Tales From The Gwladys Street , livre ebook

Sportsbooks - David Cregeen , Jonathan Mumford

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121 pages

English

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With increasing admission prices and odd kick-off times, football fans have been having a rough time in recent years, but still they flock to matches. This book tells the story of one club, Everton, through the mouths of their fans and players. It shows how obsessive football fans can be and how they seek humour in every situation. The stories are from Evertonians but the experiences recalled are not unique to one club. Readers won't have to know what Nil Satis Nisi Optimum (Everton's motto) means to enjoy it.

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Lancashire

Lancastre

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Publié par	Sportsbooks
Date de parution	08 octobre 2009
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781907524295
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0100€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Published by SportsBooks Limited
© Copyright: Jonathan Mumford & David Cregeen October 2008
This ebook edition first published in 2011
The right of Jonathan Mumford & David Cregeen to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly
Cover design by Alan Hunns
ISBN 9781907524295
Contents
About the Authors
Foreword

The 1950s
The 1960s
The 1970s
The 1980s
The 1990s
The 2000s

References
Acknowledgements
About the authors
David Cregeen first visited Goodison Park in 1981. The humour and passion shown by the fans that day convinced him to support the Blues and he has followed Everton ever since.
After a spell in the Royal Navy, David became a college lecturer and now works as a PE teacher. He is a qualified football coach and helps coach the Merseyside Schools’ FA under-18 team.
David, who has written articles for academic journals and fitness magazines, lives in Liverpool with his wife Cheryl and their eight-year-old boys, Jonathon and Thomas, who have, along with their Dad, season tickets for the family enclosure.

Jonathan Mumford’s first experience of watching Everton was the 1989 FA Cup final. That day, in his adolescent naivety, he was at Wembley as a Liverpool fan. With strong guidance from his father, Steve, he saw sense and became an Evertonian.
A keen sportsman, Jonathan represented England at badminton as a junior and has recently completed his first marathon but following Everton is his first passion.
A languages teacher, he lives in Liverpool with his wife, Victoria, and is a season ticket holder in the legendary Gwladys Street end at Goodison Park.
Foreword
When growing up in Scotland, I knew Everton was a big club with quality players, but little about its fans.
However, after signing for Everton in 1980, I quickly learned how passionate they were and how much the club meant to them. When I first arrived, I lived in digs with a family of Evertonians who described the level of expectancy associated with the famous number 9 jersey, as did many supporters I met on the street. This was further reinforced when training with Colin Harvey. As a local lad who had played for the Blues, Colin was quick to stamp his authority on the young players, emphasising the importance of wearing the royal blue jersey. Colin stressed to us how Everton fans demanded nothing less than 100 per cent and that was what you had to give, whether it was a Central League game against Bury or a First Division tie against Manchester United. If fans saw you were giving your all, then they would take to you.
On pre-season trips to Europe in the ’80s I began to see for myself just how incredible the supporters were. We would travel to far-flung places in the middle of nowhere to play against Third Division teams, yet fans would be there in numbers. We once travelled to Dordrecht in Holland, a place nobody had heard of, yet, as always, fans were there before us. It was fantastic to see them and listen to their incredible stories of how they had got there. You knew then that you were representing something special.
We shared a mutual respect for each other and, on many occasions, the players used them as a ‘12th man’ to help us in important games. Stoke City’s Victoria Ground was an intimidating place to play but it was made less hostile by the thousands that followed us for the FA Cup game in 1984. Their passion inspired us to victory that day and propelled the team into the most successful period in the club’s history.
The importance of our fans was perhaps best illustrated when Bayern Munich came to Goodison for the second leg of the European Cup Winners’ Cup semi-final. We followed our usual pre-match routine, which was to travel to the ground a couple of hours before kick-off. As we approached Goodison Park, I sensed something different. Normally the streets before kick-off were quiet, but for this game, they were jam-packed. As the team bus turned onto Gwladys Street, we were greeted by a mass of blue which brought the coach to a standstill. There was a great atmosphere which continued as fans entered the ground. That night the place was bouncing.
During the game, even when we went a goal down, with the fans behind us, we felt we weren’t out of it.
At half-time, Howard Kendall just said ‘Get it into the box and the Gwladys Street will suck it into the net,’ and it felt like they did.
My in-laws, who were Celtic fans, also attended this landmark game. They had witnessed all of Celtic’s big European nights but afterwards said that they had never experienced anything like it before.
Throughout my long association with Everton, I have come to realise how important the club is to the fans and how important the fans are to the club. Evertonians are knowledgeable about their proud history, something which is ingrained. Their incredible loyalty, both at home and abroad, even during difficult times, means they are up there with the best of them. Everton weddings and funerals show how, for many, Everton Football Club is not just a part of their life – it is their life.
A special club with special fans, Everton really is the team to follow.

