Photo by Alex Dodd - CameraSport via Getty Images
Photo by Alex Dodd - CameraSport via Getty Images
Trevor Steven has appeared on The Joy of Football to shed light on Everton’s great team of the 1980s and how things fell apart before deciding to leave Goodison Park.
Everton were a highly successful side in the 80s, with that decade under Howard Kendall remaining one of the very best in the club’s long history.
Everton started to really shine from 1983 onwards. In the 83/84 season, the Toffees won the FA Cup, and also made it to the League Cup final but ultimately lost to Liverpool.
In two of the next three seasons, though, Everton were First Division champions, also winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1985.
Trevor Steven was a central figure to Everton’s success during that period, and has been speaking about that era and why the side – which he calls ‘the greatest ever team’ – fell apart.
Why the Everton great team of the 80s fell apart
Steven sat down for an interview with Martin Tyler and Neil Barnett on The Joy of Football podcast.
He gave a number of reasons why Everton tailed off, pointing first to the Heysel Ban. He explained: “Well, Heysel happened, didn’t it. We just got on with it. But then you realise the effect that actually has on your development as a footballer because we, all of a sudden, just started playing in our own schoolyard, our own backyard.
“We couldn’t go and play international games or we never played against Barcelona or Real Madrid or Bayern. We didn’t do that. We weren’t allowed to go and do that from 1985. So I always look at that. The game completely changed.”
Following the 1987 title win, Kendall departed Everton, knowing that English teams had been banned indefinitely from competing in European competitions after the Heysel disaster. He took up a new challenge at Athletic Bilbao, and Everton suffered as a result. Colin Harvey took over.
Steven said: “That was a big shake-up at that point. It was a league win that was hard-fought and not great football. I was our top scorer. 15 I think, 15 goals, half of them were penalties, which tells you everything.
“Colin Harvey was elevated. Colin never managed before. And he also had the responsibility of bringing new players in to freshen it up and brought in the likes of Tony Cottee and Neil McDonald. One or two others were brought in, but it just never felt the same club anymore and that wasn’t Colin’s fault.”
Why Steven decided to leave Everton in 1989
Steven would leave Goodison Park in 1989 after the team went trophyless, losing that season’s FA Cup final to Liverpool.
He had been at the club for six years, and after playing a big part in winning four major trophies, Steven opted to move on, joining Scottish giants Rangers. On his decision to leave when he did, Steven said:
“When I signed, I was on £400 per week. I won the FA Cup, and I was still on £400 per week. And we won the European Cup Winners’ Cup. And I was still on £400 per week, right? Then Howard said, I’m going to double your money. To a young lad, that was crazy. I think it was £900 a week. I won a lot of things and became an England player. So that was where that was at that time, in 1986.
“What happened next was Colin started to bring in new players in 1987. Those lads were getting three to four times what I was getting. They never addressed it with him. I wasn’t someone to go and shout about this. But there were several players who had several times what I was earning. And I had won a lot!
“Yeah, it felt like we weren’t progressing in any shape or form. Um, few of the top players started to look abroad.”
“I’d got to the end of my contract in 1989 and seen that we weren’t going anywhere fast.”
Steven insists that he never fell out with the club, but ultimately felt it wasn’t fair that others came in on considerably higher wages. So he asked to leave.