Articles

The Life and Times of Bobby Parker

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

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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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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Alec Farrall Remembered

Alec Farrall Remembered

[The banner photograph is the 1953/54 Everton squad. Alec Farrall is pictured on the front row seated, second from the left.] Rob Sawyer The death was announced today, at eighty-nine, of one of Everton's oldest former players, Alec Farrall. Born 3 March 1936, Alec was one of many local lads to emerge through the Blues’ youth system under Cliff Britton. A member of a sporty West Kirby family, by his teens he was representing Cheshire Schoolboys (England Schoolboys caps followed) and was on the radar of scouts from many big clubs, including Wolves, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool. The former…
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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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Son of My Father (Part 20): Gerry and Jack Humphreys

Son of My Father (Part 20): Gerry and Jack Humphreys

Gerry Humphreys was born in Llandudno in January 1946. He started his education at a primary school called Ysgol Ffordd Dyffryn on West Shore, Llandudno. When Gerry was only 8, his father spent almost twelve months in a sanitarium near Caernarfon, before succumbing to tuberculosis at the age of 34 yrs. An early indicator of Gerry being a natural footballer was when he was selected for the school football team at the age of 9 when most of the team were two years older. The older boys naturally had a stronger physique, but Gerry was never fazed as he just believed…
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Jimmy Carberry – The Youths of Yesterday

Jimmy Carberry – The Youths of Yesterday

Steve Zocek Jimmy Carberry signed youth forms for Everton in the 1980s, spending seven years at the club, appearing in the FA Youth Cup and Everton reserve sides, before his transfer to Wigan in the summer of 1989. Before joining Everton, Jimmy was playing football locally for his school and making name grabbing headlines as he made his debut for Liverpool U14s boys in the Snowdon Cup. The opposition, Kirkby, led 1-0 at the break. Liverpool U14s equalised in the second period as Carberry put his team in front, before the floodgates opened, ending up with a rousing 5-1 win.  The next month…
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Is Goodison Park a place of worship and is football a religion?

Is Goodison Park a place of worship and is football a religion?

Reverend Henry Corbett The quick answer is “Yes” and “No.” Goodison Park is surely a place of worship, and football is not a religion, though that second answer may need a bit of a defence. That football grounds are places of worship is instanced at every game played: chants of praise are sung and worth is given to players, the team, the history, the manager, maybe even the owner. Goodison Park has hosted games since 1892: it was the first major football stadium built in England with tall covered stands on three sides, and on the fourth side the ground…
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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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