For five seasons he was Everton's top scorer, notably scoring 23 goals in the Championship-winning side of 1969–70 and Manchester City manager Tony Book bought Royle for £170,000 in 1974 and he went on to claim further honours as he helped them to win the League Cup in 1976.
They also reached the FA Cup semi-finals that season, and held Manchester United to a 3–3 draw in the first match at Maine Road before losing the replay 2–1.
Incredibly, Royle was selected on the shortlist ahead of Terry Venables, the Tottenham Hotspur manager whose managerial CV included taking Barcelona to the Spanish league title and to a European Cup final, as well as guiding Queen's Park Rangers to an FA Cup final in 1982.
These included striker Graeme Sharp – one of the most accomplished goalscorers of the past decade – who was signed from Everton in 1991,[4] midfielder Mike Milligan (who was sold to Everton for £1million in 1990 and signed back for £600,000 a year later),[5] left back Earl Barrett (who was one of the most expensive defenders in England when he was sold to Aston Villa for £1.7million in early 1992)[6] and right-back Denis Irwin, who was signed on a free transfer from Leeds United in 1986 and was sold to Manchester United for £625,000 in 1990, where he went on to win numerous domestic and European honours over the next 12 years.
A key game which helped ensure survival was a 5–1 home win over eventually relegated Luton Town, in which Graeme Sharp scored four goals.
[10] However, a late Manchester United equaliser put their FA Cup dream on ice in the Wembley semi-final and they were defeated 4–1 three days later in the Maine Road replay.
After defeating Tottenham Hotspur 4–1 in the FA Cup semi-final, they went on to beat Manchester United 1–0 in the final, which remains their most recent major trophy to date.
He then signed winger Gary Speed from Leeds United for £3.5 million in the summer of 1996, and paid a club record £5.75 million for Middlesbrough forward Nick Barmby later in 1996, but Everton's form in 1996–97 was less convincing and on transfer deadline day in 1997 he was not permitted to sign Norwegians Tore André Flo and Claus Eftevaag by chairman Peter Johnson, which led to his resignation.
[15] Everton were just four points above the relegation zone when Royle resigned, their form having dipped since the sale of Andrei Kanchelskis to Fiorentina two months earlier.
Royle's services were retained and he delivered an instant promotion the following season, as City beat Gillingham on penalties in the 1999 Division Two play-off final after drawing 2–2 in open play.
In November 2007, Royle was under serious consideration for the Leicester City and Wigan Athletic managerial roles, but decided to pull out of the running for both.
[23] During his break from management, Royle co-commentated alongside the likes of John Helm and Tony Jones on Five's UEFA Cup Football coverage.
On 14 July of the same year, Royle was appointed to help oversee the youth development at Everton, alongside David Unsworth.
On 12 May 2016, following the departure of Roberto Martinez, Royle assisted Unsworth in taking charge of Everton's final game of the season against Norwich.