Highs, Lows & Bakayokos by Jim Keoghan

Author:Jim Keoghan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pitch Publishing
Published: 2016-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

8

A Royle Revival?

IN the summer of 1995, Evertonians were cautiously optimistic; the default sense of pessimism temporarily held at bay. Victory in the FA Cup Final, money in the bank and a manager that had proven capable of getting the best out of his players, all conspired to provide Blues with some confidence for the coming season.

It was a sense of optimism given voice by the chairman, who told the Liverpool Echo, ‘I’d like to think that this will be the start of another Everton dynasty. Everton is a massive club and we have shown that we can compete with the best. Now there is no reason why the FA Cup should not be just the first of many more trophies for Everton.’

And this feeling of optimism wasn’t even dampened by the club’s underwhelming pre-season performance. Defeats against Tranmere and Oldham and an undeserved victory against PSV Eindhoven did little to lessen faith in Project Royle.

‘For a few years, the enthusiasm that any fan greets the imminent return of the season had always been tempered at Everton by the club’s problems, financial and managerial. Even a year earlier, when the club had been more active in the transfer market, it was difficult to shake growing reservations regarding Walker. But in the summer of 1995, things felt better. I didn’t expect us to challenge for the title or excel in Europe necessarily, but there was a hope that winning the Cup might act as a catalyst for something better,’ remembers Stan Osborne.

The fans were given an opportunity to see how the squad would shape up during the coming campaign when Everton took on Blackburn Rovers in the Charity Shield. This was around the time when the traditional season opener was beginning to lose what little allure it had once enjoyed. Just 40,149 people turned up to watch; the lowest attendance since the fixture had moved to Wembley in the 1970s.

Everton carried on from where the club had left off the previous season by beating the champions 1-0. The goal, a sublime 20-yard chip, came courtesy of forgotten man Vinny Samways, one of only two occasions he would find the net for the Blues.

‘I don’t think people subsequently gave us enough credit for wining that,’ muses Royle. ‘Over two high profile games at Wembley we had defeated the league champions and the runners-up. Not bad for a side constantly written off.’

After the game, Everton’s performance led newly-appointed Blackburn manager Ray Harford to venture that the Blues could be considered an outside bet for the title. And it was easy to see why. Everton were simply so hard to beat. Once Royle’s men had taken the lead against Blackburn, the champions never looked like levelling the match.

But regardless of Everton’s achievements since Royle had arrived, few viewed the club as the finished product. Players like Southall and Watson were reaching the twilight of their careers, the squad remained relatively thin and bit more creativity was sorely needed.

To remedy some of these problems, Royle entered the transfer market during the summer.

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