Everton

Everton FC, from the city of Liverpool, were formed as St Domingo's FC in 1878 so that the people of the parish of St Domingo's Methodist Church had an activity in the winter to sit alongside their cricket in the summer.

The following year the name of Everton FC, after the local district was adopted after a meeting at the Queen's Head Hotel. Barker and Dobson, a local sweet manufacturer, introduced "Everton Mints" to honour the club.

Everton started out playing on an open pitch in the south east corner of the newly laid out Stanley Park. John Houlding's house backed onto the pitch and he noticed the large crowds so he got involved with the club. A Mr J Cruit offered Everton a new enclosed ground at Priory Road, but after a couple of years he asked them to move out because of the large crowds and noise.

'The Toffees' or 'The Blues' as they are nicknamed moved to Anfield in 1884, renting from John Orrell who was a friend of Houlding. Houlding was by now the club president and he bought Anfield a year later. For a time the club made a donation to a local hospital in lieu of rent, before they started paying rent to their own president! Anfield was quickly made into a top class venue and was soon to stage an international game.

Everton became founder members of the Football League in 1888 and they lifted their first title in 1891. A bitter conflict was soon around the corner as Houlding had increased the rental fee dramatically. His friend Orrell had adjacent land and wanted to legally build a road where the Main Stand stood. The Everton committee asked Houlding to work out a deal for them, but he refused to give them a contract of lease.

In 1892 Houlding tied to set up a new company called Everton FC and Athletic Grounds Ltd and take over the clubs fixtures. The officials at the Football Council refused to recognise the new company as Everton so Houlding changed its name to Liverpool FC and Athletic Grounds Ltd to form Liverpool FC. The Everton committee decided enough was enough and they abandoned their substantial home to move to Goodison Park in the other corner of Stanley Park.

Everton reached four FA Cup finals before the outbreak of the First World War, but only won one of them in 1906 at Crystal Palace against Newcastle United. In 1915 another league title was won.

A hero lit up the club for many years in the shape of William Ralph Dean (better known as Dixie), who scored a remarkable sixty league goals in the 1928-29 season. Unbelievably the club were relegated the following season. They were promoted immediately with Dean scoring thirty nine times. The FA Cup was lifted again in 1933 in the first final where both the teams wore numbers and then another championship was secured the following year. 1939 saw yet another league title with Joe Mercer and Tommy Lawton starring. Goalkeeper Ted Sagar remained constant throughout the eventful decade.

The 1940's and 50's were barren years for Everton. They were relegated in 1951 and spent three years in the second tier before reclaiming their place in the first division. Harry Catterick took over the managerial reigns in 1961 to watch over a golden era where the club were dubbed "The School of Science".

Further league championships were added in 1963 and 1970 as well as the FA Cup against Sheffield Wednesday following a remarkable comeback from being two goals down. To watch the highlights in colour, go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spl2yQDHThU

The 1970 title side was characterised by the "Holy Trinity" midfield of Colin Harvey, Alan Ball and Howard Kendall.

The club had an occasional push for honours over the following decade without winning anything. Former hero Kendall took over the managerial reigns in 1981 but didn't find things easy to begin with. Fans were losing patience before he transformed the side bringing in Peter Reid to marshall the midfield with Andy Gray up front around lots of young talent and the commanding Neville Southall in goal.

Everton won the FA Cup in 1984 against Watford and followed it up with the European Cup Winners Cup against Rapid Vienna in Rotterdam the following year. To watch go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LEOXyWp980

The same season The Blues won their eighth league title. Gary Lineker spent the following season at the club before yet another title was secured in 1987. Sadly Kendall departed for Athletico Bilbao and the momentum dropped off. Managers came and went including a failed comeback from Kendall and the club were extremely close to relegation before winning a highly controversial game with Wimbledon.

Former forward Joe Royle came in and another FA Cup was lifted in 1995 as the "dogs of war" side were put together. More managers tried and ultimately failed at Goodison including yet another Kendall spell and the much respected Walter Smith before control was given to David Moyes who joined the club from Preston North End.

