One of the most glorious and enduring aspects of Everton’s heaven-sent 1984/85 season was the unheralded and modest demeanour of many of the players.
Howard Kendall’s carefully-constructed outfit, having ended the club’s 14-year trophy drought by winning the FA Cup the previous May, produced the finest campaign in Goodison history by storming to the league title with a record 90 points, lifting the club’s first ever European trophy and were only denied a unique treble by Norman Whiteside’s extra-time strike for Manchester United in the FA Cup final.
Often labelled ‘a team with no stars’, Kendall’s ingenious merging of young talent such as Neville Southall, Kevin Ratcliffe, Trevor Steven and Adrian Heath alongside experienced pros already written off by many due to serious injuries like Peter Reid and Andy Gray produced a side rightly revered as one of the best English football has ever produced, which sadly never got the opportunity to fully reach its potential on the continental stage due to circumstances beyond their control.
