Rob Sawyer

125 Posts
Gwyn Lewis – Playing In The Shadow of the Cannonball Kid
12
Jan
By Rob Sawyer
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1950-1959, Articles, Latest, Players, Rob Sawyer

Gwyn Lewis – Playing In The Shadow of the Cannonball Kid

Rob Sawyer Gwyn Lewis of Everton FC Born on 21 April 1932, Gwynfor (Gwyn) Lewis became one of Bangor’s finest footballing sons. Like fellow Bangor-born forward Nathan Broadhead, over six decades later, Gwyn would only get fleeting opportunities at Everton, but established himself as an accomplished goalscorer in lower league football. Gwyn was one of several young talented sportspeople attending Bangor’s Friars Grammar School in the 1940s. There at the same time was John Cowell, who would go on to play in goal for Pwllheli FC under TG Jones, Bangor City, Marine and Liverpool FC Reserves, as well as cricket…
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Everton Heritage Social/Talks Evenings – A Successful Launch!
11
Jan
By Rob Sawyer
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1960-1969, 1980-1989, Film and Media, Gavin Buckland, Latest, Managers, Mike Royden, Rob Sawyer

Everton Heritage Social/Talks Evenings – A Successful Launch!

Our First Event - Thursday 8 January 2026; features two well-known authors of numerous books on Everton FC, Rob Sawyer and Gavin Buckland; ‘Catterick and Kendall - Comparing and Contrasting Everton’s Managerial Giants’ Harry Catterick and Howard Kendall, undoubtedly Everton's two greatest managers, will be the subject of an evening of discussion led by Toffees historians Gavin Buckland and Rob Sawyer. Both authors, who are members of Everton FC Heritage Society, have written extensively about Catterick and Kendall's spells at Goodison as players and managers, and will discuss their careers and lasting legacies, comparing and contrasting these two significant figures in British…
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Khyber – The Ben Williams Story
31
Oct
By Rob Sawyer
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1930-1939, Articles, Latest, Players, Rob Sawyer

Khyber – The Ben Williams Story

Rob Sawyer Ben Williams, Everton 1935 Everton FC can proudly boast a long and impressive list of footballers who have pulled on the famous red shirt of Wales. This cohort spans the eras, from the days of its joint-first professional, George Farmer in the 1880s and Charlie Parry in the first league title-winning side of 1890/91 to Neville Southall in the 1980s and Gary Speed a decade later.  George Farmer (1880s) Unsurprisingly, due to the geographical proximity, many of the Merseyside club’s Welshman have hailed from the north of the nation - like Leigh Roose, Tom Griffiths, Tommy G. Jones,…
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Joe Clennell – Twice a Champion
23
Oct
By Rob Sawyer
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1910-1919, 1920-1929, Articles, Latest, Players, Rob Sawyer

Joe Clennell – Twice a Champion

Rob Sawyer Joe Clennell (1915) Although Bobby Parker’s goalscoring exploits may have grabbed the headlines as the Toffees advanced on the Football League title in 1915 - a triumph largely overshadowed by the spectre of the First World War - he was but one member of a strong royal blue attacking line. Sam Chedgzoy, on the right wing, was near the start of a long and illustrious career for Everton and England, which extended into the Dixie Dean era. Frank Jefferis, at inside-right, had garnered England honours having moved to Merseyside from Southampton. George Harrison was a great provider of…
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Everton Women – Hall of Fame
19
Sep
By Rob Sawyer
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1990-1999, 2020-2029, Articles, Everton Women, Latest, Rob Sawyer

Everton Women – Hall of Fame

The first five inductees into the Everton Women Hall of Fame. Left to right; Louise Thomas, Billy Jackson, Joy McQuiggan, Cathy Gore and Mo Marley, (photo: Everton FC) Everton FC Heritage Society - and specifically, the 'women’s football research group' comprising; Alison Jones, Sarah Deboe, Bradley Cates and Rob Sawyer, played a key role in the introduction of the Hall of Fame, provided in depth history of Everton Ladies and Everton Women, and were part of the election process. Everton FC Heritage Society are immensely pleased to see the inauguration take place and proud of the hard work put in…
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The Toffees Return Home to Anfield – For One night Only
18
Sep
By Rob Sawyer
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1900-1909, Articles, Goodison, Latest, Rob Sawyer

The Toffees Return Home to Anfield – For One night Only

Rob Sawyer Everton FC left Anfield in 1892, never to return. Right? Well, not quite. The schism in the Everton committee that led the Toffees to up sticks to Goodison Park on the site of Mere Green Field, leaving John Houlding to form a new club, Liverpool FC, to play at the vacated ground is well documented. However, by the time Houlding passed away in 1902, much of the antagonism had abated, and Everton players were among the pall bearers at his funeral. Further evidence of the thawing of relations between the once bitter rivals came in the summer of…
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Roy Parnell (1943-2025)
15
Sep
By Rob Sawyer
1 Comment
Latest, Obituary, Rest in Peace, Rob Sawyer

Roy Parnell (1943-2025)

Roy Parnell Everton FC Heritage Society sends its condolences to the friends and family of Roy Parnell, who died on 10 September 2025 at the age of eighty-one. Roy was a product of Everton’s youth system, who reached the first team, but spent the majority of his senior playing career with Tranmere Rovers and Bury FC. A Birkenhead and England schoolboy inside-forward, Roy joined the Toffees’ ground staff in the summer of 1959, along with the likes of George Sharples, Pat Dunne and Barry Rees. Having asked to be tried at right-back, he promptly found his best position (much as…
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The Life and Times of Bobby Parker
02
Jul
By Rob Sawyer
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1910-1919, Articles, Latest, Rest in Peace, Rob Sawyer, WW1

The Life and Times of Bobby Parker

‘Parker was a grand leader, strong, virile, earnest - as unruffled as his massive locks.’ Will Cuff - Former Everton Chairman and Secretary by Rob Sawyer Robert Norris Parker entered the world on 27 March 1891. His father, John was a mercantile clerk was married to Janet (née Ramsay), who hailed from Ireland. At the time of his birth, they were living at 73 Denmark Street in Possilpark, to the northeast of central Glasgow. This suburb saw huge population growth in the final decades of the 19th Century, linked to expansion of the Saracen foundry, the area’s major employer. At…
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The Bobby Parker Grave Restoration Appeal
26
Jun
By Rob Sawyer
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1910-1919, Articles, Latest, Players, Rest in Peace, Rob Sawyer

The Bobby Parker Grave Restoration Appeal

Rob Sawyer To mark his contribution to Everton, football and his country, EFCHS has undertaken a project to restore the grave of league title winner Bobby Parker. Were it not for the First World War, there is every likelihood that the name Bobby Parker would be uttered in the same breath as Dixie Dean, Tommy Lawton, Fred Geary and Bob Latchford when putting forward the club’s finest goalscorers. Alas, that terrible conflict, injuries he sustained in it and subsequent illness meant that he would fail to rescale the heights of 1914/15, when his 35 goals propelled the Toffees to the…
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