Everton and Wolves have shared rather more players than you might immediately remember, so ahead of tonight’s Carabao Cup meeting we have attempted something slightly different – an XI made entirely from footballers who made senior appearances for both clubs.
Some are obvious. Others belong firmly in the oh yes, I’d forgotten about him category. And, rather conveniently, there is even a goalkeeper.
Goalkeeper: John Ruddy
Ruddy joined Everton from Cambridge United in 2005 and made one Premier League appearance for the Blues before spending much of his time away on loan.
His Wolves career was considerably more substantial. He was their first-choice goalkeeper as they won the Championship in 2017/18 and, after leaving Molineux in 2022, remarkably returned to the club this summer at the age of 39.
Defence: Conor Coady, Derek Mountfield, Joleon Lescott, Ruben Vinagre
Not a bad back four at all.
Mountfield was part of Everton’s great side of the 1980s, winning two league titles, the FA Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup before later making 83 league appearances for Wolves.
Lescott came through at Wolves and made more than 200 appearances before joining Everton in 2006, while Coady spent seven years at Molineux before his season-long loan at Goodison Park in 2022/23.
Vinagre completes the defence. The Portuguese left-back made more than 60 league appearances for Wolves before spending the 2022/23 season on loan with Everton.
Midfield: Vinny Samways, Andy King, Segundo Castillo
Samways joined Everton from Tottenham in 1994 and famously scored the winner against Blackburn in the 1995 Charity Shield. He later spent a brief period on loan at Wolves, making three league appearances.
King requires rather less introduction to Evertonians of a certain vintage. He made more than 200 appearances across two spells with the Blues and scored that famous derby winner at Goodison in 1978, before later spending part of his career with Wolves.
Segundo Castillo provides the more obscure answer. The Ecuador international spent the 2008/09 season on loan at Everton and later had another loan spell at Wolves, making eight Premier League appearances there.
Attack: Marcus Bent, Andy Gray, Michael Branch
Gray is the headline act. Even though his punditry is not to everyone’s taste.
Wolves paid a then-British record £1.49m to sign him from Aston Villa in 1979, and he scored the winner in the 1980 League Cup final. He joined Everton in 1983 and helped Howard Kendall’s side win the FA Cup, league title and European Cup Winners’ Cup during two memorable seasons.
Bent was an important part of David Moyes’ Everton side which finished fourth in 2004/05 and later had a short loan spell at Wolves.
Branch completes the XI. The Liverpool-born striker came through Everton’s youth system before joining Wolves, initially on loan and then permanently in 2000.
So there it is: Ruddy; Coady, Mountfield, Lescott, Vinagre; Samways, King, Castillo; Bent, Gray, Branch.
There have certainly been more gifted XIs assembled from Everton and Wolves players.
But for a team built entirely around the question “Didn’t he play for them as well?”, we’ll take it.
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