Blues Brothers Together in 2008 ?

The Merseyside based Ruleteros Society, are trying to arrange a fixture between the Toffees, and their Chilean counterparts, to celebrate our award of the European City of Culture. They are trying to put some pressure on Blue Bill, to set up the fixture sometime in 2008. Whilst your talking to Bill, ask him if he has got a few bob, for a creative midfielder.

Ruleteros Secretary John Shearan says : "We really want to arrange a game between the two clubs in Liverpool in 2008, with a return leg in 2009, when the Chilean club celebrates it's centenary. It would be an absolutely fantastic fixture. Lot's of our members are also shareholders in the English Everton, so we're now trying to get some support for it and put a bit of pressure on Bill Kenwright." (13/01/04)

What A Way To Celebrate

To celebrate The Championship win, Marlen Olivarí, a very famous top model in Chile, posed in the CD Shirt. We must say that as Rod Stewart would say 'she wears it well.' But does she wear it as well as Ruleteros member, Tony Heslop? You decide!
Thanks to our Chilean Evertonian friend, Víctor Rodrigo Pizarro for the photos. (14/11/03)

Champions! Champions! Champions!

CD Everton won 2- 1 last night. An away win at Ovalle, whilst nearest rivals La Serena could only draw. Champions for definite with three games to go. Congrats! (16/10/03)

Now For The Championship

As the Chilean 2003 season draws to a close, the first of Everton's aims for the year have been achieved. With four games left the Blues and Golds have achieved promotion to the Primera A, with only La Serena capable of denying them the championship. If all goes well on Wednesday evening, even that might not be possible.

This season Everton had drafted in a host of supposed stars, but the poor start had resulted in low crowds and little belief that things could be turned around. A 21 game unbeaten run saw them move from near the bottom of the division to the top and they have left the rest of the division in their wake. Saturday saw a packed 18,000 crowd witness a remarkable come-back by the Ruleteros. Bottom side Lota Schwager raced into a 0-3 lead after 20 minutes, belying their lowly position. Coach Jorge Socias (who had been drafted in by the Everton board five games into the season after a disastrous start under previous coach Hernán Ibarra), made a bold change, taking off a defender and bringing on striker Axel Ahumada, and was rewarded as the home side played themselves to a 5-3 victory and guaranteed promotion.

The crowd went mad after the final whistle as they let loose their feelings after years of under-achievement, with celebrations starting on the terraces; but the directors were not to be outdone as they opened an enormous bottle of champagne on the pitch. The crowd swept onto the playing surface and everybody joined in the celebrations with a frenzied display of joy and relief.


Emotions ran high all through the night as the festivities continued in the streets of Viña del Mar, with players mobbed wherever they went. It was a wild, wild night, but it was one that the fans had waited for for a long time as they look forward to next year in the top division for the first time in four years.

Next, though, it's the championship. Four points from the last four games will seal it. La Serena are nine points adrift with twelve to play for - with the final game of the season a potential decider if Everton loses focus for a few games, as La Serena visits the Sausalito. Let's hope it doesn't come to that! An away win against Ovalle on Wednesday (15th October) will see the Ruleteros needing only a draw on Saturday against Santiago Morning - and with Ruleteros Society members Tony Onslow, Tony Baena, Ian and Kerry Wilson there to cheer them on, we can only hope that they do it in style! Viva Everton! Steve Bickerton. (12/10/03)

