With the 2024-25 season coming to a close, we are now intoour season review series.
As another Premier League campaign concluded, Everton fans will have breathed a sigh of relief that their status at the top tier of English football remained in tact after another underwhelming campaign that was again seemingly dominated by matters off the field.
However new owners, a change in management and one or two gems on the pitch will have given the league’s most loyal fanbase reason to believe as they said goodbye to Goodison Park following a 133-year tenure.
So what were the positives from 2024/25 that caused the Blues faithful a moment of happiness, a feeling of hopefulness and the belief that better times surely lay ahead.
We’ve picked three:
Solid Foundations
Everton FC v Southampton FC - Premier League Photo by Alex Dodd - CameraSport via Getty Images
Despite finishing in 13th place, only three of the Premier League’s top four conceded fewer than Everton this season, with high-spending Manchester City shipping as many as the Blues with 44.
With the game’s most underrated goalkeeper (outside of Everton) delivering another masterclass of spectacular saves, Jarrad Branthwaite has continued to show the footballing world why the Blues rate him so highly with displays that defy his young years.
Supported and guided by the ever-dependable James Tarkowski, the emergence of Jake O’Brien in the unfamiliar role of right-back has added a steel to an already solid foundation that can be built on.
But even the best back fours need protection and few do it better than the evergreen Idrissa Gana Gueye, whose 111 tackles last season made him number one in that respect and went a long way to the Senegal star scooping both the club’s Men’s Player of the Season and Players’ Player of the Season.
Chelsea FC v Everton FC - Premier League Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images
Iliman Ndiaye
From the back to the front and it is another Senegalese who is the focal point of a positive.
Signed from Marseille in the summer of 2024, Iliman Ndiaye has quickly become a fan favourite with his ability and willingness to dribble, completing a staggering 80 successful runs throughout the season.
The forward also showed end product, weighing in with 11 goals in his maiden campaign that qualified him as the club’s joint leading scorer alongside Beto for 2024/25.
At just 24, the versatile talent is only reaching the peak of his powers and the Blues’ faithful will be hopeful the former Sheffield United star can join the club’s long list of flair players famed for getting bums off seats and pulses racing.
Everton FC v Southampton FC - Premier League Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images
Now with Charley Alcaraz on a permanent, Everton fans will be hopeful that these two tricky talisman will light up the Hill Dickinson Stadium come the new season.
David Moyes
He was by no means a unanimous choice amongst supporters, but David Moyes’ return to Everton has seen at least a brief calm as the Scot oversaw a strong run that saw the Toffees away from the bottom three.
Beginning his second tenure with a home defeat to Aston Villa, the Toffees went on a run which saw only three losses in a run of 18, with only Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City - three of the Premier League’s eventual top four - besting Moyes’ boys.
Now 62, the former Manchester United and West Ham boss is cutting a calmer figure during his second time in the Everton hotseat, and has, so far, more than justified the Friedkin Group’s belief that he was the man best placed to guide the club in this new era.
Newcastle United FC v Everton FC - Premier League Photo by Alex Dodd - CameraSport via Getty Images
While many will point to the adage of players lifting themselves for a new manager, it can’t be dismissed that Moyes has managed to get something out of the same bunch that seem to stagnate under Sean Dyche, with O’Brien a shining example of a player capable of flourishing once given the chance.
Special Mention: The Fans!
Something that could be listed as a positive every season, Moyes will be praying the Goodison roar will be recreated at the Hill Dickinson, as once again the fans proved to be that pivotal 12th man to an often struggling XI.
It is easy to be positive when your team is rolling in trophies and illuminating your afternoons with majestic football, but it is something quite different to be the ones often leading the charge for your team both on, and sometimes off, the field.
Groups like the 1878s, with their tireless dedication to honouring Goodison and its history have deservedly been recognised as pivotal to Everton’s Premier League status, but credit is due to every other man, woman and child that turned up at the Old Lady to roar on the Toffees.
Everton Fan Group The 1878s Pre-Match Display Preparations Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images
Here is to your positivity as we move to the waterfront, and here’s to hopefully better times ahead for the fans and club alike.