Articles

Patricia Pearson

Patricia Pearson

Kick Off - The First Lady of Football on Television     In the north west of England, there was a Friday night football programme through out the seventies called 'Kick Off', featuring all of the north west clubs in the four divisions of the Football League. The emphasis would be on the big games that were being played that weekend featuring the region’s clubs. Interviews with players, managers, including action of the region’s teams from the week before, would feature in the thirty-minute show.  The presenter was Gerald Sinstadt who joined Granada in 1969/70 until 1980-81. Two days later, a regular…
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International Football arrives on Merseyside

International Football arrives on Merseyside

The first international football match to take place on Merseyside occurred on 24 February 1883, when England took on an Irish side who were making their first excursion to mainland Britain. The match was arranged under the guidance of the FA secretary Charles Alcock, who decided to stage the game on the new home of Liverpool Cricket Club at Aigburth. He had attended Harrow Public School and would have been acquainted, through the 'Old Boy' network, with other Old Harrovians who lived on Merseyside. One such person was Percy Bateson. Born locally in 1862, Percy was the son of a…
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Ray Veall – honoured at last

Ray Veall – honoured at last

'I played with great players... I just wish it had lasted longer' By Rob Sawyer Skegness-born Ray Veall, now 71, was a slightly-built outside-left who made an impact at Doncaster Rovers and placed himself on the radar of the two Harrys – Everton’s chief scout Cooke and boss Catterick. A £10,145 outlay was sufficient to persuade the Division Two outfit to part with their left-wing prodigy in the autumn of 1961. Veall recalled: “The coach called me in and said, ‘Harry Catterick wants to see you at the Earl of Doncaster Hotel.’ I caught the bus there by myself –…
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Lost in France: Leigh Richmond Roose

Lost in France: Leigh Richmond Roose

A talk given by author Spencer Vignes to the Everton FC Shareholder's Association Leigh Richmond Roose Leigh Roose was born in a small village called Holt which lies just on the Welsh side of the border between England and Wales a few miles outside Wrexham. As a youngster he took to goalkeeping like a duck to water, perfecting his art during kick-abouts in Holt and while at university in Aberystwyth where he went to do a science degree. While he was in Aberystwyth he also played for the top local side, Aberystwyth Town, with who he won a Welsh Cup…
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Spot on – The first European Cup shoot-out

Spot on – The first European Cup shoot-out

This article first appeared in the Champions Journal - reproduced here by kind permission EFCHS member Simon Hart steps up and takes a deep breath to look back at the first European Cup shoot-out WORDS Simon Hart | ILLUSTRATION Thomke Meyer It is five decades ago now but Wolfgang Kleff is still not allowed to forget the night he created a football first. “Older fans who lived through that time talk to me about it,” says the 74-year-old. “It’s part of the history of Borussia Mönchengladbach.” The ‘it’? The first save by a goalkeeper in a European Cup penalty shoot-out.…
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The story behind the photograph – Tom McIntosh – Everton’s First Full-Time Secretary

The story behind the photograph – Tom McIntosh – Everton’s First Full-Time Secretary

Tom McIntosh is a significant off-pitch figure in Everton's story, yet, despite the club's achievements under his watch, he seems to have fallen through the cracks of the club's historical records and his contribution over 16 years is largely overlooked He came from humble beginnings. His Scottish father, Peter, left his native Nairn to become the resident baker at the lunatic asylum in Sedgefield, County Durham. Here he met Eleanor Hunter, an attendant at the asylum. Eleanor's sister Elisabeth and brother-in-law, Thomas Nokes, would also work at the institution (John rose to the position of Chief Attendant). Peter and Eleanor…
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Billy and Bob: The Fabulous Balmer Brothers

Billy and Bob: The Fabulous Balmer Brothers

Billy and Bob: The Fabulous Balmer Brothers By Rob Sawyer William and Robert Balmer formed a fearsome, and fruitful, fraternal partnership in Everton’s back-line in the early years of the 20th Century. William’s selection for national team duty would also make him the club’s first Scouse England cap. They were the sons of James (a carpenter and joiner) and Martha. William Atherton was born on 29 July 1875 whilst Robert followed on 28 November 1881. The pair - better known and Billy and Bob - grew-up alongside their siblings John (b. 1874) and Mary (b. 1877) at the family home…
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Everton and Huddersfield Town – The First Encounters

Everton and Huddersfield Town – The First Encounters

Everton and Huddersfield Town – The First Encounters Today marks the 59th League fixture staged between The Toffees and The Terriers, 98 years after the first. A mere 13 years after its formation, the Yorkshire club had shrugged off the threat of a merger with Leeds United to gain promotion and reach the 1920 FA Cup Final. Everton came to Leeds Road on 9 October to play the newly promoted side. It would be the first instalment of back-to-back matches (a regular scheduling feature at this time). Everton fielded: Fern, Downs (captain), McDonald, Fleetwood, Brewster, Grenyer, Chedgzoy, Kirsopp, Peacock, Reid,…
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Dixie’s Sunset, Bally’s Sunrise

Dixie’s Sunset, Bally’s Sunrise

Ashton's Everton Connection Ashton-Under-Lyne, six miles to the east of Manchester, is dominated by a huge Ikea store and known by football trivia fanatics as the birthplace of Sir Geoff Hurst.   Yet it is another Hurst that connects this Tameside town with Everton Football Club. Hurst FC was founded in 1878 (a familiar ring to it for Evertonians), playing its first reported fixture the following year.  Within two years the club had relocated to the Hurst Cross ground and remains there to this day – one of the longest residences in football. The team has muddled along in regional leagues…
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