Retro Everton Shirt – The School of Science Lives On

Everton were founded in 1878 as a church football team before rapidly evolving into one of England's most powerful clubs. They were founding members of the Football League in 1888 and claimed their first league title just two years later in 1891. The club's early decades established a winning culture that would persist through the century. The interwar years brought arguably the greatest individual goalscoring feat in football history when Dixie Dean scored 60 league goals in a single season in 1927–28 – a record that still stands to this day and may never be broken. Dean's Everton won the league in 1928 and 1932, cementing the club's status as genuine royalty in English football.

The 1960s brought another golden era under Harry Catterick, with league titles in 1963 and 1970. Catterick built a side of elegance and grit, winning the FA Cup in 1966 to complete a trophy-laden decade. But it was the 1980s under Howard Kendall that produced Everton's most celebrated period. The 1984–85 season was simply extraordinary: Everton won the First Division title, the European Cup Winners' Cup, and came agonisingly close to an unprecedented treble, losing the FA Cup final to Manchester United. The following season they were pipped to the title by Liverpool on the final day, a cruel reminder of the fierce Merseyside rivalry that has defined both clubs.

That rivalry with Liverpool – the Merseyside Derby – is one of English football's most intense local derbies, contested by neighbours, sometimes family members, and always with enormous civic pride at stake. Everton have known their share of dark times too: a relegation scare in the 1990s, years in Liverpool's shadow, and a prolonged wait for silverware since their 1995 FA Cup triumph. Yet the club's identity has never wavered. Their eventual move away from Goodison Park to a spectacular new waterfront stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock marks a new chapter, but the spirit of the old ground – and the legendary teams that played there – lives on in every retro Everton shirt that collectors cherish today.

Everton's roll of honour reads like a who's who of English football's finest talents. Dixie Dean remains the most iconic figure – a physical, courageous centre-forward whose 383 league goals for the club remain a record of breathtaking magnitude. The post-war era produced Alex Young, the 'Golden Vision', an ethereally gifted Scotsman whose elegant play made him one of Goodison's most beloved figures.

The 1960s and 70s gave the world Colin Harvey, Howard Kendall, and Alan Ball – three midfielders of exceptional quality who formed one of English football's most celebrated midfield trios. Ball, signed from World Cup-winning England in 1966, brought craft, energy, and determination in equal measure.

The 1980s Kendall side was packed with legends: Neville Southall, widely regarded as Britain's best goalkeeper of his era, won the PFA Players' Player of the Year in 1985 and was an imposing, dominant presence for over a decade. Peter Reid orchestrated midfield with tenacity and vision. Graeme Sharp led the attack with power and goals. Gary Lineker arrived in 1985 and immediately became the First Division's top scorer before departing for Barcelona – a bittersweet reminder of the club's inability to hold onto England's greatest finisher.

In later years, Duncan Ferguson's thunderous aerial presence made him a cult hero, while Tim Cahill brought box-to-box brilliance in the 2000s. Wayne Rooney, though departing young for Manchester United in 2004, emerged as a Goodison prodigy whose raw talent hinted at the global superstar he would become. Each of these figures left an indelible mark – their names forever linked to the shirts they wore.

The Everton retro shirt is an object of genuine beauty for any collector. The club's royal blue has remained remarkably consistent across the decades, giving their kits a timeless quality that many clubs cannot match. The 1980s kits are the most prized: the Le Coq Sportif strip of the 1984–85 championship and Cup Winners' Cup season, with its clean blue body and white trim, is considered one of the great English football shirts of the era. Hitachi and then NEC sponsorship marked different phases of that golden decade, and both feature prominently in collectors' wish lists.

The early 1990s Umbro kits introduced bolder graphic elements – pinstripes and shadow patterns that now feel distinctly of their time and are increasingly sought after. The mid-90s Admiral and Umbro collaborations produced the FA Cup-winning 1995 kit, a clean, confident design worn by a Joe Royle side that shocked Manchester United at Wembley.

The yellow and black away kits from various eras offer vibrant contrast to the standard blue, with the 1986–87 yellow away particularly beloved. Goalkeeper kits – especially Neville Southall's various outlandish 1980s jerseys – are niche collector items of considerable charm. Modern retro replica lines have reproduced many of these classics, but original match-worn and player-issue shirts from the Kendall era remain the crown jewels of any serious Everton shirt collection.