Rob Sawyer – Page 6 – Everton FC Heritage Society

12

Mar

1 Comment

1930-1939, 1960-1969, Articles, Members Work, Players, Rob Sawyer

Dixie’s Sunset, Bally’s Sunrise

Ashton's Everton Connection Ashton-Under-Lyne, six miles to the east of Manchester, is dominated by a huge Ikea store and known by football trivia fanatics as the birthplace of Sir Geoff Hurst. Yet it is another Hurst that connects this Tameside town with Everton Football Club. Hurst FC was founded in 1878 (a familiar ring to it for Evertonians), playing its first reported fixture the following year. Within two years the club had relocated to the Hurst Cross ground and remains there to this day – one of the longest residences in football. The team has muddled along in regional leagues…

01

Mar

By Rob Sawyer

5 Comments

1920-1929, 1930-1939, Articles, Directors, History, Members Work, Players, Rob Sawyer

The Life of Hunter Hart

Hunter Hart was always recognisable by a distinctive quiff which pre-dated that of Wolves' Billy Wright. He served Everton with distinction on the field in the 1920s and behind a desk in the 1930s but, unfortunately, his association with the club he loved was to end prematurely, as was his life. Born on Glasgow on 11 March 1897 to Alexander (a carter) and Jessie, Hart grew up less than half a mile from Celtic's stadium. By the age of 14, living in Shettleston, Lanarkshire, he had lost the sight in one eye, in what was described as 'a childhood accident'.…

28

Feb

By Rob Sawyer

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1980-1989, History, Members Work, Rob Sawyer

Easy’ – The Mick Heaton Story

Mick Heaton was an ebullient and wholehearted full-back who captained Blackburn Rovers to promotion to the Second Division in 1975, later assisting player-manager Howard Kendall as the Ewood Park club came tantalizingly close to reaching the top flight in 1981. On Merseyside, he was a vital part of the managerial team which led Everton to an unprecedented period of glory. To a younger generation of football supporters, Mick’s name might not ring any bells, so, to coincide with the 25th anniversary of his untimely passing, this article celebrates his life and achievements. A Yorkshire Terrier James Michael Heaton was a…

Initials T.G. – Researching Tommy Jones, The Prince of Centre-Halves

25

Feb

By Rob Sawyer

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1930-1939, 1940-1949, Books, Members Work, Players, Rob Sawyer, WW2

Initials T.G. – Researching Tommy Jones, The Prince of Centre-Halves

William Ralph “Dixie” Dean sits unchallenged as the king of Goodison Park. Joining him in the Royal Blue dynasty is the Prince of Centre Halves: Thomas George Jones. Tommy, as his friends knew him, was so famous in his pomp for Everton and Wales that he was known merely by his initials - T.G. Devouring Everton history books as a youngster, I would read of this artist in the Blues’ half-back line. Dominant in the air, immaculate on the ground and possessing a rocket-like shot, T.G. was so confident in his own ability that he would dribble in his own…

George Sharples Remembered by Rob Sawyer

25

Feb

By Rob Sawyer

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1960-1969, Articles, History, Members Work, Players, Rob Sawyer

George Sharples Remembered by Rob Sawyer

George Sharples, who passed away on 14 December 2020, aged 77, had been one of nine surviving players to have played a part in Everton’s title-winning season of 1962-63 (the others being Jimmy Gabriel, Mick Meagan, John Morrissey, Derek Temple, Tony Kay, Billy Bingham, Ray Veall and Frank Wignall). George Sharples c.1961 A son of Ellesmere Port, he was born on 20 September 1943, to parents James and Florence, who ran a large and successful newsagent business in Overpool. A student at Wirral Grammar School – a rugby-playing establishment – George always had soccer as his first sporting love. He…

Goodison Park, a Greyhound Stadium and Walton Hall Park

25

Feb

By Rob Sawyer

1 Comment

1920-1929, Articles, Goodison, History, Rob Sawyer

Goodison Park, a Greyhound Stadium and Walton Hall Park

The Lily Parr statue at the National Football Museum Everton and the Rise, Fall and Revival of Women’s Football This December marks a centenary of one of the most significant football matches played at Goodison Park – but it did not involve Everton FC. The participants were Preston’s Dick, Kerr Ladies FC and their St. Helens counterparts. The festive season match, in front of a record crowd for a women’s match, suggested that the women’s game was on the way to establishing itself as a mainstream spectator sport. 15 years later Dick, Kerr Ladies - rebadged as Preston Ladies -…

Tommy E Jones: A Gentleman on and off the Pitch

02

Feb

By Rob Sawyer

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1950-1959, Articles, History, Members Work, Rob Sawyer

Tommy E Jones: A Gentleman on and off the Pitch

The telegram was succinct: ‘Best of Luck — may everything go well for you'. It had been sent by Tommy G Jones — the exalted Prince of Centre-Halves — to his namesake, 20-year-old Tommy E Jones, who was debuting for the Everton first team against Arsenal on 6 September 1950. Tommy (often referred to as T E Jones in football circles — short for Thomas Edwin) would have the burden of succeeding the supremely gifted and ‘T G'. Nonetheless, he'd go on to carve out his own place in the Gwladys Street Hall of Fame. Looking back when interviewed for Three Sides of…

07

Sep

By Rob Sawyer

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1890-1899, Articles, History, Members Work, Rob Sawyer

Jack Earp – The Gentleman Amateur

Martin John “Jack” Earp’s Everton appearances only just made it into double-figures yet his tale is worth telling. Born into a Nottingham printing family on 6 September 1872; his early footballing experience was with small teams in England’s lace capital. He went on to represent Nottingham Forest as a 'gentleman amateur', signing on in September 1889 and debuting in January 1890 in an East Midlands derby against, naturally, Derby. He was also selected for the famous Corinthians when only 17 years-old. Jack’s elder brother Fred would also represent Forest and later become the club’s secretary manager (1909-1912). In January 1891,…

02

Jul

By Rob Sawyer

2 Comments

1960-1969, Articles, Members Work, Rob Sawyer

Dennis Stevens: The Players’ Player

Two members of the same family left Dudley for Lancashire to pursue careers in the top echelon of English football. Duncan Edwards joined Manchester United as an amateur in 1952, making his debut at 16, the following year. He won 18 England caps and two League titles as a star of the Busby Babes but lost his life as a result of the Munich Air Disaster in February 1958 at the tender age of 20. It is one of football’s great ‘what ifs’ – could he have inspired the England team to World Cup glory before 1966? Less heralded is…

24

Jun

By Rob Sawyer

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1940-1949, Articles, Members Work, Rob Sawyer

Jack Humphreys – Blue Dragon

Jack Humphreys (courtesy Humphreys family) Tommy “T.G.” Jones is rightly hailed as an Everton great yet, for the post-war phase of his 14-year association with the Blues, he frequently found himself relegated to reserve team football. Although club politics and injury problems played a role in this state of affairs, so too did the form of T.G.'s fellow Welsh centre-half, Jack Humphreys. The son of the headmaster of Llandudno's Dyffryn Road Primary School, Jack (christened John Vaughan Humphreys) attended Friars School Grammar School in Bangor. As a teenager he played football for Llandudno Town in the Welsh League North. He became a student…