Discovering Everton’s roots: A Merseyside Odyssey

I recently went on both the Anfield and Goodison Park stadium tours and, having decided to walk from Liverpool Lime Street station, I happened upon the birthplace of Everton Football Club. So, with the club soon to move from Goodison Park, its home since 1892, I think it’s a good time to look at Everton’s rich history, steeped in its local roots.

Wandering north-east from Liverpool Lime Street station, across a number of wide thoroughfares, you come to the Everton district of Liverpool. It used to be a village outside the city and Everton Park gives a small sense of that era as you look down across the city’s docklands, the Mersey estuary, and the Wirral beyond. 

Anyone familiar with Everton Football Club crest will notice it features a round tower. I stumbled across this structure and recognised it instantly. The building is actually tiny and is called ‘Prince Rupert’s Tower’ and was, in effect, a village gaol for drunks to sober up in back in the day when it was built (1787).

A brief history of Everton FC’s foundation

In Everton Park, the local council has done a good job of noting the spot where ‘Everton FC’ was named. Like a lot of football clubs in the Victorian era, Everton sprang out of a church. St Domingo’s ran a cricket club for boys in the summer and, in 1878, set up St Domingo’s Football Club. A year later, at a meeting in a hotel that once stood in Everton Park, the club changed its name to ‘Everton FC’ to reflect the wider society that wanted to join. A local confectioner celebrated the club with the creation of the ‘Everton mint’ and a woman threw toffees to the crowd, hence the nickname ‘The Toffees’.

In 1884, Everton moved into Anfield, an area off Stanley Park sublet – and later owned – by club president John Houlding. In 1888, Everton was a founding member of the Football League. As attendances grew, so Anfield expanded its capacity and Everton won its first league title at Anfield in 1890-91. Also, while at Anfield, Everton pioneered the use of goal nets in professional football.

However, by 1892, Houlding wanted to up the rent significantly and sell his own beer on the site. As a club with its roots in the church, the Everton board were not comfortable with alcohol on site and decided to move, securing Goodison Park. Houlding was left with a ground without a club, so decided to form his own to fill it, Liverpool FC. The new Liverpool FC played in blue at the outset, even winning its first trophy, the 1893/94 Second Division title, wearing blue, before switching to red shirts in 1896. Red shorts and socks weren’t added until the late 1960s.

The many ‘firsts’ of Goodison Park

Upon its construction, Goodison Park became the first purpose-built football stadium in England. While a couple of stands had sprung up at Anfield over the years, Goodison had a dedicated four sides of stands and was opened in August 1892 by the FA’s Lord Kinnaird and Frederick Wall.

In 1920, Goodison hosted a then world-record crowd of more than 50,000 for a women’s match as Dick, Kerr Ladies beat St. Helen’s Ladies 4-0 in a charity match for Great War veterans. In 1933, legendary striker William Ralph ‘Dixie’ Dean made the ‘number 9’ synonymous with goal-scorers as Everton and Manchester City walked out for the FA Cup final with numbers on their shirts for the first time. Everton wore 1-11, and City 12-22.

Goodison Park was the first ground in England to install dugouts, a scoreboard, and once had the tallest floodlights in the country and, in 1958, was the first ground to have undersoil heating.

It hosted five matches at the 1966 World Cup, and was the venue where Eusebio scored six of his nine tournament goals to secure the Golden Boot. Pelé and Garrincha also scored goals at Goodison in the tournament.

In 1992, Everton became a founder member of the Premier League, sharing the distinction of being a pioneer of both English top-flight divisions, together with Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers.

At the time of writing (April 2023), Everton have spent the greatest number of seasons in the top-flight of English football (120) and have been in the top division consecutively since 1954/55, a record only surpassed by Arsenal (since 1919/20).

Goodbye to Goodison Park

Everton’s new ground will be at Bramley-Moore Dock and is due to open for 2024/25 season. It will hold 52,888 spectators. You can see the structure from Everton Park, so the club is staying true to its roots. It’s also walkable from the popular Albert Dock area, so I can see an away day at Everton becoming a more manageable trip for fans.

I have a bit of a soft spot for Everton, having grown up in the mid-eighties, when the club won two league titles, an FA Cup, and the European Cup-Winners’ Cup in the space of three years. 

I did both the Anfield and the Goodison Park tours on the same day, as they are so close to each other, just a short walk across Stanley Park. You can book both online here:

• Anfield Tour
• Goodison Tour

If you’re interested in the roots of football in England and elsewhere, please pick up a copy of my first book, Origin Stories: The Pioneers Who Took Football to the World.