Steve Zocek

Jack Search – “Gentleman Jack” – Everton Director

Jack Search – “Gentleman Jack” – Everton Director

Jack Search was born in 1915 above his father’s jewellers shop number at 87 Wavertree Road. He attended Brae Street School before heading to Liverpool Institute. In 1932, Jack left Liverpool Institute to further his studies at Liverpool Technical College where he did an engineering course for another 4 years. Jack was always a keen footballer since playing at school. His senior career began in 1933 when he played for Collegiate Old Boys. He was also a member of the old Liobians team at Liverpool Institute. Jack went on to represent Cheshire and he started attracting interest from other teams.…
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The ECWC Final of 1985 in Rotterdam and the thoughts of Michael Konsel of Rapid Vienna

The ECWC Final of 1985 in Rotterdam and the thoughts of Michael Konsel of Rapid Vienna

Everton’s only success in Europe came on 15 May 1985 at the De Kuip Stadium in Rotterdam. Everton’s passage to the final could have faltered at the first hurdle with a two-legged affair with the Irish part-timers University College Dublin providing the opposition. Graeme Sharp, Everton’s saviour that night with the winning goal, once said that it was the trickiest tie of all the rounds to the final, stating that Everton could so easily have been knocked out, with the woodwork saving Everton. Had the ball gone in UCD would have had a priceless away goal. With Inter Bratislava, Fortuna…
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Davie Wilson, the First £100,000 Everton Player…Almost

Davie Wilson played for Glasgow Rangers from 1956 until 1967. During that time, he made 373 appearances for the Ibrox club. Davie was an outside left who could play anywhere and he wasn’t shy in front of goal either, finding the net 157 times. This included six goals in one game against Falkirk in 1962 which is still a post-war record. Unbeknown to me previously, he caught the eye of Everton when in 1962 he was approached by the Merseyside outfit. Jimmy Greaves at the time was the British record transfer with a fee of £99,999 from AC Milan to…
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Martin Murray: ‘The New George Best’

Martin Murray: ‘The New George Best’

Martin Murray was signed by Everton from Irish club Home Farm in December of 1975 at the age of sixteen. Billy Bingham, the manager who signed him, labelled him as the new George Best. Unfortunately, Martin was unlucky with injuries and failed to make the first team. I have been fascinated with trying to find Martin for a few years, but with much homework, I managed to locate him out in Denmark. We spent time chatting about the days he spent at Goodison, which has left a lasting impression on him, as he is now an Evertonian.  Martin continues to…
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Blue Echo Interviews Steve Melledew

      Steve Melledew appears on many Everton team photographs with the league championship trophy in 1970. Unfortunately, Steve never made a first team appearance, but never regretted the opportunity of a dream move to Everton from fourth division Rochdale. I caught up with Steve to talk of his move, and what it was like sharing the company of so many household names.   When I was at Rochdale (pictured Below 2nd row first on left) , we were on a roll, which eventually lead to promotion. In the early stages of the season we were struggling. In fact,…
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FA Cup Games at Goodison park ( without the Blues)

  The victorious Notts County team pose with the FA Cup. Photo: PA FA Cup Finals On 31st March 1894 Two years after construction, Goodison Park was chosen by the Football Association to host to hold an FA Cup Final, Notts County beat Bolton Wanderers, watched by crowd of 37,000. County running out 4 goals to 1 winner The Magpies were a Second Division club at this point, but Logan did not let this deter him, scoring 21 goals in 21 games and guiding the club to their first FA Cup Final. To get there, Notts eliminated three clubs from…
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Everton in the League Cup at Goodison Park

The League Cup was introduced to the top four divisions in the 1960/61 season. For the first seven years the final was played over two legs (home and away), before being moved to Wembley in 1967. The competition has had many sponsors starting in the 1981/82 season when it was known as the Milk Cup until 1985/86. It then had a change of sponsorship as Littlewoods took over, then Rumbelows and many more. Everton’s first involvement saw them play their first and only game in the first round, drawn at home to Accrington Stanley. Evertonians didn’t appear to take the…
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British Home Internationals 1973

British Home Internationals 1973

The British Home International competition had been a feature of the football calendar since 1883-84 season. This consisted of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In 1973 because of the civil unrest from the Northern Ireland conflict, Northern Ireland were ordered to play what would be their 'home' games at Goodison Park, the home of Everton. On the 12 May 1973 Northern Ireland faced England with the 'visitors' claiming a 2-1 victory. Former Everton player Tommy Jackson starred in the Irish line up that day. Tottenham’s Martin Chivers gave England the lead, then a penalty from Dave Clements, who would…
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World Cup 1966 at Goodison Park

World Cup 1966 at Goodison Park

In 1966, England was the host nation for the world’s most glamourous football event. Seven cities were chosen to stage games, with Liverpool being one. London, Manchester, Sunderland, Middlesbrough, Birmingham and Sheffield completed the set. Goodison Park in those days was a top stadium with great facilities and a capacity over 60,000. The stadium was admired and envied by many clubs in England, but this was to be shown to a worldwide audience. World champions Brazil played Bulgaria in Group 3 at Goodison Park on 12th July in front of 47,308 fans. There were no surprises, as Brazil led at the break,…
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The Everton Toffee Lady: Her Match Day Experience

The Everton Toffee Lady: Her Match Day Experience

Those of us who have attended Goodison Park on a matchday have always been familiar with the figure of a lady dressed in a blue and white dress, an apron, quaint bonnet and carrying a basket of Everton mints. She tosses handfuls of the black and white humbugs into the sections of the stadium, as she walks the perimeter of the pitch, with eagerly awaiting fans clutching whatever they can catch. The fans take for granted this ritual, which goes back to a date we can’t be precise on, but the duty was certainly performed in the 1950’s and possibly…
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