Everton cult heroes ranked: The players who became favourites at Goodison
I’ve made a potentially daft decision. Bear with me.
I’m going to rank Everton’s cult heroes.
There is, admittedly, one fairly significant problem with this: at heart, I’m a Norwich City supporter.
Evertonians know that, so I won’t insult anyone’s intelligence by pretending I’m about to produce the definitive answer. I have a great deal of affection for Everton and have watched plenty of these players over the years, but I’m also acutely aware that there are few things more likely to provoke an Evertonian than a ‘Canary’ telling them who they should love.
So, I won’t.
This is deliberately subjective.
It isn’t a list of Everton’s greatest players. It isn’t based on appearances, goals or trophies. And it certainly isn’t an attempt to rewrite club history from the perspective of someone who doesn’t even support the club.
Instead, I’m interested in something rather less measurable: which players seemed to mean something special to Evertonians?
The cult heroes. The characters. The players whose names could change the atmosphere inside the late Goodison Park.
I’ve probably got some of this wrong.
I’m counting on Evertonians to tell me where (I know you will).
10. Leon Osman
Osman was never the biggest, fastest or most glamorous player on the pitch.
He didn’t need to be.
A product of Everton’s academy, Osman spent the overwhelming majority of his career at the club and became one of those players supporters could identify with.
His intelligence, technical ability and willingness to take responsibility made him an important part of several Everton sides.
He scored some memorable goals, produced some excellent performances and, perhaps most importantly, always looked like a player who understood the privilege of playing for Everton.
Osman was not a superstar.
He was an Everton player. An Evertonian.
For many supporters, that was enough.
9. Tim Howard
Howard arrived at Everton with a significant reputation but became something more than simply a very good goalkeeper.
He became a fixture. A likeable one.
For a decade, Howard was one of the most recognisable faces in the Everton team, combining outstanding saves with an unmistakable personality.
His famous goal against Bolton Wanderers in 2012 only added to his status.
Howard’s Everton career coincided with some difficult periods for the club, but his reliability and longevity made him a hugely familiar figure.
For many Evertonians, he remains one of the first names that comes to mind when remembering the teams of the 2000s and early 2010s.
8. Tony Hibbert
There is probably no better example of the difference between a great player and a cult hero.
Tony Hibbert was not an international. He was not renowned for scoring goals — in fact, his failure to score for Everton became a running joke among supporters.
But Hibbert represented something Evertonians valued enormously.
He was local, committed, reliable and uncomplicated.
A one-club man who came through the academy and made more than 300 appearances for Everton, Hibbert became a symbol of the club’s identity.
And when he finally scored his first Everton goal — albeit in his testimonial against AEK Athens — the reaction said everything.
It was one of *those* moments.
Hibbert didn’t need to be a superstar to become a favourite.
7. Kevin Campbell
Kevin’s Everton career was relatively short compared with some of the names on this list.
His impact was anything but.
Signed initially on loan from Trabzonspor in 1998, Campbell quickly became an important figure during one of the most difficult periods in the club’s modern history.
His goals helped Everton avoid relegation in 1998 and again played a crucial role during the following season.
But it was Campbell’s personality that made him so popular.
He embraced Everton and the city, connected with the supporters and became a genuinely loved figure.
There was also something particularly Everton about the circumstances in which he arrived and the way he responded.
The club needed him.
He delivered.
Campbell went on to become much more than a striker who scored important goals.
He became one of those players whose relationship with Everton survived long after his playing career had ended.
His passing left a huge hole.
6. Tim Cahill
Few players understood how to make themselves heroes at Goodison Park quite like Cahill.
The Australian midfielder arrived from Millwall in 2004 and quickly established himself as one of the Premier League’s most recognisable attacking midfielders.
Cahill had an extraordinary knack for scoring important goals.
He also had an extraordinary knack for celebrating them.
Those corner-flag celebrations became part of Everton folklore, while his willingness to throw himself into challenges and attack crosses that he had no right to win against defenders far bigger than him endeared him to supporters.
Cahill was not an Evertonian by birth.
By the time he left, however, it was difficult to imagine him as anything else.
There was a ferocity to his game that supporters appreciated, but there was also quality.
Cahill was not just a cult figure.
He was a very good footballer who happened to become one.
5. Seamus Coleman
Seamus is perhaps the clearest modern example of an Everton cult hero.
He arrived from Sligo Rovers as a relatively unknown young player and developed into a Premier League full-back, Republic of Ireland international and Everton captain.
His career has also included setbacks that would have broken lesser players.
He suffered a serious leg injury while playing for Ireland in 2017, but fought his way back and continued his Everton career.
Coleman’s longevity, humility and commitment have made him hugely popular.
There is also something important about where his Everton story began.
He wasn’t a celebrated academy product or an expensive signing. He arrived as a young player from Ireland and gradually became one of the most recognisable figures at the club.
Coleman became much more than a right-back.
He became one of the players who represented Everton. And always will.
