Category: Members Work

In 1966, England was the host nation for the world’s most glamourous football event. Seven cities were chosen to stage games, with Liverpool being one. London,Manchester, Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Birmingham and Sheffield completed the set. Goodison Park in those days was a top stadium with great facilities and a capacity over 60,000. The stadium was admired and envied by many clubs in England, but this was to be shown to a worldwide audience. World champions Brazil played Bulgaria in Group 3 at Goodison Park on 12th July in front of 47,308 fans. There were no surprises as Brazil led at the break through a goal from the young Pele. The lead was doubled 27 mins from time as Garrincha secured the victory. The locals around L4 were certainly getting to grips with World Cup fever, as parentsorganised street parties for their children, draping bunting from house to house, commemorating the world’s greatest competition.   Seventy two hours later, the Brazilians returned to Goodison to face Hungary before...

Those of us who have attended Goodison Park on a matchday have always been familiar with the figure of a lady dressed in a blue and white dress, an apron, quaint bonnet and carrying a basket of Everton mints. She tosses handfuls of the black and white humbugs into the sections of the stadium, as she walks the perimeter of the pitch, with eagerly awaiting fans clutching whatever they can catch. The fans take for granted this ritual, which goes back to a date we can’t be precise on, but the duty was certainly performed in the 1950’s and possibly earlier. I recently made contact with someone who was a Toffee lady and only lived a stone’s throw away from Goodison Park. Gillian Francis made her “debut” as a Toffee lady in August 1977 on the opening day of a new season as newly promoted Nottingham Forest, managed by Brian Clough, came to experience life in the top flight. The criteria which...