Everton announce first domestic pre-season friendly of the summer

Everton earlier today announced that they would take on Championship side Blackpool in a pre-season friendly this summer.

The game is scheduled to take place at the Seasiders home at Bloomfield Road on Sunday July 24th, six days before the Championship season kicks off. The Blues play the second of their two-game United States tour midweek before that and are expected to fly straight back to Merseyside from Minneapolis.

Blackpool finished 16th in the English second tier last season, having gained promotion the year before from League One with a key contribution from Everton youngster Ellis Simms who spent the season on loan with them. Former Toffees Callum Connolly, Shayne Lavery, Josh Bowler and Luke Garbutt are also in their ranks.

The Blues have previously played the Seasiders in a recent pre-season friendly with the two sides fighting to an entertaining 3-3 draw in August 2020 before the start of the 2020-21 season. The hosts had raced into a three-goal lead in Carlo Ancelotti’s first summer in charge of the club within just eleven minutes, but the Blues were able to fight back from that embarrassment with a Dominic Calvert-Lewin goal and a Gylfi Sigurdsson brace to spare their blushes.

The last competitive game between the two sides was back in 2012 when Everton prevailed 2-0 at Goodison Park in the FA Cup Fifth Round, just a season after the Seasiders were relegated from the Premier League. That game featured rare appearances (and goals!) for Royston Drenthe and Denis Stracqualursi as the Blues cantered into the quarters.

Everton play against Arsenal in Baltimore on July 16th and then go to Minneapolis to take on Minnesota United on July 20th. The Blues are still in the planning stages to play against Dynamo Kyiv at Goodison Park, with no date scheduled as yet. The new Premier League season kicks off on August 6th for the Blues with a home clash against Chelsea.

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