Toffees take heart

Quality!

Quality post, I never thought specifically of this until you prompted me.

My 20-month-old son was born with a critical heart condition, he was in Alderhey for 10 months. Simply put, he shouldnÂ’t be with us due to the complexities of his condition.

However, after defying the odds and whilst he was lying in intensive care recovering, I bought and put on his first Everton kit.

All that mattered was that he could sit beside me one day in the grand old lady. I canÂ’t wait to give him the "Everton talk"...

Anyway, that was my proudest and best moment.

The birth of our eldest daughter was extremely traumatic and both she and my wife survived by what I am sure was divine intervention.

The first photo of her featured an Everton bib – just as with Phil, I have never thought about it in terms of supporting Everton, it was automatic to do this.

I think this shows how Everton is far more than just a football club, it is part of our very identity.

Anyway, Hannah is now 14 and has zero interest in Everton.

I was the manager of a hostel in Liverpool for homeless men. The job could be trying and frustrating at times, a bit like supporting Everton.

For some reason, most of the residents supported either Man Utd or Liverpool. In an effort to get them engaged in "normal activities", I decided to write to the two Premier League clubs in Liverpool asking for tickets. This was 2001 by the way...

I didn't really expect anything, and that was what I got from LFC: sod all. However, my team came up with the goodies: 20 tickets for various games, some of the top ones too. Plus an invite to go on the stadium tour. It made a lot of difference to the lads that they bothered. Very proud I was.

I wrote to thank the club and received a lovely letter from BK asking if there was anything else the club could help with.

I tell this to any LFC fan I know as I think the fact they completely ignored the request said it all about the club!

All great stories, for their different reasons.

Got to hand it to Bill.

Every day I am proud of being a blue. We're always hearing how the club makes small gestures that mean so much to the recipients.

When my Dad died, we rang the club to cancel his season ticket after nearly 50 years (he'd actually been going to Goodison since the late 1920s as a lad).

The girl on the phone was impressed by the number of years he'd been going to the match, and took the date and place of the funeral. When we got to the church, there was the biggest spray of blue and white carnations waiting with a card from the players and staff of Everton Football Club. I bet Dad was truly in Blue Heaven. Proud or what!!

Can't match stories above but Watching England yesterday and my 4 year old son said - why are we supporting the red team, we don't like red! Funny how it all rubs off on them

That's right Peter, it really does.

Driving past Goodison, one day going towards town having a little laugh with my then five-year-old about The Toffees. "That's Stanley Park, that, isn't it Dad," said my son. "That's right," I said, "Why?"

"It's where it all began" was his reply, repeating John Motson in the History of Everton!

My girls have virtually no interest in football whatsoever, but there is Evertonitis in there – they are more than aware of the difference between Royal Blue and dirty red and enjoy a bit of RS baiting with their dirty red uncle...