I tweeted the other day that Everton are a bigger club than Aston Villa, a statement met with much hostility from a selection of fans from the Midlands outfit.
This is a discussion I have stumbled across on numerous occasions on different forums and while some Villa fans accept Everton are the bigger club, I remain shocked as to the number of Villains who just don’t see it. Especially when taken into consideration that the Aston Villa official website refers to them as the fifth most successful club in English football history. Everton are the fourth.
First of all it is important to establish what makes a big club. It is not the size of the stadium, or league position the season before. A big club can only be judged on the number of trophies in their cabinet.
Granted, Villa won the European Cup in 1982, a feat the Toffees have never managed. It is worth noting however that Nottingham Forest have won Europe’s elite competition on two occasions and even the most avid of Forest followers could not honestly claim that they are a bigger club than Everton.
The blue half of Merseyside did celebrate European glory in 1985 – Howard Kendall’s side beating Rapid Vienna in Rotterdam to claim the Cup Winners’ Cup, now known as the Europa League.
Of course winning the European Cup is a greater achievement, and had both clubs been locked on the same number of trophies then that would trump Everton’s triumph and Villa would have to be deemed a bigger club.
As often well publicised by Evertonians, the Goodison Park outfit missed out on the opportunity to claim the biggest prize in club football when all English clubs were banned from European competition from the 1985-86 to 1990-91 seasons.
The ban coincided with Everton winning the league the season before and therefore qualifying for the European Cup. Gary Lineker, who signed for the great Barcelona after a season on Merseyside, recently claimed that Everton were the best side he ever played for.
After making the claim through Twitter, Lineker was asked if Barca were not the greatest side he ever represented. He replied: “Sadly Barcelona were not the side they are today. EFC were very strong in mid 80’s. Best club side I played for.”
Of course being the best side in Europe (or certainly one of the best) and winning the European Cup are two completely different things. There are too many if’s and but’s surrounding the subject and the records show that Everton have never won it.
What they have won however is nine league titles, compared to Villa’s seven. Not a big difference but it is worth noting that six of those seven titles were won between 1889 and 1910. There is then a 71 year wait for the next league triumph in 1981. Compare that to Everton, whose nine titles are spread over six decades. Notably two in the 1930’s, two in the 1960’s and two in the 1980’s.
See below links to both club’s official site history page.
Everton – http://www.evertonfc.com/history/club-honours.html
Villa – http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/HistoryHonours
With 108 seasons complete, Everton are also the longest-serving club in the top flight by some distance.
The fact that Villa find themselves second on that list with 99 years spent in the country’s top division proves that they are a club with a rich history – just not quite as rich as Everton’s.
There is no doubting that both clubs boast some of the finest traditions and proudest histories in English football and the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City have a long way to go and many more billions to spend to emulate anywhere near the same sort of success.
As the saying at Goodison Park goes – if you know your history…
Gary Maiden
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