Most top flight years counts for nothing as Everton face up to reality of relegation threat

LONDON : Everton's 5-0 thrashing by Tottenham on Monday was a stark reminder that the team who have spent more years in England's top flight than any other have no divine right to stay there and that they are now absolutely involved in a relegation battle.

The defeat leaves them one place and one point above the drop zone, and even though they have games in hand on those around them, on current form those are more likely to worsen their goal difference rather than earn precious points.

This is not the scenario owner Farhad Moshiri envisaged when he bought the club six years ago and certainly not what he expected in return for his investment of over £550 million ($722 million) on players.

Everton just don't do relegation - or certainly don't in the living memory of most of their fans. Since joining the league as a founder member in 1888, they have spent only four seasons outside the top flight - 1930-31 and three in the early 1950s.

They have had a few near-misses, most famously via two last-day escapes in the 1990s, which were hard for the fans to take coming so soon after the most successful period in the club's history when they won two league titles, the FA Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup from 1984-87.

In 1994, needing to win their final game at home to Wimbledon to have a chance of staying up, they trailed 2-0, only to scramble a 3-2 win that, thanks to other results going their way, saved them.

Despite finishing sixth in 1996, two years later it was a similar story as, 1-0 up in their final game at home to Coventry, they missed a penalty and conceded a last-minute equaliser only again for their rivals to falter and allow them to survive on goal difference.

Even in those two dark seasons though they were in a better