500 up - Everton getting set for historic goalscorer against Manchester United
Who will be the 500th different scorer for Blues?
Everton's greatest goalscorer Dixie Dean - but who will be the 500th?
Step forward Muhamed Besic?
Or Christian Atsu. Or Antolin Alcaraz.
Or, whisper it quietly, Tony Hibbert.
Not Tim Howard, though. Like 498 other people, he’s had his moment.
As Everton demonstrated on a memorable night last December, there are few more satisfying places than Old Trafford to notch a piece of history.
So when Roberto Martinez’s side step out against Manchester United, a few of his charges could be on the cusp of notching a notable landmark.
Thanks to the perennially excellent and informative website evertonresults.com, it has emerged the next Everton player to break their duck in front of goal will become the 500th different goalscorer for the club.
This season has already seen Aiden McGeady (on the opening day at Leicester City) and Samuel Eto’o (against former club Chelsea) notch their debut goals for the club.
But the 500 mark remains up for grabs. And October would seem the month for goalscoring feats with the Goodison side.
You have to go way back to discover Everton’s first-ever goalscorer in a recognised competitive match.
That honour goes to George Farmer, the Wales international who found the net in the 2-2 FA Cup first round replay draw with Bolton Wanderers on October 29 1887.
Everton had lost the first tie 1-0. But a complaint lodged by the club secretary that one of the Bolton players had been registered too late resulted in the game being replayed, with the Blues eventually winning at the fourth attempt.
Not that it did them much good. Everton were beaten 6-0 by Preston North End in the next round, but the result was in any case struck from the records and awarded to Preston by the FA as the Blues were deemed to have fielded seven amateurs that were in fact professionals after Bolton had earlier appealed they had “persuaded players to join them by financial inducement”.
Everton didn’t enter the following year’s FA Cup and, to rub salt into the wound, were stripped of the Liverpool & District Cup they had won the previous two seasons.
Ironically, Farmer – a key presence in those cup wins – had become Everton’s first professional alongside George Dobson of Bolton when he was signed from Oswestry Town in 1885.
Of course, there were goals for the Blues before Farmer ploughed in. Lots of them.
Sadly, there is no record of who found the net in Everton’s first official match under their present name, a 6-0 friendly victory over St Peter’s on December 20 1879.
In fact, even the scorelines are a bit sketchy from those early days playing non-competitive matches against the likes of Wavertree, St John’s Bootle and the Birkenhead Association.
The first mention of scorers comes in a 3-1 friendly win over Liverpool Association on October 30 1880, although even one of those is unknown.
Hats off, then, to R Morris (first names were a bit too informal for the record books in those days) and Jack McGill, who both found the net in the match.
It is apt recognition for McGill, who was Everton’s star player during those early years, the club captain having previously played for Glasgow Rangers.
McGill is also among the first known scorers for the Blues in a competitive game of sorts, scoring twice in a 5-0 Lancashire and District Cup first round win over Middleton on October 22 1881.
After Farmer, it was another George who netted Everton’s first goal in the Football League.
George Fleming netted twice as the Blues registered a 2-1 victory over Accrington on September 8 1888 – a game that kicked off 20 minutes after the visitors were late for the scheduled 4pm start.
To be fair, it helped Fleming that, with the Blues 1-0 up, Accrington’s goalkeeper was forced off through injury and an outfield player was forced to go in goal.
His place in history assured, for Fleming that was that. He didn’t score for Everton again.
What of the other competitions?
Coincidentally, Everton’s first opponents in the League Cup were also Accrington, Frank Wignall netting the opener in a 3-1 first round in on October 12 1960.
While Wignall had a liking for the competition – he netted seven times in three appearances in the League Cup that season – Everton didn’t enter again until 1967.
The first Blue to find the target in Europe was Dennis Stevens, who scored in a 1-0 win over Scottish side Dunfermline in the first leg of their Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round tie on October 24 1962.
Elsewhere in Europe, the first goal in the European Cup Winners’ Cup was netted by Johnny Morrissey against Aalborg in 1966, the European Cup by Alan Ball against Keflavik in 1970, the UEFA Cup by Dave Thomas against Finn Harps in 1978 and the Europa League proper by Joseph Yobo against AEK Athens in 2009.
(If you count qualifiers, the first Europa League goal was by Louis Saha against Sigma Olomouc, while James Beattie netted first in the Champions League against Villarreal in 2005).
Which leaves just the Premier League.
Step forward Barry Horne, who ruffled the onion bag a minute before the break in a 1-1 draw at home to Sheffield Wednesday on August 15 1992.
Horne didn’t score many for the Blues – three times, in fact – but he reserved them for the big moments; his next goal was THAT one against Wimbledon almost two years later.
Now the stage is set for the next significant goalscoring landmark at Everton.
Hibbo, it’s over to you.
Source: Echo
