Some 25 years ago today, Fabrizio Ravanelli and his entourage formed perhaps the most iconic but infamous transfer delegation in Everton history when they turned up at Goodison Park to discuss what could have been a record switch at the time but left with the player having not signed for the Blues.
It was a tumultuous summer in 1997, Tony Blair's ‘new’ Labour had just swept to power, complete with their D:Ream Things can only get better anthem, ending 18 years of Tory rule but the nation was unaware of the shock that would lie in wait with Princess Diana’s untimely passing on the final day of August.
Evertonians had been riding an emotional rollercoaster too having ended the previous season with Dave Watson as caretaker manager following Joe Royle’s abrupt departure on March 27 but despite chairman Peter Johnson declaring that he’d deliver a “world-class” manager, he embarked on a three month wild goose chase trying to court Bobby Robson only for the former England boss to remain at Barcelona in an ‘upstairs’ role. The Blues were then snubbed by their former fans’ favourite Andy Gray who possessed no managerial experience and chose to sign a lucrative new deal to carry on broadcasting with Sky Sports instead so Johnson finally turned to Howard Kendall, offering the club’s most-successful boss an unprecedented third spell in the hot seat.
