Players – Everton FC Heritage Society

From Kirkby Boys to Colwyn Bay; via Catterick’s Everton and a trip to Keflavik!

12

Aug

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1960-1969, 1970-1979, 1980-1989, Jamie Yates, Latest, Players

From Kirkby Boys to Colwyn Bay; via Catterick’s Everton and a trip to Keflavik!

Keith Williams: A Goalkeeper's Tale Jamie Yates Keith Williams was born at home, 21 Max Road in Knotty Ash, on 21 September 1952. Due to his father Oswald’s ill health, the Williams family relocated to Kirkby to live with his aunt Violet during the ‘Big Freeze’ of winter 1962. Everton Football Club were midway through their 1962/63 League Championship winning season at the time, and the extreme weather conditions caused much consternation as fixtures were cancelled up and down the country over the festive period. Keith attended Park Brow Junior School in Kirkby where he started taking his football a…

A Bump in the Road to Immortality, or the Making of a Football Icon?

11

Aug

By Jamie Yates

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1920-1929, 1930-1939, History, Jamie Yates, Latest, Players

A Bump in the Road to Immortality, or the Making of a Football Icon?

Marking the centenary of the motorcycle accident which drove Dixie Dean to even greater heights . Jamie Yates . (Main photo: Christmas Day 1926 - Dixie Dean scoring against Sunderland, one of four in a 5-4 victory.) Star Green ‘Un, 2 January 1926 Sunday, 20 June 1926, a sunny summer’s day like any other. Two young people from Birkenhead with the world at their feet - nineteen-year-old professional footballer Bill Dean, and his friend, twenty-one-year-old draper’s assistant Evelyn Jones, tennis partners who played in Birkenhead Park close by to their respective childhood homes, set off for a jaunt on Dean’s…

Alan Kelly – The Son of ‘Mr. Preston North End’ and Goalkeeping Guru to ‘A Modern-Day Everton Legend’

04

Aug

By Paul Owens

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Latest, Paul Owens, Players

Alan Kelly – The Son of ‘Mr. Preston North End’ and Goalkeeping Guru to ‘A Modern-Day Everton Legend’

Paul Owens Earlier this summer, it was announced that Preston North End would play their Carabao Cup first-round tie against Huddersfield Town at Goodison Park on Saturday 8 August 2026, due to ongoing pitch renovations – i.e. the installation of a hybrid pitch – at their Deepdale home. In a previous piece for this website, I wrote about the quite extraordinary goalkeeping links between Everton and the Lilywhites, a piece which starts with a biography of James Trainer – Preston’s two-time title-winning goalkeeper of the nineteenth century – and ends with a reference to George Pickford, the Blues’ highly-rated Preston-born…

The Glovesmen of ‘Jocko Land’ – Everton’s Scottish Goalkeeping History

23

Jul

By Paul Owens

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Articles, Latest, Paul Owens, Players

The Glovesmen of ‘Jocko Land’ – Everton’s Scottish Goalkeeping History

Paul Owens Over the decades, Scottish goalkeepers have often found themselves the butt of many a cruel joke south of the border. In 1961, after England had humiliated the ‘Auld Enemy’ 9-3 at Wembley, the cheeky response of ‘almost ten past Haffey’ was frequently heard being given to any Scots who had asked to know what the time was. The retort made reference to Frank Haffey, Celtic and Scotland’s misfortunate last line of defence, who found himself winning just his second international cap that day – and only really doing so because of injuries to the more experienced goalkeeping trio…

06

Jul

By Rob Sawyer

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1990-1999, Everton Women, Latest, Players, Rob Sawyer

Andrea McGrady – Everton in the Blood

Rob Sawyer Lifelong Evertonian Andrea McGrady was Everton Ladies’ first number nine, in the wake of Leasowe Pacific coming under the Toffees’ umbrella. She combined turning out for the successful women’s team with following the men's team at Goodison Park. Here, in conversation with Rob Sawyer, she reflects on what playing for and watching Everton has meant to her. As a kid I’d be playing football in the back garden with my two brothers. I first went to Goodison Park in the late 1970s in the era of Andy King and Bob Latchford and got my first season ticket in…

