History

George Green – Illustrator Extraordinaire

George Green – Illustrator Extraordinaire

By Rob Sawyer The Toffee Lady is an enduring and iconic image, intrinsically linked to Everton FC. Since the 1950s, a Toffee Lady, or latterly a Toffee Girl, has paraded around Goodison before matches, dispensing the eponymous humbugs. But for many, the definitive Toffee Lady image takes cartoon form. It’s the Mother Noblett, famous for gracing the front page of the Football Echo for decades, looking elated, deflated or indifferent, depending on the Blues’ fortunes that day. Her ‘rival’ character was the Kopite, who showed a similar range of emotions, depending on the Liverpool result. The creator of these enchanting…
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George Fleming: The Goalscoring Bank Clerk from Arbroath

George Fleming: The Goalscoring Bank Clerk from Arbroath

Scorer of the first goal for Everton FC in the newly formed Football League of 1888   It is the summer of 1887 and the Everton team poses at the Sandon Hotel with the trophy they had just won after beating Oakfield Rovers by five goals to nothing. Two of these goals had been scored by the man sitting left of the centre row who had recently moved to Merseyside from Scotland. His name was George Spink Fleming and he was destined to etch his name into the record books of Everton Football Club. Along with his twin sister Jemima,…
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Net Gains: John Alexander Brodie’s Sporting and Civic Legacy

Net Gains: John Alexander Brodie’s Sporting and Civic Legacy

Rob Sawyer appears on French TV Recently, Heritage Society member Rob Sawyer appeared on the French TV channel ARTE, to tell the story of the origin of goal nets. It's an enjoyable film put together by our gallic visitors, capturing some great shots around Goodison, as well as the surrounding area. Unfortunately, there are no subtitles, but if your French skills aren't quite up to the job, Rob's fascinating article telling the full tale appears below. (click the image to watch the video) Net Gains: John Alexander Brodie’s Sporting and Civic Legacy Rob Sawyer The rustle of the net as…
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Queen’s Head Hotel Archaeological Excavations

Queen’s Head Hotel Archaeological Excavations

Hotel Confirmed as Everton F.C.'s first headquarters and the birthplace of big-time football on Merseyside Everton F.C.’s first secretary was the younger 26 years old John William Clarke, and not his landlord father John, who, down the years, had often been incorrectly credited with having had that historic role The Queen's Head Hotel has become part of Everton folklore regarding the events that took place within its walls and the decisions made that laid down the foundation of Everton Football Club. This historic venue is where St Domingo’s Football Club became Everton Football Club in November 1879, and in 2015…
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Ted Sagar – ‘The Boss’

Ted Sagar – ‘The Boss’

When talking of great centre forwards, it is easy to rattle off numerous contenders, but when thinking of goalkeepers, just three tend to dominate the discussion. Gordon West, a brilliant keeper and a larger than life character off the pitch; then Neville of course, who achieved so much in his seventeen years, making 578 league appearances (750 in all competitions) and breaking so many records along the way. Until 1994, the record for a goalkeeper stood at 497(463 league games), and was held by a man that my father never tired of telling me about - Ted Sagar. Ted joined…
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Remembrance at Goodison Park 2021

Remembrance at Goodison Park 2021

(photo: Sarah Atherton) (photo: Sarah Atherton) Graeme Sharp and Darren Griffiths, who later tweeted; 'Lovely to attend the Remembrance Service by the Dixie statue. Well done to Everton FC Heritage Society for organising it. On this date I always think of my dad’s brother Billy, who perished aboard HMS Dasher that sank on 27 March 1943. My dad still remembers the knock at the door… (photo: Sarah Atherton) (photo: @mintisculture) Many thanks again for all the work by Paul Kelly of Everton FC Heritage Society and his wife Jean (centre) in pulling things together for the commemoration event on 11…
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Programmed for Success

Programmed for Success

In the second of a series of EFC Heritage Society articles focusing on the World-famous Everton Collection, Ken Rogers takes a look at programmes from encounters with Wolves in May 1982 and April 1984. He reflects how the team listings on the back pages reflect how an era of change accelerated towards the most successful in our history. It is accepted across the Premier League that our matchday programmes are amongst the best in the country. It’s therefore not surprising that thousands of our most evocative publications form a key strand within the football memorabilia treasure that is the Everton…
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The Birth of Sponsorship

The Birth of Sponsorship

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…
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Teddy Glover

Teddy Glover

The first British Everton player to be inducted into the USA Soccer Hall of Fame in 1965 Charles Edward Glover, known as Teddy, was born in Bootle on 7 April 1902. Teddy would eventually be inducted into the US National Hall of Fame in 1965 — the first of four players to have been on Everton's books to achieve this honour, the others being: Predrag “Preki” Radosavljevic, 2010; Joe Max Moore in 2013 and Brian McBride in 2014. Predrag Preki Radosavljevic in 2010 Sam Chedgzoy Joe Max-Moore in 2013 Brian McBride in 2014 The first time Teddy pulled on an…
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Leicester’s Favourite Blue

Leicester’s Favourite Blue

Any visit of Leicester City stirs up personal memories of those heady days when, as the Liverpool Echo’s chief football writer, I found myself recording the most successful phase in Everton FC’s history between 1983 and 1987. In the middle of this glorious spell, the Blues signed Gary Lineker, a major blow for Leicester fans. Not only did they lose the top flight’s leading goalscorer in the summer of 1985, but also one of their own. I was at Bellefield on Gary’s first day. As I left, my car was stopped at the gate by a crowd of young supporters,…
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