Retro Everton Shirts – The Royal Blue of Goodison Park

Everton's story begins in 1878 at St Domingo's Methodist Church in Liverpool, where parishioners formed a football team that would soon become one of the cornerstones of the English game. By 1888, Everton were founder members of the Football League, and just three years later they lifted their first championship in 1891. The club's early home was Anfield – yes, that Anfield – before a rent dispute with landlord John Houlding led to the historic split that birthed Liverpool FC and sent Everton across Stanley Park to Goodison Park in 1892. Thus was born the Merseyside derby, the most-played top-flight fixture in English football history. Everton's first golden age came in the 1920s and 30s with the legendary William 'Dixie' Dean, who scored an unfathomable 60 league goals in a single season in 1927-28, a record that has never been touched. Title triumphs followed in 1928, 1932 and 1939, with another arriving in 1963 under Harry Catterick. The most glorious era, however, was the mid-1980s under Howard Kendall, when Everton won the league in 1985 and 1987, lifted the FA Cup in 1984, and triumphed in the European Cup Winners' Cup in Rotterdam against Rapid Vienna. The Heysel ban cruelly denied them a tilt at the European Cup at their peak. The 1995 FA Cup victory over Manchester United under Joe Royle remains the club's last major trophy, with the David Moyes years bringing stability and the recent decade testing the faith of Evertonians through relegation battles and points deductions before survival was secured.

The Royal Blue jersey has been worn by some of the most beloved figures in English football. Dixie Dean stands above all – his statue outside Goodison a permanent reminder of the man whose 60-goal season defined a sport. Tommy Lawton, Alex Young 'The Golden Vision', and Joe Mercer carried the flame through subsequent generations. The 1980s side under Howard Kendall was packed with icons: Neville Southall, statistically the greatest goalkeeper in club history; Kevin Ratcliffe, the title-winning captain; Peter Reid, the engine in midfield; Andy Gray, the swashbuckling Scot; and Graeme Sharp, the elegant Glaswegian striker. Trevor Steven and Kevin Sheedy provided the magic from the flanks, while Gary Lineker enjoyed a single brilliant season in 1985-86, scoring 40 goals despite the team finishing trophyless. The Premier League era introduced Duncan Ferguson, the towering, fearsome Scot adored by the Gwladys Street, and the homegrown miracle of Wayne Rooney, whose stunning strike against Arsenal as a 16-year-old announced English football's next superstar. Tim Cahill became a club legend with his trademark corner-flag punches, while Mikel Arteta, Leighton Baines and Romelu Lukaku shone in subsequent eras. Among the dugout greats, Howard Kendall remains the gold standard, with Harry Catterick, Joe Royle and David Moyes all leaving lasting legacies.

The Everton shirt has remained gloriously faithful to royal blue for over a century, with white shorts completing the classic look that has barely deviated from the template set in the early 1900s. The 1980s produced perhaps the most coveted retro Everton shirts of all – the Le Coq Sportif kits worn during the title-winning seasons, with NEC as the long-running sponsor that became inseparable from the club's most successful era. The 1985 Cup Winners' Cup final shirt is a holy grail item, while the 1995 FA Cup-winning Umbro shirt with the Danka sponsor has become equally iconic. The Hummel-era kits of the early 1990s, with their distinctive chevron trim, are increasingly hunted by collectors, as are the One2One-sponsored Umbro shirts worn by Duncan Ferguson and a young Wayne Rooney. The Chang sponsor era produced classy templates, while the 2014 Umbro home shirt – stripped back to a pure royal blue with crisp white shorts – is widely regarded as one of the finest modern designs. Authentic Everton retro shirts often feature the elegant club crest with the laurels and the motto Nil Satis Nisi Optimum.