Players – Everton FC Heritage Society

Sir Daniel E. A. Pettit – A Cambridge Blue

16

Sep

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1930-1939, Latest, Players, Richard Gillham

Sir Daniel E. A. Pettit – A Cambridge Blue

Everton amateur footballer, Olympian, Wartime Major and Captain of industry Richie Gillham and Dr David France Daniel Pettit (Liverpool Footprints) Sir Daniel Eric Arthur Pettit was a Liverpool-born amateur footballer who represented Great Britain in football at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games and signed and played for Everton at amateur level in the same year. He served as an officer in the Royal Artillery during the Second World War and went on to enjoy a successful career in British industry. Pettit was born in Liverpool on 19 February 1915, one of six children born to Thomas Edgar Pettit, a bookkeeper…

16

Sep

By Rob Sawyer

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1930-1939, 1940-1949, 1950-1959, Latest, Players, Rob Sawyer

Cliff Britton – A Life in Football

Rob Sawyer Part 1 – The Player Cliff Britton was Everton’s first manager in the modern sense of the word, yet it is for his footballing feats at Goodison Park in the 1930s that he is most celebrated. His Everton playing career overlapped that of Harry Catterick, yet their experiences as managers and players at the School of Science contrasted sharply. Whilst Catterick’s modest playing career was a precursor to managerial triumphs. Britton’s, ultimately disappointing, tenure in the Goodison hot seat was at odds with a playing career which saw him hailed as one of the country’s finest half-backs. Clifford…

04

Sep

By Rob Sawyer

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Events, Latest, Players, Rob Sawyer

Everton Goalkeepers History Evening

Everton FC Heritage Society’s talks and social nights September 2026-May 2027 Report by Rob Sawyer The autumn-winter 2026/27 programme of Everton FC Heritage Society’s talk and social nights got underway in fine style with an evening dedicated Everton goalkeepers through the ages – from George Bargery to Jordan Pickford and Courtney Brosnan. The Denbigh Castle pub once again proved a fabulous host venue for the evening, offering the Society the use of its downstairs function room. Society vice-chair and instigator of the talk nights, Mike Royden gave a brief update on Society activities, before the microphone was passed to fellow-member…

Everton Is Him and He Is Everton – Trish Lyons

28

Aug

By Becky Tallentire

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1970-1979, Books, Latest, Players

Everton Is Him and He Is Everton – Trish Lyons

Becky Tallentire [Trish Lyons: Born Patricia Maloney, 2 June 1957, Dublin, Republic of Ireland] Dad was Irish and came over to England on business. He met and fell in love with mum and eventually took her back to Dublin with him. He was a tailor by trade and owned a shop called Louis Copeland on Capel Street in Dublin. Louis was his business partner and the master tailor; he cut the cloth and was the real craftsman in the partnership. It was the most acclaimed tailors in Ireland and probably still is, because it’s still running to this day. Mum…

28

Aug

By Richie Gillham

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1890-1899, Latest, Players, Richard Gillham

The Goodall Brothers and Everton FC

Richie Gillham with David France The Goodall brothers occupy an intriguing place in football history. Despite having Scottish parents and being raised in Kilmarnock, the brothers were ineligible to play for Scotland because of their birthplaces. John was born in London in 1863 and Archie in Belfast in 1864. As a result, they became the first brothers to represent different national teams - John scoring 12 times in his 14 appearances for England and Archie scoring two goals in his 10 outings for Ireland. While both Archie and John turned out for Everton in the pre-League era when the club…

1966 and All That – Everton FC FA Cup Winners and the World Cup at Goodison Park

17

Aug

By Mike Royden

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1960-1969, Events, Latest, Mike Royden, Players

1966 and All That – Everton FC FA Cup Winners and the World Cup at Goodison Park

Mike Royden [This was part of a day anniversary event entitled Do Look Back! Bob Dylan, the Adelphi, Football glory, Liver Birds and Liverpool on TV in 1966, hosted by Liverpool History Society, (not EFCHS) at the Sefton Suite, Adelphi Hotel, relating to the 1966 visit to Liverpool by Bob Dylan and the FA Cup win by Everton.] Part of the famous photoshoot by Barry Feinstein - Dylan at Dublin Street off the Dock Road. In an event mostly attended by members of the Liverpool History Society for their 25th Anniversary, plus a number of Dylan fans, it seemed a tall…

From Kirkby Boys to Colwyn Bay; via Catterick’s Everton and a trip to Keflavik!