***Promoted *** Everton 5, Lota Schwager 3 ***Promoted

A full house at the Sausalito Stadium saw CD Everton come back from 3:0 down to beat Lota Schwager 5:3 and clinch promotion to Chile's Primera A division. Everton started nervously and found themselves 3:0 down at home to the bottom club after just 20 minutes with goals from Vásquez, Valdés & Valenzuela. Coach Jorge Socías reacted by bringing on a striker, Axel Ahumada, for a defender, Varas, and Everton pulled a goal back on 41m with a penalty scored by Ahumada at the third attempt. Although the football wasn't pretty, in the second half Everton showed why they are top of the division. Ceballos, on as a substitute for Jara, scored a second from Ahumada's cross on 57m. It seemed just a matter of time before Everton would go level and indeed the equaliser came on 61m with Castañeda setting up Ariel Pereyra. Everton went ahead for the first time in the match on 75m as man-of-the-match Ceballos slotted home from the penalty spot after a foul by Salazar on Marcelo Suárez. With a great atmosphere on the terraces, Everton went for more goals and brilliant work by Ormeño set up Ahumada for Everton's fifth with ten minutes left. Everton can now clinch the championship next Wednesday in the away game at Ovalle.

O'Higgins 1 Everton 2

In the very hostile atmosphere of the El Teniente de la Sexta Región stadium, CD Everton got the three points necessary to bring promotion a step closer. Everton scored with their first attack as Ariel Preyra headed home from Renato Garrido's cross. The second arrived 10 minutes later with Pereyra setting up Marcelo Suárez to push the ball into an empty net. O'Higgins pulled one back before half-time with a penalty scored by Videla after a foul by Alejandro Escalona on Luis Flores.
The second half saw Everton fight tooth and nail to preserve the lead with Carlos Toro and Jorge Rodriguez outstanding while Luis Díaz, on as a substitue for Jara, continued to cause problems for the O'Higgins defense.
Before the final whistle both teams had players sent off and the game ended in a near riot as the hostile local fans threw stones and bottles while the police responded with tear gas.
CD Everton now has 58 points with just five games left.

La Serena beat Talcahuano 3-0, and Fernández Vial beat Antofagasta. Melipilla beat Copiapó 5-1. Everton are 12 points clear with five games to play (other teams have six). Looks like two wins should do it - and three of the remaining games are at home. (06/10/03)

Rout of Arica

Arica 1 CD Everton 5

A potentially tricky game against a mid table side with a good home record. Many predicted a draw in a game which required a long distance economy flight for the team and staff.
In spite of problems connected with the travel - the plane encountered turbulence and engine trouble and was forced to land at Iquique, 40 minutes flight from Arica, leaving the blue and golds with a five hour wait for a replacement plane - the team showed no signs of distress on the pitch and taxied, in third gear, to a crushing 5-1 victory. Fluid football, growing confidence and understanding produced goals from Jara (17') Pereyra (30') Ahumada (31') Escalona (37') and Suarez (70') in this, the 22nd game of the campaign.
Travelling fans rejoiced ( grande Everton) and, with 8 games remaining, mostly against teams in the top half, Everton require 11 points for the Championship. Next up, on Sunday 21st, at a time to be confirmed, is Fernandez Vial at home. As they say on the message boards, "todos al Sausalito, a rellenarlo" Basically, get on down there and support the boys. (16/09/03)

Everton 4 Magallanes 2

The Everton in Chile fought back from 0-2 down in the second half to re-establish a 13-point lead at the top of the table. They now only need four wins and two draws from their last ten games to secure promotion to the top flight, and five wins would ensure the title. Here is an English version of the match report from "El Mercurio", the newspaper from Valparaíso in Chile.

Everton were frankly dreadful in an uninspired first half and were justifiably behind at half time, and they trailed 0-2 just three minutes into the second half. However, they turned the match round in the second with a four-goal blast. The turnaround had their fans leaving the ground having forgotten about the first 45 minutes, thinking about top-flight football next season and saying how well the team had played. They will have had etched on their collective memory the image of the Everton that tonked Magallanes 4-2, toying with the opposition, the fans crying "¡olé!" when the points were in the bag. However, if they had played the second half like they played the first, they would have had the fans on their back.

