In it for the long haul

OVERTAKING KENDALL MERELY UNDERLNES HOW EMBEDDED MOYES IS IN BLUES HISTORY - AND FUTURE

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N what was another historic fixture at Hill Dickinson Stadium, David Moyes reached a major milestone as Everton manager that reinforces just how much he is ingrained in the fabric of the football club.

Everton versus Aston Villa isn’t just the most played game in the English top flight, it’s the most played league game in the whole of English professional football. These two clubs have been competing against each other regularly since the game's pioneering days in the Victorian era.

In what was their 215th meeting, Aston Villa became the first team to play an away game against Everton at Anfield, Goodison Park and now Hill Dickinson Stadium. Everton’s 76 league wins over Villa are a club record against a single opponent, but the goalless draw ensured they have now failed to beat them in 13 league matches since the West Midlanders last won promotion in 2019

The 2025/26 campaign marks Everton's 123rd season in top flight football with Villa their closest challengers on 112. In many ways, impartial observers, of which there might not be too many reading this article, might conclude these two clubs are of similar size and stature, but the timelines of their respective achievements are rather different.

Whereas the Blues have displayed longevity to lift major honours across nine separate decades - a feat that only Liverpool and Manchester United can top - Villa, who along with Blackburn Rovers became the last of the Football League's founder members to be relegated in 1936, peaked early with all but one of their seven League Championships and all but one of their seven FA Cups coming over a century ago.

Unlike Everton though, they do have pedigree in the League Cup, having won it five times, including in 1977 when they beat the Blues in a second replay of the final, the only time it’s taken three games to settle the contest.