Players – Page 7 – Everton FC Heritage Society

23

Jun

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1930-1939, Articles, Players, Rob Sawyer, WW2

Tom Robson – A Life too Short

By Rob Sawyer Everton Football Club has been ably served by many men and women with roots in the North East of England – Warney Cresswell, Harry Catterick, Howard Kendall, Jimmy Husband, Dave Thomas, Don Hutchison and Jill Scott spring to mind. Back in the inter-war years, Blyth Spartans, of the North Eastern League, gained an enviable reputation as a nursery club - developing young talent which blossomed at leading professional clubs throughout the land. The Toffees, notably, benefited from the loyal service of Gordon Watson – who joined from Blyth in a double-deal with his near-namesake Jack Watson in…

You Will Go to the Ball – Son of my Father – Part 14

18

Jun

By Steve Zocek

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1960-1969, 2010-2019, Articles, Latest, Players, Steve Zocek

You Will Go to the Ball – Son of my Father – Part 14

'Who is the greatest of them all? Little, curly Alan Ball.' Alan Ball of Everton at Bellefield on July 24, 1969 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by W & H Talbot Archive/Popperfoto via Getty Images) I’m sure that sounds familiar to a majority of Evertonians who were present at the Old Lady from 1966 onwards. Personally speaking, I think I was smitten with Alan Ball before I fell head over heels in love with Everton. Bally was a footballing God to many, even making it very difficult to separate him from another hero of Goodison – Alex Young, the Golden Vision…

06

Jun

By Rob Sawyer

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1940-1949, Articles, Members Work, Players, Rob Sawyer, WW2

‘Rags’: The Life of Cuthbert Tatters

By Rob Sawyer Few footballers’ names are more evocative of bygone times in the Goodison lexicon than that of Cuthbert Tatters. Cuthbert was born in County Durham, on 4 January 1915 and grew up on Sunderland Street in Easington. This was coal mining country and Cuthbert’s father, James, worked at Wheatley Hill Colliery. Cuthbert followed the same path, employed as a pit boy there. On the football field, he played for Shotton Schoolboys, gaining county honours in 1929. He also turned out for Wheatley Hill Juniors. A photo also appears to show him, as a boy, wearing the stripes of…

28

May

By Rob Sawyer

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1950-1959, 2020-2029, Articles, History, Players, Rest in Peace, Rob Sawyer

A Final Farewell to Jimmy Harris

Thursday 26 May 2022 was the day of Jimmy Harris’s final farewell. In the mid-afternoon, the cortège transported the 88-year-old former Toffees striker past the stadium he had graced. A number of supporters had come out to applaud as the hearse drove slowly along Goodison Road. I chatted to an 81-year-old supporter from West Derby, who recalled watching Jimmy in his 1950s heyday. He told me of Jimmy’s quicksilver movement around the pitch and his rasping shot. He fondly recalled a smartly struck Harris goal against the Busby Babes. Another supporter had come all the way from Doncaster to stand…

Adrian and Harrison Heath – Son of My Father (Part 10)

08

May

By Steve Zocek

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1980-1989, 2020-2029, Articles, Players, Steve Zocek

Adrian and Harrison Heath – Son of My Father (Part 10)

Adrian Heath arrived at Everton in January 1982 for a club record fee of £700,000. As a striker/attacking midfielder from the Potteries, he was signed by manager Howard Kendall who knew Adrian well from their days at the Victoria Ground, Stoke. ‘Inchy’ as he became known, made his Blues debut at home to Southampton in a 1-1 draw. Finding it difficult to settle at first, he eventually came into his own, playing a very big part in Everton’s success. Many Evertonians class his interception from Kevin Brock at the Manor Ground, Oxford, in a January 1984 knife edge cup…

George Fleming: The Goalscoring Bank Clerk from Arbroath

25

Apr

By Tony Onslow

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1878-1889, Articles, History, Members Work, Players, Tony Onslow

George Fleming: The Goalscoring Bank Clerk from Arbroath

Scorer of the first goal for Everton FC in the newly formed Football League of 1888 It is the summer of 1887 and the Everton team poses at the Sandon Hotel with the trophy they had just won after beating Oakfield Rovers by five goals to nothing. Two of these goals had been scored by the man sitting left of the centre row who had recently moved to Merseyside from Scotland. His name was George Spink Fleming and he was destined to etch his name into the record books of Everton Football Club. Along with his twin sister Jemima,…

19

Jan

By Rob Sawyer

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

Johnny Holt – Everton’s Little Devil

Rob Sawyer "The undisputed king of centre-halves – a living object lesson of the superiority of brain over muscle." (Contemporary newspaper description of Johnny Holt) Time passes, and with it go first-hand memories of footballers who bestowed greatness on Everton. T.G. Jones is widely cited as the club’s finest centre-half, with the next generation of fans also holding Brian Labone in the highest of esteem. But let us not overlook Johnny Holt, the Little Devil – without equal in his era in the art of defending, and a bedrock of the First Kings of Anfield. John Holt entered this world…

Son of My Father (Part 16): Robert and Konrad Warzycha

12

Jan

By Steve Zocek

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1990-1999, Articles, Latest, Players, Steve Zocek

Son of My Father (Part 16): Robert and Konrad Warzycha

Robert Warzycha Robert Warzycha was born in Siemkowice, Poland, and kick-started his football career in the mining village of Gornik (which stands for miners). He played first for Gornik Wałbrzych, after signing from Warta Sieradz, along with Zbigniew Malachowski from Welna Rogozno, who made their debuts in the spring of 1986. He appeared thirty-one times, scoring five goals from the right-hand side of midfield. He then went on to sign for Gornik Zabrze where his career flourished, making ninety-one appearances, scoring ten goals in a four-year period. Robert’s performances were catching the eye of clubs in England, where he felt…

18

Nov

By Mike Royden

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1930-1939, 1940-1949, Articles, History, Latest, Members Work, Mike Royden, Players

Ted Sagar – ‘The Boss’

When talking of great centre forwards, it is easy to rattle off numerous contenders, but when thinking of goalkeepers, just three tend to dominate the discussion. Gordon West, a brilliant keeper and a larger than life character off the pitch; then Neville of course, who achieved so much in his seventeen years, making 578 league appearances (750 in all competitions) and breaking so many records along the way. Until 1994, the record for a goalkeeper stood at 497(463 league games), and was held by a man that my father never tired of telling me about - Ted Sagar. Ted joined…

10

Oct

By Richie Gillham

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1920-1929, 1930-1939, Articles, History, Latest, Members Work, Players, Richard Gillham

Teddy Glover

The first British Everton player to be inducted into the USA Soccer Hall of Fame in 1965 Charles Edward Glover, known as Teddy, was born in Bootle on 7 April 1902. Teddy would eventually be inducted into the US National Hall of Fame in 1965 — the first of four players to have been on Everton's books to achieve this honour, the others being: Predrag “Preki” Radosavljevic, 2010; Joe Max Moore in 2013 and Brian McBride in 2014. Predrag Preki Radosavljevic in 2010 Sam Chedgzoy Joe Max-Moore in 2013 Brian McBride in 2014 The first time Teddy pulled on an…