It’s a sad fact that with genuine success having being so elusive at Everton for the past three decades even the old argument of what constitutes a “legend” in the sporting sense has been rendered largely moot.
Duncan Ferguson was the last Evertonian to test the definition and split supporter opinion, largely because the term itself has historically been reserved for players of tangible and undisputed achievement; feats on the pitch that were either consistently remarkable, sufficiently long-lived — or both — and which helped the club win silverware.
Clearly, if the parameters are to be that rigid, no Everton player since Dave Watson could realistically be considered an Everton legend but, for all intents and purposes, Séamus Coleman fits the bill.
Though he was a fine player for the Toffees, arguably our finest right-back of the Premier League era, and, pound for pound, the best signing in the top flight since 1992, it is his longevity that brings him close to the threshold of the accolade; his influence on and off the pitch, most notably during some of Everton’s darkest hours, pushes him over the top.
It’s not hyperbole to suggest that the Blues could well be floundering in the Championship without the inspirational leadership of Séamus Coleman. At a time when relegation threatened Everton’s very existence as a going concern, he led by example and deed on the pitch. His goal out of the blue that secured a narrow win over Leeds United in February 2023 was one of that campaign’s “Sliding Doors” moments that helped keep the Blues up under Sean Dyche.
And when injury sidelined him, he maintained the fight off the field, ensuring that what the club means to its lifeblood, the fans, was never lost on the rest of the team. Coleman was injured early on in another pivotal match in the run-in to the 2022/23 campaign against another rival to beat the drop, this time at Leicester City, but famously issued a clench-fisted rallying cry from the stretcher as he was carried off the pitch at King Power Stadium. Everton secured a 2–2 draw in his absence, another result that helped secure safety that year.
“Séamus reminded them how much this club means to people,” former goalkeeping coach Alan Kelly told The Athletic. “Bringing the reality of what losing means to the club, the fans and people who worked there long-term. It was, ‘Do you want to look in the eyes of someone in the ground and know you’ve let them down?’.”
Among the playing staff, it was Séamus who insisted that the required levels never dropped at Finch Farm and who carried the emotion he encountered meeting fans on the streets of Liverpool, where he made his home rather than in the leafy environs of Cheshire, to the changing room. He was, a many have noted, the conduit between the terraces and the squad; no one “got it” more than he did but he had the respect and the gravitas to ensure that the gravity of the situation Everton faced and the effect it would have on the city was never lost on his team-mates.
That respect came not only from his exploits on the pitch but also the strength of his admirable character which has been lauded by successive players and managers.
Carlo Ancelotti, who knows a thing or two about greatness, said of the Killybegs native: “I think that Séamus is an example for all the others and for the new players of how to be a player on the pitch who produces the spirit. But not only on the pitch; every day, Séamus is a great example of a captain.
“I had a lot of captains in my captains in my career … I cannot make a list because I would forget someone. But like [Paolo] Maldini, John Terry, Sergio Ramos — he is that kind of captain.”
Another former Everton manager, Frank Lampard, an inspirational skipper and legend in his own right at Chelsea, once told Séamus’s children in a lovely moment after the stirring 3-2 comeback against Crystal Palace which had confirmed the Toffees’ top-flight status in May 2022 that, “your daddy is the best man I’ve ever met,” echoing sentiments he had expressed to an emotional dressing room after the final whistle.
With the team 2-0 down and relegation a very real danger, Coleman had taken upon himself to lead the half-time team talk, his words inspiring the team to a magnificent fightback and Lampard paid tribute to him afterwards, saying: “This fella … is the of the best people I’ve ever met as a man.
“It wasn’t just what he did on the pitch, it was off the pitch [as well],” he later explained on Stick To Football . “His standards, his humility, everything about him. There’s not a bit of him that’s not genuine.”
The former Gaelic footballer whom Everton acquired for just £60,000 from Sligo Rovers represented a tiny risk in 2009 but the scouts who recommended him couldn’t have fully known the type of character they had recommended to David Moyes back then or that the raw then 20-year-old would go on to make over 430 appearances for the club over the next 17 years.
He wasn’t thrown so much to the lions as the Eagles on his Blues debut when he was asked to play out of position at left-back in a 5-0 mauling by Benfica in the Europa League, but after helping Blackpool gain promotion to the Premier League during a loan spell at Bloomfield Road, he returned to Goodison and set about becoming a regular in Moyes’s side.
Initially finding success as right-winger he eventually locked down the right-back spot after injuries caught up with Tony Hibbert and Phil Neville departed with Moyes after the 2012-13 campaign. He was an instrumental part of a Roberto Martinez team that flirted with Champions League qualification in 2013/14, made promising forays in Europe under the Catalan and went deep in with domestic cup competitions in 2016.
Coleman was the ideal blend of defensive tenacity and attacking threat who weighed in with 28 goals over the course of his Everton career; the kind of player worthy of being part of a silverware-winning team. Though, he will be thankful for a long and productive career, that he never got the honour of lifting a trophy as the Toffees’ captain might be his only regret. In that regard, he was failed by the club to a large degree and it was to his credit that he was never tempted to leave by a bigger club, Manchester United most prominent among them.
If there was one area of tension between Everton and their beloved skipper later in his career, once it became clear that injuries were starting to become frequent, it was his understandable love for and devotion to his country. Selfishly, many Blues have felt at times that Séamus should have retired from international football to focus on the club but he never lost his desire to help his country in any way he could. That he came so close to bowing out with an appearance at this summer’s World Cup will surely also tug at his heart strings.
Séamus Coleman will leave Everton this summer as what has become a rarity in the Premier League: universally loved by his club’s supporters having spent 17 seasons in one place, pouring his heart and soul into one footballing institution. He may decide to play on somewhere else for another year or so but he will always be synonymous with the Toffees and they have made it clear that there will always be a role for him at Finch Farm.
Again, he may never had had the privilege of winning silverware with his beloved Blues but his contribution to the club he came in many ways to embody has been immense. He departs with our thanks and our admiration as a modern-day Everton legend.
Either no responses have been submitted so far to this article or previous submissions are being assessed for inclusion.
Only registered users of Evertonia can participate in discussions.
Or Join as Evertonia Member — it takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your thoughts on artices across the site.