History

The Allan Maxwell Story

The Allan Maxwell Story

When Allan Maxwell decided to leave his native Scotland to play professional football, he had no idea that eventually he would be involved in one of the most peculiar transfers that ever happened in Victorian England. He was born on 2 April 1869 in the Lanarkshire town of Dalziel, now part of Motherwell, where his father worked as a coal miner. The 1871 census found the family had moved to 30 Sunnyside Rows in Cambuslang where young Allan was recorded as being two years old. By 1881 the Maxwell family had moved to 5 Windsor Street in the town of Hamilton where Allen attended school. Leaving school in his mid-teens, he joined his father working at the mine. It was around this…
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‘Hot Toddy’: Son of my Father (Part 8)

‘Hot Toddy’: Son of my Father (Part 8)

Colin and Andy Todd An Interview with Steve Zocek Signing on for Everton, Colin pictured with manager Gordon Lee Colin Todd made his Everton bow at the age of thirty. It’s only fair to say that his best days were behind him when he arrived at Goodison. Colin’s stay on Merseyside was a brief thirty-two games, scoring one goal in a 3-1 away victory, against what would be his next club, Birmingham City. Playing 661 career games in the Football League, and winning twenty seven England caps, tells its own story of Colin. Andy Todd was the son of Colin,…
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A Tribute to Alexander ‘Sandy’ Young

A Tribute to Alexander ‘Sandy’ Young

Everton honour 1906 cup hero Sandy Young by Lyndon Lloyd | 03/09/2014 Alex 'Sandy' Young was honoured today in Edinburgh Everton FC and Everton Heritage Society unveiled a new headstone in Edinburgh's Seafield cemetery today to mark the grave of Alex 'Sandy' Young, one of the club's first legends. Still the fourth-highest goalscorer in Everton's history, Young was the scorer of the winning goal in the 1906 FA Cup Final win over Newcastle United that clinched the trophy for the Blues for the first time. In all, he found the net 127 times in 314 appearances in the decade between…
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The ‘real’ story behind Everton’s enduring anthem Z-Cars

The ‘real’ story behind Everton’s enduring anthem Z-Cars

"When did Everton first run out to Z-Cars at Goodison?" We’re closer than we’ve ever been to a definitive answer     Goodison Park, home of Everton FC   It's a question which has been asked almost as many times as it has been played: When did Everton first run out to Z-Cars at Goodison? And today, thanks to some splendid research from the Everton Heritage Society, we’re closer than we’ve ever been to a definitive answer. That’s closer. But still not spot on. Because a mystery which has lasted half-a-century deserves to retain some allure.  And a theme as evocative,…
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Harry Catterick’s Centenary

Harry Catterick’s Centenary

Last Friday, the Everton FC Heritage Society organised and hosted the ‘Catterick 100’ event to celebrate the life and achievements of Harry Catterick - who would have turned 100 on 26th November. He is remembered and celebrated on the Blue half of Merseyside for his stellar managerial achievements in the 1960s. His trophy haul for the Toffees has been eclipsed only by Howard Kendall. Attendees at the celebration event, held in the People’s Club Lounge at Goodison Park, included members of the Catterick family, Heritage Society members, club officials and supporters. Master of ceremonies, Ken Rogers, led the attendees through…
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Everton – Bridgetown Barbados

Everton – Bridgetown Barbados

Whilst researching the famous name of Everton around the world, I discovered that there was a very successful team in Barbados which lasted into the latter part of the 20th century. The Barbados Football Association (BFA) was founded in 1910 and celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2010. Originally named the Barbados Amateur Football Association, that name was changed in 1925. The Everton FC of Barbados was founded/established in 1935 in Greater Bridgetown, The name Reynold Culpepper comes to mind as a founder but no evidence has been found as of yet on his involvement , the club was relatively successful…
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A Delve into the Everton Collection

Some of this season’s EFC Heritage Society articles are produced in partnership with the Everton Collection, the unrivalled archive of over 10,000 historical football treasures. In 2007 in order to ensure the archive remained intact for future generations, an initiative was formed with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, to purchase David France’s memorabilia. Everton FC also gifted its own memorabilia to form The Everton Collection Charitable Trust. The Collection is located at Liverpool Record Office at Liverpool Central Library where it is preserved and conserved in purpose-built archive accommodation meeting the highest standards for long-term preservation and under the…
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Only Once a Blue, William Rowley

Only Once a Blue, William Rowley

When Everton began their first season at Goodison Park, they needed cover in the position of goalkeeper due to the tragic loss of John Angus following their Championship success at Anfield. Overtures were made to the Scottish international at the time, Jim Wilson, but he could not be lured away from his position at Vale of Leven. So Everton invited Stoke player William Rowley to join them on a visit to Scotland. Born in November 1865 in the Potteries town of Hanley, he was the child of Charles, a clerk, and his wife Sarah. By 1871 however, Sarah was no longer alive and William, along with his father, was living at the home of his grandparents in Hanley. By 1881 he'd moved in with his aunt…
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Everton FC’s 1909 pre-season tour of South America, Edwardian style

Everton FC’s 1909 pre-season tour of South America, Edwardian style

The amazing story of Everton's pioneering 1909 tour of South America In the summer months of 1909 a 13-strong Everton FC playing staff led by two directors and a trainer, together with travelling companions Tottenham Hotspur, travelled 14,000 miles and spent more than six weeks at sea, visiting Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina – “to introduce and develop first class football.” Their story is a fascinating one – and thanks to the diligence of director E. Bainbridge and an exhaustive tour diary he produced for the Echo, the story of the ground-breaking tour can be retold a century later. So settle…
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When The Toffees Outshone The Blades – Anfield Under Illumination

When The Toffees Outshone The Blades – Anfield Under Illumination

The year 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.…
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