Everton fan group The 1878s have announced that they are stepping down from organising their iconic pre-match displays, following a transfer window they branded as ‘gross negligence’.
The group’s tireless work has been instrumental in creating some of the most vibrant matchday atmospheres in recent memory – first at Goodison Park and now at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. While fans will be disappointed to see these displays put on hold, the group’s decision reflects a widespread depth of feeling across the fanbase.
Leaving Everton perilously short on numbers with just 18 outfield players – the smallest squad in the Premier League – supporters have been left utterly dismayed.
Their full statement is below.
1878s Statement
📢📢 – 1878s STATEMENT – 📢📢
We thought the potential sale of our biggest young talent was bad enough, but the last 24 hours has topped that.
On Saturday Moyes said “I don’t think we can afford to lose any players, we need to stay as strong as we can” – Since then we have lost another 5 players (3 of them who have left play in areas we needed to strengthen in) and only brought 2 in.
To leave us with no back up full backs and just one striker is full on gross negligence, not forgetting we also lost one of our best players at an under valued price in today’s market in the process without replacing him too.
We stated on Sunday that we do not feel that our fanbase’s ambitions and the club’s ambitions align right now – what happened yesterday has proved that even more.
As a group we will still be standing down for the foreseeable future and will not be dedicating a huge amount of our own time to put together the displays that we do that try and generate the best pre match atmosphere possible.
To be clear, this is nothing against the signings we have made, we welcome them to the club and wish them the best of luck here.
However, like the rest of our fanbase, we are utterly disappointed and disgusted with how this transfer window has gone, especially the end of it.
Also for fans asking, just to reiterate – When we design flags, there are rules and regulations that we have to adhere to regarding the wording on our flags during displays, we are not allowed derogatory or offensive wording or images.
If we were able to get a load of flags in the ground to show our feelings of discontent, disappointment & anger over this whole situation, believe us, we would, but this is something that simply wouldn’t be allowed.
Despite how we all feel we still urge fans to get behind our team on the pitch for 90 mins like we did at Bournemouth on Saturday.
We will fully support any action the fanbase takes in reaction to this extremely poor transfer window.
OUR MOTTO IS THE STANDARD WE EXPECT!