Members Work – Page 8 – Everton FC Heritage Society

08

Jun

1960-1969, Articles, Latest, Republic of Ireland, Rob Sawyer

Royal Blue in The Emerald Isle

The Story of Club Everton Atha Cliath Rob Sawyer Everton FC has sired namesakes in Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, the Caribbean and elsewhere. Closer to home, several sides in the Emerald Isle have adopted the Everton moniker over the years. Just over a decade ago, a conversation with David Exall, Everton’s erstwhile Promotions Manager, put me on the trail of Club Everton Atha Cliath - translated as ‘Club Everton of Dublin’- and Séamus Ua Trodd, its founder, secretary, coach, PR man and lifeblood. David recalled how the alliance across the Irish Sea was forged: ‘In 1971 Séamus asked for permission…

Alf Milward – The Toffees’ First Great Left Winger of the League Era

08

Jun

By Rob Sawyer

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1878-1889, 1890-1899, Articles, Latest, Players, Rob Sawyer

Alf Milward – The Toffees’ First Great Left Winger of the League Era

by Rob Sawyer ‘His buoyant spirit called for the wild career down the wing, for the flying charge, and the flying shot to the goalmouth where Geary or Chadwick could be trusted to meet the rebound.’ Victor Hall, Liverpool Echo, 1924. Baines and Pienaar, Dobson and Thomas, Fielding and Eglington, Stevenson and Coulter – all fantastic partnerships on the left side of the Toffees’ attack. The original great partnership on that flank was formed by the contrasting but complimentary attributes of Edgar Chadwick and Alf Milward. Supporters and reporters would refer to them together simply as ‘The Wing’, such was…

John Smith – Co-founder of Everton Supporters’ Club London Area (ESCLA)

21

Apr

By Mike Royden

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2020-2029, Articles, Latest, Mike Royden

John Smith – Co-founder of Everton Supporters’ Club London Area (ESCLA)

John posing in front of the famous Everton Lock Up during our 2025 event One of our visitors to the 'Everton FC in Everton' event on Saturday 17 May 2025 was John Smith, a man very well-known to fans past and present in the London area. John Collings at the 2009 FA Cup Final (photo: www.escla.org.uk) It was on a train from London to Plymouth on 25 January 1975, while on their way to watch Everton play in the FA Cup, when travelling companions John Smith and John Collings decided to form a club, or association, which would help fellow…

The Day George Robey Brought Show Business to Goodison Park

26

Mar

By Rob Sawyer

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1900-1909, 1910-1919, Articles, Latest, Rob Sawyer

The Day George Robey Brought Show Business to Goodison Park

George Robey in his late 60s - National Portrait Gallery Football and showbiz have been bedfellows since the early days of the sport. Before the dawn of the 20th Century, theatrical matches were staged at Everton’s ground. In the 1920s, Jack Cock combined spearheading the Blues attack with treading the boards in music hall, subsequently trying his hand at movie acting. In 1968, the Golden Vision play, screened on the BBC, immortalised Alex Young on celluloid. More recently, the Toffees’ late chairman, Bill Kenwright, was a successful and high-profile impresario in the world of theatre. Other football clubs have, of…

George Farmer – Grave Rededication Report

24

Mar

By Rob Sawyer

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1878-1889, Articles, Rest in Peace, Rob Sawyer

George Farmer – Grave Rededication Report

Anfield Cemetery and The Winslow Hotel 23 March 2024 Rob Sawyer In May 1905, a 42-year-old-man who was as working as a gas meter manufacturer in a corporation yard in Everton, succumbed to a heart condition. This was no ordinary man, however, but – in all likelihood – the first idol of Everton supporters in the club’s Anfield days. He was George Farmer, the celebrated ‘king of the screw shot’ and a potent attacking threat down the Toffees’ left flank in the mid-to-late 1880s, at the dawn of the Football League age. His premature passing left a pregnant widow, Louisa,…

George Farmer Grave Rededication – Photo Gallery

24

Mar

By Rob Sawyer

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Mike Royden, Rest in Peace

George Farmer Grave Rededication – Photo Gallery

Anfield Cemetery - 23 March 2024 (photos by Rob Sawyer / Mike Royden / Lewis Royden) Family and guests begin to arrive Jamie Yates opens the proceedings The headstone unveiling by Annette Kerry and Richard Edwards, two of George’s great grandchildren Mike Isherwood (Deputy Mayor of Oswestry and Everton fan) says a few words on George Farmer's Welsh links and family ties to Oswestry 'Don't Go Gently into that Good Night' by Dylan Thomas, read by Laura-Beth Murray, great-great-grandaughter of George Farmer Prayer of Thanksgiving, Rededication of Grave and Blessing, by Reverend Henry Corbett, Chaplain to Everton Football Club The…

24

Mar

By Jamie Yates

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Jamie Yates, Rest in Peace

‘Hey Now Georgie’

Music by The Mighty George Farmer

George Farmer – Order of Service Artwork

24

Mar

By Jamie Yates

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Jamie Yates, Rest in Peace

George Farmer – Order of Service Artwork

Order of Service Souvenir Another aspect of the George Farmer grave rededication day, which should not be overlooked, was the lovely souvenir handed out by Jamie to all those who attended. Contained in an envelope was the order of service card, with additional inserts shown below. Jamie, a qualified and experienced artist, designed the complete package, a beautiful work of art in its own right, which was then silk screen printed by hand by his friend Erica Donovan. An excellent momento of the day.

‘George could bend it way before Beckham’

24

Mar

By Ken Rogers

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1878-1889, Articles, Ken Rogers, Rest in Peace

‘George could bend it way before Beckham’

George Farmer (1862-1905) - Everton Pioneer Grave and Headstone Rededication Project Liverpool Echo Article by Ken Rogers In the days running up to the rededication event, our chairman Ken Rogers - former Sports Editor of the Liverpool Echo - composed a fitting article for the newspaper he knows so well; In an age when commerciality pervades every aspect of top-flight football, it is encouraging to reflect on a remarkable initiative that continues to focus on those oft-forgotten heroes who helped transform Merseyside into the soccer hotbed it is today. Everton Football Club’s official Heritage Society (EFCHS) is driving a project…

24

Mar

By Jamie Yates

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1878-1889, 1890-1899, Jamie Yates, Rest in Peace

The George Farmer Story

Jamie Yates of Everton FC Heritage Society, who researched the story of George Farmer and directed the project, writes; Why George Farmer? Without the philanthropy of Everton Football Club and the local community around Liverpool 4 and beyond upon the death of George Farmer in May 1905, it is not unreasonable to assume that his widow and eight young children would not have survived the poverty-stricken future they were facing. Without George Farmer capturing the imagination of thousands of Evertonians - not to mention the thousands who went along to watch football for the first time in that era with…