An Everton FC Heritage Society video special Rob Sawyer joins Brendan Connolly of Everton FC Heritage Society to chat about a selection of items from his stunning memorabilia collection. Featuring treasures from as early as 1882, the items discussed feature cup winners medals, international caps, and the probable first known useage of Everton’s famous lock-up crest. Plus, a shirt belonging to the great Jimmy Dunn – Everton’s 1933 FA Cup winning goalscorer and teammate of Dixie Dean. Please click to view the full film (- and please subscibe to our YouTube channel); . Brendan Connolly Brendan i ..read more

George Robey in his late 60s – National Portrait Gallery Football and showbiz have been bedfellows since the early days of the sport. Before the dawn of the 20th Century, theatrical matches were staged at Everton’s ground. In the 1920s, Jack Cock combined spearheading the Blues attack with treading the boards in music hall, subsequently trying his hand at movie acting. In 1968, the Golden Vision play, screened on the BBC, immortalised Alex Young on celluloid. More recently, the Toffees’ late chairman, Bill Kenwright, was a successful and high-profile impresario in the world of theatre. Other f ..read more

Anfield Cemetery and The Winslow Hotel 23 March 2024 Rob Sawyer In May 1905, a 42-year-old-man who was as working as a gas meter manufacturer in a corporation yard in Everton, succumbed to a heart condition. This was no ordinary man, however, but – in all likelihood – the first idol of Everton supporters in the club’s Anfield days. He was George Farmer, the celebrated ‘king of the screw shot’ and a potent attacking threat down the Toffees’ left flank in the mid-to-late 1880s, at the dawn of the Football League age. His premature passing left a pregnant widow, Louisa, with seven children in di ..read more

Anfield Cemetery – 23 March 2024 (photos by Rob Sawyer / Mike Royden / Lewis Royden) Family and guests begin to arrive Jamie Yates opens the proceedings The headstone unveiling by Annette Kerry and Richard Edwards, two of George’s great grandchildren Mike Isherwood (Deputy Mayor of Oswestry and Everton fan) says a few words on George Farmer’s Welsh links and family ties to Oswestry ‘Don’t Go Gently into that Good Night’ by Dylan Thomas, read by Laura-Beth Murray, great-great-grandaughter of George Farmer Prayer of Thanksgiving, Rededication of Grave and Blessing, by Reverend Henry Co ..read more

Music by The Mighty George Farmer ..read more

Order of Service Souvenir Another aspect of the George Farmer grave rededication day, which should not be overlooked, was the lovely souvenir handed out by Jamie to all those who attended. Contained in an envelope was the order of service card, with additional inserts shown below. Jamie, a qualified and experienced artist, designed the complete package, a beautiful work of art in its own right, which was then silk screen printed by hand by his friend Erica Donovan. An excellent momento of the day ..read more

Mackie Memorials (photographs by Mike Royden) Lewis Royden (EFCHS), filming the process, with Sully (The Mighty George Farmer band), Jamie Yates (EFCHS), and Thomas of Mackie Memorials ..read more

Jamie Yates of Everton FC Heritage Society, who researched the story of George Farmer and directed the project, writes; Why George Farmer? Without the philanthropy of Everton Football Club and the local community around Liverpool 4 and beyond upon the death of George Farmer in May 1905, it is not unreasonable to assume that his widow and eight young children would not have survived the poverty-stricken future they were facing. Without George Farmer capturing the imagination of thousands of Evertonians – not to mention the thousands who went along to watch football for the first time in that e ..read more

Grave and Headstone Rededication Project Jamie Yates of Everton FC Heritage Society, who researched the story of George Farmer and directed the project, writes; Why George Farmer? Without the philanthropy of Everton Football Club and the local community around Liverpool 4 and beyond upon the death of George Farmer in May 1905, it is not unreasonable to assume that his widow and eight young children would not have survived the poverty-stricken future they were facing. Without George Farmer capturing the imagination of thousands of Evertonians – not to mention the thousands who went along to w ..read more

(4 November 1953 – 7 October 2013) By Rob Sawyer Mick Buckley was a fine young footballer who had the great fortune to play for Everton FC – but the equal misfortune to have to follow immediately in the footsteps of Colin Harvey, Howard Kendall and Alan Ball and suffer from the inevitable comparisons. Michael John Buckley was born to Roy and Jean Buckley in Salford on 4 November 1953; he was the eldest of five children raised in the Salford and South Manchester areas. Like his father, Mick followed Manchester United – he idolised Denis Law and his school satchel had the names of George Best a ..read more