The last time Everton suffered a heavier defeat than the 6-0 drubbing to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, their shell-shocked manager’s press conference was restricted to a paltry 44 words.
Having secured Champions League qualification for the only time in the club’s history to date, clinching a fourth-place finish above neighbours and eventual competition winners Liverpool, the Blues seemed to play like their players had perhaps partied a bit too hard when they went to Highbury to face Arsenal in their penultimate fixture of the season. Just a year earlier, Arsene Wenger’s side had become the first English champions to complete a top flight season unbeaten since Preston North End in the inaugural 1888/89 campaign while David Moyes men finished a lowly 17th with just 39 points – the club’s lowest ever equivalent total at the time but when they met on Wednesday May 11, 2005, just two places separated the sides.
The action did not end up like a typical second-versus-fourth contest though as the outgoing champions, who would finish a dozen points shy of Jose Mourinho’s title-winning Chelsea, took full advantage of Everton taking their foot off the pedal. The Gunners blasted in seven goals with half a dozen different scorers as Robert Pires bagged a brace and was joined on the scoresheet by Robin Van Persie, Patrick Vieira, Edu (penalty), Dennis Bergkamp and Matthieu Flamini.
Moyes dutifully turned up for the post-match press conference but perhaps unsurprisingly the Scot was not in a particularly chatty mood. Speaking in what was described as a “trembling voice”, he said: “I am embarrassed by tonight’s performance. It has been a great week for Everton Football Club and I have no criticism of the players.
“But tonight as a manager I am totally embarrassed by what has happened. That is all I can say lads.”Everton’s 7-0 annihilation at Arsenal almost 19 years ago remains their record Premier League defeat but other than that ‘freak result’ which came on the back of partying from the Blues boys after securing their top four finish, Kevin Kilbane admitted they’d done some serious celebrating in the days before the game when he said: “We went on the drink. Mikel (Arteta) might not have had as much as the rest of us but he had enough,” Monday’s 6-0 reversal at Chelsea was the club’s heaviest loss for over 60 years.
The last time the Blues were beaten 6-0 was on another midweek trip to Highbury. Everton were actually reigning League Champions at the time but Harry Catterick’s side were stunned by Arsenal on Tuesday December 10, 1963, finding themselves 4-0 down within the first half an hour.
The 7-0 defeat in 2005 was one of four occasions that Everton have been beaten by that scoreline – all coming away from home – with the others being Portsmouth (September 10, 1949); Wolverhampton Wanderers (February 22, 1939 – en route to the Blues winning the title while their conquerors were runners-up); Sunderland (December 26, 1934). This week’s drubbing at the hands of Mauricio Pochettino’s side was an unlucky 13th occasion that Everton have lost a game by a six-goal margin.
Those games include another 6-0 at Stamford Bridge on September 11, 1948; home 6-0 losses to Newcastle United (October 26, 1912) and Crystal Palace (January 7, 1922); a 6-0 Merseyside Derby defeat at Anfield on September 7, 1935 plus high-scoring defeats at Tottenham Hotspur (10-4 on October 11, 1958) and Huddersfield Town in the Second Division (8-2 on April 7, 1953).
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