By Safiu Kehinde
Supporters groups of Everton Football Club are keen on staging a walkout protest during Saturday’s clash against visiting team, Arsenal.
The planned boycott is inspired by over two decades of trophy drought at the Godison Park.
The Toffees last won a major trophy in 1995 after they defeated Manchester United at the FA Cup Final. A lone goal from Paul Rideout pulled Everton through the final. He capitalized on a Graham Stuart’s shot which rebounded off the crossbar.
Ever since the win against the Red Devils, Everton are yet to taste any major trophy final and the drought will clock 27 years by the end of this current season.
Since their promotion into the topflight in 1954, Everton has never been relegated from the Premier League and ironically, have never won the Premier League title.
Meanwhile, their closest attempt to Champions League campaign was in 2005 when they qualified for third qualifying round having finished fourth in the previous season. The David Moyes-led Toffees, however, failed to progress to the Champions League after losing the qualifying round to Villarreal.
In contrast, Everton’s neighboring club, Liverpool, are more successful than their Merseyside counterparts. Having won the Champions League in 2019, the Reds went to win the Premier League Title in 2020 after 30 years of waiting. So far, Liverpool have won 47 major league trophies.
Despite being managed by top-notch coaches such as Roberto Martinez, Carlo Ancelloti, and presently, Rafa Benitez, Everton have never being a title contender in any campaign.
The supporters groups have, however, sent images and texts across social media platforms urging fans to boycott the match in the 27th minutes as a commiseration to the 27 years trophy draught.
According to the groups, fans can either spend a short time out of their seats, or walk out of the game completely. These they intend to do in support of the message, “27 years without a trophy is unacceptable.”
