Contributions from our editorial team and featured columnists.
Tom Robson – A Life too Short
Rob Sawyer
A highly-rated right-half, Tom was a victim of Everton's unsuccessful battle against relegation in the 1929-30 season. He ultimately moved on and later died of pneumonia during the Second World War
19/04/2022
George Green – Illustrator Extraordinaire
Rob Sawyer
The Toffee Lady is an enduring and iconic image, intrinsically linked to Everton and for many, the definitive Toffee Lady image takes cartoon form. The creator was George Green, who entertained Merseyside newspaper and football programme readers for three decades.
29/03/2022
Bobby Irvine - The Prince of Dribblers
Rob Sawyer
Hard as it is to imagine, forty years before George Best was thrilling football supporters up and down the land, Northern Ireland possessed a forward of similar talents - and he played for Everton.
15/03/2022
Tim Coleman: A Rebel, a Soldier and an Entertainer
Rob Sawyer
Long before Seamus became arguably the best-value player of the Premier League era, there was another Coleman who played for Everton, prolific goalscorer and WWI war veteran Tim who also played for Woolwich Arsenal, Fulham and Nottingham Forest at the peak of his career.
02/02/2022
Z-Cars at 60
Rob Sawyer
This week marked the 60th anniversary of the first screening of the television show Z-Cars, the theme from which, of course, is dear to every Evertonian heart. From its origins as a maritime folk song to the Johnny Keating version we know today, the story of the song is fairly convoluted.
07/01/2022
The Joe Mercer Plaque Ceremony
Rob Sawyer
Supporters from across the football spectrum, including members of Everton FC Heritage Society, came together in Ellesmere Port last Thursday, 18 November, to celebrate the life of Joe Mercer – one of the town’s greatest sons.
23/11/2021
Keeping it in the Family – The Menhams between the Sticks
Rob Sawyer
Family links between players at Everton are not unheard of. Less known than the likes of the Rankins and the Whittle-Davies connection, perhaps, is that three decades apart, two Everton goalkeepers were from the same stock
11/09/2021
Toffee Soccer and Everton’s North American Trips of 1961
Rob Sawyer
As well as containing extensive player and coach profiles, the book Toffee Soccer documents the 10 previous occasions on which the club has ventured to the USA and Canada. 1961 was one of them.
12/08/2021
From Birkenhead to El Ballet Azul: The Billy Higgins Story
Rob Sawyer
Everton's meeting with Millonarios in the Florida Cup this coming week offers an intriguing link to the past and the storm over footballers being lured from British clubs to a so-called ‘renegade league’ in South America in 1950 which involved one Billy Higgins.
23/07/2021
Jack Taylor – Everton’s Son of the Rock
Rob Sawyer
One of the true greats of Everton’s early decades, this moustachioed ‘Jack of all trades’ won silverware with the club in 1906 and remains Everton’s seventh highest appearance maker in all competitions
02/07/2021
The Murray Family – Mint Toffees
Rob Sawyer
Photos from the day the Toffees clinched the 1962-63 League title capture a 10 year-old boy, resplendent in Everton replica kit, sharing the moment with his heroes. The boy was John Murray – mascot to the champions. Rob Sawyer caught up with John and his family to revisit those halcyon days and discuss the family’s gilt-edged Bluenose credentials.
08/05/2021
Tom Fern – Everton’s Evergreen Goalkeeper
Rob Sawyer
The least celebrated of the nine Football League titles won by Everton was that in 1914/15 which was a disservice to the likes of Tom Fern who amassed over 200 outings for the Toffees despite the five-year interruption caused by the war
01/04/2021
Harold Hardman – An Everton and Manchester United Hero
Rob Sawyer
An enterprising winger in the early years of the 20th Century and a key part of Everton's first FA Cup-winning team, Harold Hardman helped steer Man Utd to greatness nearly 50 years later
14/01/2021
George Sharples Remembered
Rob Sawyer
George Sharples, who passed away on 14 December 2020, aged 77, had been one of nine surviving players to have played a part in Everton’s title-winning season of 1962-63
28/12/2020
Goodison Park, a Greyhound Stadium and Walton Hall Park
Rob Sawyer
This December marks a centenary of one of the most significant football matches played at Goodison Park – but it did not involve Everton FC.
11/12/2020
‘Tosh’ – The Tommy Johnson Story
Rob Sawyer
Tommy Johnson's most memorable goalscoring feat may have come as a Manchester City player at Goodison Park but he would go on to help Everton back into the top flight in 1931 and lift both the title and FA Cup in successive years
16/11/2020
The Finnis Family – An Enduring Everton Love Affair
Rob Sawyer
Harold Finnis is one of 90 players, to date, to make a solitary first team appearance for the Blues in peacetime football.