The club was struggling off the pitch with finances and the aging Goodison Park. Theatre impresario Bill Kenright took over as Chairman as Moyes continued to work wonders on the pitch with limited resources which forced him to sell starlet Wayne Rooney to Manchester United.

The club tried to put together a move to Kirkby which caused a volatile reaction from many Evertonians as it is outside the Liverpool City boundaries. The deal involved help from Tesco who would get a huge store on the site. The club were advised by the authorities that planning permission would not necessarily be granted so it went no further while fans continued to protest as Moyes continued to perform wonders with the squad.

Everton FC will play in the Premier League in the 2011-12 season.


My visits

Everton 2 Middlesbrough 1 after extra time (Tuesday 9th February 1988) FA Cup Round Four Second Replay

I was a postmen back in he day and I finished work early each afternoon. A good Boro mate Doomie knew an Everton fan based in Scarborough who wanted to go to the game so he agreed to drive through.

We were pushing it to make kick off and we at last managed to find somewhere to park before we sprinted round to the Gladwys Street turnstiles and forced our way onto the terracing behind the goal. I was immediately impressed by the tradition and grandeur of Goodison Park.

The Gladwys Street End was terracing downstairs where we were with a deck of seats above us. The corner cut away where St Luke's church stood before giving way to the magnificent Main Stand had terracing at the front before two large seating decks with the third tier having an incredible rake to it. The far Park End was seated at the back before giving way to a smallish terrace for the visiting fans. This stand once had the terrace going further back but safety measures had restricted the capacity. The final side was taken up by the Bullens Road Stand which joined up with the Gladwys Street End. This had terracing at the front with a converted seated paddock behind it. A further seating deck rose above it.

At the time it was still considered quite risky to be thought of being in the wrong areas of a stadium and we had similar accents to the evenings visitors from Teesside, or at least we would to a suspicious Scouser looking for trouble so we kept quiet. We need not worry. Everton went ahead and we got pushed around in the general crush but then Boro equalised with several around us applauding the goal! The Blues went on to win the match in extra time.

Monday 18th October 2010

I was on Merseyside for my second of three days groundhopping, socialising and sightseeing. The previous day had seen Everton defeat their deadly rivals Liverpool two nil and has luck would have it, I'd booked a Goodison stadium tour a few weeks previously.

I caught the bus from Lime Street station and I passed Prince Rupert's Tower which is depicted on the club crest before jumping out on County Road. It looked strange but mightily impressive seeing the huge rear of the Main Stand down the old terraced streets. 

I entered the reception and encountered others on my tour as well as many smiling club staff. Our guide was bullish in the extreme and obviously very proud of his club. He refused to mention Liverpool FC by name and referred to their owners as "The Cowboys". 

We were taken around the various hospitality suites and the boardroom. There was many interesting souvenirs and mementos on show including some of Dixie Dean's old possessions. We went into the changing rooms, which I thought were OK without being remarkable, before we lined up and walked up the steps and onto the side of the pitch with the clubs' 'Z Cars' theme tune booming out. Although Goodison was not as modern as a lot of stadiums, it still oozed class and character.

Since my previous visit it was now all seated. The only structural change was the Park End Stand which was now a large single tier of seats replacing the old stand. Everywhere including the pitchside track was blue. Our guide kept saying how the club needed to move to allow the manager funds for players that could be generated from a newer stadium with more facilities. He thought a shared stadium with his friends from over the park could be the solution!

I said my goodbyes and popped back to County Road to use an internet cafe before returning to Goodison Street where The Wimslow pub was sadly closed because I wanted to have a look inside to see if it had an souvenirs on show. Instead I made do with a mammoth portion of pie and chips from the local chippy before I walked round to have a look at the Dixie Dean statue.

I walked through Stanley Park clutching my lunch and trying to keep warm as I reflected on the history between two huge clubs who were such close neighbours. I went on my way to the Arkles pub and awaited my tour of Anfield where I heard a very different slant on the story of the clubs!