Richie Gillham with Dr David France
The County Palatine League was a short-lived Lancashire experiment designed to arrange attractive fixtures in March and April 1894. With Richard Molyneux appointed to the role of honorary secretary, Everton were key instigators of the competition.
The introduction of the Screen Sport Super Cup in the post-Heysel season provides a useful comparison. It involved Everton – First Division champions; Liverpool – First Division runners-up; Manchester United – FA Cup winners; Norwich City – League Cup winners; and Tottenham and Southampton – UEFA Cup qualifiers. Under-strength Everton sides, which included Mimms, Billings, Marshall and Adams, lost the final played over two legs to Liverpool 2-7, in front of 20,660 at Anfield, and 26,068 at Goodison. Earlier home clashes with Tottenham Hotspur attracted only 12,008 and Norwich City 10,329.
The County Palatine League Origins and Formation (1893)
The County Palatine League’s early meetings addressed pooling home gate receipts, equal division of gross takings, and the flexibility to field reserve teams, when senior commitments intervened. Everton’s board minutes in late-1893 showed the club shaping discussions to secure the benefits of extra fixtures, while limiting the operating costs, as well as the risks of weakened line-ups undermining its credibility. Later discussions indicated that the club desired to avoid being grouped with Second Division Liverpool, and questioned if the new competition could be sustained alongside its crowded First Division programme.
The League involved two divisions with Everton placed in the Southern section, along with First Division Bolton Wanderers and Newton Heath, as well as Second Division Bury and Accrington. The club completed eight fixtures in Spring 1894. Initially, the competition served its intended purpose by providing meaningful fixtures after Everton’s exit in the first round of the FA Cup at Stoke, and they fielded strong line-ups, which attracted decent attendances at Goodison.
However, following the conclusion of the First Division programme in mid-April, Everton selected Combination players which reduced attendances. Indeed, declining public interest reflected such team changes and lopsided score-lines.
Everton finished second in the Southern Division, one point behind Bury, with eleven points from eight games. In due course, Bury met Northern Division winners Burnley in the County Palatine League Final at Turf Moor – winning 2-1 after being a goal down at half time.
Elsewhere during March and April 1894, Everton won four of their five First Division fixtures. Goodison gates averaged 20,000, and the club advanced two places to sixth in the table (compared to third in the 1892/93 campaign).
Other County Palatine League participants occupied the bottom four places in the table with Darwen and Newton Heath relegated. Everton FC’s second-team suffered just one defeat before capturing the Combination title for the third consecutive time.
The League’s financial fragility was evident from the outset, and Everton’s board recognised that the competition would only survive if it covered wages and expenses. Therefore, when the attendances dipped, the mid-week matches became liabilities.
In late-1894, the League reorganised, with Accrington voted out, and Everton withdrawing. It was a smart decision, as the Everton recovered to finish second – five points behind champions Sunderland at the conclusion of the 1894/95 season. Nevertheless, Richard Molyneux helped to keep the League’s machinery running for those who remained until the competition’s demise in 1895.
*********************************
Acknowledgements
Brendan Connolly – proof reading
Mike Royden – proof reading and editing, web layout
Bibliography
Athletic News (1893–1895) Various reports on County Palatine League meetings and fixtures.
Bury Times, Bury v Everton match report, 31 March1894
Darwen News – Reports on Palatine League finances and fixtures, 12 April 1893; 2 March 1895; 23 March 1895; 20 April 1895.
Everton FC Board Minutes Book, County Palatine League discussions, 20 November 1893 (The Everton Collection, Liverpool Record Office).
Lancashire Evening Post – ‘Palatine League tables and match reports’, 25 April 1894
Liverpool Mercury, ‘Association Matches’, 21 April 1894; match reports on Everton fixtures
Preston Herald, ‘County Palatine League commentary’, 25 April 1894
County Palatine League Minutes, 20 November 1893 (at Bee Hotel, Liverpool).
County Palatine League Minutes, April 1894
County Palatine League Minutes, December 1894
.
