1910-1919

The Day George Robey Brought Show Business to Goodison Park

The Day George Robey Brought Show Business to Goodison Park

George Robey in his late 60s - National Portrait Gallery Football and showbiz have been bedfellows since the early days of the sport. Before the dawn of the 20th Century, theatrical matches were staged at Everton’s ground. In the 1920s, Jack Cock combined spearheading the Blues attack with treading the boards in music hall, subsequently trying his hand at movie acting. In 1968, the Golden Vision play, screened on the BBC, immortalised Alex Young on celluloid. More recently, the Toffees’ late chairman, Bill Kenwright, was a successful and high-profile impresario in the world of theatre. Other football clubs have, of…
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James Meunier – The Cricketing footballer with French Heritage

James Meunier – The Cricketing footballer with French Heritage

Rob Sawyer Mikael Madar was the first French national to represent the Everton Toffees, signed by Howard Kendall in 1998. The Francophone Elie Hurel, from Jersey, but with French parents, briefly lined up alongside the great Dixie Dean in the 1930s, However, a footballer with Gallic heritage was on the books for Everton in the first decade of the 20th Century. James Brown Meunier was born on 4 April 1885 in the Birmingham area to a French-born father (Stanislas – sometimes written as Stanislass) and English mother (Jane). Little is known about Stanislas’ background on the continental mainland, but in…
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Bobby Parker – an Everton hero

Bobby Parker – an Everton hero

Bobby Parker is an Everton hero. A real life, bona fide hero in the truest definition of the word. On a football pitch Robert Norris Parker was a goalscoring hero who struck at the rate of almost a goal a game. But off it he was a war-hero, a man who sacrificed a sparkling career for his country – cruelly a sacrifice precious few people were aware of. Everton’s history is littered with what might have been stories – but none is more tragic than the experience of a superb Scottish centre-forward who deserves a place near the top of…
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There’s Only Two Tommy Fleetwoods…

There’s Only Two Tommy Fleetwoods…

by Rob Sawyer and Pete Jones A contemporary cigarette card of Tommy Fleetwood It’s always good to see fellow blues doing well. Have a look at Toffeeweb’s section on celebrity fans; it’s an informative and amusing mixture of the nailed on, the apocryphal, and the downright dodgy. We have amongst our number an Oscar winner in Dame Judi Dench, star of stage, screen and the Moneysupermarket ads. She owes her allegiance to her late husband Michael Williams, although she did appear in Z-Cars in 1963, when John Moores’ ‘Mersey Millionaires’ were reigning League Champions. Another showbiz multi-award winning blue is…
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Tom Fern – Everton’s Evergreen Goalkeeper

Tom Fern – Everton’s Evergreen Goalkeeper

By Rob Sawyer The 1914/15 season was played under the cloud of the First World War, with many criticising the football authorities for letting it run to its conclusion. An ostentatious celebration of the title win by Everton would not have been welcomed by the press or the nation at large. This muted response is something of a disservice to the likes of Bobby Parker, Harry Makepeace, Sam Chedgzoy, Jimmy Galt and Tom Fern. The latter was a custodian who amassed over two hundred outings for the Toffees - it would have been many more, were it not for the…
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Sam Chedgzoy – A Star on Both Sides of The Atlantic

Sam Chedgzoy – A Star on Both Sides of The Atlantic

Chedgzoy is a brilliant raider, a clean player and a companiable man. Athletic News - 1921 Rob Sawyer In 1924, Samuel Chedgzoy wrote himself into the annals of football history for his role in forcing a hasty change to the rules of the sport. This stunt (more of which later) was but a small part of the remarkable, and sometimes intriguing, life of one of Everton and England’s finest outside rights – and, alongside Joe Mercer and Stan Cullis, one of Ellesmere Port’s greatest sons. The surname has a slightly exotic feel – Eastern European maybe? The truth is more…
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Lance Johnston – A Knight of the Round Table at Inside-Left?

Lance Johnston – A Knight of the Round Table at Inside-Left?

Jamie Yates Scouring old newspaper reports, statutory records, census returns and history books, while working through and cross-checking the relevant dates and stories of the men who played for Everton in years gone by, turns up all sorts of interesting events, tangents and curiosities. The full names of a number of those who turned out in the early colours and patterns of Everton jersey on the various strips of grass that the club called home, and several who ran out in blue in the first half century or so at Goodison Park, really stand out; Benjamin Howard-Baker Samuel Bolton Ashworth…
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Remembrance at Goodison Park 2022

Remembrance at Goodison Park 2022

Armistice Day Service, The Fallen of Everton FC Memorial, Goodison Park Many thanks again for all the work by Paul Kelly of Everton FC Heritage Society and his wife Jean in pulling things together for the commemoration event on 11 November 2022 - an event they have organised with dedication for several years. (photos: Mint Collective/Everton FC Heritage Society) Remembrance Fixture - Everton v Leicester City Richie Gillham, of Everton FC Heritage Society, in St Luke's with his brother, who was involved in the Goodison pre-match Remembrance ceremony Lest we Forget
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Remembrance at Goodison Park and the Fallen of Everton F.C.

Remembrance at Goodison Park and the Fallen of Everton F.C.

The Everton FC Remembrance service is held every 11 November at the memorial wall near the Park End Stand. Organised by Everton FC Heritage Society (Paul Kelly supported by other members), and attended by representatives of the Club, plus participation by the local ministry, Everton in the Community, Everton Community School, aided by a piper and vocalist before members of the public. . The Fallen of Everton Football Club Click image for the current list of the Fallen of Everton and booklet download The Fallen of Everton Football Club Remembrance services . Remembrance Service - Goodison Park 2024 Remembrance Service…
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Lest We Forget

Lest We Forget

NB This article was due to appear in the Everton v Tottenham Hotspur Remembrance Day fixture of 7 November 2021. Unfortunately, due to the sad death of former manager Walter Smith, it was held over for his memorial article due to lack of space. It is reprinted in full below. Corporal 19024 Tom Gracie, 16th (Service) Battalion (2nd Edinburgh) The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) The Life of Tom Gracie Among the names of the Fallen of Everton FC featured on the panels by the Dixie Dean statue is Tom Gracie. Born in Glasgow in 1899, he was a qualified bookkeeper,…
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