Members Work – Everton FC Heritage Society

Private David Bruce Murray – A First World War Casualty Who Crossed the Park

20

Oct

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1900-1909, 1910-1919, Latest, Mike Royden, Obituary, Players, Rest in Peace, WW1

Private David Bruce Murray – A First World War Casualty Who Crossed the Park

Mike Royden . Private David Bruce Murray (1882-1915) S/3845 11th (Service) Battalion, Princess Louise’s, (Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders) David Bruce Murray David Bruce Murray may not be a name familiar to most Everton fans, but what he does have in common with several more legendary players, such as Johnny Morrissey, Kevin Sheedy and Peter Beardsley, is that he is on that rather short list of players who have crossed the Park to play for both clubs. David Murray was born on 4 December 1882 in Busby, East Renfrewshire, south of Glasgow, to Janet Robertson Bruce, aged twenty nine, and…

Tigers and Toffees – Everton FC Heritage Society: Live at the MKM Stadium

10

Oct

By Jamie Yates

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Events, Jamie Yates, Latest

Tigers and Toffees – Everton FC Heritage Society: Live at the MKM Stadium

Jamie Yates On the afternoon of Thursday 8 October 2026, Everton Football Club Heritage Society (EFCHS) members Jamie Yates and Lewis Royden travelled east from Liverpool Lime Street, over the Pennines to Kingston-upon-Hull, to take part in the first event of its kind on such a scale in the society’s history. The story begins at Hill Dickinson Stadium on 19 February 2026, when around eighty members of the Senior Tigers Supporters Club made the opposite journey across to Merseyside for a stadium tour. Undeterred by one of their coaches having broken down on the way (turning a two and a…

The Everton Collection: An interview with Elizabeth France

10

Oct

By Mike Royden

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David France, Everton Collection, Interview, Latest

The Everton Collection: An interview with Elizabeth France

(Main header photograph: Everton Team Photo 1881, believed to be the earliest of an Everton team (The Everton Collection)) One man’s garbage is another man’s treasure 'The Everton Collection (formerly The David France Collection) is the greatest compilation of football club memorabilia in the world' – so declared Christies and Sotheby’s in 2005. Like many history buffs, I’ve wondered how you assemble such archives and sought insight from someone watching from the sidelines – Elizabeth, his wife of fifty-one years. How did the never-ending treasure hunt start? I heard it had something to do with 130 mph wind? Yes, we…

Scouse Supremacy: Liverpool, Everton and the story of the 1905/06 Season

08

Oct

By Rob Sawyer

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1900-1909, Books, Latest, Rob Sawyer

Scouse Supremacy: Liverpool, Everton and the story of the 1905/06 Season

A new book by Kieran Smith Rob Sawyer Writing a book on football that crosses the Blue-Red sporting divide is no simple task, hence relatively few books have catered for both sets of fans (exceptions include Three Sides of the Mersey, Two Tribes, and Crossing The Park). It’s a task Kieran Smith set himself with Scouse Supremacy (Pitch Publishing, 2026), which tells the story of the 1905/06 season, in which the two Merseyside giants dominated domestic football. An Associate Member of Everton FC Heritage Society, Kieran is a Liverpool supporter who maintains a healthy respect for the Red/Blue rivalry. Accordingly,…

My first football match: Everton v Blackburn in the harsh winter of 1962

07

Oct

By Paul McParlan

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1960-1969, Latest, Paul McParlan

My first football match: Everton v Blackburn in the harsh winter of 1962

[Hot Bovril and Cold Terraces series] Paul McParlan [This article first appeared in These Football Times, 28 July 2018] I was seven years old and driving my mum mad. My younger brother had been born just over 18 months earlier and was occupying most of her time. Match days always followed the same routine in our household: my dad would put on his suit and leave to meet his friends in the pub, prior to going off to Goodison to watch Everton. Occasionally he would depart a few hours earlier to catch a bus or a train to an away…

