1910-1919

This Prince of Goalkeepers – Lance Corporal Leigh Richmond Roose MM
12
Nov
By Mike Royden
1900-1909, 1910-1919, Film and Media, Latest, Lewis Royden, Mike Royden, Rest in Peace, WW1

This Prince of Goalkeepers – Lance Corporal Leigh Richmond Roose MM

A great deal of research has been carried out by a number of members since the founding of the society, into players on Everton FC books who fell in both wars. This research has also been extended to include the Everton clubs of Chile and New Zealand. In addition, there has also been an ongoing project to research those who had served, but had survived, and in many cases were deeply affected by the conflict, who were never the same again, being affected both physically and mentally. ____________________________________________________________________________________________ https://youtu.be/qujY7HfXe6U Click to view Leigh Roose documentary on YouTube ____________________________________________________________________________________________ The Fallen of…
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The Fallen of Everton FC – Corporal Thomas Gracie
07
Nov
By Mike Royden
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1910-1919, Film and Media, Latest, Mike Royden, Rest in Peace, WW1

The Fallen of Everton FC – Corporal Thomas Gracie

A great deal of research has been carried out by a number of members since the founding of the society, into players on Everton FC books who fell in both wars. This research has also been extended to include the Everton clubs of Chile and New Zealand. In addition, there has also been an ongoing project to research those who had served, but had survived, and in many cases were deeply affected by the conflict, who were never the same again, being affected both physically and mentally. A series of short biographical films about the players is ongoing and in…
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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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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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Alan Grenyer – An Everton and North Shields Stalwart
03
Feb
By Rob Sawyer
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1910-1919, Articles, Latest, Players, Rob Sawyer

Alan Grenyer – An Everton and North Shields Stalwart

Rob Sawyer Alan Grenyer 1919-20 For understandable reasons, Everton’s 1914/15 season team had less coverage and kudos than the other six to achieve the impressive feat of winning the Football League Championship. The season was played with the backdrop of the First World War, which had got underway in July 1914. Perhaps believing that the conflict would be over by Christmas, the regular Football League and FA Cup competitions went ahead. This was in the face of dissent from much of the population at large, who felt that young and fit men should be joining the armed forces, rather than…
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Joe Mercer and the Football Battalion
01
Feb
By Mike Royden
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1910-1919, Articles, Latest, Mike Royden, WW1

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 Day George Robey Brought Show Business to Goodison Park
26
Mar
By Rob Sawyer
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1900-1909, 1910-1919, Articles, Latest, Rob Sawyer

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
08
Jan
By Rob Sawyer
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1910-1919, Articles, Latest, Players, Rob Sawyer

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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