Don't be fooled by the scoreline. Everton showed again their tendency to throw away the first half, but not because they were sluggish, more that Magallanes seized the initiative from them, particularly the midfield. The visitors dominated midfield with Araya and Alegría outstanding whereas Everton were cold and lacked any spark, especially since Jara took ages to get going. While Everton baulked at the effrontery of the side near the bottom of the table, the scoring started. Alegría sent in a deep cross that Castañeda could not intercept, and Aravena was clear of his marker, opened the visitors' account. The first half hour was Magallanes's best spell, but Everton then started to wake up. Although they were not dominating the match, at least they had spells of play in their opponents' half, going for the equaliser, albeit with not too much conviction. Magallanes could have sealed the points before half time but the referee disallowed an effort by Aravena for a marginal offside decision in the 40th minute.

The match picked up tempo in the second half with both teams shooting from distance. In the 48th minute Magallanes made it 0-2 with a fantastic goal from Araya which gave Toro in the Everton goal no chance. Magallanes made the fatal error of not consolidating their lead, and allowed Everton back into the game at 1-2 in the very next minute with a goal from Pereyra. The equaliser came in the 56th minute from Rodríguez's header from a cross by Jara. That was the turning point. From that moment on, Magallanes allowed their heads to drop and Everton took full control. Magallanes showed their inexperience, and just why they are near the bottom of the table despite being a good team. In the 74th minute Estrada shot from far out and Martínez inexplicably allowed the ball to trickle in, Everton never looked back after that and all memories of an abysmal first half were erased. Just as the Magallanes bench were appealing for a penalty, in the 83rd minute, Ceballos scored the fourth. Although goalkeeper Bascur got the last touch, the officials awarded the goal to the Everton striker. Magallanes may feel hard done by, and will be upset at leaving empty-handed from a match to which they offered so much, but Everton will only be concerned about the three extra points banked which give them a 13-point advantage. If they don't get promoted now it can only be by throwing the season away.

Talking of comebacks (not Juglugs), the Chilean national side also played at the weekend. (Everton's game went ahead as normal because they are not in the top flight .... yet!"). They got a more than creditable 2-2 draw in Buenos Aires after being two down at half time. They play Peru on Wednesday night. Everton are away to Arica (on the Peruvian border) next weekend. (11/09/03)

La Calera 1 Everton 0
Att: 4000

The Blues went down 1-0 in the hostile atmosphere of the Nicolás Nazar stadium in La Calera. The home team were out to avenge the 5-1 hammering at the Sausalito earlier in the season. The match was keenly contested, and even included some aggressive exchanges between rival supporters. The home team, La Calera dominated the first half with Néstor Zanatta prominent in midfield, and the forwards Héctor Pericas and Rodrigo Carrido causing the Everton defence lots of problems. La Calera, still with faint hopes of promotion, went for it from the start and created two clear-cut chances, one shot just wide and another producing a great save from Everton goalkeeper Carlos Toro, before Everton could even get out of their own half. It was only a matter of time before La Calera scored, and the goal duly arrived on 24 minutes when a cross by Zanatta was chested down by Carrido who scored a tremendous goal. The home team kept up the pressure but Everton had a couple of half chances although the service to their forwards was scant. Ceballos shot weakly when placed and Pereyra went close but Zanatti missed a great chance to make it 2-0 just before the break. Everton made changes at half time but could not make much impact either individually or as a team in the second half. Everton began to get on top in the final moments, and Héctor Rodríguez missed a good chance just before the end. Nevertheless, Everton are still ten points clear at the top and La Calera are now only six points off the second automatic promotion spot. Axel Ahumada said, "We were disappointing in the first half, maybe it was due to the change of climate,
but we improved second half, though we were not able to score. There will be moments like this in the chase for the title." Ariel Pereyra told us, "We were awful in the first half. We gave the ball away and conceded too much ground. In the second half we pushed up more and showed that we are better when attacking that when defending. We've learned a hard lesson today. We
need to come out fighting." He apologised to the travelling Everton fans for having come away with nothing. One positive point was the return of Luis Ceballos, back on first team duty after four games out. "It was good to be back in the first team, but it is a pity we lost. We'll have a chance to put the record straight against Magallanes next week!", said the creative midfield force after his disappointing return to first team action.

