When Everton face Chelsea at the Hill Dickinson on Saturday, it will be the 197th competitive meeting between two clubs whose first encounter came almost 119 years ago.
Chelsea won that first game 2-1 at Stamford Bridge in October 1907. Everton’s first victory took another three attempts, arriving with a 3-2 win at Goodison Park in March 1909. Chelsea have won 78 of the 196 meetings since records began, although the fixture has rarely lacked an Everton response — particularly on Merseyside.
Everton v Chelsea: At a glance
| First meeting | Chelsea 2-1 Everton, October 1907 |
| Previous meetings | 196 |
| Chelsea wins | 78 |
| Everton’s biggest win | 7-2, November 1931 |
| Chelsea’s biggest win | 6-0, April 2024 |
| Last meeting | Everton 3-0 Chelsea, March 2026 |
| Next meeting | Saturday – 197th competitive meeting |
Some emphatic Everton wins
The biggest came in November 1931, when Everton beat Chelsea 7-2 at Goodison during a season which ended with the league title returning to Merseyside. Almost three decades later came another rout. Everton won 6-1 in March 1960, one of several occasions when Chelsea have left this fixture on the wrong end of a heavy scoreline.
There have been painful reversals too. Chelsea won 6-0 at Stamford Bridge in April 2024, matching Everton’s 6-0 home win from 1978 in one of the biggest margins seen between the clubs.
The balance shifted towards Chelsea during the Premier League era, particularly as the London club became regular title challengers. Goodison, though, remained capable of producing very different afternoons. Everton beat Chelsea 3-1 there in December 2019 and followed it with 1-0 home victories in 2020 and 2022. Another 2-0 win came in December 2023, with Abdoulaye Doucoure and Lewis Dobbin scoring.
Hill Dickinson already has its own Chelsea memory
The move away from Goodison brought a new setting last season, but Everton did not have to wait long for a memorable result against Chelsea. Beto scored twice and set up Iliman Ndiaye as David Moyes’ side won 3-0 at Hill Dickinson Stadium in March. It was Everton’s biggest Premier League victory over Chelsea and moved them to within two points of the London club in the race for Europe. That result also ended a run of three league meetings in which Everton had failed to score against Chelsea.
Saturday’s game comes 119 years after the clubs first met and just seven months after Beto helped produce the biggest Everton win of their Premier League rivalry. For all that has changed since 1907 — grounds, competitions, managers and eras — Chelsea have rarely had a straightforward afternoon when this fixture has been played on Everton’s side of the country.
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