James Tarkowski has been unveiled as Everton’s fresh club captain, taking over from Seamus Coleman.
The Merseyside club announced the 33-year-old defender as their new skipper following Coleman’s exit after 17 and a half years with the Toffees.
Coleman accumulated a club-record 374 Premier League appearances and 435 across all competitions, displacing Dixie Dean and former teammate Leon Osman from Everton’s all-time top 10 list. The Republic of Ireland defender had held the captaincy since Phil Jagielka’s departure in 2019, though limited playing time in recent seasons meant Tarkowski had already led the side out on 105 occasions over the previous three campaigns.
The appointment of the player who has featured 159 times for Everton, scoring six goals, was announced alongside his programme notes for Saturday’s Premier League opener at home to Crystal Palace.
Tarkowski wrote as follows:
Good afternoon and welcome to Hill Dickinson Stadium for our first Premier League match of the new season against Crystal Palace.
These are also my first notes as captain and I have to start by expressing what an honour it is to lead this team.
To play for a massive club like Everton is special enough but to follow in the footsteps of some legendary names as captain means a huge amount to my family and me and it is truly one of the proudest moments of my career.
I’ve had the fortune of being led at Everton by an outstanding captain in Seamus Coleman. So many people in football rightly acknowledge what an inspirational leader he is and, while I’m fully aware of the big task it is to follow on from him, I know it’s important to continue the high standards Seamus set day in and day out, and ensure everyone appreciates what it means to represent Everton.
That includes new signings and, as well as welcoming back Merlin and Tyrique this summer, we were pleased for our squad to be strengthened by the arrivals of Hayden, Christian and Brennan.
All of them have settled in well and we are looking forward to everyone throughout the squad having a part to play as we look to kick on this season.
I feel we definitely made progress last term. It was an important first campaign here at our magnificent stadium, with new ownership and a lot of new faces, and I think the whole feeling around the club changed over the season.
It was a big disappointment to finish 2025/26 as we did and miss out on Europe – but there was so much good work for us to build on this time around.
Like everyone connected with Everton, I want this club to be right up there battling with the best. It’s where we should be. We’ve been through some tough moments during my time here but there’s a totally different feeling around the place these days and we have every reason to be optimistic about the direction we are heading in.
We know today won’t be an easy start for us. Crystal Palace have enjoyed some fantastic achievements over the past few seasons, winning the FA Cup and UEFA Conference League in that time, and they possess some talented players in their squad.
That includes a familiar face for us in Dwight who moved to Selhurst Park in the summer. Dwight is a close friend of mine, having been a teammate at both Burnley and Everton, and we all wish him all the best at Palace – after today!
We’re looking forward to having Evertonians behind us again this afternoon. It’s been said many times – and for good reason – but our fans are up there with the best in football.
With you behind us, the quality we have throughout the squad, a manager who knows all there is to know about Everton, and playing at this superb stadium, we can have genuine confidence for the season ahead.
Let’s hope that gets going today with three points.
Up The Toffees.
Tarky