So Why Everton...

[Palfy]

5 hours ago, Gwlad all over said:

World Cup final, first full game I ever watched on TV with my Blackburn Rovers supporting dad. Mesmerised by Alan Ball, became a Blue then. 

That was the year I became an Everton supporter it’s nearly been 54 years and never a dull moment. 

[Elston Gunnn]

Total coincidence.  I became a footy convert around mid-90s, when US hosted WC.  Had a friend who played at my college in US, D2 All-American.  He was born and raised in Wigan, his family lifelong Evertonians.  I started following Everton and EPL as much as possible, but mostly I just became more and more a footy nutter.  Whatever was available on my area’s cable system — La Liga, good bit of CL, WC of course.  Loved Les Bleus in ‘98.  Love Derek Rae, think he’s the best.

Gradually more EPL, so I’d catch a few Everton matches.  Then NBCSN got EPL and I’ve been able to follow the Toffees passionately since.  As I say, total coincidence.

Or fate.

[StevO]

20 hours ago, TallPaul1878 said:

My dad was a blue and my grandad was a blue but my dad never took me to a game. In fact it was my wife who first took me to a game when I was 21.

As a kid I never really understood football all that much. A few of my friends were Liverpool supporters, a few of them were Man Utd supporters. That's all we really new about football teams in St Helen's. It's a rugby town first and foremost.

It was only as I got a bit older and understood that you didn't just have to do whatever your friends were all doing at school that I started to make my own way and supporting Everton meant you weren't just following the crowd at school.

I always hear about St Helens being rugby first, but I lived there for years and I only knew two lads who played rugby and not football (one of them is currently playing in Super League). All the rest of us played football. We were on the side of St Helens that was closer to Rainhill and Whiston so maybe there was a bit more of a Liverpool influence, and pretty much everyone’s parents were from Liverpool, so maybe that’s why we didn’t have much rugby influence on us. I got lucky in that four of my friends around there were all from Everton supporting families, made life much easier when Everton were shit to have others suffering too. 

[StevO]

1 hour ago, TallPaul1878 said:

Oh it very much is hugely popular in St Helens but I meant in terms of school sports teams. I always played football as a kid but the school organised it's P.E classes around the rugby teams. Rugby came first in that sense. We didn't really have much contact with "scousers" until later in high school so I'd never met a die hard football fan, or one that even went to a football match until then. In fact I don't really think I knew anyone that actually followed a football team beyond watching them on tv and picking them on FIFA.

Most of the kids at school flirted around different teams, almost everyone supported Liverpool because it was the late 80s early 90s that I was at primary school. Later I discovered Man Utd fans as they got bigger in the 90s.

I was 13 years old in 95 when we won the FA Cup and it was only really then, seeing how excited it made my dad, that I understood how important the club was. By then I was already supporting Everton but only because I loved Duncan Ferguson. His whole story with the headbutt, the conviction and the injustice really. I just felt like it was all falling in to place for me.

You’re only two years older than me. It’s crazy that we were in the same town at the same time but had very different experiences. My primary school didn’t do any rugby, they did in my high school but it was very much a football school, and cricket. 
Loads of scousers where my mum and dad lived too, when I moved out most of the street were from Liverpool (weirdly two Scottish families), too many reds in their street back then. 

[Btay]

Grew up playing rugby union - got to about 15 and gave it up despite being a decent enough player, in and around rep teams ( scrum half I use to play with went on to play for reds and Aus and dad hasn’t stopped reminding me ). Kids at the school I was mates with played soccer so I started watching. Took extra notice of Everton because of Tim Cahil. Became utterly addicted, never forget traveling through Europe and whenever I had my Everton shirt on In a bar any fellow Evertonian would have me over for a beer and a chat.

Its a family, not a club!