History – Page 7 – Everton FC Heritage Society

12

Jan

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

In Search of John Houlding

This article is not intended either to praise or to condemn John Houlding for the role he played in the decision made by Everton Football Club to move away from Anfield. It is merely an effort to try and throw some light on this 'larger than life character' who played a big part in establishing the game of Association Football in his home town of Liverpool. Local records reveal that John Houlding was baptised on 4 August 1833 at St Martin-in the-Field church. He was the second of three sons born to Thomas Houlding, a cow keeper, and his wife…

11

Jan

By Tony Onslow

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1878-1889, Articles, History, Members Work, Players, Tony OnslowOswestry FC

John Roach, a Striker from Shropshire

The main engineering works of The Cambrian Railway Company - today a grade two listed building - once employed many of the people who lived in the Welsh Marches town of Oswestry, and provided the local football team with several players. One such person, who also represented Everton, was John Roach. John Roach's home in LorneSt (left) and the Railway Works (far right) Born April 1863, he was the third child of Martin, a labourer, and his wife Bridget, who together had moved to Shropshire from their birthplace in the County Mayo across the Irish Sea. John had begun to work as a blacksmiths striker, in the foundry of the Cambrian Company, when he started playing football for the Oswestry White Stars, who shared a ground with the local cricket club. On 29 December 1883, the little Shropshire club found themselves in the limelight, having received a home FA Cup draw with the famous Queens Park club from Glasgow, who were renowned for playing quality football with…

08

Jan

By Steve Zocek

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1970-1979, Articles, History, Interview, Members Work, Players, Steve ZocekCeltic, Everton, Hibernian

Son of My Father – The Tale of Two Joes

Welcome to Part Five of Son of my Father. This time, I feature a football family from Glasgow: Joe McBride (Jnr) who played for Everton, and his father Joe McBride (Snr) who will be most remembered for his playing days at Celtic Park in the 1960’s. Joe senior actually had a great personal statistic by being top scorer at every club he played for. We start with Joe (Snr) who was born in 1938, a stone throws away from Rangers’ Ibrox Park. His football career began as a very young 15-year-old at Rugby Park, Kilmarnock. After 57 games and 24…

07

Jan

By Steve Zocek

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1970-1979, Articles, History, Interview, Steve Zocek

Son of My Father – Part 6

Carry on Seargeant by Steve Zocek This latest article is quite an intriguing one, featuring Steve Seargeant and his son Christian who both played for Everton. Steve made 80 first team appearances for the Royal Blues with one goal in his Everton career, which came in a late September afternoon in 1974 with a memorable strike from 35 yards, which squirmed under the body of Leeds United goalkeeper David Harvey to open the scoring that afternoon. Everton went on to win the game 3-2 after an enthralling 90minutes. For the younger readers who were not aware of his goal, it can be seen on the YouTube channel. https://youtu.be/_SseuJApkZ0 Christian tells me that he never really…

01

Jan

By Steve Zocek

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1970-1979, Articles, History, Interview, Members Work, Steve ZocekCoventry City, Everton FC, Wigan Athletic

Son of my Father – Part 7

THE KINGDOM OF RIOCH by Steve Zocek Some of you may be wondering why I’ve given this article the title of ‘The Kingdom of Rioch’? Well, Rioch means kingdom which comes from Irish origin. So, that’s the formalities out of the way. Bruce Rioch joined Everton in December 1976, making his Everton debut at Coventry City’s Highfield Road in a 4-2 defeat. Bruce appeared 30 times in an Everton shirt hitting the net 3 times. He had a thunderous shot, and was always favourite to take the direct free kicks when a goal seemed possible. Bruce played for a total…

19

Dec

By Steve Zocek

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1970-1979, Articles, History, Interview, Members Work, Steve Zocek

‘Son of my Father’ Part IV: James Wood

George Wood was signed for Everton in August 1977 by manager Gordon Lee. George soon became a “darling” of the Evertonians, making 126 appearances for the Toffees before joining Arsenal in August 1980. George also represented Scotland, and once told me he was the one who launched Diego Maradona’s career as the Argentinian scored his first international goal against him. Maradona scored his first international goal in the fixture after beating George Wood courtesy of SNS Group This feature is a little different to the previous ones as it features George’s son, James, who followed in his father’s footsteps wearing…

Gerry Mullan – When Irish Eyes are Smiling

21

Nov

By Steve Zocek

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1980-1989, Articles, History, Interview, Steve ZocekBallymena, Everton, Gerry Mullin, Glentoran, Northern Ireland

Gerry Mullan – When Irish Eyes are Smiling

Gerry Mullan signed for Everton from Ballymena United in October 1980. To date he was the most expensive Irish league player at £30,000. Gerry failed to make a first team appearance for the Toffees but gained 4 caps for his country-Norther Ireland. Gerry is quite a private man, but was very helpful in assisting me with an insight to his time at Everton. Gerry Middle row 2nd from the left SIGNING FOR EVERTON "After 4 reasonably good seasons at Ballymena, I trained really hard in my fifth season, trying to push myself to the limit. As well as Everton, a…

31

Oct

By Tony Onslow

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1878-1889, Articles, History, Members Work, Players, Tony OnslowCrewe Alexandra, Manchester City, Wales

Lewis the Fireman

When the Liverpool & District FA was formed in 1882, the officials turned for guidance to their more knowledgeable counterparts in North Wales, whose organisation had been formed some four years earlier. The members of the Everton executive thereafter, would make incursions into the Principality in search of experienced players they hoped would improve the standard of play at Anfield. One such man who caught their attention was William Lewis. Born in 1864 in Bangor, he was the third son of Edward, a stonemason, and his wife Margaret. The family home was at 72 Hill Street. According to the 1881 census, Billy had followed the male members of the family into the stonemason trade and had begun playing the association game with his local side Bangor. On 4 February 1884, Willie Lewis represented the North Wales FA against their counterparts from Liverpool, on what was the recently opened Bootle cricket enclosure on Hawthorne Road. He scored one of the goals as the game ended…

Edward Turner, the carpenter from Lancaster

10

Oct

By Tony Onslow

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

Edward Turner, the carpenter from Lancaster

Renowned for its mint cake and grey limestone buildings, the former Westmorland county town of Kendal – now part of Cumbria – was the location at which an Everton talent scout discovered a defender by the name of Edward Turner. Born 24 February 1874 in Lancaster, he was the second child of John, a cotton spinner, and his wife Mary. The 1881 census records the family living on Rigg Lane, but by 1891 they had moved to Penfold Lane where Edward had begun to learn the carpentry trade. Around this time his name briefly appeared in the press while playing…

Richard Duckenfield – ‘Get off the Pitch!’

08

Oct

By Steve Zocek

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1970-1979, Articles, History, Interview, Steve Zocek

Richard Duckenfield – ‘Get off the Pitch!’

October 28th 1978 is a date etched in many an Evertonians mind. John Motson commentating that day for the evening football show ‘Match of the Day’ cries out, “The ball falls to Andy King, oh yes he’s got it, Andy King has scored” When the final whistle sounded at 4.45 Richard Duckenfield a BBC reporter waits on the pitch side to grab a few words with the hero of the afternoon. Before the conversation could commence, a Police Superintendent rudely pushes Duckenfield and King away from the pitch with an order “Get off the pitch” 42 years on I caught up with Richard to find out about the moment which has…