1984–85 Everton F.C. season

During the 1984–85 English football season, Everton F.C. competed in the Football League First Division and finished as champions for the first time in 15 years, also winning the European Cup Winners' Cup.

Everton

1984–85 season
Chairman	Philip Carter
Manager	Howard Kendall
First Division	1st (champions)
FA Cup	Runners-up
League Cup	Fourth round
FA Charity Shield	Winners
European Cup Winners' Cup	Winners
Top goalscorer	League: Graeme Sharp (21) All: Graeme Sharp (27)
Highest home attendance	51,045 v Liverpool (23 May 1985)
Lowest home attendance	16,277 v University College Dublin (3 October 1984)
Average home league attendance	32,131
Home colours

Season summary

Everton enjoyed a hugely successful season, winning the First Division with 90 points (13 more than runners-up Liverpool) and the Cup Winners' Cup with a 3–1 win over Rapid Vienna. In recognition of these achievements, Howard Kendall was voted Manager of the Year while goalkeeper Neville Southall and midfielder Peter Reid picked up the FWA Footballer of the Year and PFA Players' Player of the Year awards respectively. Domestically, the only downside to the season was the FA Cup Final defeat to Manchester United which prevented Kendall's team from completing a domestic double and continental treble. Further disappointment would follow when UEFA's blanket ban on English clubs following the Heysel stadium disaster denied Everton the opportunity to compete in the following season's European Cup.

Everton had ended the 1983–84 campaign by beating Watford 2–0 in the FA Cup final to claim their first piece of silverware for 14 years. Kendall saw little need to make major alterations to his squad although midfielder Paul Bracewell was a notable acquisition, signed for £425,000 from Sunderland, and another was made a few weeks into the new season when Everton paid Birmingham City £100,000 for Pat Van Den Hauwe who quickly made the left-back spot his own. Southall was by now established as first-choice goalkeeper with the defence augmented by right-back Gary Stevens and the centre-back pairing of Derek Mountfield and skipper Kevin Ratcliffe. Reid and Bracewell were flanked in midfield by Trevor Steven and Kevin Sheedy while Graeme Sharp and Andy Gray ended the season as the regular forward line after a serious knee injury suffered against Sheffield Wednesday ended Adrian Heath's season prematurely.

Although the season opened with victory over Liverpool in the Charity Shield, Everton's league campaign began poorly with a 4–1 thrashing by Tottenham Hotspur at Goodison Park followed two days later by a 2–1 defeat at West Bromwich Albion. However, a Kevin Richardson goal gave them victory at Chelsea on the last day of August and they went through September unbeaten, notching up further away wins at Newcastle United and Watford, although three home matches produced only a narrow win over Coventry City and two draws.

October began with defeat at Arsenal but Everton then found their best form with successive victories over Aston Villa, Liverpool and Manchester United. Sharp's wonder goal clinched their first win at Anfield since the 1969-70 championship season and they were arguably even more impressive in beating Ron Atkinson's United the following week. Sheedy (twice), Heath, Stevens and Sharp scored in a 5–0 win that in no way flattered Everton. As if to prove a point, they went to Old Trafford three days later and beat United again, this time in the third round of the Milk Cup.

A 3–0 win over Leicester City saw Everton go top of the league and further victories over West Ham United and Stoke City cemented their position. However, a shock home defeat by Grimsby Town in the Milk Cup triggered a dip in form that saw Everton win only once in six matches and a 4–3 defeat by Chelsea at Goodison just before Christmas saw them surrender the leadership to Tottenham.

Thereafter, Everton were virtually unstoppable. A 2–1 win at Sunderland on Boxing Day began an unbeaten run of 28 matches which saw them collect 50 out of a possible 54 league points and reach two cup finals along the way. They reclaimed top spot in January by beating Newcastle 4–0 and victory at Tottenham at the start of April opened up a four-point lead with games in hand on their closest challengers. A 2–0 win over Queens Park Rangers on 6 May secured the title with five league matches still to play.

The Cup Winners' Cup campaign began with a surprisingly tight aggregate win over University College Dublin but Everton breezed past Inter Bratislava and Fortuna Sittard to set up a semi-final against Bayern Munich. After a goalless first leg in West Germany, they fell behind to a Dieter Hoeness goal at Goodison but roared back to reach the final thanks to goals from Sharp, Gray and Steven. Rapid Vienna were no match in Rotterdam's Feyenoord Stadium and goals from Gray, Steven and Sheedy clinched Everton's first ever European trophy.

