Everton have been relegated twice. Not for a long time and not from the PL. I know some of their own fans who believe they've never been relegated but they have.
Neutrals maybe but there are more Liverpool fans I know who won't miss the derby at all. I can't say I want them relegated but if they are I definitely won't miss the derby.
Everton are a "historic" club. 9 league titles. 5 FA cups. this is a historically significant club! they have a fine history that should be lauded. however they have also totally missed the globalisation boat and so are now a city based team with a small support in a few places outside that. Yes under 30 (i'd contend under 35) they are a mid table club thats there but not really affecting the top clubs. Over 40, probabaly more like 45 they are a club that delivered at the top and TBH over 70 or 80 they would be really top club. I mean newcastle are a far less historical club but have probably a similar fan base and leeds would be another historical club. the similarities are stark here between leeds of the 1990s and this everton debacle
I vaguely remember Everton being a competitive club back when I was a little kid. I also recall plenty of Everton fans in primary school... (I also remember several of them switching allegiance to MUFC round about when we started High School as MU got better and Everton got worse). But nonetheless Everton, as MIto says, to me is more a historically big club rather than a big club. The fact they haven't been relegated in a long time is more statistical noise than anything.
Maybe not. But I'm adding Europenis to my autocorrect dictionary and I will try to use that word as often as possible.
When I started watching football they were bigger than us. All my family were blues, and I lived a stone's throw from Goodison. Only an innate tendency to be an awkward little sod made me support the "wrong" team.
They came close to going down in the 90s but Bolton went instead (thanks to us). Others may disagree but it would easily be the biggest club to go down in my view. Newcastle went down in 08/09 and Villa + Sunderland flirted with relegation years before they actually went. It's incredible to think when Klopp arrived in Merseyside, Everton and Man Utd were superior teams.
Biggest club to go down is debatable. Nottingham Forest had clear memories of being English Champions and double European champions when they went down. It's been decades since Everton won anything.
Forest had been in decline for a while by the time they went down. It wasn't even surprising by the time it happened
Not surprising but only about a decade since they were amongst the best teams in the world. I doubt there is anyone at Everton playing who ever saw Everton challenge for silverware. When they went down, NF were bigger than Everton are now.
the death spiral is a thing for sure. Leeds rapid decline was a case of money. Forest were very much a long slow decline and letting clough hang round until he was nearly dead. Villa were similar. bad owner without the cash, poisonous fan base hating on their own team, couldn't win at home etc. there was a time middlesboro were a bit of a midtable side but they had a long slow decline and have not come back Blackburn are a money club that jack walker built as a legacy but then they handed it all away. southampton were small club held up by le tissier and the built st marys and went down twice. Everton very much remind me of villa. the atmosphere around the club is pure poison. Fans turning on the owners choice of manager twice this season alone and ending up with the worst managerial display i've ever seen this sunday.
That's right Blackburn relegated just 5 years after winning the title. Very recent champions. Everton today can't compare in relevance to Blackburn of the mid 90's. I think it's safe to say Everton are amongst the bigger clubs to get relegated, but you can't definitely say the biggest because that's subjective and really they fall short on a lot of metrics.
In the context of their financial situations I'd stay Everton would be bigger. Everton were supposed to be challenging for Europe this year and hadn't lost the mass of generational talent Leeds had.
Blackburn were still not a big club though. they won the thing then made one bad managerial appointment. it was almost natural that they went back to where they came from. The only pity is chelsea and man city have not joined them..... but they will... its all about fan base and interest.
