Everton news: Fan group The 1878s releases statement criticising Toffees’ disastrous transfer window

Everton fan group The 1878s has released a statement strongly criticising the Premier League side’s disappointing summer transfer dealings.

Despite manager David Moyes insisting on the need for additions to his squad, the Everton hierarchy sanctioned more departures than arrivals – leaving the Toffees with one recognised striker in Thierno Barry.

The 1878s now plans to take a step back from its role in matchday displays, citing an increasing disconnect between the club and its supporters.

‘Full-on gross negligence’

In a statement on X, the group said: “We thought the potential sale of our biggest young talent was bad enough, but the last 24 hours has topped that.

“On Saturday, Moyes said: ‘I don’t think we can afford to lose any players; we need to stay as strong as we can.’

“Since then, we have lost another five players (three of them who have left play in areas we needed to strengthen in) and only brought two in.

“To leave us with no back-up full-backs and just one striker is full-on gross negligence, not forgetting we also lost one of our best players at an undervalued price in today’s market in the process without replacing him too.

“We stated on Sunday that we do not feel that our fanbase’s ambitions and the club’s ambitions align right now.

“What happened [on transfer deadline day] has proved that even more.”

Fan group stands down

The statement continued: “As a group, we will be standing down for the foreseeable future and will not be dedicating a huge amount of our own time to put together the displays that we do that try and generate the best pre-match atmosphere possible.

“To be clear, this is nothing against the signings we have made – we welcome them to the club and wish them the best of luck here.

“However, like the rest of our fanbase, we are utterly disappointed and disgusted with how this transfer window has gone, especially the end of it.

“Despite how we all feel, we still urge fans to get behind our team on the pitch for 90 mins like we did at Bournemouth on Saturday.

“We will fully support any action the fanbase takes in reaction to this extremely poor transfer window.

“Our motto is the standard we expect.”

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