1984/85 Season

 

Seasons don't come much better than this.

League Champions, European Cup-Winners' Cup winners, Charity Shield winners...the list reads like an Evertonian's dream.

But this was no fantasy, this was the culmination of a season in which manager Howard Kendall built on the potential of the 1984 FA Cup win and took the club to another level. They even made to the FA Cup final again, only to be edged out by Manchester United at Wembley.

Kendall was named Manager of the Year, Neville Southall Player of the Year, Peter Reid PFA Player of the Year, and Everton European Team of the Year. 

This was not a one-man show, this was a real team effort.

The School of Science was back, and what a way to play football.

Everton conceded 43 goals, but what did it matter when up front the strikers were finding the back of the net 88 times?

Southall was a rock at the back, Reid and Paul Bracewell ran the engine room, with Trevor Steven and Kevin Sheedy on the wings to provide the ammunition for Graeme Sharp, Adrian Heath and Andy Gray up front.

With a line-up containing so many Everton legends it is hard to pick out highlights of the season but the 5-0 defeat of Man United just a week after a first win at Anfield for 14 years must rank up there.

Everton were unbeaten between Boxing Day and mid-May, an astounding 28 games, the league was theirs, and the Cup-Winners' Cup was a nice cherry for the top of the Championship cake.