1910-1919

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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Bobby Parker – an Everton hero
11
Dec
By David Prentice
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1910-1919, Articles, David Prentice, History, Latest, Players, WW1

Bobby Parker – an Everton hero

[NB. A revised article on Bobby Parker by Rob Sawyer and other relevant links can be found here ] ................................................................ Bobby Parker - an Everton hero by David Prentice (2021) 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…
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There’s Only Two Tommy Fleetwoods…
19
Jul
By Rob Sawyer
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1910-1919, 1920-1929, Articles, Latest, Peter Jones, Rob Sawyer

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
06
Apr
By Rob Sawyer
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1910-1919, 1920-1929, Articles, Everton Collection, Latest, Players, Rob Sawyer, WW1

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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