Rob Sawyer

Royal Blue in The Emerald Isle

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

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…
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The Day George Robey Brought Show Business to Goodison Park

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…
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George Farmer – Grave Rededication Report

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,…
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Dixie Dean Memorial Trophy – with award winner Séamus Coleman

Dixie Dean Memorial Trophy – with award winner Séamus Coleman

Our full report of the event, together with a short video, filmed and edited by Lewis Royden: https://youtu.be/jp0cJDk5PyM Séamus’s Big Night Rob Sawyer It was a night of celebration, cheers and even a few tears shed as Everton FC Heritage Society’s Séamus Coleman tribute evening was held at the People’s Lounge, Goodison Park on 16 February 2024. The Toffees’ talismanic, long-serving skipper was the 32nd recipient of the illustrious Dixie Dean Memorial Award. Compere Ken Rogers (Chairman of Everton FC Heritage Society) At 7:30pm, the familiar strains of the theme from Z-Cars filled the room and compere Ken Rogers introduced…
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An Everton Memorabilia Special with Brendan Connolly

An Everton Memorabilia Special with Brendan Connolly

An Everton FC Heritage Society video special Rob Sawyer joins Brendan Connolly of Everton FC Heritage Society to chat about a selection of items from his stunning memorabilia collection. Featuring treasures from as early as 1882, the items discussed feature cup winners medals, international caps, and the probable first known useage of Everton's famous lock-up crest. Plus, a shirt belonging to the great Jimmy Dunn - Everton's 1933 FA Cup winning goalscorer and teammate of Dixie Dean. Please click to view the full film (- and please subscibe to our YouTube channel); https://youtu.be/IYf37yN_zDI . Brendan Connolly Brendan is well-known to…
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Buck – Mick Buckley Remembered

Buck – Mick Buckley Remembered

(4 November 1953 – 7 October 2013) By Rob Sawyer Mick Buckley was a fine young footballer who had the great fortune to play for Everton FC - but the equal misfortune to have to follow immediately in the footsteps of Colin Harvey, Howard Kendall and Alan Ball and suffer from the inevitable comparisons. Michael John Buckley was born to Roy and Jean Buckley in Salford on 4 November 1953; he was the eldest of five children raised in the Salford and South Manchester areas. Like his father, Mick followed Manchester United – he idolised Denis Law and his school…
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Jimmy Husband – An Appreciation

Jimmy Husband – An Appreciation

Jimmy Husband (15 October 1947 – 9 March 2024) An Appreciation The sad news of the death of Jimmy Husband comes just weeks after the passing of John Hurst, his teammate in the 1965 FA Youth Cup-winning side and the legendary championship-winning team of 1969/70. Harry Catterick spread the net wide in his search for the best young talent in the 1960s, and was hot on the trail of a precocious attacking talent from Newcastle, who had England schoolboy honours, by the name of James Husband. But Everton were not the only side keen to get the teenager’s signature. Jimmy,…
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Peter Corr: Winning in Blue and Green at Goodison Park

Peter Corr: Winning in Blue and Green at Goodison Park

Rob Sawyer Peter Corr of Preston N.E. Andrea, Caroline, Sharon and Jim Corr - performing as The Corrs - were a mainstay of the British and Irish pop charts in the late 1990s and 2000s. They continue to perform for their many fans around the globe. Four decades before their musical breakthrough, their uncle was an Irish international and Everton footballer, who helped to make history at Goodison Park in 1949. Less widely-known is his role in bringing Howard Kendall to the Toffees in 1967. The Corrs Born on 23 June 1923, Peter Corr grew up in Dundalk, close to…
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Erin Roberts – Memories of an Everton Mascot in 1985

Erin Roberts – Memories of an Everton Mascot in 1985

Rob Sawyer with Erin Roberts On 14 September 1985, I was one of just over 26,000 Evertonians at Goodison Park, watching the Football League champions Everton take on Luton Town. It was a fairly routine 2-0 win for the home side. Howard Kendall had the conundrum of which pair of strikers to select from Gary Lineker, Adrian Heath or Graeme Sharp. On this occasion ‘Inchy’ and the former Leicester man got the nod from the manager. I recall a clearly nonplussed Sharp coming on in the second half and scoring from close range at the Gwladys Street End, making a…
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