1900-1909

Clarence Berry, Everton’s Rugby Playing Goalkeeper
08
Jul
By Tony Onslow
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1900-1909, Articles, Members Work, Players, Tony Onslow, , ,

Clarence Berry, Everton’s Rugby Playing Goalkeeper

Clarence Herbert Berry was the first man to sign for Everton having previously played Rugby League football at senior level. He was born on 4 October 1886, and was the fourth child of Frank and Alice who ran a grocery business on Buick Street in Warrington. Berry had begun to serve an apprenticeship as a pattern maker when he began his football career playing under association rules for a local amateur team with the name of Warrington Albion. He then switched codes and signed for Warrington Rugby League club at their Wilderspool home. Clarence Berry made his debut on 25…
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08
Mar
By Tony Onslow
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1900-1909, Articles, History, Members Work, Players, Tony Onslow

Winterhalder and Dawson, Everton Wingers

Arthur Winterhalder Signed to cover the abrupt exit of the Wilson brothers, Arthur Winterhalder, a promising outside left, joined Everton from West Ham United. He was descended from a family of clockmakers who had emigrated from Germany to settle in the Marylebone area of London. His father Richard did not choose to follow this profession but decided instead to enlist in the 3rd Dragoon Guards and was stationed at Colchester when he married local girl, Martha Gibbons. Around 1878 Richard left the army to work as a carter at Stratford in London. In 1883 he took up a position as…
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Sam Strettle
05
Feb
By Tony Onslow
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1900-1909, Articles, History, Members Work, Players, Tony Onslow, WW1, , , , , ,

Sam Strettle

Born at the family-owned foundry on 2 February 1886, Sammy Strettle was the sixth child of Thomas who, along with his father-in-law, manufactured iron files at 125 Knutsford Road in Warrington. His mother's name was Elizabeth. By 1901, with the foundry now closed, the Strettle family had decamped to nearby Fothergill Street where Sammy had found employment in a wire works. Census records revealed that his father later became a works manager and, at the time of the 1911 survey, had moved the family home to Prescot on the outskirts of Liverpool. In the meantime, Sam Strettle had obtained employment…
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05
Feb
By Tony Onslow
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1900-1909, Articles, Tony Onslow,

Only Once a Blue (Part 9): John Hannan

Conveniently situated on the North East coast of Scotland, the seaport of Dundee earned for itself the title of 'Juteopolis' because of the large quantities of the vegetable fibre imported to the town which were then spun into rope and canvas. The Tayside town also imported a large amount of flax from the Baltic countries, which was used to make linen. This form of industry provided employment for a budding young footballer with the name of John Hannan, born 28 April 1884, at 53 Hospital Wynd. He was the 2nd child of Daniel, a jute mill overseer, and Jane. The…
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William Wildman
02
Jan
By Tony Onslow
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1900-1909, History, Members Work, Tony Onslow

William Wildman

Full back William Wildman was invited to join Everton in 1903, having been spotted playing with local amateur team, Queens Road Mission. No fee was involved, but the Goodison Park club made a donation to the mission of £6 7s 6d. [Today worth around £800]. Their new recruit had been born 5 March 1880, and was the seventh child of Allison, a shipwright, and his wife, Elizabeth. At that time the family lived in Exley Street, but in the 1901 census, they were recorded as living in Richmond Grove, where William had found employment as a commercial clerk. Kept out…
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20
Oct
By Tony Onslow
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1900-1909, Articles, History, Members Work, Players, Tony Onslow

John Donaldson, a Blue from Garnock Valley

The second player to come to Everton from the King's Park club in Stirling, John Donaldson arrived in Liverpool at the commencement of the 1904/05 football season, along with fellow Scotsmen William Black and John Hannan. The move, however, would also to impact upon the rest of his family. John Donaldson was born on 25 July 1885 at Beith in Ayrshire and was the third child born to Thomas – a cabinetmaker – and his wife, Margaret. The 1891 census revealed that the family had by then relocated to Falkirk, which was the birthplace of Thomas, and living at a…
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28
Sep
By Tony Onslow
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1900-1909, Articles, History, Members Work, Players, Tony Onslow

William Black, a Blue from the Hebrides

  Born within the sight and sound of burning sparks and roaring bellows, William Black was the first football player to arrive at Goodison Park who had been born in the mist-covered islands of the Inner Hebrides, where his father, Duncan, had chosen to make a home for himself and his wife, Catherine. The couple had first met – and married – at Blackburn Street in the Plantation area of Govan (now part of Glasgow) where their first child, Duncan junior, was born. Shortly after this event, Duncan accepted the position of Village Blacksmith at Torosay on the Island of…
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24
Jul
By Tony Onslow
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1900-1909, Articles, History, Members Work, Tony Onslow, WW1

John Crelley, an FA Cup Winner with Everton

When Everton reached the FA Cup Final in 1906 their opponents, Newcastle United, had previously done a 'league double' over them and were favourites to lift the trophy. The Merseyside club had reached this stage of the competition twice before and had been beaten on both occasions. This time, however, it was to be 'third time lucky' as the trophy found its way to Goodison Park. Playing for Everton that day at left-back was a man who, in many ways, epitomised the type of individual who shaped the development of Victorian Liverpool. His name was John Crelley and he was…
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11
Jul
By Tony Onslow
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1900-1909, 1910-1919, Articles, History, Members Work, Players, Tony Onslow, WW1

Jack Brearley, a Prisoner at Ruhleben

Jack Brearley, a Prisoner at Ruhleben. Located beneath the dark smoking chimneys of the gigantic Spandau Munitions Factory on the outskirts of Berlin, the harnessed horse racing track at Ruhleben was hurriedly turned in to an internment camp for the 5,000 or so British civilians who found themselves trapped inside Germany due to the outbreak of World War 1. The game of association football was still in its infant stages, and several of the men held captive, former professional football players, had answered an advertisement to come as trainers and help improve the standard of the game on mainland Europe.…
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30
Mar
By Tony Onslow
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1900-1909, 1910-1919, Articles, History, Members Work, Players, Tony Onslow, WW1, ,

Harry Grundy An Everton Winger

When Elizabeth Bradley moved to work in Liverpool from Chirk, she caught the eye of William Grundy, then working as a groom. They were married in 1870, at the Welsh Chapel dedicated to St David on Brownlow Hill. The couple settled at 4 Moorside in Neston where the head of the household worked as a Coachman. It was here, on 15 March 1883, that their sixth child Thomas Henry was born. He became known affectionately as Harry. The 1891 census found the family living at 25 Parkgate Road where William had become the clerk at the local parish church of…
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