12

Aug

By Jamie Yates

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1960-1969, 1970-1979, 1980-1989, Jamie Yates, Latest, Players

From Kirkby Boys to Colwyn Bay; via Catterick’s Everton and a trip to Keflavik!

Keith Williams: A Goalkeeper's Tale Jamie Yates Keith Williams was born at home, 21 Max Road in Knotty Ash, on 21 September 1952. Due to his father Oswald’s ill health, the Williams family relocated to Kirkby to live with his aunt Violet during the ‘Big Freeze’ of winter 1962. Everton Football Club were midway through their 1962/63 League Championship winning season at the time, and the extreme weather conditions caused much consternation as fixtures were cancelled up and down the country over the festive period. Keith attended Park Brow Junior School in Kirkby where he started taking his football a…

A Bump in the Road to Immortality, or the Making of a Football Icon?

11

Aug

By Jamie Yates

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1920-1929, 1930-1939, History, Jamie Yates, Latest, Players

A Bump in the Road to Immortality, or the Making of a Football Icon?

Marking the centenary of the motorcycle accident which drove Dixie Dean to even greater heights . Jamie Yates . Star Green ‘Un, 2 January 1926 Sunday, 20 June 1926, a sunny summer’s day like any other. Two young people from Birkenhead with the world at their feet - nineteen-year-old professional footballer Bill Dean, and his friend, twenty-one-year-old draper’s assistant Evelyn Jones, tennis partners who played in Birkenhead Park close by to their respective childhood homes, set off for a jaunt on Dean’s recently purchased New Imperial motorcycle. By around four o’clock that afternoon they found themselves across the border in…

Alan Kelly – The Son of ‘Mr. Preston North End’ and Goalkeeping Guru to ‘A Modern-Day Everton Legend’

04

Aug

By Paul Owens

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Latest, Paul Owens, Players

Alan Kelly – The Son of ‘Mr. Preston North End’ and Goalkeeping Guru to ‘A Modern-Day Everton Legend’

Paul Owens Earlier this summer, it was announced that Preston North End would play their Carabao Cup first-round tie against Huddersfield Town at Goodison Park on Saturday 8 August 2026, due to ongoing pitch renovations – i.e. the installation of a hybrid pitch – at their Deepdale home. In a previous piece for this website, I wrote about the quite extraordinary goalkeeping links between Everton and the Lilywhites, a piece which starts with a biography of James Trainer – Preston’s two-time title-winning goalkeeper of the nineteenth century – and ends with a reference to George Pickford, the Blues’ highly-rated Preston-born…

The Glovesmen of ‘Jocko Land’ – Everton’s Scottish Goalkeeping History

23

Jul

By Paul Owens

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Articles, Latest, Paul Owens, Players

The Glovesmen of ‘Jocko Land’ – Everton’s Scottish Goalkeeping History

Paul Owens Over the decades, Scottish goalkeepers have often found themselves the butt of many a cruel joke south of the border. In 1961, after England had humiliated the ‘Auld Enemy’ 9-3 at Wembley, the cheeky response of ‘almost ten past Haffey’ was frequently heard being given to any Scots who had asked to know what the time was. The retort made reference to Frank Haffey, Celtic and Scotland’s misfortunate last line of defence, who found himself winning just his second international cap that day – and only really doing so because of injuries to the more experienced goalkeeping trio…