Which is an enormous compliment.
4. Peter Reid
Reidy belongs in any serious conversation about Everton’s most beloved players.
He was an outstanding midfielder in Howard Kendall’s great Everton side, but his popularity was not simply the result of his footballing ability.
Reid embodied the personality of that team.
Hard-working, competitive and prepared to put his body on the line, he became a favourite at Goodison Park.
His partnership with Paul Bracewell was central to one of the finest periods in Everton’s history, while his performances during the 1984-85 title-winning campaign helped establish him as one of the club’s greatest players.
Reid also represented something that has always mattered at Everton.
Fight.
There was no shortage of quality in Kendall’s side, but there was steel as well.
Reid had plenty of both.
3. David Unsworth
There are better footballers in Everton’s history.
There are probably more decorated ones, too.
But Unsworth has something difficult to manufacture: he felt like an Evertonian.
A product of the club’s academy, Unsworth made his debut as a teenager and went on to make hundreds of appearances across two spells.
He scored important goals, took responsibility and became a leader.
His penalty against Coventry City in 1998 remains one of the defining moments in Everton’s fight for Premier League survival.
But the relationship went beyond football.
“Unsy” was one of them.
He understood the club, understood Goodison Park and seemed to understand exactly what Everton meant to the people who followed it.
That connection has continued through his work with the academy and various coaching roles.
For a club whose supporters place enormous value on players understanding what Everton represents, Unsworth is almost the perfect cult hero.
2. Richarlison
Bear with me. Think back to when you liked him.
Richarlison may not yet have the historical standing of some of the names above him, but his status among a generation of Evertonians is difficult to question.
He was emotional, unpredictable, occasionally infuriating and relentlessly committed.
In other words, he felt like an Everton player.
Richarlison scored important goals, produced spectacular moments and developed a particularly strong relationship with the supporters.
His tears after significant matches and visible frustration when things went wrong only strengthened the perception that he cared deeply.
There were times when those theatrics could test the patience.
There were also times when he seemed to be carrying the emotional weight of the entire stadium on his shoulders.
His eventual departure inevitably complicated the relationship.
But the affection remains… for some
Richarlison was never just judged on his statistics.
Evertonians connected with him because they could see that the shirt mattered to him. Or at least it looked like it did.
1. Duncan Ferguson
There are better footballers in Everton’s history.
There may not be a more obvious cult hero.
Big Dunc became something close to a folk hero at Goodison Park.
The towering Scot was powerful, intimidating and capable of changing the atmosphere inside a stadium simply by walking onto the pitch.
His goals mattered.
His presence mattered more.
Ferguson represented defiance.
He represented confrontation.
He snarled.
He grappled.
And, above all, he represented the idea that Everton would not be bullied.
His four goals against Bolton Wanderers in 1994 remain one of the most famous individual performances of the Premier League era, while his emotional connection with the supporters has endured long after his playing career ended.
There was something almost theatrical about Ferguson’s relationship with Goodison.
The roar.
The celebrations.
The anticipation whenever he challenged for a ball.
And, occasionally, the fear that something spectacular — or spectacularly chaotic — was about to happen.
That was part of the appeal.
When Ferguson returned to Everton as a coach, the reaction told its own story.
The roar when his name was announced was not pure nostalgia.
It was recognition.
For a generation of Evertonians, Duncan Ferguson is Everton.
And if we’re ranking cult heroes, rather than the club’s greatest footballers, it is difficult to put anyone else at No.1.
The obvious thing to say at this point is that I’ve probably got this wrong.
Possibly several times.
Even I’m not sure how Richarlison ended up at #2.
That’s partly the point.
Ask 10 Evertonians to name their top 10 cult heroes and you could get 10 different lists.
Some will put Ferguson first.
Others will argue for Cahill, Campbell, Coleman, Unsworth or Hibbert.
There will be people wondering why Neville Southall, Graeme Sharp, Andy Gray, Kevin Ratcliffe or another favourite hasn’t made the cut.
And that’s what makes the exercise worthwhile. A bit of a laugh if you like.
Everton’s history is full of brilliant footballers.
But the players who occupy a special place in supporters’ memories are not always the ones with the longest list of honours.
Sometimes they are the players who scored the goal you will never forget.
Sometimes they are the ones who never gave up on a lost cause.
Sometimes they are the players who stayed when others left.
And sometimes they are simply the players who made you feel that they ‘got’ Everton.
That is what makes a cult hero.
As a Norwich supporter attempting to rank them, I’m probably not the person who should have the final word.
So… over to you Evertonians. The floor is yours.
Gary is editor for ReadEverton. He has many years experience of sports writing behind him after deciding (belatedly) that the world of accountancy wasn't for him. His work has been featured on (among many others) BBC Sport and The Metro. He has written on many sports, but considers himself an expert in football and F1. When not writing and editing he likes to go to the cinema and sip a lovely cold pint of Guinness (not always at the same time).
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