The club was one of the 12 founder members of the Football League in 1888 and it wasn't until 1930 that they were relegated. They bounced straight back as champions of the old Second Division and enjoyed another 20 years in the First. They lost their top-division status again in 1951 and this time it took three years to achieve promotion, on this occasion as runners-up.


Their unbroken run of 48 years in the top flight - the First Division until 1992 and the Premier League since then - is only beaten by Arsenal. The club's top-flight sequences of 1888 to 1930, 1931 to 1951 and 1954 to 2002 make a total of 110 seasons - but 11 have to be deducted as war-time seasons when League football wasn't played.

Everton have won the League Championship nine times and been runners-up seven times. They won the F.A. Cup in 1906, 1933, 1966, 1984 and 1995. They've been in two Football League Cup Finals. They've also enjoyed 11 seasons in Europe and won the European Cup Winners' Cup in Rotterdam in 1985. The club has certainly lived up to its motto 'Nil satis nisi optimum' - Nothing but the best is good enough.

No other club has spent more seasons in the top division and Goodison Park, their home since 1892, has been the stage on which some of the most talented footballers have performed. Dixie Dean, Joe Mercer, Alex 'The Golden Vision' Young, Alan Ball, Gary Lineker and Neville Southall.

Everton are a famous club whose achievements are known throughout the world and The Football Association adds its congratulations to all the others that the club will undoubtedly receive in this special year

If you want to find out more about Everton FC, check out their official website