‘He Took My Breath Away’ – Celia Morrissey

04

Oct

By Becky Tallentire

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1960-1969, Becky Tallentire, Latest, Players

‘He Took My Breath Away’ – Celia Morrissey

Becky Tallentire So incensed was Bill Shankly when John Morrissey, then twenty-two, was sold to Everton in 1962 for £10,000 without his say, that the Scot threatened to quit Anfield. Morrissey went on to carve out a decent career at Goodison Park, playing 311 games at outside-left. He scored fifty goals and collected Championship medals in 1962-63 and 1969-70, and an FA Cup losers’ medal in 1968. He is a successful property developer today, and lives in Blundellsands, north Liverpool. The following article first appeared in Real Footballers' Wives by Becky Tallentire (published in 2004) Celia Collister (born 4 April…

03

Oct

By Rob Sawyer

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Heritage Talks/Social Evenings, Latest, Players, Rob Sawyer

An Evening with Simon Hart and Guests

Words - Rob Sawyer / Photos - Lewis Royden and Rob Sawyer The October Everton FC Heritage Society talk and social evening, ably compered by Gavin Buckland, had as its inspiration, two books written by EFCHS member Simon Hart, namely Here We Go: Everton in the 1980s and The Man Who Bled Blue. The first is a collection of interviews with figures at the club in that decade, the latter is his new biography of Mike Lyons, who made an immense contribution to the Blues as a player, captain and coach. After an update on EFCHS activities from vice-chair Mike…

George ‘Bumper’ Clarkson: An Original Original

03

Oct

By Jamie Yates

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1878-1889, 1890-1899, 1900-1909, 1910-1919, 1920-1929, 1930-1939, 1940-1949, 1950-1959, Jamie Yates, Latest

George ‘Bumper’ Clarkson: An Original Original

Everton superfan, shareholder, unofficial official and arguably Everton's oldest ever player and goalscorer! Our story begins with a curious little column, part of a series written by the esteemed Liverpool Echo sportswriter Ernest ‘Bee’ Edwards and published on page six of the newspaper, on Saturday, 20 October 1934. The text is accompanied by cartoonist Allason Moscrop’s detailed caricature of Clarkson, resplendent in coat and hat with signature chrysanthemum on his lapel. It reads as follows: Caricature of George Clarkson from Ernest Edwards’ nostalgic series ‘The Salt of the Soccer Crowd’ - Liverpool Echo, 20 October 1934 ‘Here’s one of the…

Show Racism The Red Card/Everton’s First Black XI Exhibition Launch Event

30

Sep

By Rob Sawyer

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Events, Latest, Players, Rob Sawyer

Show Racism The Red Card/Everton’s First Black XI Exhibition Launch Event

Rob Sawyer Members of Everton FC Heritage Society were among those attending a special preview eventof an exhibition at Hill Dickinson Stadium which celebrates the first eleven Black male players torepresent Everton Football Club. Also present were a number of people from the MerseysideBAME and sporting communities plus anti-racism activists.The exhibition has information on the following footballers who pulled on the blue jersey for theToffees’ first team (debut years shown): 1966 - Mike Trebilcock1975 - Cliff Marshall1994 - Daniel Amokachi1995 - Earl Barrett1997 - Terry Phelan, Danny Cadamarteri 1998 - John O’Kane, Oliver Dacourt, Ibrahima Bakayoko1999 - Kevin Campbell, Abel…

27

Sep

By Paul Owens

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Latest, Paul Owens, Players

Gordon West – Twilight of a Champion

Paul Owens On Wednesday 25 April 1973, Gordon West made the last of his 402 first-team appearances for Everton, eleven years after signing from Blackpool for £27,500 – a then record-fee for a goalkeeper. Fittingly, the Darfield-born stopper, who had celebrated his 30th birthday two days previously, kept a clean sheet, a shut-out that helped his beloved Blues earn a share of the spoils at St James’ Park, Newcastle. Although the curtain had come down on the first-team career of one of Everton’s most successful and charismatic sons – a double title winner, an FA Cup winner and the recipient…