Members Work

Articles and writing from Heritage Society members and contributors

Phew, 9-1 Win is a Scorcher!

Phew, 9-1 Win is a Scorcher!

The start of September 1906 saw England sweltering in a heatwave – the most intense temperatures recorded in the 20th century. It was weather for sunbathing, not sport, as the temperatures topped 32 degrees for four successive days throughout most of the country.  No surprise, then, that the Liverpool Daily Post & Mercury’s headline for Monday 3 September read:  Football Hot O! A Warm Kick- Off And Enormous Crowds. Players Collapse. While the editorial began: “The Glorious First, which duly celebrates the commencement of two distinct classes of sport – football and partridge shooting – will long be remembered for…
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Spreading the Everton name…

At the final whistle of this evening’s game both sets of players will be looking forward to a well-earned  rest over the coming months. In late April 1909, this was not the case as Everton closed the season with a 4-2 win over Leicester Fosse to finish runners-up to champions Newcastle United. The Toffees, along with Spurs, who likewise had finished runners-up but in the Second Division, had been invited to play a number of friendly matches in Argentina and Uruguay where the sport was still in its infancy. This was not the first such tour. Southampton in 1904 and…
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Another Great Book from deCoubertin: Rob Sawyer’s The Prince of Centre Halves – the Life of Tommy ‘TG’ Jones’

Another Great Book from deCoubertin: Rob Sawyer’s The Prince of Centre Halves – the Life of Tommy ‘TG’ Jones’

ANOTHER GREAT BOOK FROM DECOUBERTAIN - Q&A WITH ROB SAYWER, AUTHOR OF 'THE PRINCE OF CENTRE-HALVES: THE LIFE OF TOMMY 'TG' JONES' Posted by Jack Gordon-Brown on May 31, 2017 Rob Sawyer comes from a long line of Everton FC supporters. Listening to his father and grandfather regale the stories of Dixie Dean and the Holy Trinity led to a deep interest in Everton's illustrious history. Whilst researching his first book, a biography of Harry Catterick, Sawyer found just how important TG Jones was to the Toffees. We spoke to him about the Everton great... Hi Rob. You say that…
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Sponsorship deals in the early 1900s ‘Everton by Postcard’

Sponsorship deals in the early 1900s ‘Everton by Postcard’ By Brendan Connolly In the early 1900s, postcards were the equivalent of current day text messages. Very few people had telephones, so the postal system was the main method of communication. As a result, demand dictated that there were four mail deliveries per day, with the last post being late in the evening. It was not unusual to post a letter or postcard early in the morning and receive a reply the same day. Postcards carried a lower postal rate than letters and by the early 1900s picture postcards had become…
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Whitechapel Donations

Paul Kelly is pictured above at the Whitechapel Centre when we delivered the winter wear and toiletries donated by staff at Everton Football Club , Everton in the Community, staff at Essar Oil  Stanlow,  and Everton Heritage Society. The Society has been collecting since the turn of the year, with winter clothing and toiletries acculminating in five large boxes and twelve bin bags being delivered today. Former Everton players Ronnie Goodlass and Pat van den Hauwe have also supported KitAid and the Whitechapel Centre with personal donations. It was quite humbling taking the photo of our treasurer and the regular…
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Harry Williams – Death of a Mascot

Aside from the iconic Toffee Lady, Everton supporters in the 1930s also possessed two unofficial mascots. Harry Williams of Westminster Road, Kirkdale, and his near neighbour, William Jones, would “play up” for Blues fans both home and away. Williams would wear his trademark mock policeman’s uniform, decorated with the club colours whilst Jones would don a blue and white chess-board suit. In the days before fences and enclosures, the firm friends were often permitted to “conduct” the crowds from the cinder path bordering the pitch. When Everton travelled to St Andrew’s on 11 February 1939 for a FA Cup 5th…
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1966 hero gets his 1962/63 championship medal at last

1966 hero gets his 1962/63 championship medal at last

Everton legend Derek Temple was finally been presented with a League title medal, 53 years after helping the Blues lift the trophy. Temple had played in five games for Everton in the Championship winning side of 1963, but at the time that wasn’t enough to be presented with a title winner’s medal. However, in the years since then, rules have changed and today Leicester’s Mark Schwarzer will collect his second successive title medal despite having not played for either of his clubs. So, the Everton FC Heritage Society set about the task of asking the FA to make sure Temple…
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Billy Scott Grave Dedication 17 May 2017

Billy Scott Grave Dedication 17 May 2017

Billy Scott Billy Scott was an Irish international goalkeeper and part of the first Everton team to win the FA Cup in 1906. On Wednesday 17 May 2017, the EFC Heritage Society honoured Billy with a ceremony at 11am in Anfield cemetery, Priory Road, Walton Liverpool L4 2SL, to dedicate his previously unmarked grave. Heritage Society Chairman Brendan Connolly said “The Heritage Society is delighted to again have the support of Everton Football Club, with our latest project. We have also worked closely with Sheelagh Peroulis and Kevin Knight, relatives of Billy Scott, and their wishes have been integral to…
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When Babe met Dixie Dean – Ryan Ferguson (permission given)

As was the capricious, romantic and, in some cases, downright fictitious nature of news reporting in the United States during his rise to prominence, myth and mystery surrounds pretty much everything Babe Ruth ever did. His Called Shot during the 1932 World Series, for instance, is still shrouded in uncertainty, just like the fable that he once hit a Fall Classic home run to fulfil the last wishes of a sick kid in New Jersey. There’s no way to tell for sure whether these wondrous feats actually occurred, thanks in large part to the cliquey journalism culture of the age.…
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