My brother used to say our small club mentality started when we sold Alan Ball. Although we were still comfortably one of the biggest and wealthiest clubs in the league then, it was as if that started the process of being resigned to playing second fiddle to our neighbours. The mid 80s were just an anomaly, a fluke, or a final hurrah for a once proud institution, that still had some stock left in it... The premier era exposed the pretence, as the false dawns and managed decline continued, whilst others built for the future. We got left behind. Essentially, we got carpet-bagged by a complete fraud who was extremely fortunate to get a manager who could build a team out of the proceeds of having to sell the best player of his generation, working to a zero net budget for a decade. Even a dyed-in-the-wool Evertonian preferred to leave Everton..... the definition of when small club "mentality" met small club "reality" head on. Imagine that happening at any point before the 70s?
We dreamt small and achieved small..... with some aplomb. Hopefully it isn't too late and things can start to change soon.... but we have to stay in this league first!