League Record
Played |
Won |
Drawn |
Lost |
Goals For |
Goals Against |
Points |
|
| Home | 11 |
9 |
0 |
2 |
39 |
12 |
18 |
| Away | 11 |
5 |
1 |
5 |
24 |
17 |
11 |
| Total | 22 |
14 |
1 |
7 |
63 |
29 |
29 |
Top Scorers
- Fred Geary 20 goals - Alf Millward 12 goals - Edgar Chadwick 10 goals
Highest Scores
- 7-0 v Derby County at home - 7-3 v Burnley at home - 6-2 v Derby County away
The Everton team that won the Club's first League title in 1890-91, also on view is the Liverpool & District Association Cup. The photograph was taken on the bowling green of the Sandon Hotel.
Everton started the 1890-91 season like a train, winning six and drawing one of the first seven games. Fred Geary was the star of the early season form scoring eleven times as the team notched up 27 goals.
The next five league games Everton lost in four, with one of these being against reigning champions Preston North End and they were once again in the race for the championship . The team then won seven of the next eight fixtures and went into the last two games with a four point lead and only needing to draw one of them to be crowned as champions. The penultimate game was against rivals Preston at Anfield and a crowd of about 15,000 saw the Preston complete a league double over the home side with a 1-0 win.
For the last games of the season Everton traveled to Burnley and Preston had to go to the north east to face Sunderland. At Turf Moor Everton were greeted with snow, sleet and a very slippery pitch. The weather did not prevent 10,000 hardy soles turning up to see the game and it is reported that as many as 2,000 of the crowd were supporting the visitors. Despite continued pressure from Everton the first half ended 0-0 and as the second got under way the home side took the lead against the run of play. Within two minutes Geary equalised and then fifteen minutes into the period Everton took a 2-1 lead, following an own goal. The visitors became anxious as the realisation that the title was within their grasp and with five minutes remaining Burnley drew level. This score-line would still be enough to win the league but before the cheering had died down Burnley scored what was to be the winner.
The disappointment of officials, players and fans was to be short lived as later in the day news reached them that Preston had lost 3-0 at Sunderland. Everton had won their first league title, reversing the previous season’s positions, by two points from Preston, scoring 63 goals in the process. Three players accounted for 42 of the goals with Geary scoring 20, Milward, 12 and Chadwick 10. In becoming champions Everton became the first club to achieve a five figure attendance when games at Anfield were watched by an average of 11,875.
