1950-1959 – Everton FC Heritage Society

Billy Cook – The Original ‘Secret Footballer’ and his Peruvian Adventure

19

Aug

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1930-1939, 1940-1949, 1950-1959, Articles, Latest, Players, Rob Sawyer

Billy Cook – The Original ‘Secret Footballer’ and his Peruvian Adventure

Rob Sawyer Billy Cook circa 1933 The so-called ‘The Secret Footballer’ has been producing an anonymous column for The Guardian newspaper for over a decade. This, along with (to date) five books lifts the lid on the life of a professional soccer player. Speculation has been rife as to the identity of the author, with a former Reading and Stoke City forward being many amateur sleuths’ pick. The concept is nothing new, however. Over 70 years before this mystery player submitted his first column to the Guardian, a top-flight footballer was doing something very similar for the weekly Topical Times…

Eddie Wainwright – A Bright Light in Dark Days

08

Jun

By Rob Sawyer

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1950-1959, Articles, Latest, Players, Rob Sawyer

Eddie Wainwright – A Bright Light in Dark Days

by Rob Sawyer ‘When I hitched my chariot to the Goodison Park star, I did myself the best service ever. No club could treat its players better.’ Eddie Wainwright, Liverpool Echo 1955 The immediate post-war era for Everton was one of austerity, much in keeping with that felt by a battered Britain. The Toffees’ squad had been ravaged by age and star-player exits since the club was crowned Football League Champions, a few short months before Nazi forces marched into Poland, precipitating a global war. Tommy Eglington, Peter Farrell and Wally Fielding proved to be astute signings, but the team…

15

Dec

By Rob Sawyer

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1950-1959, Articles, Latest, Players, Rob Sawyer

Cyril Lello – Everton’s Shropshire Lad

By Rob Sawyer Ludlow, now the gastronomic capital of the beautiful county of Shropshire, is considered a football backwater, yet even seventy years after his sporting heyday, Cyril Lello is held in high esteem in the market town. In Everton’s dark days of the early 1950’s, with the team struggling to return to the topflight of English football, it was the Salopian, a quiet man with matinee idol looks, who brought authority, effort - and no little ability - to the Blues cause. The road to Goodison Park was a long one: Cyril Frank Lello came into the world on…

Tommy ‘T.G.’ Jones by his former team mate John Cowell

11

Dec

By Rob Sawyer

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1950-1959, Film and Media, Interview, Latest, Lewis Royden, Rob Sawyer

Tommy ‘T.G.’ Jones by his former team mate John Cowell

Rob Sawyer in conversation with former Pwllheli goalkeeper John Cowell on his association with Everton and Wales legend T.G.Jones. Tommy G. Jones – often known by his initials, T.G., was idolised by Everton and Wales supporters in the late 1930s and 1940s. Dubbed the Prince of Centre-halves by devoted fans, Jones was described by Dixie Dean as the finest all-round player he had ever seen. A league title winner in 1939, Jones lost many of his best years to the war, and picked up a debilitating ankle injury in a Merseyside derby in 1944. Everton team in 1948 – TG…

Son of My Father (Part 17) – David and Jackie Grant

31

Mar

By Steve Zocek

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1940-1949, 1950-1959, 1960-1969, Latest, Players, Steve Zocek

Son of My Father (Part 17) – David and Jackie Grant

by Steve Zocek David Grant (born 1947) David Grant played football for Liverpool Schoolboys, representing the juniors, before going up to the next level. During that period, Dave also represented Lancashire Schoolboys, with the proudest moment of all, being selected for England Schoolboys against Ireland at the Filbert Street ground, the home of Leicester City. Whilst representing county and country, scouts from football clubs searched for a new talent. And low and behold, there was a tug of war between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Everton, both hoping to persuade this talented youngster to sign forms. But to the chagrin of the…

23

Mar

By Rob Sawyer

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1950-1959, 2020-2029, Articles, Everton Clubs Abroad, Latest, Republic of Ireland, Rob Sawyer

The Story of Everton AFC of Cork

By Rob Sawyer with Eric Fitzgerald Club crest on shirt You may be aware of a number of football clubs (past and present) taking their name from Everton. They have been founded in South America, New Zealand and the Caribbean. Closer to home, Armagh City once operated under the Everton name (as Milford Everton); but another club on the island or Ireland is proud to have a connection to the Merseyside Blues, going back over sixty years. In the summer of 1958, Everton, under the stewardship of Ian Buchan, had a pre-season tour in Ireland. On 13 August, in the…

27

Jul

By Rob Sawyer

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1950-1959, 1960-1969, Latest, Obituary, Rob Sawyer

Mick Meagan (1934-2022)

Everton FC Heritage Society are saddened to learn of the passing of Mick Meagan at the age of eighty-eight. Rob Sawyer pays tribute; Mick Meagan, who passed away on 27 November 2022 was one of Everton’s great club men, giving twelve years of unstinting service. His reward was a League Championship medal in 1963. Born Michael Kevin Meagan on 29 May 1934, and raised in the Churchtown suburb south of Dublin, Mick was dubbed ‘Chick’ on account of his mother keeping hens in the back garden of the family home. He started off his soccer career with junior club Rathfarnham…

28

May

By Rob Sawyer

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1950-1959, 2020-2029, Articles, History, Players, Rest in Peace, Rob Sawyer

A Final Farewell to Jimmy Harris

Thursday 26 May 2022 was the day of Jimmy Harris’s final farewell. In the mid-afternoon, the cortège transported the 88-year-old former Toffees striker past the stadium he had graced. A number of supporters had come out to applaud as the hearse drove slowly along Goodison Road. I chatted to an 81-year-old supporter from West Derby, who recalled watching Jimmy in his 1950s heyday. He told me of Jimmy’s quicksilver movement around the pitch and his rasping shot. He fondly recalled a smartly struck Harris goal against the Busby Babes. Another supporter had come all the way from Doncaster to stand…

George Green – Illustrator Extraordinaire

02

May

By Rob Sawyer

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1930-1939, 1940-1949, 1950-1959, Articles, History, Rob Sawyer

George Green – Illustrator Extraordinaire

By Rob Sawyer The Toffee Lady is an enduring and iconic image, intrinsically linked to Everton FC. Since the 1950s, a Toffee Lady, or latterly a Toffee Girl, has paraded around Goodison before matches, dispensing the eponymous humbugs. But for many, the definitive Toffee Lady image takes cartoon form. It’s the Mother Noblett, famous for gracing the front page of the Football Echo for decades, looking elated, deflated or indifferent, depending on the Blues’ fortunes that day. Her ‘rival’ character was the Kopite, who showed a similar range of emotions, depending on the Liverpool result. The creator of these enchanting…

The Likely Lads; Mark and John Higgins – Son of my Father (Part Nine)

11

Apr

By Steve Zocek

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1950-1959, 1980-1989, Articles, Members Work, Players, Steve Zocek

The Likely Lads; Mark and John Higgins – Son of my Father (Part Nine)

Mark Higgins joined Everton as an apprentice. Having excelled in his performances for the reserves, he earned a first team start a month after his eighteenth birthday in a 2-2 draw against Manchester City under the lights at Goodison Park. Mark, a tough no-nonsense centre half, gave nothing less than 100% in an Everton jersey, but his career was blighted by injuries, which sadly led to him missing out on the success of Howard Kendall's sides of the eighties. After over 150 appearances for the Toffees, Mark made a decision to retire from the game due to the frustration…