Get to know the Royal Blue Mersey crew

Your favourite stop for all matters Everton had gotten their transfer business done well before the deadline, and would like to finally unveil our squad for the upcoming season.

The Royal Blue Mersey’s roster will cover the Toffees on and off the pitch, from stadium updates to football coverage of the men’s, women’s and youth sides. We are also on Twitter so follow us there for live commentary on most games as well as breaking news, and for some laughs too.

Below are short bios for each of the RBM crew members - we appreciate your comments so please reach out with questions, feedback and anything else you would like to say.

Chris

29, father of 3, and recently relocated to the Pacific Northwest after being a lifetime (deep) Southerner. Watching Tim Howard play for the US national team made him become an Everton fan. Seamus Coleman has historically been his favorite player, but Andre Gomes is the handsomest. If not wrestling with his kids, he’s probably playing a video game or watching a clip of Steven Naismith’s Everton highlights and sighing deeply while staring into the middle distance.
Chris often handles matchday Twitter commentary as well as Instant Reaction pieces.
Twitter - @cb_s90

Trent

Trent R. Nelson is a 29-year-old autodidactic poet and historian, political, social and economic analyst, as well as a soccer writer. Zidane’s 2006 World Cup got him hooked onto the sport before learning that his Everton family ties stretch deep back into the 19th century. He travels often, and so writes as he goes. He loves writing, reading, chatting and listening; he writes about Everton at Royal Blue Mersey, Arsenal for Pain in the Arsenal, general soccer at Playing for 90, and for Liberal Currents and Exponents Magazine in regards to politics, history and the associated matters.
Trent usually writes long-form articles about the club from a 10,000 foot view.
Twitter - @TRichard_Nelson

Ian

A 23-year-old from Bethesda, MD, which sits just outside of Washington, D.C. Ian has supported Everton since the 2013/14 season, back when NBC started broadcasting the Premier League in the U.S. Seeing as there were very few Americans playing abroad at the time, he gravitated toward Everton because of Tim Howard and hasn’t looked back since! Growing up playing soccer, Ian was a right or left back, so he’s always been a fan of Seamus Coleman and Leighton Baines. When not watching soccer — which doesn’t happen too often — he enjoys reading, specifically graphic novels and fictional works. He is also an avid runner, enjoys playing Ultimate Frisbee and loves alternative music.
Ian has taken over coverage of the Women’s team as well as covering post-game Three Thoughts for the Men’s side.
Twitter - @iandecker111

Geno

Geno is a 25 year old sports fanatic from New Jersey who has loved soccer since playing as a kid. He has been an Everton fan since the early Tim Howard (and Landon Donovan for that short period of time) days. His first ever jersey was a Leighton Baines top and the left back has always been his favorite at the club, but he also have a soft spot in his heart for Dominic Calvert-Lewin these days. If not watching sports or helping out at RBM on the School of Science podcast, he is typically playing video games, reading, or at his day job as a sports reporter in the tri-state area.
Geno uses his broadcasting experience to handle the technical details for the podcast.
Twitter - @G_KnowsSports

Pat

24 and currently living in Pennsylvania, but grew up in New Jersey. Tim Cahill instantly caught his eye in the 2006 World Cup with Australia when he noticed he played for Everton. In the 2010 World Cup, Tim Howard and Landon Donovan’s heroics led him to find out they were also Blues with Timmy and that’s right around the time Pat started avidly supporting the Club. his favorite players over the years have been Tim Cahill, Nikica Jelavić, and Leighton Baines, and his current favorite player is Richarlison. Outside of writing about and watching Everton, he enjoys jogging, reading, and watching a plethora of other sports, with the New Jersey Devils and Cincinnati Bengals being his favorite teams along with Everton.
Pat covers the Toffee Bites, collecting in one place all the Everton news of the day.
Twitter - @pmarefc

Matthew

Matthew is a 22-year-old living in Warrington, constantly cursing the fact his grandad basically declared him a Blue from birth. He’s followed football since Euro 2004 and Everton since the 2004-05 campaign when we finished fourth, so it’s been all downhill from there really! Nigel Martyn was his favourite player from that team and still probably his favourite Everton player during the entire time he’s followed them - after Leighton Baines, of course. He’s been a season ticket holder since Roberto Martinez’s first season and is desperate to return to Goodison as soon as it’s safe to do so again. A journalism graduate, he enjoys reading and writing a lot, but also tries to do as much running and cycling as possible, and he also likes to spend a lot of time listening to the sort of music which everyone he knows seems to find miserable and/or mind-numbingly boring.
Matthew is a mainstay of the site covering all manner of articles for the site as well as co-hosting the podcast.
Twitter - @chandler98_

Tom

Tom is a 37-year-old freelance sports journalist and lives in Manchester (UK). He grew up near Liverpool and has family from the city, so when it came to which team to support, he was never given a choice: it was Blue all the way. He has been lucky enough to have a season ticket on and off for the past 20 years, with only University and work commitments limiting his trips to Goodison. Tom’s hero growing up, like many fans his age, was Duncan Ferguson, and he remains so to this day. The sight of Big Dunc hurtling down the touchline against Chelsea last December took him right back to his childhood! He is also one of the original members of the RBM family, helping to launch the site all the way back in 2010.
Tom continues to be an active writer on the site covering previews and breaking news.
Twitter - @TomMallows_

Brian F

He is 35 and resides in Virginia, about 30 miles south of the American capital. Brian grew up playing soccer and has been an Everton fan since Tim Howard joined the Blues, and his passion has only grown since. His favorite player is Phil Jagielka, who always played like it was his last match. When he is not taking in all things Everton or coaching soccer, he can be found outside working on his farm, playing drums and bass in his band, Noble Experiment, or working on his FIFA Ultimate Team.
Brian F is our resident graphic artist with an eye for tactics.
Twitter - @foleysthoughts

Pete

Pete has been a tortured Blue since attending a 2-0 win over Manchester City in February 1996. Despite now living in Spain, he remains a season ticket holder in the Gwladys Street End and comes over for 5 to 10 games per year, with his friends groaning on his behalf for the other games. He is the founder of urban cycling website Discerning Cyclist and sports site, SQaF.club.
Pete covers the Everton youth sides while indulging his penchant for stats on the Men’s side too.
Twitter - @discerningcyc

Brian L

Brian is 30 and resides in St. Louis. He grew up playing soccer, and still plays along with coaching. He first became a fan of Everton when he watched the 1-0 win over Manchester United in 2005. The noise of the crowd and jubilation of the players reminded him of his time at college football games in the US. Brian then started writing about Everton back in 2010 for The Everton Offside, and joined RBM when they were acquired by SB Nation later that year. If he’s not playing or coaching soccer he’s probably doing something with college football or playing video games.
Brian L is the elder statesman of the blog and covers financial matters pertaining to the club.
Twitter - @Brian_Goodison

Calvin

Calvin is a 41-year-old father of a newborn who is quickly realizing that supporting Everton is much like having a baby - some moments of sheer ecstasy and pride that wells up inside you until you want to burst, generously interspersed with spells of frustration, sleepless nights and screaming, so much screaming. Born and raised in Kenya and currently living in Boston, he has been an Everton fan since the heydays of the mid-80s and his favourite Toffee is Leighton Baines. When not here on RBM, he’s usually reading, gardening, and watching and writing about Juventus (Black & White & Read All Over) and the Buffalo Sabres (Die By The Blade). Also a diehard member of #BillsMafia, so lock up your folding tables.
Twitter - @Mr_Faded_Glory

So there you go, that’s our team. Now we’d like to get to know you readers a bit better, so please tell us a bit more about yourselves in the comments below!