The following lists Everton's League performances, top goalscorers and average attendances from 1888, when the Football League was formed, to the end of the most recent completed season. For a more detailed history see History of Everton F.C.. Everton were founder members of the Football League in 1888 and were champions of it for the first time in 1891. By the time World War II broke out in 1939, they had been league champions five times and had fielded some of the biggest names in English football, including goalkeeper Ted Sagar and forwards Dixie Dean and Tommy Lawton. In Everton's title-winning season of 1927–28, Dean scored a record 60 league goals in a single season - which has not been matched in this country since. Everton originally played at Anfield until a dispute with their landlord in 1892 saw the club exit the ground, which was re-occupied by the newly formed Liverpool, who gradually became Everton's fierce local rivals. Everton, meanwhile, settled into nearby Goodison Park, where they have played ever since, in spite of a series of plans since the late 1990s to relocate the club to a new stadium. Everton have played in the top flight of English football for all but four seasons since the 1888 creation of the Football League, playing at the top level continuously since 1954. Only Arsenal have enjoyed a longer unbroken run at the highest level. After World War II, Everton's first major success came in 1963, when the league title was won under the management of Harry Catterick, who added another league title to Everton's honours list in 1970 as well as the FA Cup in 1966. Another golden era at Everton prevailed after the appointment of Howard Kendall as manager in 1981. Everton won the FA Cup in 1984 and were league champions in 1985, when they also won their first European trophy in the shape of the European Cup Winners' Cup. Another league title followed in 1987. Everton's only major trophy since 1987 came in 1995 when they won the FA Cup under the management of Joe Royle, who like Kendall had been with the club during his playing career. Since the formation of the FA Premier League in 1992, their highest league finish was fourth place in 2005 and on one occasion they finished one place above the relegation zone, only avoiding relegation on goal difference. The appointment of David Moyes as manager in 2002 brought something of a turning point in Everton's recent history, as the new manager re-established the club as a regular feature in the top few places of the English league, although he failed to add any silverware, the club being finalists in the 2009 FA Cup Final. Moyes departed in 2013 after 11 years as Everton manager to take charge of Manchester United, being succeeded by Roberto Martinez, who had a promising first season but was sacked after three seasons to be replaced by Ronald Koeman. Koeman was dismissed in October 2017, with the club lying in 18th position in the initial stage of the 2017–18 season. Koeman was replaced by Sam Allardyce with the team eventually finishing 8th in the Premier League. Allardyce had his 18-month contract terminated at the end of the season. On 31 May 2018, Everton appointed Marco Silva, as their new manager. Silva had originally been approached to become the clubs' manager in October 2017, following the dismissal of Ronald Koeman. However, at that stage he was still manager of Watford and subsequently any proposed deal at that time fell through. Silva was replaced at Watford in January 2018, after a bad run of results in the Premier League. Evertons' pursuit of Silva resurfaced after the club parted company with Sam Allardyce. On 6 December 2019, Silva was dismissed after a poor run of results left the club in the relegation zone. Silva's team had won 24 and lost 24 of their league games under his tenure. On 21 December 2019, Carlo Ancelotti was appointed the clubs new manager on a four and a half year contract.
