Everton v West Ham

Formed as St Domingo FC in 1878, they were league champions within thirteen years.

Originally formed as St Domingo FC in 1878, the club renamed itself Everton the following year after the district in which it was based. They became one of the twelve founding members of the Football League in 1888, winning their first league title in 1891. The Toffees were established as one of English football's original powerhouses before the century was out.

The first purpose-built top-flight ground in England, raised on a Merseyside field after a landlord's quarrel.

After a dispute over rent at Anfield, Everton moved across Stanley Park to a new ground on Mere Green Field. Goodison Park became the first major football stadium built in England, and in 1892 it was already being described as a purpose-built ground fit for the top flight. It would remain Everton's home for 132 years, hosting World Cup matches in 1966 and an FA Cup semi-final replay as late as 1999.

West Ham went up, reached Wembley, and met Everton in the top flight. Not a bad first year.

West Ham United earned promotion to the First Division in 1923, the same year they reached the first FA Cup Final at Wembley. Their arrival in the top flight brought the first competitive meetings with Everton. The fixture quickly became a regular feature of the English football calendar, with both clubs spending the majority of the interwar years in the First Division.

Three of West Ham's 1964 cup winners went on to lift the World Cup two years later.

The 1960s were golden years for both clubs. West Ham won the FA Cup in 1964 and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1965, with Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst, and Martin Peters forming the spine of England's 1966 World Cup-winning side. Everton, meanwhile, claimed the league title in 1963 and the FA Cup in 1966. Meetings between the two carried real weight during this era.

Kendall's Everton lifted both the league title and the Cup Winners' Cup in a single extraordinary season.

Howard Kendall's Everton side won the league title and European Cup Winners' Cup in 1985, and added another league championship in 1987. West Ham, under John Lyall, finished third in 1986, their highest league placing. The fixture during this period featured some of the best football either club has produced, with Goodison Park regularly packed to the rafters.

Cottee marked his Everton bow with a hat-trick; a man who knew exactly where his loyalties lay, until they didn't.

Everton and West Ham were both founding members of the Premier League in 1992. While neither club has won the title in the modern era, both have been near-permanent fixtures in the top division. Their meetings have produced some memorable moments: Tony Cottee, who played for both clubs, scored on his Everton debut in 1988 with a hat-trick against Newcastle, having previously been West Ham's golden boy.

Moyes took Everton to fourth on a shoestring; proof that shrewd management outspends money every time.

David Moyes guided Everton to a fourth-place finish in 2004-05, qualifying for the Champions League. It was a remarkable achievement for a club operating on a fraction of the budget of their rivals. West Ham, meanwhile, reached the FA Cup Final in 2006 under Alan Pardew, losing to Liverpool in one of the most dramatic finals in memory. Both clubs were punching well above their weight.

112 years of history signed off with a 3-2 win; Upton Park bowed out on its own terms.

West Ham's move from the Boleyn Ground to the London Stadium in 2016 marked the end of 112 years at Upton Park. The final match there, a 3-2 win over Manchester United, was an emotional farewell. The move to the former Olympic venue in Stratford gave the Hammers a 62,500-seat home, though it took several seasons for the new ground to feel like theirs.

132 years of history signed off with a single goal against Bournemouth.

Everton played their final match at Goodison Park in May 2024, ending 132 years at the ground known as the Grand Old Lady. The last Premier League fixture there was a 1-0 win over Bournemouth. Generations of supporters said goodbye to a stadium that had hosted World Cup matches, Dixie Dean's record-breaking goals, and countless unforgettable nights under the floodlights.

A 52,888-seat waterfront stadium on the Mersey; Everton have finally built a home that matches their ambitions.

Everton's new 52,888-capacity stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock opened in 2025, giving the club a waterfront home befitting their ambitions. The ground sits on the north docks of the Mersey, a striking piece of architecture that blends Liverpool's maritime heritage with modern design. Hosting West Ham at the new stadium adds a fresh chapter to a fixture that stretches back over a century.