THE VITALS:

Team: Everton

Brand: Umbro

Era: 2017-18 (Used for the 2017-18 Premier League season)

Name/Number: Rooney #10

CONDITION: EXCELLENT

This article appears seemingly flawless with the material, club crest, felt Premier League crests on the sleeves, name and numbering, embroidery and respective decal showing zero to little sign of wear!

DIMENSIONS:

Size: Small

Pit to Pit Measurement: 18 inches

Shirt Length: 27 inches 

Made by Umbro in their official merchandise range of shirts that they introduced in 2017; these dimensions make the quintessential size small fitting shirt!

DESCRIPTION:

In what was the fourth home shirt of Umbro’s third stint as Everton’s kit manufacturer; this shirt would bring together motifs of the past with the Umbro diamonds going down the sleeves combined with a contemporary and sleek fitting shirt and design. The shirt would use three shades of blue to break up the sleeves, underarms and main body; almost resembling a training shirt in many ways. The use of a navy was a first since the 2014-15 home shirt, and after 13 seasons, Chang Beer was replaced as the main shirt sponsor with Sport Pesa taking the reins ahead of the new campaign. This shirt would be remembered as Wayne Rooney returned home after leaving the club in 2004, meanwhile this would be the season the likes of: Jordan Pickford and Michael Keane also joined the club. While the season saw the club use three managers; Sam Allardyce would steady the ship and lead the team to an 8^th place finish meanwhile there was also a return to European football that the club also got to enjoy in the UEFA Europa League!

THE SEASON:

For 33 straight rounds, Everton would hold on to 7^th place during the 2016-17 season as they would finish just 8 points behind Manchester United in Ronald Koeman’s first season in charge of Everton; making it a refreshing change for the ‘Toffee’s’ faithful after back to back 11^th place finishes.

They would be starting from scratch however ahead of the 2017-18 season as Romelu Lukaku was sold to Manchester United for a club record £75 million! There was also departures for some of the post-Moyes era stalwarts: Tom Cleverley, Gerard Deulofeu, Arouna Kone, Aiden McGeady and Gareth Barry. Wayne Rooney’s return to Goodison Park would soon quell any apathy as the Everton legend left Manchester United, and there were also the captures of: Davy Klaasen, Jordan Pickford, Michael Keane, Sandro, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Nikola Vlasic as Everton looked ahead to a season that would also include European football for the first time since the 2014-15 season!

The season began with a 1-0 win over Stoke City on 12^th August with Wayne Rooney netting on his second Everton debut, and then he would net again as they held Manchester City to a 1-1 draw in their next outing. From there however, they would endure a miserable run of form where they lost 6 of their next 8 games, winning just once, The run would cost Koeman his job as he was dismissed on 23^rd October after the 5-2 defeat to Arsenal the day before. Club legend – David Unsworth oversaw the 2-0 defeat to Leicester City. With the club languishing in 18^th place, Sam Allardyce was appointed and would oversee an incredible surge in form to end 2017 as Everton went 7 games unbeaten between 29^th November to 26^th December as Everton ended the year in 9^th place. The 2018 portion of the season would be filled with few moments to shout about as they accumulated just 5 more wins all season, however, they would hold Liverpool to another draw and would secure a more than respectable 8^th place finish – finishing just 5 points behind Burnley in 7^th place.

The domestic cup competitions yielded early exits, with Chelsea eliminating Everton in the Fourth Round of the EFL Cup, while Liverpool overcame ‘The Toffees’ 2-1 in the Third Round of the FA Cup. The UEFA Europa League campaign would also end early after being drawn alongside the likes of Atalanta and Olympique Lyonnais; there would however, be a 3-0 win away to Apollon to end the European journey on 7^th December.

The notable players that season were:

Sandro, Wayne Rooney, Cenk Tosun, Theo Walcott, Bernard, Yannick Bolasie, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Kevin Mirallas, Nikola Vlasic, Oumar Niasse, Davy Klaasen, James McCarthy, Tom Davies, Idrissa Gueye, Abdoulaye Doucouré, Gylfi Sigurðsson, Morgan Schneiderlin, Séamus Coleman, Ben Godfrey, Ramiro Funes Mori, Cuco Martina, Phil Jagielka, Michael Keane, Ashley Williams, Eliaquim Mangala, Leighton Baines, Maarten Steckelburg, Joel Robles, Jordan Pickford