Latest

Everton Custodians Who Went From Shot-stopper to Goalscorer
13
May
By Richie Gillham
0 Comments
2020-2029, Articles, Latest, Players, Richard Gillham

Everton Custodians Who Went From Shot-stopper to Goalscorer

During April 2023, Rob Sawyer tweeted a long running series of posts on the Everton FC Heritage Society Twitter account covering the great goalkeepers who have donned the Everton custodian shirt from founding of the club through to c.2000. So, after delving into the football libraries of the world wide web, I have found that many of the Toffees’ great keepers have also found luck at the other end of the pitch, scoring against their fellow keepers either in blue or out of the blue. In January 2012, I was at Goodison Park to witness Tim Howard become the latest…
Read More
Getting it Wright – (Son of My Father Part 18)
20
Apr
By Steve Zocek
0 Comments
1970-1979, 1980-1989, 2010-2019, Articles, Latest, Players, Steve Zocek

Getting it Wright – (Son of My Father Part 18)

Billy and Anthony Wright As well as being the son of Billy Wright, Anthony is also the great-nephew of Everton's World Cup full back Tommy Wright, and the cousin of Everton Ladies league winner Emma Wright-Cates. Quite an Everton family! Billy Wright Billy Wright (Photo by Bob Thomas Sports Photography via Getty Images) Ray Minshull was in charge of the youth set up when young Billy came to the attention of the club. It was touch and go at one stage, because Liverpool were keen to take the youngster on too. There was a scout that represented Liverpool that actually…
Read More
Tom Fern – Everton’s Evergreen Goalkeeper
06
Apr
By Rob Sawyer
2 Comments
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…
Read More
Match of the Day – 13 September 1902
01
Apr
By Mike Royden
0 Comments
1900-1909, Articles, Goodison, Latest, Mike Royden

Match of the Day – 13 September 1902

Everton v Newcastle United 1902 by Mike Royden There had been high expectations for the Everton side in the summer of 1902, following their runners-up spot to Sunderland in the previous season - their highest placing since a second-place finish, again to Sunderland, in 1894/95. However, the Blues had a dismal start to the 1902/03 season. The first three games were lost, with the first point coming with a 1-1 draw away to Wolves. Thankfully, the season improved the following week, with a satisfying 3-1 defeat of the Reds in front of 40,000 fans. Click image to view the film on the BFI…
Read More
Son of My Father (Part 17) – David and Jackie Grant
31
Mar
By Steve Zocek
0 Comments
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…
Read More
Emma Wright-Cates – Blueblood
29
Mar
By Rob Sawyer
0 Comments
1990-1999, 2020-2029, Everton Women, Latest, Rob Sawyer

Emma Wright-Cates – Blueblood

by Rob Sawyer Emma with Everton Ladies in 1996 Amongst the former Everton Ladies players attending the March 2023 reunion to mark 25 years since the Toffees' only national women's league title so far, was Emma Wright-Cates. She jetted in from Texas to link up with her former teammates and receive an ovation from supporters when introduced on the Goodison turf  before the kick-off of the women's derby. Her maiden name, Wright, gives a strong clue to her Everton credentials. Back in 2020, for the Toffee Soccer book, she told me about her life in football and her debt of…
Read More
A Night of Acclaim for Everton’s Pioneering Women
29
Mar
By Rob Sawyer
0 Comments
1990-1999, 2020-2029, Articles, Everton Women, Latest, Rob Sawyer

A Night of Acclaim for Everton’s Pioneering Women

by Rob Sawyer The Lap of Honour back in 1998 (photo: c/o Louise Ryde) Shortly before kick-off of the women's Merseyside derby on 24 March, a group of people stood in the centre circle of Goodison Park and received the acclaim of the 22,000-plus  attendees. This was the culmination of intensive planning by Everton FC Heritage Society and Everton FC, to pay fitting tribute to the achievement of the Everton's women's team of 1997/98 in winning the National League title for the only time, so far, in the club’s history. The 1997/98 season was only the third in which the…
Read More
The Story of Everton AFC of Cork
23
Mar
By Rob Sawyer
0 Comments
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…
Read More
Celebrating Everton Women’s Class of ‘98
19
Mar
By Rob Sawyer
0 Comments
1990-1999, Articles, Everton Women, Latest, Rob Sawyer

Celebrating Everton Women’s Class of ‘98

by Rob Sawyer Twenty-five years ago, a remarkable group of women representing Everton Football Club lifted the Women's Premier League trophy for the first and only time. Louise Ryde, ex-Doncaster Belles The history of the side goes back forty years, to when Billy Jackson and June Gordon merged their teams to form Hoylake WFC, morphing into Leasowe and, later, Leasowe Pacific. Under the latter name, the club upset the odds to win the Women's FA Cup in 1989, in a match staged at Old Trafford. Six years later, thanks to lobbying by club officials of new Everton chairman Peter Johnson,…
Read More