After the previous season's "houdini" escape act which preserved Everton's top flight status, manager Mike Walker was expected to take the club forward and challenge for honours.

From Royle's appointment to the close of the season the club were firmly in the top six of the form guide, beating champions Manchester United at home and winning away at Chelsea amongst other highlights, leading to Shoot!

League survival was not guaranteed until May however due to the club's poor start, and was secured following a 1–0 win away at already relegated Ipswich Town in the penultimate game of the season.

Royle began a sequence when Everton went four-and-a-half calendar years unbeaten in Merseyside derbies, and masterminded a memorable 4–1 demolition of Tottenham Hotspur in the 1995 FA Cup Semi-Final.

Everton fans were given more hope of sustained success after the season was over, when it was announced that the club had agreed to sign Russian winger Andrei Kanchelskis from Manchester United for a then-club record fee of £5 million.