Next Match:
Sunday 7th September - Magallanes (Home)

Talcahuano 1 Everton 2

Everton’s 2:1 win at Talcahuano put an end to the home team’s seven-match unbeaten run and also brought the dream of promotion a little bit nearer.
There were few goal chances in the first half; however Talcahuano opened the scoring after half an hour when Pastrana took advantage of some hesitancy in the Everton defence to score with a header from Tello’s cross. Everton ended the first half looking very unlikely to get back on terms and so, after the break, Jorge Socías brought on Ahumeda for Suárez and pushed Díaz forward. These changes had an immediate effect with Everton creating a couple of good chances before scoring the equaliser 7 minutes after half time; Escaloni’s header from Diaz’s corner was parried by the Talcahuano ‘keeper, Fernández, but he made no mistake from the rebound. Everton then took control of the match and, despite knowing that a draw would be a great result, decided to go for the winner; Socías brought on Ormeño y Jara and in the 89m Everton’s ambition was rewarded when a free kick from Estrada was put into his own net by Bascuñán.
The result leaves Everton 10 points ahead of Deportes Concepción with 12 games left. (18/08/03)

C D Everton 4 Copiapo 1

A decisive home victory for the sky blue and golds silenced the critics who feared a slump in fortunes and left the paltry 2500 crowd well content. The performance was cultured, the margin reflecting a difference in class which could have been rewarded by twice as many goals had Everton stepped up another gear.

Recent shaky form, including an unsatisfactory 0-0 draw at Melipilla the previous week, had worried the doubters and this, coupled with a cold night, by Chilean standards, accounted for a lower crowd than hoped for, as disappointing for the South Americans as Colin Harvey's crowd of 13000 at Goodison. Those who came saw the talented Ariel Pereyra give Everton a first half lead and the job was made easier when Copiapo's Escudero was sent off. Luis Jara, Escalona and Ahumada in the last minute gave evertonianos the victory that lengthens their lead to 8 points with more than half the fixtures completed. Concepcion, in second place, will need an immaculate finish to stand any chance of overtaking them.

Hispanists can find further information on the www.evertonchile.cl site and general information, membership details and shirts are all available on www.ruleteros.com
Details of the ruleteros' first meet before the Fulham game, to which all are welcome, will be confirmed soon.

Melipilla 0 Everton 0. Sunday 3rd August. Estadio Municipal

Everton remained on course for promotion to Chile's top flight after a dour, uninspired draw at modest Melipilla. With 14 games remaining, the visitors still have 6 points advantage over second placed Concepcion. Few excuses could be made for such a lack-lustre performance - but they were produced anyway: The pitch was too small, they were man-marked and injuries to key players
disrupted their rhythm. Let's hope that next week's home game against Copiapo sees Everton back on track. (06/08/03)

Everton 2 Universidad Catolica 2 (aet Everton lost 2-3 on penalties): Copa Presudamericana

Estadio Sausalito - att: - 9,000

Everton bowed out of the Copa Presudamericana last night after a brave display against much fancied Santiago team, Universidad Catolica. The game finished 1-1 in normal time, after the locals had taken the lead. Extra-time saw the visitors go ahead only for Ariel Pereyra to equalise for Everton just before the end. A decent crowd was then shown how not to take penalties - of the 12 taken, only 5 were converted - the visitors going through despite missing their first three efforts.

Everton return to the league at the weekend against Osorno at home. (21/07/03)

Everton 4 Melipilla 0. Copa Presudamericana

Get in There!

How The 'Echo' reported it

Estadio Sausalito, Viña del Mar, Chile: Att: 2,500

Everton cruised into the last eight of the Copa Presudamericana last night with a thorough victory over fellow Second Division rivals Melipilla. A sluggish first half, which saw the locals 1-0 up gave way to a racier second half, where 3 further goals were added (Argentinean forward Ariel Pereyra was on the mark and midfielder Luis Ceballos scored three).

Everton now face First Division giants Universidad Catolica on Wednesday - venue still to be decided. Two teams will progress through to the Sudamericana Cup (more akin to the UEFA Cup than the Champions League - as described erroneously last week).

