Michael Kenrick 25/10/2025 comments  |  Jump to last

The European football landscape has witnessed a branding shift that strikes an oddly dissonant note for fans of Everton Football Club (EFC). The former European Club Association (ECA), an influential body representing continental clubs, has formally rebranded itself as European Football Clubs (EFC).

The 'EFC' Conundrum

For Evertonians, "EFC" is a long-standing shorthand identifier for this historic club — an institution founded in 1878, two years after the chapel team St Domingo's FC. The rebrand by the pan-European organisation, announced at its General Assembly in Rome, immediately raises the spectre of identity confusion.

The European Football Clubs (EFC) institution is chaired by Paris Saint-Germain President Nasser Al-Khelaifi and has rapidly expanded its membership to over 800 clubs from 55 countries, asserting its role as the "unified voice of clubs" in consultation with Uefa and Fifa. While the organisation aims to "more clearly embody and communicate who the organisation represents", this move inadvertently steps on the toes of a club with a far deeper local and national history than the association itself.

Friedkin's Dual Role in the EFC and Everton FC

The situation is...