When The Toffees Outshone The Blades – Anfield Under Illumination – Richard Gillham

When The Toffees Outshone The Blades – Anfield Under Illumination – Richard Gillham

by Richie Gillham Comment Closed
1878 not only saw the foundation of the football team that would become Everton FC but, in October of that year, the first experiments in playing artificially-illuminated matches. At Sheffield United’s Bramhall Lane ground, dynamo-powered lamps were mounted on timber gantries to provide the light for a match contested by teams made up of representatives from local clubs. The ‘Blues’ ran out 2-0 winners. But it was here on Merseyside, on 8th January 1890, that one of the most significant trials of this nascent technology occurred. On this occasion Paraffin-fuelled lamps, manufactured by A. C. Wells & Co. of Manchester, and normally used for industrial use, were deployed. The Blades were the visitors to Everton’s Anfield ground for the 7pm kick-off. By why Anfield? According to the Liverpool Courier: ‘Anfield is perhaps the best arena in the county for such experiments as the high stands serve to contain the light within the required area.’ The novelty of this innovation...
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The Birth of Sponsorship -KEN ROGERS

by ken rogersNo Comments
I was asked what appeared to be a fairly straightforward Everton FC quiz question recently but failed miserably with my answer. To be fair, it was a Richarlison-style curved ball, linked with the first known commercial sponsors of a Goodison Park fixture. I thought I started well by suggesting Hafnia and NEC but I wasn’t even close. Linked with today’s visitors I was told that the answer had a Manchester connection and links to lifeboats, a beefy end-product and an historical light spectacular. In the end I turned to a classic source of information for the answer by viewing the comprehensive Everton Collection website. A quick search turned up a photograph of one of the gold winner’s medals handed out that day. The date was 1893 when it was ‘cheers!’ to . . . Bovril, our first match sponsors. This steaming bovine-based beverage was first introduced in 1884, four years before we became one of the founder members of the Football League....
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KitAid and the Everton family – Richie Gillham and Rob Sawyer

by Richie Gillham Comment Closed
KitAid, founded in 1998, donates used and new (surplus) shirts to teams in various parts of the world Kit Aid shirts in Malawi Everton's links to KitAid date back to 2014 with the passing of John Mulcahy, a lifelong Blue, at the age of 47. John's parents kindly gifted his collection of 23 Everton shirts to KitAid (www.kitaid.net). This charity, founded in 1998, donates used and new (surplus) shirts to teams in various parts of the world - each year recycling approximately 15 tonnes of unwanted kit which would otherwise might have gone to landfill. John's shirts went to a group of young men in Malawi who renamed their team as Mulcahy's Young Soccer in his honour. When Denise Barrett-Baxendale became aware of the gesture she put the Mulcahy family in touch with EFC Heritage Society. Consequently a donation station was set up at the Society's exhibition space, upstairs at St Luke's Church Hall, before Everton's home...
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Everton – The Baseball Years – Richie Gillham & Rob Sawyer

by Richie Gillham Comment Closed
The BATS British American Tobacco Team with John Moores (2nd from left in hat), circa 1935 Baseball may be a minority sport in the UK but 80 years ago Merseyside was a hotbed of this popular American pastime. Had it not been for the outbreak of War in 1939 perhaps it would have gained a proper foothold in our sporting life. Folklore has it that William Ralph ‘Dixie’ Dean was once introduced to the legendary Babe Ruth (of Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees fame) at a football match. Dean recalled to journalist John Roberts his encounter with Babe. The American introduced himself in typical style by booming: "You’re that Dixie Dean guy! Jeez, you’ll get some cash today." When Dean explained that his wages – capped at £8/wk – were not linked to the number of spectators through the turnstiles, Ruth reportedly exclaimed: "Jesus Christ! I’d demand two-thirds of this gate!" Dean, himself, would dabble in the American...
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