In the FA Cup, Everton beat Leeds United, Doncaster Rovers and non-league Telford United without too much difficulty but needed a late Mountfield equaliser in the quarter-final to take Ipswich Town to a replay which they won courtesy of a Sharp penalty. In the semi-final against Luton Town, they were again trailing with time running out when Sheedy equalised with a free kick, and Mountfield headed the winner near the end of extra time.

Ultimately, the final against Manchester United - played just three days after the Cup Winners' Cup final - proved a match too far and Everton went down to a single Norman Whiteside goal in extra time. It could not take the shine off what is regarded by many as the greatest season ever in the history of the club.

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	ENG	Jim Arnold
—	GK	WAL	Neville Southall
—	DF	ENG	Ian Atkins
—	DF	ENG	John Bailey
—	DF	ENG	Alan Harper
—	DF	ENG	Darren Hughes
—	DF	ENG	Derek Mountfield
—	DF	ENG	Darren Oldroyd
—	DF	WAL	Kevin Ratcliffe (captain)
—	DF	ENG	Gary Stevens
—	DF	WAL	Pat Van Den Hauwe
—	MF	ENG	Paul Bracewell
—	MF	ENG	Terry Curran

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ENG	Jason Danskin
—	MF	ENG	John Morrissey
—	MF	ENG	Peter Reid
—	MF	ENG	Kevin Richardson
—	MF	ENG	Neill Rimmer
—	MF	IRL	Kevin Sheedy
—	MF	ENG	Trevor Steven
—	MF	ENG	Derek Walsh
—	FW	SCO	Andy Gray
—	FW	ENG	Adrian Heath
—	FW	SCO	Graeme Sharp
—	FW	ENG	Robbie Wakenshaw
—	FW	ENG	Paul Wilkinson

Transfers

In

• Paul Bracewell - Sunderland, £425,000, May 1984
• Pat Van Den Hauwe - Birmingham City, £100,000, September 1984
• Ian Atkins - Sunderland, £100,000, November 1984
• Paul Wilkinson - Grimsby Town, £250,000, March 1985

Out

• Mark Higgins - retired, May 1984
• Ian Bishop - Carlisle United, October 1984
• Alan Irvine - Crystal Palace, October 1984
• Andy King - Wolverhampton Wanderers, January 1985
• Ian Macowat - Gillingham, January 1985
• Stuart Rimmer - Chester City, January 1985

Results

Charity Shield

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
18 August 1984	Liverpool	N	1–0	Grobbelaar (o.g.)	100,000

