Goodison View: Revisiting Everton’s 2009 FA Cup final loss
It has almost been 26 years since Everton last won a trophy, with their last piece of silverware coming in the FA Cup in 1995.
Howard Kendall, Walter Smith, David Moyes, Roberto Martinez, Ronald Koeman, Sam Allardyce and Marco Silva all failed to build on Joe Royle’s success, with his Everton side defeating Manchester United in the ’90s.
Since that victory Everton have only come close to lifting silverware again on one occasion – that being against Chelsea in 2009.
Louis Saha broke the record for fastest goal in an FA Cup final against Guus Hiddink’s side, scoring in 25 seconds to give his side the lead.
However the Toffees soon saw their early lead come crashing down, with Chelsea hitman Didier Drogba powering a header past Tim Howard after 20 minutes to draw level.
Frank Lampard put his side in front with around 20 minutes of the game remaining, striking past Howard from 25 yards out.
Florent Malouda should have added a third minutes later but the officials didn’t have VAR to rely on to confirm whether the ball had in fact crossed the line after careening off the crossbar.
Everton had a very real opportunity to finally claim some silverware against Chelsea, and Saha’s early goal gave the club plenty of hope and renewed optimism.
However it ultimately wasn’t to be, and now it’s been almost 12 years and Everton haven’t reached another cup final, either domestic or continental, and they haven’t been able to break into the Premier League title race.
For quite some time the club’s lack of success could be linked back to their lack of financial resources, which were average at best.
David Moyes was forced to focus on finding cheap deals to improve Everton’s squad during his time at the club, with Bill Kenwright’s limited budget proving quite restrictive in the transfer market.
Since Farhad Moshiri replaced Kenwright as Everton’s majority shareholder though the club have been afforded the ability to spend better in the transfer window, though that hasn’t in turn led to success as of yet.
In appointing Carlo Ancelotti as manager, Everton have given themselves the best possible chance at competing for silverware once again, with the Italian coach having significant pull among players across the continent.
It’s been far too long since Everton last won a trophy, so now it is up to the club to back Ancelotti in the transfer market if they wish to compete at the highest level once again.
In other Everton news, Gylfi Sigurdsson is determined to see out his contract at Goodison Park despite Everton’s desire to sell him this summer.