Earning His Wings: Flight Lieutenant (and Outside-Right) George Dalgliesh

04

Jun

By Jamie Yates

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1940-1949, Articles, Everton Collection, Jamie Yates, Latest, Players, WW2

Earning His Wings: Flight Lieutenant (and Outside-Right) George Dalgliesh

Jamie Yates Author’s Note: Spelling of the surname Dalgliesh varies across publications and official records, appearing as Dalgliesh or Dalgleish interchangeably. For clarification I have quoted sources verbatim throughout this article. George’s family employ the ‘Dalgliesh’ spelling. Finding the right George Dalgliesh was no easy task and took a couple of false starts. There was a George Dalglish born in Liverpool in 1922. It wasn’t him. Next came George Robert White Dalgleish, born in Edinburgh in 1924, a Civil Engineer and son of a prominent Church of Scotland minister. Close, but no cigar. And then there he was. We were…

02

Jun

By Rob Sawyer

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2000-2009, 2010-2019, Everton Women, Latest, Players, Rob Sawyer

Lindsay Johnson – My Everton Years

As told to Rob Sawyer Lindsay with Everton in 2004 Lindsay Johnson went from kicking a football on a patch of grass as a child, as she wasn’t allowed to play in a boys team, to becoming Everton Ladies’ record appearance-maker, a two-time cup winner and the proud winner of forty-three Lioness caps. She goes down as one of the smartest pieces of recruitment that Blues boss Mo Marley ever made. In May 2026, alongside her former teammate Becky Easton, she was inducted into Everton Women’s Hall of Fame. I sat down for a coffee with Lindsay and discussed her…

Becky Easton and Lindsay Johnson Inducted into the Hall of Fame

16

May

By Rob Sawyer

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2020-2029, Everton Women, Latest, Players, Rob Sawyer

Becky Easton and Lindsay Johnson Inducted into the Hall of Fame

By Rob Sawyer Following the successful launch of the Everton Women’s Hall of Fame in the autumn of 2025, at which Louise Thomas, Joy McQuiggan, Mo Marley, Billy Jackson and Cathy Gore were inducted, the selection panel recently announced two new stars to join them. Becky Easton and Lindsay Johnson were duly inducted shortly before kick-off at the last match of the season, against Leicester City at Goodison Park. Everton Ladies squad summer 1998 Wirral-raised Becky enjoyed a long and illustrious career in club and international football. In all, she had three spells with the club, first when it played…

Torry Gillick – Revered at Goodison Park and Ibrox

15

Apr

By Rob Sawyer

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1930-1939, Latest, Players, Rob Sawyer

Torry Gillick – Revered at Goodison Park and Ibrox

Rob Sawyer Scotland’s recent match at Hill Dickinson stadium was the third time the Scottish national team had played at an Everton venue (previously v England in 1895 and 1911). This set my mind thinking about which Scottish Toffees I'd love to have seen gracing Goodison Park or the Blues’ new stadium. Foremost in my thoughts are John Bell, the charismatic forward of the 1890s, Sandy Young, our 1906 FA Cup Final goalscorer, Alex Young, our Golden Vision, ace number nine Graeme Sharp, and Torry Gillick, a hero of Everton’s 1938/39 title-winning team. The latter is the focus of this article…

15

Apr

By Rob Sawyer

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1970-1979, Latest, Obituary, Players, Rest in Peace, Rob Sawyer

Henry Newton (1944-2026) – an Obituary

Rob Sawyer Harry Catterick smashed Everton’s transfer fee record in October 1970 to secure the services of Nottingham Forest midfielder Henry Newton, whose death at the age of 82 was announced on 14 April 2026. Sadly, things didn’t work out as hoped, for the club and player in the early 1970s, for a variety of reasons. Happily for Henry, he enjoyed a satisfying and silverware-laden period post-Everton, in his native East Midlands with Derby County. Born 18 February 1944, Henry joined his local club Nottingham Forest at fifteen, having gained England Schoolboy honours. Four months shy of his 20th birthday,…