First Division

Date	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
25 August 1984	Tottenham Hotspur	H	1–4	Heath (pen.)	35,630
27 August 1984	West Bromwich Albion	A	1–2	Heath (pen.)	13,464
31 August 1984	Chelsea	A	1–0	Richardson	17,734
4 September 1984	Ipswich Town	H	1–1	Heath	22,314
8 September 1984	Coventry City	H	2–1	Steven, Sharp	20,013
15 September 1984	Newcastle United	A	3–2	Sheedy, Steven, Gray	26,944
22 September 1984	Southampton	H	2–2	Mountfield, Sharp	22,354
29 September 1984	Watford	A	5–4	Steven, Heath (2), Mountfield, Sharp	18,335
6 October 1984	Arsenal	A	0–1		37,049
13 October 1984	Aston Villa	H	2–1	Sharp, Heath	25,089
20 October 1984	Liverpool	A	1–0	Sharp	45,545
27 October 1984	Manchester United	H	5–0	Sheedy (2), Heath, Stevens, Sharp	40,742
3 November 1984	Leicester City	H	3–0	Steven, Sheedy, Heath	27,784
10 November 1984	West Ham United	A	1–0	Heath	24,089
17 November 1984	Stoke City	H	4–0	Heath (2), Reid, Steven	26,705
24 November 1984	Norwich City	A	2–4	Sharp, Sheedy	16,925
1 December 1984	Sheffield Wednesday	H	1–1	Sharp (pen.)	35,440
8 December 1984	Queens Park Rangers	A	0–0		14,338
15 December 1984	Nottingham Forest	H	5–0	Sharp (2), Sheedy, Steven, Reid	22,487
22 December 1984	Chelsea	H	3–4	Bracewell, Sharp (2 pens)	29,887
26 December 1984	Sunderland	A	2–1	Mountfield (2)	19,714
29 December 1984	Ipswich Town	A	2–0	Sharp (2)	16,045
1 January 1985	Luton Town	H	2–1	Steven (2)	31,682
12 January 1985	Newcastle United	H	4–0	Sharp, Mountfield, Sheedy (2)	32,156
2 February 1985	Watford	H	4–0	Stevens (2), Sheedy, Steven	34,026
23 February 1985	Leicester City	A	2–1	Gray (2)	17,345
2 March 1985	Manchester United	A	1–1	Mountfield	51,150
16 March 1985	Aston Villa	A	1–1	Richardson	22,625
23 March 1985	Arsenal	H	2–0	Gray, Sharp	36,387
30 March 1985	Southampton	A	2–1	Richardson (2)	18,754
3 April 1985	Tottenham Hotspur	A	2–1	Gray, Steven	48,108
6 April 1985	Sunderland	H	4–1	Gray (2), Steven, Sharp	35,978
16 April 1985	West Bromwich Albion	H	4–1	Atkins, Sharp (2 including 1 pen), Sheedy	29,750
20 April 1985	Stoke City	A	2–0	Sharp, Sheedy	18,258
27 April 1985	Norwich City	H	3–0	Mountfield, Steven, Bracewell	32,085
4 May 1985	Sheffield Wednesday	A	1–0	Gray	37,381
6 May 1985	Queens Park Rangers	H	2–0	Mountfield, Sharp	50,514
8 May 1985	West Ham United	H	3–0	Gray, Mountfield (2)	32,657
11 May 1985	Nottingham Forest	A	0–1		18,784
23 May 1985	Liverpool	H	1–0	Wilkinson	51,045
26 May 1985	Coventry City	A	1–4	Wilkinson	21,224
28 May 1985	Luton Town	A	0–2		11,509

Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Everton	42	28	6	8	88	43	+45	90
2	Liverpool	42	22	11	9	68	35	+33	77
3	Tottenham Hotspur	42	23	8	11	78	51	+27	77

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

European Cup Winners' Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
19 September 1984	Round 1 First leg	University College Dublin	A	0–0		9,750
3 October 1984	Round 1 Second leg	University College Dublin	H	1–0	Sharp	16,277
24 October 1984	Round 2 First leg	Inter Bratislava	A	1–0	Bracewell	15,000
7 November 1984	Round 2 Second leg	Inter Bratislava	H	3–0	Sharp, Sheedy, Heath	25,007
6 March 1985	Quarter-final First leg	Fortuna Sittard	H	3–0	Gray (3)	25,782
20 March 1985	Quarter-final Second leg	Fortuna Sittard	A	2–0	Sharp, Reid	16,425
10 April 1985	Semi-final First leg	Bayern Munich	A	0–0		67,000
24 April 1985	Semi-final Second leg	Bayern Munich	H	3–1	Sharp, Gray, Steven	49,476
15 May 1985	Final	Rapid Vienna	N	3–1	Gray, Steven, Sheedy	40,000

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
26 September 1984	Round 2 First leg	Sheffield United	A	2–2	Sharp, Mountfield	28,383
10 October 1984	Round 2 Second leg	Sheffield United	H	4–0	Mountfield, Bracewell, Sharp, Heath	18,740
30 October 1984	Round 3	Manchester United	A	2–1	Sharp (pen.), Gidman (o.g.)	50,918
20 November 1984	Round 4	Grimsby Town	H	0–1		26,298

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponents	H / A	Result F–A	Scorers	Attendance
4 January 1985	Round 3	Leeds United	A	2–0	Sharp (pen.), Sheedy	21,211
26 January 1985	Round 4	Doncaster Rovers	H	2–0	Steven, Stevens	37,537
16 February 1985	Round 5	Telford United	H	3–0	Reid, Sheedy (pen.), Steven	47,402
9 March 1985	Round 6	Ipswich Town	H	2–2	Sheedy, Mountfield	36,468
13 March 1985	Round 6 Replay	Ipswich Town	A	1–0	Sharp (pen.)	27,737
13 April 1985	Semi-final	Luton Town	N	2–1	Sheedy, Mountfield	45,289
18 May 1985	Final	Manchester United	N	0–1		100,000