Source: Liverpool_Echo
David Prentice: Everton FC may find light in darkest times
IT'S always darkest just before the dawn. Especially at Goodison Park. Everton are the experts at dragging unexpected, unprecedented triumph from the jaws of disaster. Just look at the record books.[LNB]It doesn't get much darker than 13,000 fans booing a team off the pitch, while leaflets circulate the ground demanding the sacking of the chairman and manager.[LNB]Yet barely five months later Howard Kendall's emerging young side captured a trophy which set them on an upwardly mobile course and ended with them crowned European Team of the Year.[LNB]That darkest hour was New Year's Eve 1983.[LNB] But the further back you go in Everton's history the darker the depths and the greater the glory.[LNB]In 1930 one of the proudest clubs in English football suffered the ignominy of relegation from the top flight for the first time.[LNB]They bounced back with an unprecedented treble of Second Division title, First Division championship and FA Cup.[LNB]And it's not just ancient history where Everton deceive, then flatter.[LNB]Only six years ago Everton ended a wretched campaign one place above the drop zone with effectively the lowest points tally in the club's history.[LNB]Their response was to sell the most gifted player on the club's books, lose their opening match of the new season 4-1 in front of 35,000 shell-shocked home fans - then finish fourth, their highest league placing for 17 years!