Promotion and continental football possible in one season - fortune might be changing for this Everton too. (14/07/03)

Santaigo Morning 3 Everton 2

Everton's 12 match unbeaten run came to an end in Santiago, on a cold and rainy night. Att: 1,500.

Things started promisingly with a goal on 37 seconds, from leading scorer Suarez. However, the form that the Blue and Gold's have been showing over the last few games was repeated as Santiago Morning took the game to the visitors, establishing a 2-1 lead by the interval.

The second half saw little improvement from Everton, who fell further behind on 50 minutes. Despite a goal on 81 minutes from Pereyra, and some late pressure, the locals recorded a well deserved victory.

Fortunately, the teams in the chasing pack also lost. Antofagasta play away to Ovalle today - a defeat will still leave Everton 8 points clear.

Next Match: Wednesday 9th July v Santiago Wanderers. This is a cup game (one leg only) against arch-rivals from Valparaiso. The winners of this tournament, which sees First and Second division clubs playing each other, will gain automatic entry to the Copa Libertadores (the continental club competition). (07/07/03)

Everton 2 - Ovalle 0

Everton opened up an 8 point gap over fellow promotion rivals Antofagasta as they comfortably overcame Ovalle in the Sausalito yesterday. A last minute agreement had enabled the visitors to take the field after the players had spent last week in dispute over unpaid wages. Att: 7,000

Despite the scoreline, the locals failed to send the 7000 faithful home happy. The two-goal advantage was established inside 10 minutes (Suarez and Pereyra). Expectations of a flood were raised as Ovalle were reduced to 10 men shortly afterwards. The visitors had almost not turned up as players were in dispute over unpaid wages. However, the Blue and Gold's took the foot off the gas and played out the remainder of the game without any urgency. Next week Everton visit Santiago Morning, for what will undoubtedly be a
stiffer task. (30/06/03)

Everton rode their luck last night in the mining town of Coronel. An own-goal (the keeper deflecting a goal-line clearance back into his own net) sent Lota Schwager to the bottom of the division and Everton 7 points clear of their nearest rivals, with 32 points from 11 unbeaten games.

Everton did not impress on the heavy pitch, not helped by full back Marco Estrada being sent off early in the second half. This gave the locals the spur to bombard the visitors area. The Ruleteros held on, however, to continue their march back to the Top Flight.

Next match: Home to Ovalle. (23/06/03)

How The Local paper Reported it

Ariel Pereyra Scores for Everton

Everton have gone five points clear at the top of the Chilean Second Division after defeating the previous unbeaten O'Higgins 3-2.

With thousands of Evertonianos flocking back to the Estadio Sausalito, a 9,000 crowd saw a disappointing first half in which the visitors took a 1-0 lead. But there was plenty of drama after the interval with three goals in the first ten minutes of the second
half.

Everton took a 2-1 lead through Ariel Pereyra and Axel Ahumada before O'Higgins equalised.

Then, with 20 minutes remaining, Uruguayan Marcelo Suarez took advantage of some poor goalkeeping to score the winner.

Having beaten several of their closest rivals over the last few weeks, Everton are now in a commanding position at the top. (17/06/03)

Antofagasta 2, Everton 5.

After a run of six wins and two draws, Everton went top of the Chilean Second Division. Then last weekend they traveled 800 miles up the Pacific coast to play second-placed Antofagasta.

Five coach loads of supporters left Vina del Mar on Saturday lunchtime to make the Sunday afternoon kickoff. At the game they were joined by around 250 exiles from Vina del Mar who work in the copper mines in the north of Chile. The 500 Evertonianos were deeply disappointed when Antofagasta took a 2-0 half-time lead.

But Everton came back in sensational style to win 5-2 with goals from Axel Ahumada, leading scorer Marcelo Suarez, Luis Ceballos, Jorge Vargas and Daniel Gonzalez.

This week coach Jorge Socias's Ruleteros are at home to O'Higgins, the only other unbeaten team. (11/06/03)