The 2017–18 season was Everton's 64th consecutive season in the top flight of English football and their 140th year in existence. They participated in the Premier League, FA Cup, EFL Cup, and UEFA Europa League. Everton had a disappointing start to the campaign, leading to the dismissal of manager Ronald Koeman in October after a 5–2 home loss to Arsenal, Koeman sacked just 2 months into his second campaign in charge after guiding Everton into the UEFA Europa League in an impressive first season at the club. It was over a month after his departure that Sam Allardyce took over from interim manager David Unsworth, as prime target, Watford manager Marco Silva, was unable to be released from a contract with The Hornets to take over at Goodison Park. The fiasco led to a legal suit after Silva was controversially sacked by Watford after a downturn in results following his failure to secure the Everton job, and when Silva took over at Everton in the 2018–19 season, Everton were forced to pay £4 million in compensation to Watford for what was described as "an unwarranted approach" whilst Silva was still at Watford. Allardyce guided the club to 8th in the league, but could not prevent exits in the Europa League group stage and the FA Cup third round. Allardyce was dismissed at the conclusion of the season, with Everton's fans criticising Allardyce's style of play on a number of occasions; the club stated "The decision is part of a long-term plan".