History – Page 21 – Everton FC Heritage Society

16

Aug

History, Members Work, Tony Onslow

On Tour in London with Everton

[This article was written for the 21 May 2017 Premiership fixture against Arsenal at Goodison Park] This week's clash with Arsenal, the 195th in total, will in no way resemble the occasion when the two sides first met 125 years ago (1892), in what is today The Royal Borough of Greenwich. It was the first time that the Anfield club had visited the capital, and their understrength party, which consisted of fifteen players, left Liverpool without their leading goal scorer Fred Geary, who was suddenly recalled to Nottingham because of a family bereavement. Club captain Andrew Hannah, along with Alec…

16

Aug

By Tony Onslow

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1878-1889, Articles, History, Members Work, Tony Onslow

With Everton at Great Lever

There has long been some confusion concerning the outcome of the first competitive game played by Everton, that was won eventually by their opponents Great Lever. Early local historians state that Everton drew the tie 1-1 and then were decisively beaten in the replay by eight goals to one on Stanley Park. However, the record books of the Lancashire FA, held in Leyland, prove that Great Lever did indeed venture into next round of the competition, but the replay, which was rather acrimonious, took place in their home town of Bolton. The parishioners of St Bartholomew’s church had formed a…

16

Aug

By Tony Onslow

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1910-1919, Articles, History, Members Work, Players, Tony Onslow

The Oxford Blues of Everton Football Club

The young football fan who today watches the highly paid Premier League stars of the modern era will find it difficult to visualise the generation of footballers who, long ago, earned a good living outside of the game and played football without reward because they loved to do so. Confined mostly to the south of England, many of them had first become acquainted with the association game at public school and then expanded their knowledge and skills at universities such as Oxford. Here, if noted by the selectors, they could be chosen to represent their university and be awarded an…

The Magnificent Footballing Andersons of Liverpool

16

Aug

By Tony Onslow

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1878-1889, 1890-1899, Articles, History, Members Work, Mike Royden, Players, Tony Onslow

The Magnificent Footballing Andersons of Liverpool

When asked recently who was the first Liverpool-born man to play Association Football for England or score a goal in an FA Cup final, I was not able to answer the question. I then commenced to trawl through the FA records, and after much deliberation, appeared to have found the two most likely candidates to fill these roles. I was surprised to discover that they both belong to the same family. Rupert Darnley Anderson was born on 29 April 1859 and baptised the following June at St Paul's church in the Princes Park area of Liverpool. He was the fifth…

16

Aug

By Tony Onslow

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1890-1899, Articles, History, Members Work, Tony Onslow

The Hope of Everton

In November 1890, the Everton executive dispatched their club captain, Andrew Hannah, back to his native Scotland and instructed him to find a player who would strengthen the side and help them clinch the Football League Championship. They informed him he could offer a signing on fee of £50, plus a weekly wage of three pounds and ten shillings a week. Hannah later returned with Hope Ramsey Robertson, who had agreed to join the Anfield club from Patrick Thistle. Robertson was born on 17 January 1868 in the Govan area of Glasgow, and was the third child born to assurance…

Alex Lochhead, the Everton Wing Half from Neilston

16

Aug

By Tony Onslow

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1890-1899, Articles, History, Members Work, Players, Tony Onslow

Alex Lochhead, the Everton Wing Half from Neilston

Over the years many Everton players have been asked to make their debut in some tough 'must win' situations. But the first of these must surely be a young Scotsman who arrived in Liverpool during November 1891 at a time when his new club were challenging to take the Football League Championship away from Preston North End. Alexander Lochhead had been born 27 June 1865 in the rural community of Neilson in Renfrewshire, where he began his football career playing for the village team. His style of play soon caught the eye of a talent scout, who invited the young…

16

Aug

By Tony Onslow

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1890-1899, 1900-1909, 1910-1919, Articles, History, Members Work, Players, Tony Onslow, WW1

The Life and Times of John Cameron

It had been just four weeks since the first football knockout competition, won the by The Wanderers, had taken place on the Kennington Oval ground in London, when a boy was born on the South West Coast of Scotland. He was destined to make FA Cup history. John Cameron was born on 13 April 1872 in the Newton district of Ayr, where his family, who were in the grocery business, had finally come to settle. The 1881 census recorded the business premises on Waggon Road, where John was by then an eight-year-old scholar. He later attended Ayr Grammar School. In…

‘Jack O’ Both Sides’ – The Life and Times of Jack Sharp (1878-1938)

16

Aug

By Rob Sawyer

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1900-1909, 1910-1919, Articles, Directors, History, Members Work, Players, Rob Sawyer

‘Jack O’ Both Sides’ – The Life and Times of Jack Sharp (1878-1938)

Jack Sharp sits in exalted company as one of England’s few dual cricket and football internationals. To Evertonians he is much more than that – an iconic player, captain, FA Cup winner, club director and founder of Liverpool’s best known sports outfitters. Born on 15 February in Everton’s founding year, Jack (christened John) was the youngest child of Charles and Annie Sharp who resided at 8 Eign Street in Hereford. Dorking-born Charles was a butcher with other business interests in the town, whilst Annie hailed from County Meath in Ireland. Jack and elder brother Bertram (Bert) grew up playing…

14

Aug

By Tony Onslow

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1878-1889, Articles, History, Members Work, Players, Tony Onslow

The Costley Brothers – Was It Jim Or Was It Tom?

Thomas Halliwell Costley was born in Liverpool but began his football career in Blackburn, before moving back to his birthplace in order to play for Everton. He was the younger brother of Jimmy Costley who scored the winning goal for Blackburn Olympic in the 1883 FA Cup final. Although Jimmy was never to sign for Everton he did represent his home town club in several attractive friendly fixtures where he deputised for his brother on the left wing. Tommy, the fifth child of the family, was born on 5 March 1865 at Rathbone Street on the south side of Liverpool…

14

Aug

By Lyndon Lloyd

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1890-1899, 2010-2019, History, Lyndon Lloyd, Members Work

From Leicester Fosse to Leicester City…

The Premier League champions are at Goodison Park this afternoon but did you know that the club played for 25 years after its formation before becoming Leicester City? Today’s visitors were formed in 1884 by a group of young men from a local evangelical chapel who decided to form a football team that they chose to call Leicester Fosse. This suffix was selected because the old Roman Road, known as the Fosseway, had once passed through the area. The group then all agreed to pay nine old pence membership fee and another nine pence was collected to purchase a football.…