Interview – Everton FC Heritage Society

Tom Walker – Nonagenarian Toffee

0 Comments2020-2029, Articles, History, Interview, Latest, Rob Sawyer

By Rob Sawyer In April 2022, EFCHS members Rob Sawyer and Sarah from Mint Collective, caught up with 93-year-old Tom Walker in a café near his home in Upton. This venerable Toffee, accompanied by his son, Graham, discussed all things Evertonia, dating back to the 1930s. Below is an edited version of Tom’s vivid recollections, which originally appeared in The Black Watch fanzine (sold outside St Luke’s on selected matchdays by Tom, the editor) My dad used to go to Goodison with my Uncle Colin, they were staunch Evertonians. Dad taught me to be an Evertonian. He’d seen all the…

Ray Veall – honoured at last

0 Comments1960-1969, 2010-2019, Articles, Interview, Players, Rob Sawyer

'I played with great players... I just wish it had lasted longer' By Rob Sawyer Skegness-born Ray Veall, now 71, was a slightly-built outside-left who made an impact at Doncaster Rovers and placed himself on the radar of the two Harrys – Everton’s chief scout Cooke and boss Catterick. A £10,145 outlay was sufficient to persuade the Division Two outfit to part with their left-wing prodigy in the autumn of 1961. Veall recalled: “The coach called me in and said, ‘Harry Catterick wants to see you at the Earl of Doncaster Hotel.’ I caught the bus there by myself –…

The Technicoloured Wide World of Sports

2 Comments2020-2029, Articles, Interview, Members Work, Richard Gillham

The creator of the iconic image of Goodison Park: Archibald Leitch AN INTERVIEW WITH GEORGE CHILVERS by Richie Gillham Richie Gillham: Thanks for joining us, George. I think many of us have seen and admired your colourisations of old black and white football pictures. So, from the beginning, how did it start? George Chilvers: I was born and grew up in Liverpool in the 50s and 60s, and as a little lad I loved reading about football. I used to get football annuals at Christmas, and very rarely if I had saved up enough I'd buy a magazine, like Charles…

Son of My Father – The Tale of Two Joes

0 Comments1970-1979, Articles, History, Interview, Members Work, Players, Steve ZocekCeltic, Everton, Hibernian

Welcome to Part Five of Son of my Father. This time, I feature a football family from Glasgow: Joe McBride (Jnr) who played for Everton, and his father Joe McBride (Snr) who will be most remembered for his playing days at Celtic Park in the 1960’s. Joe senior actually had a great personal statistic by being top scorer at every club he played for. We start with Joe (Snr) who was born in 1938, a stone throws away from Rangers’ Ibrox Park. His football career began as a very young 15-year-old at Rugby Park, Kilmarnock. After 57 games and 24…

Son of My Father – Part 6

0 Comments1970-1979, Articles, History, Interview, Steve Zocek

Carry on Seargeant by Steve Zocek This latest article is quite an intriguing one, featuring Steve Seargeant and his son Christian who both played for Everton. Steve made 80 first team appearances for the Royal Blues with one goal in his Everton career, which came in a late September afternoon in 1974 with a memorable strike from 35 yards, which squirmed under the body of Leeds United goalkeeper David Harvey to open the scoring that afternoon. Everton went on to win the game 3-2 after an enthralling 90minutes. For the younger readers who were not aware of his goal, it can be seen on the YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/_SseuJApkZ0 Christian tells me that he never really…

Son of my Father – Part 7

0 Comments1970-1979, Articles, History, Interview, Members Work, Steve ZocekCoventry City, Everton FC, Wigan Athletic

THE KINGDOM OF RIOCH by Steve Zocek Some of you may be wondering why I’ve given this article the title of ‘The Kingdom of Rioch’? Well, Rioch means kingdom which comes from Irish origin. So, that’s the formalities out of the way. Bruce Rioch joined Everton in December 1976, making his Everton debut at Coventry City’s Highfield Road in a 4-2 defeat. Bruce appeared 30 times in an Everton shirt hitting the net 3 times. He had a thunderous shot, and was always favourite to take the direct free kicks when a goal seemed possible. Bruce played for a total…

‘Son of my Father’ Part IV: James Wood

0 Comments1970-1979, Articles, History, Interview, Members Work, Steve Zocek

George Wood was signed for Everton in August 1977 by manager Gordon Lee. George soon became a “darling” of the Evertonians, making 126 appearances for the Toffees before joining Arsenal in August 1980. George also represented Scotland, and once told me he was the one who launched Diego Maradona’s career as the Argentinian scored his first international goal against him. Maradona scored his first international goal in the fixture after beating George Wood courtesy of SNS Group This feature is a little different to the previous ones as it features George’s son, James, who followed in his father’s footsteps wearing…

Gerry Mullan – When Irish Eyes are Smiling

0 Comments1980-1989, Articles, History, Interview, Steve ZocekBallymena, Everton, Gerry Mullin, Glentoran, Northern Ireland

Gerry Mullan signed for Everton from Ballymena United in October 1980. To date he was the most expensive Irish league player at £30,000. Gerry failed to make a first team appearance for the Toffees but gained 4 caps for his country-Norther Ireland. Gerry is quite a private man, but was very helpful in assisting me with an insight to his time at Everton. Gerry Middle row 2nd from the left SIGNING FOR EVERTON "After 4 reasonably good seasons at Ballymena, I trained really hard in my fifth season, trying to push myself to the limit. As well as Everton, a…

Richard Duckenfield – ‘Get off the Pitch!’

0 Comments1970-1979, Articles, History, Interview, Steve Zocek

October 28th 1978 is a date etched in many an Evertonians mind. John Motson commentating that day for the evening football show ‘Match of the Day’ cries out, “The ball falls to Andy King, oh yes he’s got it, Andy King has scored” When the final whistle sounded at 4.45 Richard Duckenfield a BBC reporter waits on the pitch side to grab a few words with the hero of the afternoon. Before the conversation could commence, a Police Superintendent rudely pushes Duckenfield and King away from the pitch with an order “Get off the pitch” 42 years on I caught up with Richard to find out about the moment which has…

Everton Tigers – a Brief Encounter with Basketball

0 Comments2000-2009, Articles, History, Interview, Richard GillhamBBL, BBL British Basketball league, Everton FC, Henry Mooney, Tony Garbelleto

Everton Football Club is well known in the game of Association Football, or ‘Soccer’ as it is known outside of the UK. England has had a fleeting romance with both the American version of Baseball and historically the area has with had links to both the English and American rules of Baseball. But did you know Everton had a short Love affair with the game of Basketball? Well it all started with the collaboration of Everton Football Club and a community youth programme which started in the late 1990’s in an area of Liverpool called Toxteth. The collaboration started with…