“Everton is known as a family club, and right now we are a family who need support.” And Everton will provide it.

On Monday night the club’s new stadium will light up to support the cause of Rupert Smith, an eight-month old baby who is battling a one in one million condition that makes his life a constant fight against the threat of paralysis and seizures.

His family hope it will be a moment of unity, one that raises awareness of his condition, Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood, and an occasion they can all draw strength from. Their hope is that supporters will also hold a minute’s applause for their brave little boy in the seventh minute of the match against Manchester United - he was seven months old when he received his diagnosis.

Speaking ahead of the...