Graeme Sharp
Everton FC Fans’ Relations Manager
The 1950s
On the last day of the 1950–51 season, Everton were struggling at the bottom of the First Division in a lowly 20th position, just two points ahead of Chelsea and Sheffield Wednesday. With their destiny in their own hands, Everton travelled to Hillsborough requiring just a point to stay up. However, Everton lost the match 6-0 while Chelsea won their final game 4-0; results that placed all three teams on 32 points. In those days, relegation was decided by goal average, as opposed to goal difference, and Everton were relegated by just 0.04 of a goal.
As a Second Division team, the following season’s attempts to regain their top-flight status ended miserably. They managed to finish 16th, the lowest in the club’s proud history. On a positive note, however, they reached the semi-final of the FA Cup and were narrowly beaten 4-3 by Bolton Wanderers, who had led 4-0 at half-time. In addition, Everton had signed charismatic centre-forward Dave Hickson from Ellesmere Port, who would later become known affectionately as ‘The Cannonball Kid’.
Two years later, in their final game of the 1953–54 season, Everton needed to beat Oldham Athletic at Boundary Park to secure promotion back to the First Division. Lying second behind Leicester City, Everton needed to beat Oldham 6-0 to ensure that they not only returned to the top flight, but as champions on goal average.
Percy Rigby was one of many fans who saw the game that night.

Oldham v Everton, 29 April 1954
Back Where We Belong by Percy Rigby
I travelled up to Boundary Park in April 1954, with my cousin, George Burnett, who was playing in goal for Oldham in this re-arranged evening fixture. It was a warm summer’s day and thousands of Everton supporters had made the trip up the East Lancs. Road, many of whom were without tickets. Local radio had declared the game a sell-out and advised fans without tickets against travelling. However, many chose to ignore the warnings in the hope of seeing Everton not just return to the First Division, but hopefully as champions.
Before joining Oldham, my cousin George had spent 13 years with Everton during the forties and fifties, playing alongside the likes of Joe Mercer and Harry Catterick. He had, in fact, left Everton several years prior to joining Oldham to sign for Ellesmere Port, but had his contract ripped up so he could return to Goodison Park to deputise for Everton’s first-choice keeper Ted Sagar and his reserve, who were both injured.
When we arrived at Oldham’s ground I took my match ticket from George, went for a few pints with my mates and then made my way into the ground, standing behind the goal where the Everton supporters were massed. There were high walls around Boundary Park to keep out fans without tickets, but in certain areas the walls were lower. Everton fans without tickets took advantage of these vulnerable spots and used any means they could, including cars, to scramble over the wall and into the ground. Once they made it to the top of the wall, fans inside created a space below on to which they could drop. To combat this problem, police on horseback spread tar from large drums on to the walls to deter others from entering. Not to be outdone by this deterrent, quick-thinking Evertonians placed Liverpool Echos over the tar to protect themselves as they leapt over and on to the terraces.
Prior to the game, knowing George Burnett was a former Everton player and that Everton needed to win 6-0 to win the division, people were saying to me ‘He’ll let six in for you.’
At half-time, with Everton leading 4-0, I was beginning to think they might be right, although knowing George, I know he wouldn’t have tried to do Everton any favours. Everton themselves failed to build on this advantage when they missed a penalty in the second half to make it 5-0. With that, they lost the chance to become champions, although they won the game 4-0 and were promoted as runners-up on 56 points, one point ahead of Blackburn Rovers.
At the final whistle, jubilant Evertonians streamed out of the ground and into the nearby pubs to celebrate. Several hours later, we put down our glasses and began our journey home. Not many people had cars