On Friday, Everton announced a new partnership with its Chilean namesake, Everton de Vina del Mar and its owners Grupo Pachuca, to enable the development of several new cross-continent initiatives which forms part of the Club’s international growth strategy.
Here, we take a look at the history of Everton de Vina del Mar. Don't miss Everton digital channels throughout the weekend for more of the Chilean club and their derby against rivals Santiago Wanderers on Saturday night, 8pm BST.
The origins of Everton de Vina del Mar Football Club can be traced back to an end-of-season tour taken by Everton and Tottenham Hotspur in 1909.
The two English teams had been invited to South America to play a series of exhibition games against each other and against the strongest teams that Argentina and Uruguay could muster.
The trip involved a three-week voyage each way, with stops on the way that included Lisbon, Madeira and Rio de Janeiro.
Everton and Spurs played each other in the first match of the tour and drew a crowd in excess of 10,000, with honours even at 2-2. The Blues and the north Londoners then spent the next month taking on teams from Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Rosario.
All these games against local opposition were won, Everton defeated Argentine outfit Alumni FC and a Uruguay League XI, before meeting Spurs again towards the end of the tour with the Toffees chalking up a comfortable 4-0 victory. Everton’s last game was against an Argentinian League XI and was won 4-1.
The tour had really ignited interest in the sport of football in the region.
Main picture: Everton officials with staff from Everton de Vina del Mar during a trip in early 2020 to initiate discussions on the partnership. From left, Everton de Vina del Mar CEO Carlos Oliver; Sporting Director Gustavo Dalsasso; Everton’s Director of Marketing, Communications and Community, Richard Kenyon, and Head of Security, Dave Lewis; de Vina del Mar President Pedro Cedillo; and Everton’s Director of Football Operations, David Harrison.
In the 24 June 1909, as both teams prepared for the long sail home, a group of Chilean teenagers, following the results of the tour in their local newspapers, decided to form a club of their own. The name they chose for this new club was… Everton.
And if there was ever any doubts about the origins of the name, they were dispelled in 1919 when one of the founders, David Foxley, whose grandparents had emigrated from Liverpool in 1859 to set up the first steam-driven flour mill in Valparaiso, confirmed the link to Goodison Park officials during the celebrations for the Chilean club’s 10th anniversary.
‘Everton’ experienced some highs and lows over the next few decades and in 1944 they were elected to the national professional league. One of the conditions for their entry was to relocate five miles up the coast to the town of Viña del Mar. The Ruleteros, as they became known because of the famous casino in the town, have remained there ever since.
The team has won the Chilean Championship on four occasions, 1950, 1952, 1976 and 2008.
The relationship between Everton Football Club and Everton de Vina del Mar has been kept alive over the years by the Ruleteros Society, which was set up in 2002 to develop links between supporters of the two teams. There have already been exchange visits involving supporters of the two clubs and they were the driving force behind the Brotherhood Cup match at Goodison Park in 2010.
