Difficult Over The Years. Everton’s First Ever League Game In London Came Back On April 22, 1905 When They Travelled To The Manor Ground, Plumstead To Face ‘Woolwich’ Arsenal As They Were Still Called When They Played ‘sarf’ Of The River Before Their Controversial Switch To Highbury In 1913, Muscling In On The Territory Of Neighbouring Tottenham Hotspur. Kieran Trippier Newcastle Bust-Up Brings Back Nightmare That Shows How Far Everton Have Come. ‘Not Taking Any Risks’ – Belgium Boss Gives Injury Update On Everton Midfielder Amadou Onana. The Blues Arrived For What Was Their Penultimate Fixture Of The Season As Division One Leaders But Despite Taking The Lead In Front Of A 25,000 Crowd Through Jimmy Settle’s 20th-Minute Penalty, The Gunners Blasted Back To Triumph 2-1 With Goals From Andy Ducat (40) – A Dual England International At Football And Cricket Who Became The Only Person To Have Died While Playing At Lord’s When Suffering A Heart Attack During A Home Guard Match In 1942 – And Ex-Liverpool Forward Charlie Satterthwaite (85). The Late Defeat Proved Crucially Detrimental To Everton’s Title Hopes Despite Rivals Newcastle United Also Losing 3-1 At Home On The Same Day To Local Rivals Sunderland. The Blues Rounded Off Their Campaign 48 Hours Later With A 2-0 Win At Nottingham Forest On Easter Monday But Were Left Sweating On The Magpies’ Last Brace Of Fixtures. Two Days On From Everton’s Success At The City Ground, Newcastle Triumphed 3-1 At Sheffield Wednesday While The Following Saturday They Were Victorious Again, With An Emphatic 3-0 Success In A Tyne-Tees Clash At Middlesbrough To Leapfrog The Blues In The Final Table And Pip Them To The Title By A Single Point. 1909/10 Was The First Season That Everton Had A Trio Of Trips To The Capital When Woolwich Arsenal Were Joined By Tottenham And Chelsea And Since Then There Has Now Been 94 Seasons In Which They Had At Least Three League Games In London, Including Every Campaign Since 1937/38. Currently There Are Seven Clubs From The Capital On The Blues’ Fixture List, A Number Only Eclipsed By The Eight In 1989/90 (Tottenham Arsenal, Chelsea, Wimbledon, Queens Park Rangers, Crystal Palace, Charlton Athletic, Millwall). In All The Years That The Blues Have Been Travelling To London, Other Than The 2020/21 Season In Which All Their Trips Were Played Behind Closed Doors Due To Coronavirus Restrictions, The Only Previous Time They Won Three Consecutive League Games In The Capital In A Single Campaign Came When They Claimed Their Last League Championship In 1986/87. Back In 2020/21 They Also Won Their First Three Games In London: 1-0 At Tottenham Hotspur; 2-1 At Crystal Palace And 3-2 At Fulham And Would Also Go On To Triumph Later In The Season, 1-0 At Both Arsenal And West Ham. However, The Unique And Sterile Conditions Of Such Matches Almost Totally Eroded Home Advantage And Securing Such Positive Results In Front Of Crowds As We Have Now Witnessed In Recent Weeks At Brentford (3-1); West Ham (1-0) And Now Crystal Palace (3-2) Has Only Ever Been Accomplished Once Before, Even Among Five Title-Winning Everton Teams In This Period. The Blues’ 1938/39 Champions Had Four Trips To London With Their Results As Follows: Arsenal (2-1); Brentford (0-2); Chelsea (2-0); Charlton (1-2). The 1962/63 Champions Had Five Trips: Fulham (0-1); Leyton Orient (0-3); Tottenham (0-0); Arsenal (3-4); West Ham (2-1). The 1969/70 Champions Had Five Trips: Arsenal (1-0); Crystal Palace (0-0); Chelsea (1-1); West Ham (1-0); Tottenham (1-0). The 1984/85 Champions Had Five Trips: Chelsea (1-0); Arsenal (0-1); West Ham (1-0); Queens Park Rangers (0-0); Tottenham (2-1). The 1986/87 Champions Had Seven Trips: Wimbledon (2-1); Tottenham (0-2); Charlton (2-3); West Ham (0-1); Queens Park Rangers (1-0); Arsenal (1-0); Chelsea (1-0). The Latter Three Successes From Howard Kendall’S Heroes Match The Current Team’s Achievement But The Visits To Loftus Road On January 3 And Highbury On March 28 Were Punctuated By An FA Cup Fifth-Round Defeat To Wimbledon At Plough Lane On February 22. For The Record, It Is Also Worth Noting That In 1966, Everton Won Three Consecutive League Games In London Against Arsenal (1-0 On March 12); Fulham (1-0 On August 20) And West Ham (3-2 On October 8) And Their Sequence Of Victories In The Capital Could Be Extended To Four With Their 3-2 Comeback Success Against Sheffield Wednesday In The FA Cup Final On May 14, But These Matches Were Played Over Two Separate Seasons. Whichever Way We Look At It, This Is A Pretty Rare Accomplishment For Dyche’s Side And It At Least Offers Some Increased Hope Ahead Of Away Games Yet To Come This Term At Tottenham (December 23); Fulham (January 30); Chelsea (April 13) And Arsenal (May 19).
Everton’s Unprecedented Success in London