09/10/2020
Eddie Wainwright – A Bright Light in Dark Days
Rob Sawyer
The immediate post-war era for Everton was one of austerity which made it hard for local youngsters to through the ranks to develop to near their full potential. Eddie Wainwright was, perhaps the sole exception.
28/09/2020
Dennis Stevens: The Players’ Player
Rob Sawyer
Two members of the same family left Dudley for Lancashire to pursue careers in the top echelon of English football. One sadly died in the Munich air disaster; the other would play an integral part in bringing silverware to Bolton Wanderers and Everton
02/06/2020
Tommy Eglington – The Flying Winger of the Fifties
Rob Sawyer
The Irish international left-winger, gave unstinting service to the Blues’ cause during some of the club’s darkest days. He is forever associated with his teammate and great friend, Peter Farrell, who crossed the Irish Sea with him in 1946.
18/05/2020
Tommy E Jones: A Gentleman on and off the Pitch
Rob Sawyer
T E Jones would have the burden of succeeding his supremely gifted namesake ‘T G’ but he went on to carve out his own place in the Gwladys Street Hall of Fame.
07/05/2020
The Hillsborough Disaster Documentary
Rob Sawyer
Rob Sawyer in conversation with Director Daniel Gordon, who has produced what is held to be the definitive documentary about the 1989 disaster
14/04/2020
‘Easy’ – The Mick Heaton Story
Rob Sawyer
On the 25th anniversary of his untimely passing, celebrating the life and achievements of a man who was a vital part of the managerial team which led Everton to an unprecedented period of glory in the 1980s
11/04/2020
The Age of Illumination – The Story of Goodison Park under Floodlights
Rob Sawyer
There is something truly magical about a football stadium under lights. It’s hard to imagine that, as recently as the 1950s, winter kick-off times had to be set so that matches would conclude before dusk, whilst midweek fixtures were a rarity. However, as far back as the Victorian era, innovators were seeking a solution to the issue of playing after sunset
16/02/2020
Union Jack
Rob Sawyer
The Story of John ‘Jack’ Bell: Victorian Sporting Superstar and Union Pioneer
16/12/2019
Harry Catterick’s Centenary
Rob Sawyer
Last Friday, the Everton FC Heritage Society organised and hosted the ‘Catterick 100’ event to celebrate the life and achievements of Harry Catterick who would have turned 100 on 26th November.
26/11/2019
Jimmy Dunn and Sons
Rob Sawyer
Stein, Dean and Dunn – that trio of names is immortalised in Goodison folklore as the Everton scorers in the 1933 FA Cup Final victory over Manchester City. William Ralph Dean needs no introduction but today’s Blues supporters may be less familiar with the two scoring Scots: Jimmy Stein and his compatriot, Jimmy Dunn, whose son chats with Rob Sawyer about his dad and two footballing brothers.
20/11/2019
Eddie Thomas – An Unsung Goodison Hero
Rob Sawyer
Slight – almost frail looking – he appeared ill-equipped for the hurly-burly of professional football. But appearances can so often be deceptive and Eddie Thomas enjoyed a fruitful career over eleven years.
23/10/2019
Goodison Park – The New Home of Everton (1892)
Rob Sawyer
127 years ago Everton unveiled its new stadium at Mere Green – it would become known as Goodison Park on account of its proximity to Goodison Road. The first football match would take place on 2 September - a friendly against Bolton Wanderers. Athletic News was on hand to report on developments.
09/09/2019
Spellow Lane, Stone Roses and Redemption
Rob Sawyer
Nigel Ipinson-Fleming was born in 1970 and raised on Spellow Lane, just round the corner from Goodison Park. In spite of his proximity to the famous old ground, he would eventually follow the rival team from across Stanley Park – but he is also quick to acknowledge the greatness of the Everton team of his teenage years.
05/09/2019
Soccer Boss? You’re Joking – I Want to be an Undertaker
Rob Sawyer
This article, adapted from the original, published in Lancashire Soccer Annual (1970), underlines Ray Wilson’s candour and honesty – and his pride at having played for Everton FC
24/06/2019
‘Rags’: The Life of Cuthbert Tatters
Rob Sawyer
Few footballers’ names are more evocative of bygone times in the Goodison lexicon than Cuthbert Tatters.
18/05/2019
Harold Uren and His Sporting Dynasty
Rob Sawyer
Harold Uren holds the distinction of being the first footballer to transfer directly from Liverpool to Everton. His sons Harold and Dick would go on to have notable careers in sport of their own.
