Everton have struggled in recent seasons but they have a long and very successful history which includes a great deal of glory in the FA Cup. Having been founded back in 1878 they did not enter the very earliest editions of this famous old competition but have been more or less ever-present since then. In this article, we will take a look at how many times the Toffees have won the trophy, how they have got on in more general terms and when they last managed to lift the trophy.
When Did Everton Last Win the FA Cup?
The 21st century has not been kind to the Merseyside club and their last FA Cup win, indeed their last major silverware, came back in 1995. They beat Manchester United 1-0 at Wembley that year but the closest they have been since then is when they lost in the final to Chelsea in 2009.
FA Cup Finals
Everton have made the FA Cup final a good number of times, enjoying several periods during which they were Wembley regulars. As of the 2022/23 season, no side has lost more FA Cup finals than the Toffees.
Year | Result | Top Scorer |
---|---|---|
2009 | Lost to Chelsea 2-1 | Louis Saha (2) |
1995 | Beat Man United 1-0 | Paul Rideout, Daniel Amokachi, Matt Jackson (2) |
1989 | Lost to Liverpool 3-2 after extra time | Kevin Sheedy (4) |
1986 | Lost to Liverpool 3-1 | Gary Lineker (5) |
1985 | Lost to Man United 1-0 | Kevin Sheedy (4) |
1984 | Beat Watford 2-0 | Andy Gray (3) |
1968 | Lost to West Brom 1-0 after extra time | Unknown |
1966 | Beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-2 | Unknown |
1933 | Beat Man City 3-0 | Dixie Dean |
1907 | Lost to The Wednesday 2-1 | Unknown |
1906 | Beat Newcastle United 1-0 | Unknown |
1897 | Lost to Aston Villa 3-2 | Unknown |
1893 | Lost to Wolves 1-0 | Fred Geary (4) |
Stage of Elimination
Everton have regularly got to the latter stages of the competition and until relatively recently actually held the record for the most semi final appearances in the FA Cup. They still hold the outright record for appearances at the quarter final stage and we can see a breakdown of their results below:
Stage | Number of Times | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Won | 5 | 3.9% |
Final | 8 | 6.3% |
Semi Final | 13 | 10.3% |
Quarter Final | 21 | 16.7% |
Earlier | 79 | 62.7% |
Note that information is correct ahead of the 2022/23 season and that percentages are based on all FA Cups from 1888 onwards apart from 1889 when Everton did not enter.
Times Everton Won the Cup
The Toffees have won the FA Cup on five occasions, as we have seen, with those wins relatively evenly spaced throughout their long history. It was a case of third time lucky for the Blues as they lost two cup finals in the 19th century before winning their first at the start of the 20th century. Their most recent success was almost 30 years ago now though and remains their most recent piece of silverware.
1994/95: Dogs of War Upset the Odds
The Toffees began the league campaign abysmally, not winning until the 13th game of the season and seeming to be doomed to relegation. They had barely survived the season before, escaping on the last day, and the situation looked bleak. Joe Royle was appointed as manager though and he turned the club around, guiding them to 15th place in the end as they lost just six games under the former Everton striker.
He also, of course, brought them the FA Cup, finding a way to beat huge favourites Man United in the final courtesy of a Paul Rideout goal. Royle’s “dogs of war” side were incredibly hardworking but showed some real class in the semi as they battered Spurs 4-1, also beating Norwich 5-0 in the fifth round. Their three other wins in the competition all came by the same 1-0 scoreline they achieved in the final.
1983/84: Win Sparks Glory Days
The first of three successive FA Cup final appearances was the only one that Everton won, with then subsequently losing to Man United in 1985 and local rivals Liverpool in 1986, but it also helped spark probably the greatest era in the club’s history. They had a relatively easy run to the final but only conceded one goal in the whole competition, in the 2-1 quarter-final success over Notts County.
They needed extra time to see off Southampton in the semi but cruised to a 2-0 final win over Watford, whose chairman at the time was Elton John. Everton lost the League Cup final this season and finished seventh in the league but the following campaign they would win the league and their only major piece of European silverware, the Cup-Winners Cup.
1965/66: A Magical Summer
1966 is football-famous for reasons beyond Everton’s FA Cup win but for any Toffees who were at Wembley in the May before the rather bigger final in July, it was a truly glorious few months of football. Everton made it through to the final without conceding a goal, the first side to do so since 1903, but with just over half an hour to go in the showpiece they were 2-0 down.
Michael Trebilcock sparked an incredible comeback, scoring two goals in five minutes and also becoming the first black player to score in an FA Cup final. Derek Temple notched the winner with a quarter of an hour to go to complete an amazing 3-2 comeback victory.
1932/33: First Wembley Win for Blues
Everton beat Man City 3-0 at Wembley in the final in April in what was the 11th time the national stadium hosted the FA Cup showpiece. This was a fine Everton team, boosted by the goals of Dixie Dean, the club’s leading scorer notching the opener in the final. Earlier in the competition, the Blues saw off Leicester (3-2), Bury (2-0), Leeds (4-2), Luton (6-0) and, on neutral soil at Wolves’ ground Molineux, West Ham (2-1).
1905/06: Toffees beat Newcastle
In the first round proper the Toffees beat West Brom 3-1 on home soil at the start of 1906. Another home tie and another three goals saw the team get the better of Chesterfield before they beat Bradford 1-0, again on home soil, in the third round. The fourth round, which back then was the quarter final, was a thriller, as Everton beat The Wednesday 4-3 at Goodison, with a 2-0 victory over local rivals Liverpool booking their spot in the final. “The Golden Vision”, Alex Young, scored the winner in the final as the Toffees beat Newcastle 1-0 at Crystal Palace.
Everton’s Best Performances
Aside from the five wins detailed above the Blues have also made eight further finals. In 2009, they looked primed to win the FA Cup again under David Moyes after Louis Saha scored the fastest goal in final history after just 25 seconds but it wasn’t to be.
In addition, whilst the 1980s were an incredible decade for the Blues, they actually lost three FA Cup finals. We have mentioned defeats to Man United and Liverpool in 1985 and 1986, but they also lost to great rivals Liverpool again in 1989, this time a 3-2 extra-time thriller that came about thanks to a 90th-minute equaliser for Everton from Stuart McCall.
Their great team of the 1960s also experienced both ecstasy and agony as they lost the 1968 final 1-0 to West Brom just a couple of years after their amazing comeback against Sheffield Wednesday. The team that won the cup in 1906 experienced similar heartache, losing the final 12 months on, this time to The Wednesday (who would become Sheffield Wednesday). In addition, Everton also lost to Wolves in 1893 and Aston Villa four years later.
Everton’s Worst Upsets
Whilst Liverpool’s first football club has a long, rich and often successful history in the FA Cup, they have also been no stranger to being on the wrong end of what is often called “the magic of the cup”. In more modern parlance, they have all-too-often – as far as their fans are concerned – been the Goliath in a “cupset”. Everton have disappointed on far too many occasions to list them all but their biggest FA Cup upsets, or worst cup performances if you prefer, include:
- 2003 v Shrewsbury – Everton lost 2-1 to fourth-tier Shrewsbury in the third round, with former Blues legend Kevin Ratcliffe masterminding the upset for the Shrews.
- 2008 v Oldham – The Latics came to Goodison with little hope but left with a place in the fourth round despite being two divisions beneath the Toffees.
- 2001 v Tranmere – A 3-0 home battering to a local rival certainly represents a terrible result and this fourth round defeat was huge for the Wirral side, managed by former Liverpool (and Tranmere) forward John Aldridge.