As it turned out, Everton's battling draw away to Chelsea in mid-December would be their last action of 2021.
With injuries and illness severely depleting the squad available to Rafa Benitez, the visitors were forced to take pretty drastic measures with their line-up at Stamford Bridge.
Ellis Simms was handed a Premier League debut starting up front, before he was eventually replaced by an even younger striker in Lewis Dobbin as the match went on.
Young defender Jarrad Branthwaite was also given his first start of the campaign, and he was rewarded with his first ever Premier League goal after a brilliant display.
Meanwhile, Everton's bench only included seven players - two of whom were goalkeepers, and one of which was another teenager in Tyler Onyango.
But, those available players rallied together despite the circumstances to produce a brilliant performance and result, while Chelsea will say they had injury problems of their own despite the strength of side they still fielded.
Since then though, Everton haven't been able to play again.
READ MORE: Newcastle United release statement as Everton game postponed after Premier League request
READ MORE: Premier League explain decision to postpone Everton vs Newcastle United
Issues at Leicester caused the game immediately following the Chelsea match to be postponed. An outbreak and injuries at Finch Farm meant that the Boxing Day clash with Burnley was pushed back.
Most recently, just a day after taking Manchester United all the way with a battling 1-1 draw at St James' Park, Newcastle's request to postpone their game against Everton was granted by the Premier League.
Central to that, it's believed, is not necessarily a new wave of Covid cases - but injuries inside the Magpies squad.
Allan Saint-Maximin, Ryan Fraser and Callum Wilson are all reported to have picked up new problems in their draw with Ralf Rangnick's side - which has taken them below the threshold of available senior players that the Premier League deems acceptable.
But, surely these measures were not brought in to account for injuries? When has a selection dilemma for a manager been grounds to postpone a match in the past?
The Premier League backed themselves into a corner and set a precedent when they first confirmed that injuries would be considered a factor in pushing a game back.
Everton didn't have that luxury despite how threadbare their squad looked against Chelsea. There are even questions over how fit two senior players in Seamus Coleman and Allan actually were when taking their places on the bench for that game.
Perhaps if they had been deemed unfit then things might have been different.
The decision by the Premier League to not implement a blanket break across the division, with some suggesting a two-week hiatus would be appropriate, opened them up to controversy.
Deciding the fate of these matches on a case-by-case basis instead was always going to lead to confusion among the people that matter most in this, the fans.
Secrecy over injuries has increasingly become prevalent over all the sides in the Premier League, with the privacy of players of course needing to be respected in a lot of senses.
That has extended to potential positive Covid cases as well, with clubs not willing to share the private information of their squad members who have been forced into isolation.
That has all created a certain amount of confusion among fans, however, who can only look at matters on the face of things.
For example, Crystal Palace had a request to postpone their recent match against Tottenham Hotspur rejected - before eventually fielding a side which had just one change from their previous outing.
Are sides attempting to use this situation to their advantage?
Fans will probably never know the actual answer to this question because of the aforementioned secrecy involved, but many are already jumping to that conclusion.
For Everton, it's created a quite frustrating situation.
They were forced to make sweeping changes to their side when they came up against one of the best teams in the division earlier this month.
If a host of injuries at other sides have been considering for postponing other matches, it certainly seemed that the ball was dropped in this case.
However, the Blues proved that sides can deal with these issues. Premier League squads are large in the modern era, and each side has a wealth of youth talent that they can pluck from in these circumstances too.
Now though, any momentum that Everton potentially had from that rousing display has been evaporated.
Their 2021 ended on something of an upturn, but by the time they play Brighton (if that match survives the recent raft of postponements) it will be 17 days since their last game.
Manchester United's recent performance against Newcastle should be a warning about how a side can react badly to an extended period of time off.
Above all else, the fans are once again losing out.
How many supporters had festive trips to Goodison Park planned for Thursday, only for the match to be taken away at a late stage?
Many don't get the opportunity to go to every game, they could very well not be able to get time off for the rearranged fixture in the future.
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Ultimately, that is what has left so many frustrated.
The threshold for match postponements shouldn't involve injuries as well, or even suspensions as seems to be the case in a couple of cases.
It should have only been for Covid-related matters, and the Premier League shot themselves in the foot in the first instance they suggested otherwise.
Everton had to play one of the toughest matches of their season with a squad of 18 - including three goalkeepers, three teenagers and a Premier League debutant up front.
Other sides seem to have had games postponed for less than that.
