Mike Royden

45 Posts
John Smith – Co-founder of Everton Supporters’ Club London Area (ESCLA)

John Smith – Co-founder of Everton Supporters’ Club London Area (ESCLA)

John posing in front of the famous Everton Lock Up during our 2025 event One of our visitors to the 'Everton FC in Everton' event on Saturday 17 May 2025 was John Smith, a man very well-known to fans past and present in the London area. John Collings at the 2009 FA Cup Final (photo: www.escla.org.uk) It was on a train from London to Plymouth on 25 January 1975, while on their way to watch Everton play in the FA Cup, when travelling companions John Smith and John Collings decided to form a club, or association, which would help fellow…
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Goodison Park – Goodbye to the Grand Old Lady:  The National Museums Liverpool Podcast

Goodison Park – Goodbye to the Grand Old Lady: The National Museums Liverpool Podcast

Click image for NML Podcast webpage then scroll down for the player 'To give us a sense of Goodison's significance we spoke to a variety of people including historians, journalists, players, managers and more - all united by their shared passion for Everton Football Club and Goodison Park. They tell us what they love and will miss about this historic and iconic stadium. Ultimately we find out that for many, it is more than a stadium - it's a home from home.' - Toby Taylor, NML The Podcast features presenter Toby Taylor with Ken Rogers and Mike Royden of EFCHS,…
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‘Everton FC in Everton Day’ 2025

‘Everton FC in Everton Day’ 2025

'Everton FC in Everton Day' - 17 May 2025 As Evertonians prepared for their emotional senior final farewell to Goodison Park, the Everton district where Merseyside football history began in 1878 once again prepared to welcome Blues’ fans to their spiritual home.On Saturday 17 May between 11am and 1.30pm, the Everton FC Heritage Society, in tandem with the Friends of Everton Park (FOEP), opened the Everton Lock-Up below Browside for a very special ‘Everton FC in Everton Day.’ https://youtu.be/8O39Q3xf3dA?si=CN96I0BZHanar5Qd Click image above to play newsreel Ken Rogers at the start of his guided tour Fans were be able to step…
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Memories of Goodison Park

Memories of Goodison Park

A Film by Everton FC Heritage Society This is the latest of our Society-made films, which in this episode features a nostalgic look at the history of our great stadium. Our presenters, Ken Rogers and Rob Sawyer - who you will have met before in the 'Everton Village and the Birth of Everton Football Club' film - take us on a memorable journey, through the step-by-step development of Goodison Park from its foundation in 1892, through to the impending ground move on the banks of the Royal Blue Mersey. View the full film by clicking here: https://youtu.be/xLeg70CN928 View the full…
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Dixie Dean Memorial Trophy – with award winner Derek Temple

Dixie Dean Memorial Trophy – with award winner Derek Temple

The 34th Dixie Dean Memorial Award, 12 May 2025 Mike Royden reports, David Moyes presents the 34th Dixie Dean Memorial Award to Derek Temple (photo: Tony McArdle EFC) https://youtu.be/gVGwVuSywcg?si=TFnDTOu-hK7f00k0 Click to play the short newsreel of the event (filmed and edited by Lewis Royden) David Moyes speaking at the end of the evening to Ken Rogers and Everton FC Heritage Society, reflecting on Derek Temple's life and career On 12 May 2025, Everton FC Heritage Society hosted the final public evening event at Goodison Park in the Alex Young Suite. Members, guests, and fans, were there to honour club legend…
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Desert Island Memorabilia: David France and The Everton Collection

Desert Island Memorabilia: David France and The Everton Collection

The first in a series of three films featuring the legacy of 'Dr Everton.' In a pastiche of the famous radio programme broadcast since 1942, where guests pick eight pieces of music, a book, and a luxury item to take to a desert island; Dr David France OBE has selected ten items of Evertonia, mostly from The Everton Collection, plus a book, and just one piece of music, to take to his island amid a sea of blue. The David France Collection was put together over several decades, and it is a unique collection of artefacts, letters, medals and other…
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Everton v Newcastle United – 8 April 1955

Everton v Newcastle United – 8 April 1955

by Mike Royden . https://youtu.be/rssPxIh3jCM The cine-film (enlarged view below) In this age of multimedia, with every archive film clip seemingly now available online, it is rare that an undiscovered gem becomes available. Yet, that is what has come into the hands of Everton FC Heritage Society. In the form of a 16mm cine-reel, it is the filmed record of the First Division match between Everton and Newcastle United, played at Goodison Park on 8 April 1955. It is also especially valuable because it documents at length (one hour of footage survives) a match from the 1950s - a rarity…
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Joe Mercer and the Football Battalion

Joe Mercer and the Football Battalion

by Mike Royden Some years ago, I was working on an extensive project to research and document the history of Ellesmere Port during the First World War, which covered life on the home front, those that served in the forces, and those who sadly did not return. I created a website to share the research and stories, which also covered the recording of the biographies of the servicemen listed on the town's war memorials. One name sprang out while scouring the newspapers of the time - that of Joe Mercer. It was an interview he gave to a local journalist,…
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The Opening of Goodison Park! – A Picnic, a Firework Display, a Friendly, the First League Game

The Opening of Goodison Park! – A Picnic, a Firework Display, a Friendly, the First League Game

Mike Royden The year 1892 was iconic in the history of Everton Football Club, famous for the dispute with John Houlding, which cumulated in the potentially club-ending gamble of moving to a new, undeveloped site, in time for the opening of the forthcoming 1892-93 season on 3 September.  It was a tall order of course, but once the decision had been made, the directors and club officials went into overdrive to ensure their dream move would become a reality in the very short time available to them. Work began in May 1892, contractors were engaged, and the pitch area –…
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‘Everton Village and the Birth of Everton Football Club’  

‘Everton Village and the Birth of Everton Football Club’  

Presented by Rob Sawyer in conversation with Ken Rogers. An EFCHS original film Everton FC Heritage Society have made a new film about the role and effect of Everton Village in the history of Everton Football Club, featuring the Queen's Head pub, the two toffee shops, and, of course, the lock-up which adorns our club crest. Only the lock-up still remains in situ, but the sites are all within just a few yards of each other. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw1kHgjMH_w&ab_channel=EvertonFCHeritageSociety Well-known Everton FC author and member of EFCHS, Rob Sawyer, met up with former Sports Editor of the Liverpool Echo, Ken Rogers (Chairman…
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