(Temporary page – article by Rob Sawyer in preparation) – Extracted from the Everton FC Website.
Everton FC Heritage Society played a key role in the introduction of the Hall of Fame, provided in depth history of Everton Ladies and Everton Women, and our members who specialise in the history of the women’s game at Everton were part of the election process. The Society are immensely please to see the inauguration take place and proud of the hard work put in by its members in the role played. Congratulations to all the inductees on your well deserved awards!
The first five inductees of Everton Women’s ‘Hall of Fame’ were presented with a commemorative plaque by Everton Women CEO Hannah Forshaw at half-time during the Blues’ clash with London City Lionesses at Goodison Park.
Announced on Tuesday to coincide with Everton Women’s historic permanent move into Goodison Park, the Hall of Fame celebrates and honours the players, coaches and pioneers who have shaped the history of the women’s team and game.
Mo Marley, Joy McQuiggan, Cathy Gore, Billy Jackson and Louise Thomas were welcomed to the pitch by the Goodison faithful, and are the first names to be inducted. The five have all exerted significant influence on both Everton Women and women’s football generally.
They have all been immortalised at Goodison Park, with their images displayed prominently at the stadium.
Selected by a panel made up of former coaches and players, Everton supporters’ groups, journalists, the Everton Heritage Society and Club officials – the historic first five are:
Mo Marley
A giant of women’s football, Mo Marley has served the club she has supported since childhood as a player, coach and manager. In 1988 she signed for Leasowe Pacific, the football club rebranded as Everton Ladies in 1995, capping her first season there with a Women’s FA Cup winner’s medal.
Dominant in the air at both ends of the pitch, the centre-back was a key component of the 1997/98 league title-winning side and earned 41 England caps.
Having gained her coaching qualifications, in 2002 she took over from her husband Keith as Everton Ladies’ manager.
Under Mo’s visionary stewardship, Everton consistently competed for the top honours, recruiting and developing players who would go on to become household names, including Jill Scott, Lucy Bronze and Fara Williams. Silverware arrived in the shape of the Premier League Cup (2008) and the Women’s FA Cup (2010).
Mo stood down from the Everton hot seat in 2014 but continued a long and fruitful association with the Lionesses set-up. With Keith, she remains a regular attendee at Everton Women’s matches. Mo was awarded an MBE in 2005 for services to sport.
Joy McQuiggan
Kirkby-raised Joy McQuiggan was a left-sided midfield and defensive stalwart for over a decade.
Having grown up supporting Everton’s men’s team, she joined Leasowe in the mid-1980s and wrote her name into history books when scoring the winning goal against the Friends of Fulham in the 1989 Women’s FA Cup Final at Old Trafford.
In a nod to her nickname ‘Barry’ and the Irish boxer with a similar name, match commentator Martin Tyler referred to her delivering the ‘knockout punch’ to their opponents.
After spells with Liverpool Ladies and Doncaster Belles, Joy returned to Everton, playing until she was 41, collecting a Women’s Premier League medal along the way. Recently, she made the journey from Lincolnshire to be present at the first Everton Women’s home league match since they became the custodians of Goodison Park.
Cathy Gore
Signed by Leasowe from Kirkby Ladies in the mid-1980s, Cathy was likened by teammates and spectators to male Merseyside midfield counterparts Graeme Souness and Peter Reid.
Described by manager Billy Jackson as the side’s ‘heel-biter’ in midfield, she was also capable on the ball once possession was won.
Three years on from tasting cup glory with Leasowe, in 1992 she switched to Knowsley United (which became Liverpool Ladies) for two years before returning at the dawn of the Everton Ladies era.
Playing into her 40s with Everton, Cathy rolled back the years in the title-winning 1997/98 campaign and was widely regarded as the player of the season. She hung up her boots in the 1999/2000 season.
Billy Jackson
Once an amateur youth player with his beloved Liverpool FC, Billy merged his Dolphin Youth Club women’s five–a-side team, which his teenage daughter Michelle played in, with Bebington Ladies FC to begin the journey that has culminated in Everton women.
Combining his full-time employment as an HGV driver with managing the team, which eventually rebranded to Leasowe Pacific, Billy oversaw a period of dominance in local and regional women’s football. The club joined the national league system in 1992 prior to becoming Everton Ladies in 1995.
Highlights of his time in charge were the Women’s FA Cup win in 1989 and the first and only national league title won by the Toffees, in 1998. Billy stepped away from management during the 1998/99 season but his influence on the club cannot be overstated.
Louise Thomas
Louise is regarded as one of the greatest strikers in the history of Everton Women.
The former Deeside Ladies number 10 was a superb all-round forward; she was equally adept at hold-up play and plundering goals.
Capped by Wales, Louise was present through Leasowe’s rise from a local team to serial winners at regional and national level. She was one of the scorers in the 1989 Women’s FA Cup Final, capping an excellent display in tandem with strike partner Maria Harper.
Being crowned a league champion in 1998 with Everton was made sweeter by being able to parade the trophy around Goodison Park, the home of her male footballing heroes.
The Everton Women’s Hall of Fame will form a central part of the Club’s ongoing commitment to celebrating its rich history while inspiring the next generation of Blues on and off the pitch.