20/04/2019
Tommy White – A Player of Many Parts
Rob Sawyer
Tommy White was Everton’s ‘Mr Versatile’ in a decade of service, which saw the club win two First Division titles, a Second Division Championship and the FA Cup.
10/04/2019
Ron Saunders – The Toffee Years
Rob Sawyer
Ron Saunders is best remembered for moulding the Aston Villa team which won the League Cup in 1975 and 1977, the Football League championship in 1981 and the European Cup in 1982. Less reported is the fact that he began his life in football as an Evertonian.
19/03/2019
‘Flicka’ – The Life of Graham Williams (1936-2018)
Rob Sawyer
The "small but stockily-built" winger who was signed as a promising 19-year-old from Bradford City in 1956 and spent three years with the Blues, passed away last November aged 81.
21/02/2019
Fred Pickering – A Tribute
Rob Sawyer
The Everton legend passed away yesterday in his home town of Blackburn aged 78.
10/02/2019
Jason Scott-Lee: Football Pioneer
Rob Sawyer
The story of one of the first of two players of Chinese heritage to play for Everton, some six decades before Li Tie and Li Weifeng would sign for the club under David Moyes
20/12/2018
Billy and Bob: The Fabulous Balmer Brothers
Rob Sawyer
William and Robert Balmer formed a fearsome, and fruitful, fraternal partnership in Everton’s back-line in the early years of the 20th Century
22/11/2018
Gentleman John
Rob Sawyer
The infamous circumstances of Johnny Carey's dismissal as Everton manager in 1961 have entered football folklore but there was so much more to this which makes the focus on that taxi ride unjust.
13/11/2018
“Maestro” – The Jack Southworth Story
Rob Sawyer
Evertonians laud the club’s lineage of talismanic goal scorers but some wonderful marksmen are somewhat overlooked. One of them, Jack Southworth, remains the only Everton player to score a double hat-trick in a first team match. Yet there was much more to this polymath who excelled on both musical and sporting stages.
10/09/2018
“Bunny” – The Robert Bell Story
Rob Sawyer
The Wirral has a proud tradition of producing high-calibre footballers and for a period in the 20th century, Tranmere became something of a centre-forward factory, producing the likes of “Dixie” Dean and his eventual team-mate “Bunny” Bell.
31/07/2018
Elie Hurel – The First Jerseyman to Play in the First Division
Rob Sawyer
Elie Hurel was the first man from the Channel Islands dependencies to play in the English top flight. His journey there – from being orphaned as a child to lining up alongside the legendary Bill “Dixie” Dean at Goodison Park – is a remarkable one.
18/07/2018
Benjamin Howard-Baker: Goalkeeper, Olympian, Corinthian
Rob Sawyer
Blazing a trail for Everton goalkeepers to represent England was the remarkable Benjamin Howard-Baker. If Brian Labone was “The Last of the Great Corinthians”, then Benjamin Howard-Baker was one of Everton’s first.
02/06/2018
“60 at 90” – A Night to Remember William Ralph “Dixie” Dean
Rob Sawyer
To celebrate the 90th anniversary of William Ralph Dean's record-breaking 60th league goal, Blues of all ages gathered at the People’s Club Lounge in the Park End stand last Friday evening.
08/05/2018
Frank Sugg – A Great Sporting All-Rounder
Rob Sawyer
The story of the cricketer turned footballer who played for Everton in the inaugural Football League season
24/04/2018
Le Coq Sportif: Spectacular in Action – Sensational in Style
Rob Sawyer
Everton have never worn an Adidas team kit...or have they? Not appreciated by many is that the Gallic marque, which burned brightly but briefly on these shores, was a branch of the German sporting behemoth.
25/03/2018
The Life of Charlie Parry
Rob Sawyer
Charlie Parry enjoyed 6 years with Everton, over two spells, winning the club's first Football League title and becoming only the third Everton player to represent Wales (after Job Wildling and Joe Davies).
27/02/2018
Jack Humphreys – Blue Dragon
Rob Sawyer
The story of the Welsh centre-half who at one time was keeping Goodison great T.G. Jones out of the Everton team.
13/11/2017
T.G. Jones at 100
Rob Sawyer
12 October 2017 marks the centenary of the birth of Thomas George Ronald Jones in Queensferry, Flintshire. The tall, quiet son of a Connah’s Quay coal merchant would find his footballing feet at Wrexham F.C. but he would achieve immortality at Goodison Park.
