General view of Everton supporters applauding inside Hill Dickinson Stadium
General view of Everton supporters applauding inside Hill Dickinson Stadium
There is a strange feeling surrounding Everton at this present moment in time.
On the pitch, things aren't going badly at all with no defeats from their opening six Premier League games.
As such, David Moyes' side are firmly in the early-season European race ahead of Saturday's clash with Chelsea.
Off the pitch, however, there is a sense of uncertainty after The Friedkin Group (TFG) announced last week that they've put the Toffees up for sale.
Everton's American owners have been coming in for increasing criticism in recent times, with the Harrison Armstrong situation among others contributing to that.
What are The 1878s going to do before Everton vs Newcastle?
For most Evertonians, the mood towards TFG will very much be one of, 'if you don't want to be here, go.'
The issue with that is they've already made clear that Everton won't be sold until they're confident the proposed buyer can take the Toffees forward.
It will be fascinating to see what the atmosphere around Hill Dickinson Stadium will be like over the coming home fixtures.
One of those is against Newcastle United in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup on 29 October.
On Tuesday, Everton supporters group The 1878s have taken to their X account to inform fans of their plans ahead of kick-off for this game.
📢 Flag display v Newcastle 📢 Before our Carabao Cup game v Newcastle United we will be doing a flag display. We are pleased that the owners are wanting to sell the club, which will hopefully allow us to progress on the pitch & match our fans ambitions in the future with more investment from new owners. With the pending sale of our club, being united as fans along with our players and management is massively important to help the team in these uncertain times. It’s been far too long since our club won silverware and as time goes on each cup game feels even more important. We would love to help push the lads a step closer and into, potentially our first cup quarter final at our new home. Let’s bring our voices from the off & make it a loud one under the lights. UP THE TOFFEES 🔵⚪️🟡
— The 1878s (@The1878s) October 13, 2026
"Before our Carabao Cup game v Newcastle United we will be doing a flag display," they wrote.
"We are pleased that the owners are wanting to sell the club, which will hopefully allow us to progress on the pitch and match our fans ambitions in the future with more investment from new owners.
"With the pending sale of our club, being united as fans along with our players and management is massively important to help the team in these uncertain times.
"It’s been far too long since our club won silverware and as time goes on each cup game feels even more important. We would love to help push the lads a step closer and into, potentially our first cup quarter final at our new home.
"Let’s bring our voices from the off and make it a loud one under the lights. UP THE TOFFEES."
So, why is this announcement from The 1878s such a big deal for the atmosphere moving forward at Hill Dickinson?
When was the last display from The 1878s?
The manner in which Everton's recent summer transfer ended was cause for great uproar amongst supporters.
Many began to question TFG's true intentions and the direction they were taking the football club as a result.
Key players like Iliman Ndiaye were sold in the final hours, whilst Beto and Tim Iroegbunam were moved on too without replacements coming in.
Off the back of this, The 1878s announced on 2 September that they were "standing down for the foreseeable future."
📢📢 - 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!
— The 1878s (@The1878s) September 2, 2026
The group hasn't done a pre-match display since the Merseyside derby in April this year, and so news of their return to doing so is massive.
Hill Dickinson has the potential to be one of the loudest cauldrons of noise in European football, but that will require groups like The 1878s to maintain their vital atmospheric work.