Everton were founded as St. Domingo F.C. in 1878 in order that people from the parish of St. Domingo’s Church could play a sport outside of the summer months (during which time cricket was played). A year later the club were renamed Everton F.C. after the surrounding area, as people outside the parish wished to participate. They were founder members of the Football League in 1888, and won their first League Championship title in 1890–91. They won the FA Cup in 1905–06 and League title again in 1914–15, but it was not until 1927 that Everton’s first sustained period of success began. In 1925 the club signed Dixie Dean who, in 1927–28, set the record for league goals in a single season (60 goals in 39 league games, a record that still stands to this day), helping Everton to achieve their third league title.

Everton were relegated to the Second Division two years later but won the title and thus promotion at the first attempt. On their return to the top flight in 1931–32, Everton wasted no time in reaffirming their status and won a fourth League title at the first opportunity. They also won their second FA Cup in 1932–33 with a 3–0 win against Manchester City in the final. The era ended in 1938–39 with a fifth League title. The advent of World War II saw the suspension of League football, and once official competition restarted in 1946, the Everton team had been split up and paled in comparison to their pre-war incarnation. Everton were relegated again in 1950–51 and did not return until 1953–54, when they finished as runners-up in their third season in the Second Division. The club have been a top flight presence ever since.

Everton’s second successful era started when Harry Catterick was made manager in 1961. In 1962–63, his second season in charge, Everton won the League title and in 1966 followed with a 3–2 FA Cup win over Sheffield Wednesday. Everton again reached the final two years later, but this time were unable to overcome West Bromwich Albion at Wembley. A year later in 1969–70, Everton won the First Division, nine points clear of nearest rivals Leeds United. However, the success did not last; the team finished fourteenth, fifteenth, seventeenth and seventh in the following seasons. Catterick retired but his successors failed to win any silverware for the remainder of the 1970s. Though the club finished third in 1977–78 and fourth the following season, manager Gordon Lee resigned in 1981, after Everton slid down the table and fell further behind local rivals Liverpool.

Howard Kendall took over as manager and guided Everton to their most successful era. Domestically, Everton won the FA Cup in 1983–84 and two league titles in 1984–85 and 1986–87. They were also runners-up to neighbouring Liverpool in both league and cup competitions in 1985–86 and were again on the losing side to Liverpool in the 1984 League Cup final and the 1988–89 FA Cup final. In Europe, Everton won their first and only trophy in the shape of the 1984–85 European Cup Winners’ Cup. After beating University College Dublin, Inter Bratislava and Fortuna Sittard, Everton defeated German giants Bayern Munich 3–1 in the semi-finals, despite trailing at half time and recorded the same scoreline over Austrian club Rapid Vienna in the final. Having also won the league title that season, Everton came very close to winning a treble, but lost to Manchester United in the FA Cup final.

After the Heysel Stadium disaster and the subsequent ban of all English clubs from continental football, Everton lost the chance to compete for more European trophies. A large proportion of the title-winning side was broken up following the ban; Kendall himself moved to Athletic Bilbao after the 1987 title triumph and was succeeded by assistant Colin Harvey. Everton were founder members of the Premier League in 1992, but struggled to find the right manager. Howard Kendall had returned in 1990 but could not repeat his previous success, while his successor, Mike Walker, was statistically the least successful Everton manager to date. When former Everton player Joe Royle took over in 1994 the club’s form started to improve; his first game in charge was a 2–0 victory over derby rivals Liverpool. Royle dragged Everton clear of relegation, and also led the club to the FA Cup for the fifth time in its history, defeating Manchester United 1–0 in the final. The cup triumph was also Everton’s passport to the Cup Winners’ Cup — their first European campaign in the post-Heysel era. Progress under Joe Royle continued in 1995–96 as they climbed to sixth place in the Premiership.

The following season, 1996–97, was not as successful and the club finished in fifteenth place. Royle quit in March. Club captain, Dave Watson, was given the manager’s job temporarily and he helped the club to Premiership survival. Howard Kendall was appointed Everton manager for the third time in 1997, but the appointment proved unsuccessful as Everton finished seventeenth in the Premiership; only avoiding relegation due to their superior goal difference over Bolton Wanderers. Former Rangers manager Walter Smith then took over from Kendall in the summer of 1998 but only managed three successive finishes in the bottom half of the table.

The Everton board finally ran out of patience with Smith and he was sacked in March 2002 with Everton in real danger of relegation. The current manager, David Moyes, was his replacement and delivered Everton to a safe finish in fifteenth place. After that harrowing season, Everton finished seventh, seventeenth, fourth (their highest ever Premiership finish) and eleventh. It was under his management that Wayne Rooney broke into the first team, before being sold to Manchester United for a club record fee of £23 million.

Moyes has broken the club record three times for highest transfer fee paid, signing James Beattie for £6 million in January 2005 and then Andy Johnson for £8.6 million in summer 2006, with Yakubu arriving in summer 2007 for a reported £11.25 million.

2006-07 saw Everton finish sixth in the league and attain UEFA Cup qualification, and go on to reach the semi-finals of the League cup along with getting to the last 32 in the UEFA cup.