Jamie Carragher has claimed Everton would be the ‘biggest club’ to ever be relegated from the Premier League if such a fate is suffered this season - ahead of Newcastle United.
The Merseyside club have been in the English top-flight for 51 years, but that history is in turmoil after a woeful season which leaves them in the bottom three with six games to go. Writing in his weekly column for the Telegraph, Carragher made the claim that Everton are a bigger club than the likes of Aston Villa, Leeds United and - most importantly - the Magpies.
“If Everton are relegated, they will be the biggest club in Premier League history to suffer that dismal fate.” Carragher wrote.
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“When you package all the elements which constitute being a ‘big club’ - status, history, resources, size of fanbase and culture of the city in which a team operates - Everton’s fall would be the most colossal and catastrophic. Aston Villa and Newcastle United fans may argue differently.
“Villa were once European champions and were established in the Premier League for 24 unbroken years when they went down in 2016, so their relegation was huge. Newcastle lament their demise from going close to the Premier League title under Kevin Keegan in 1996 to being relegated in 2009. Everton’s predicament eclipses these examples, the club’s last relegation being in 1951.”
Just 13 years separated a side that lit up the early seasons of the Premier League - containing the likes of Peter Beardsley, David Ginola and Les Ferdinand - and a side doomed for second-tier football. Newcastle came up immediately, doing so again in 2016/2017, and now look on track to challenge for European football within the next season or two.
And Carragher added that the Magpies may soon be a bigger club than Everton, but doubled-down in saying they weren’t there yet.
"Watching football in the mid-Eighties when Everton enjoyed their most glorious spell under Howard Kendall,” Carragher added. “Newcastle were bouncing through the divisions. With utmost respect, they have only been English champions on four occasions, their last win being in 1927.
“Newcastle have the potential to become bigger than Everton under their new Saudi owners. They are not there yet, and certainly were not when they dropped into the Championship.”
