Tuesday, April 26, 2022

The distance between two clubs

The distance between Anfield, home of Liverpool FC is a mere 970 Meters from Goodison Park home of Everton F.C. Yet the distance between them in current table is much more significant. Liverpool is currently second on the table and chasing the unprecedent quadruple while Everton is risking being relegated. The irony is Liverpool was formed following a disagreement between the directors of Everton Football Club and its president, John Houlding, who owned the club's ground, Anfield. A dispute over rent resulted in Everton moving to Goodison Park, which left Houlding with an empty stadium. Thus, he founded Liverpool F.C. and the rest was history. 

Financially the distance is also huge. Liverpool is valued $4.1B while Everton is about 1/6th of it at $658M. Comparing position in EPL table since 2016 (first full season of current Liverpool manager, Jürgen Klopp), Liverpool lowest position is 4th, won once while Everton highest was 7th. During Klopp (full season) era Liverpool always compete in Champion league while 2017–18 UEFA Europa League was the last time of Everton compete in Europe. 

The meeting between the two is called Merseyside derby. During Klopp (full season) era only once did Everton beat Liverpool in Merseyside derby. Everton manager then Carlo Ancelotti had the honor to lead Everton to beat Liverpool at Anfield for the first time since 1999. Of all 240 derbies to date Liverpool won 97 of those (40%) to 67 of Everton (28%). 

Jurgen Klopp insisted he would miss the Merseyside derby next season if Everton fail to survive their relegation battle. Everton are one of six English clubs who have never been relegated from the Premier League since its creation in 1992. The others are Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham and Chelsea, so they are part of an elite group. The last time Everton were relegated was in the 1951 campaign while Liverpool were relegated in 1954.

One last trivia, Everton dropped the Latin motto "nil satis nisi optimum" - meaning 'Nothing but the best is good enough' - back in 2013. The club said the updated version - a 'next evolution' - formed 'a concise, modern and dynamic representation of Everton', and was produced after consulation with various stakeholders, including fans. However an online petition on the change.org website was started after its unveiling this afternoon, and it swiftly garnered more than 6,000 signatures, while the new crest drew a largely negative reaction on social media.

Looks like they should have kept the motto.



References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Liverpool_F.C._(1892%E2%80%931959)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everton_F.C.
https://www.forbes.com/teams/liverpool/
https://www.forbes.com/teams/everton/
https://www.premierleague.com/tables
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_F.C._in_international_football
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everton_F.C._in_international_football
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/56033685
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merseyside_derby
https://talksport.com/football/1059166/everton-premier-league-relegation-record-frank-lampard-manchester-united-chelsea-arsenal-liverpool-tottenham/
https://theanalyst.com/eu/2022/04/when-were-premier-league-teams-last-relegated/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-10742815/Liverpool-boss-Jurgen-Klopp-insists-miss-Merseyside-derby-Everton-relegated.html

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