12/10/2017
The Life of Smart Arridge – The Welshman from Sunderland
Rob Sawyer
The wonderfully named Smart Atkinson Arridge was one of Everton’s first Welsh international players
08/09/2017
'Jack O’ Both Sides' – The Life and Times of Jack Sharp (1878-1938)
Rob Sawyer
Jack Sharp sits in exalted company as one of England’s few dual cricket and football internationals. To Evertonians he is much more than that – an iconic player, captain, FA Cup winner, club director and founder of Liverpool’s best known sports outfitters.
31/07/2017
Initials T.G. – Researching Tommy Jones, The Prince of Centre-Halves
Rob Sawyer
William Ralph “Dixie” Dean sits unchallenged as the king of Goodison Park. Joining him in the Royal Blue dynasty is the Prince of Centre Halves: Thomas George Jones. Tommy, as his friends knew him, was so famous in his pomp for Everton and Wales that he was known merely by his initials - T.G.
30/06/2017
Harry Williams – Death of a Mascot
Rob Sawyer
Aside from the iconic Toffee Lady, Everton supporters in the 1930s also possessed two unofficial mascots. Harry Williams of Westminster Road, Kirkdale, was one.
31/05/2017
Neville Southall – The Winding Road from Winsford to Goodison
Rob Sawyer
How a former Everton player, George Rooney, played a small but significant part in the career of, arguably, the club’s greatest-ever goalkeeper.
30/03/2017
Everton’s 'Hall of Fame' Events through the Decades
Rob Sawyer
[Images fixed] Friday, 10 March, 2017 sees the staging of a Gwladys Street’s Hall of Fame event after an eight year hiatus. At The Hilton Hotel John Bailey, Pat Van Den Hauwe, Nigel Martyn, Ian Snodin and Kevin Campbell will join the 120-plus previous inductees in the pantheon of Blues greats.
06/03/2017
Charlie Leyfield – Everton, Wales and England
Rob Sawyer
Charlie Leyfield had a long association with Everton as a player and trainer. He also can claim the unique distinction of being trainer to both the England and Wales national teams.
24/02/2017
Jack Cock – Scorer, Singer, Soldier, Superstar
Rob Sawyer
Relatively few Cornishmen have represented Everton but several have left their mark on Merseyside. However, the most remarkable life story is that of Jack Cock: international footballer, team manager, war hero and star of stage and screen.
18/11/2016
If You Know Your History… Matchdays with EFC Heritage Society
Rob Sawyer
The Church of St Luke The Evangelist – better known as St Luke’s – is where the EFC Heritage Society (EFCHS), founded in 2008, has been welcoming home and away supporters for the past two seasons.
11/09/2016
Chelsea Hit for Six: Fifty-Six Years Ago
Rob Sawyer
Fifty-six years to the day before our 12 March 2016 FA Cup tie with Chelsea, Everton took on the Londoners at Goodison Park in the First Division and thumped them for six.
09/03/2016
Lunch with Latchford
Rob Sawyer
Rob Sawyer in conversation with the Goodison folk hero who etched his name into Everton's history books with 138 goals in a seven-year spell, 30 of them in one memorable 1977-78 season.
22/10/2015
From West Derby to New South Wales: The Footballing Odyssey of Ian Hillsdon
Rob Sawyer
Some rejected teenage footballers quietly slip out of the game, whilst others have a second chance at a lower league club. An intrepid few go further afield to fulfil their footballing dreams. A prime example of the latter category is Ian Hillsdon.
13/03/2015
Tony Cottee My Everton Years
Rob Sawyer
Rob Sawyer in conversation with Tony Cottee
06/03/2015
The Enterprising Mr Sawyer
Rob Sawyer
William James Sawyer was a significant figure on the North West football landscape in the first half of the Twentieth Century.
24/02/2015
Jack Earp The Gentleman Amateur
Rob Sawyer
The story of Jack Earp who played for the Blues between 1891 and 1892 before winning the FA Cup with Sheffield Wednesday in 1896.
30/12/2014
Tommy Eggleston Remembered
Rob Sawyer
Beside virtually every great manager there is a great right-hand man. In Harry Cattericks case he enjoyed the vital support of Tom Tommy Eggleston.
17/11/2014
A Tribute to Matt Woods
Rob Sawyer
Remembering Matt Woods, a centre-half who was on the Blues' books in the 1950s, who recently passed away aged 82.
14/10/2014
Buck Mick Buckley Remembered
Rob Sawyer
On the one-year anniversary of his passing, Rob Sawyer of the Heritage Society looks back at the life and career of Mick Buckley who played for the Blues 135 times in the 1970s.
07/10/2014