Evertonians and football historians mark your calendars now…
On 26 November, acclaimed Everton historian, club statistician and Toffeeopolis co-founder, Gavin Buckland, is set to release his latest and final work on the club’s Moores era, titled The End.
The book provides a gripping look back at one of Everton’s most turbulent periods, starting with the tail end of its mid-80s glory years and culminating in the club’s near-relegation clash against Wimbledon in the final game of the 1993/94 season.
In The End, Buckland traces Everton’s journey from the end of its heyday as the “Mersey Millionaires” to a state of “Mersey Mediocrity” just a few years later.
Champions of England and contenders in Europe under the stewardship of Howard Kendall, Everton came to embody English football’s struggles after the 1985 Heysel disaster, which led to a ban on English clubs in European competitions. Kendall’s departure in 1987 marked the start of a difficult period for Everton as the club grappled with off-field uncertainty, boardroom inertia, and ownership instability in the early years of the English Premier League.
Buckland’s latest work explores this transitional period, covering the nuances of Everton's downfall with a combination of extensive archival research, interviews and rarely seen insights from behind the scenes. Known for his detailed approach and dedication to Everton’s history, Buckland sheds light on a time when managerial changes and financial woes threatened Everton’s place among English football’s elite.
The End not only recounts how Everton narrowly escaped relegation but also highlights the broader forces that influenced English football at the time, from evolving club ownership structures to shifting financial landscapes with the dawn of the Premier League. Buckland’s book provides a nuanced perspective on Everton’s place within these seismic changes.
The book is the second publication by the Toffeeopolis collective of Everton authors, of which Buckland is a co-founder, with Rob Sawyer, Simon Hart and James Corbett. In April the collective launched with Broken Dreams, Sawyer’s acclaimed account of Everton’s 1939 lost champions.
The End is published simultaneously in hardback and trade paperback options.
Customers ordering directly via Mount Vernon can order all three books in Buckland’s Moores trilogy for £50.00 – a saving of £25 on the RRP.
