Members Work

Articles and writing from Heritage Society members and contributors

The Life of Ken Birch

  Kenny Birch, who played forty-five times for the Blues in the 1950s, passed away on 24 April 2015 after a long and brave battle with illness. Born in Birkenhead, he joined Everton as a junior and made his debut in April 1956 in a 1-1 draw at Sheffield United, alongside the likes of TE Jones, Peter Farrell, Tommy Eglington and Jimmy Harris. The following season he played thirty times in League and FA Cup, scoring his one and only goal for the Club in a 4-2 victory at Maine Road against Manchester City, finding a way past the legendary…
Read More

Alan Ball Remembered DVD

Former Everton star Ronny Goodlass is will have a DVD on sale at St Luke's Church and the Winslow every home game. The DVD pays tribute to one of the Club's most iconic legends, Alan Ball. Along with the DVD is a special tribute programme for the Ball of Fire play, both on sale for a special price of £9.99 instead of £12.99. Ronny will be at St Luke's to autograph the items. Winger Goodlass was a boot boy for Ball in his youth and came to be in awe of the man who scored 79 goals in 251 games…
Read More

Why Leicester Fosse?

History will be made today when the present Premier League champions take to the field for what is their first ever FA Cup tie at Goodison Park. The 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 chosen because the old Roman Road, known as the Fosse Way, had once passed through the area and a military encampment was constructed to protect it from attack near to the spot where it forded the River Soar. The…
Read More
George Harrison – Grave Dedication

George Harrison – Grave Dedication

A MOVING tribute was paid to 'one of our own' as representatives of some of Britain's biggest football clubs descended on South Derbyshire. George Harrison was a Church Gresley teenager with a dream of making it to the top when he started playing football for his local team, Gresley Rovers, back in 1910. It was the beginning of stunning career that later saw him win a top flight title with Everton and two caps for England. Amidst it all he was called to fight for his country on the front line during the First World War. THE Everton FC Heritage…
Read More

Everton and KitAid

Thanks to an act of generosity in a time of adversity, a corner of Malawi, 5,000 miles from Goodison Park, will be forever Everton. John Mulcahy was a lifelong Blue – attending his first match in April 1976 when Everton defeated Stoke 2-1. John had Noonan Syndrome (NS), which, in spite of being relatively commonplace and having a major impact on lives, remains a comparatively little-known condition. The syndrome did not stop him from becoming a Lower Bullens season ticket holder and regular attendee at away fixtures. Sadly John’s health deteriorated in the last five years of his life before…
Read More
A Tribute to Matt Woods

A Tribute to Matt Woods

Matt Woods (1 November 1931 - 26 September 2014) Skelmersdale-born Maurice 'Matt' Woods, a centre-half on Everton’s books in the 1950s, passed away on 26 September aged eighty-two. He had been playing as a wing-half in the Wigan Sunday League, when his uncle wrote to Everton requesting a trial for his nephew. Having impressed in the B team, he signed amateur forms at fifteen, and by the 1949-50 season he was a regular in the Reserves – alongside the likes of Don Donovan, Tommy Clinton, Wally 'Nobby' Fielding, Jimmy O’Neill and Harry Catterick. An early Reserves appearance brought praise in…
Read More

Here We Go – Simon Hart

Paul Power Guest Appearance Paul appeared on Sunday 15 January 2017, upstairs at St Lukes Church with author of Here We Go, Simon Hart ( a member of EFCHS) Paul Power finished his career on a high after signing for Everton in June 1986 for a fee of £65,000. He played in a total of fifty-two games in the 1986-87 season, providing valuable experience for a Toffees side who were without key players, including Peter Reid and Paul Bracewell for long periods due to injury, but still managed to win the league title and give Power a major trophy at…
Read More
The Old ‘Un wanders through Walton, lonely as a cloud. With Bill.

The Old ‘Un wanders through Walton, lonely as a cloud. With Bill.

This article, written by early 20th century Everton historian Thomas Keates, originally appeared in the Liverpool Evening Express, of 23 November 1912.  Tom Keates, (or is it John Keats?), dreamily wanders through the rural byways of Walton with his old pal Bill, trying to reimagine the excursion as preparation for his epic poem the 'Eve of St Domingo'.  Nevertheless, there are a few points of interest here for students of early Everton history. GOODISON PARK Memories of Everton's Ground. Famous Cricketers Visit By the Old ‘Un, “Goodison Park eh –a funny park,” said my cousin Bill.  He was down from…
Read More

Jim Keoghan – Highs, Lows and Bakayokos: Everton In The 90s

Jim Koeghan visited St Luke's on 19 October  2017 before the Derby Match to sign copies of his book, Highs Lows & Bakayokos: Everton In The 90s. Highs, Lows and Bakayokos tells the story of Everton in the 1990s; the successes and failures, the agony and the ecstasy, the good times and the Mike Walker times. It's the tale of how one of English football's greatest clubs lost its way and how the nature of being an Evertonian changed forever. In the book, Jim explores this transformative time for our grand old team. It searches for the causes of Everton's…
Read More
Alec Brady – Anfield legend honoured by Everton Heritage Society

Alec Brady – Anfield legend honoured by Everton Heritage Society

Everton's first title winner - at Anfield - has his grave rededicated     Alec Brady   EVERTON and Celtic supporters share a line from a famous old song. Separated by 200 miles and a national border, both sets of supporters still sing about “a grand old team to play for” - and in that song celebrate each club’s “history.” Those words were made real last weekend, when the Celtic Graves Society and the Everton Heritage Society joined forces to rededicate the grave of a Victorian pioneer who graced both clubs. Alec Brady was an Everton original. A Scottish inside…
Read More