Goodison Park

Pelé At Goodison

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On 22nd August 1960, England was chosen as the host of the 1966 FIFA World Cup, beating West Germany in the final round of voting, and on 1st May 1963, Goodison Park was selected as one of the stadiums. At the group stages, Goodison hosted three matches – all of them involving reigning World Cup winners Brazil:

  • 12 July – Brazil v Bulgaria
  • 15 July – Hungary v Brazil
  • 19 July – Portugal v Brazil

Since it was announced that Brazil would be playing all their group stage matches at Goodison Park, fans were calling in at a special World Cup booking office at a remarkable speed hoping to watch their Brazilian heroes, including the likes of Garrincha, Jairzinho and the greatest footballer in the world, Pelé.

There was an overwhelming demand for tickets for the World Cup matches at Goodison Park. The complete stock of application forms for tickets (around 3,000) was sent out on the first day. More application forms were eventually sent out but because of a high number of applications and requests, the switchboard at Goodison Park was continuously jammed. Brazilian fans played a part too – around 8,000 tickets were sold to them in the first couple of days of sale. Applications went into tens of thousands in the first few days but despite the early chaos, a combined total of over 150,000 fans attended the group stage matches at Goodison Park.

Prior to the 1966 World Cup, Brazil won the previous two editions in Sweden and Chile. 17-year-old Pelé exploded onto the scene in the 1958 World Cup. He scored 6 goals – all of them in the knockout stages: the winner against Wales in the quarter-finals, a hat-trick against France in the semi-finals and 2 goals against hosts Sweden in the final. Because of injury, Pelé played only 2 matches in the 1962 World Cup. He scored in Brazil’s opening match against Mexico but was injured in a goalless draw against Czechoslovakia at the Estadio Sausalito – the home of Everton’s Chilean counterparts, Everton de Vina del Mar.

Over 47,000 fans watched Brazil take on Bulgaria at Goodison Park in their first match of the 1966 World Cup. After 15 minutes, Pelé was fouled just outside the box by Spartak Sofia defender Dobromir Zhechev and he struck the ball low and hard past the wall and into the back of the net, just about beating goalkeeper Georgi Naydenov. His goal made him the first ever player to score in three consecutive World Cups. Brazil ended up winning 2-0 with Garrincha, like Pelé, scoring directly from a free-kick.

Pelé may have scored only one goal but he did more than that in the win over Bulgaria – 3 shots (including 2 on target) and he even became a supplier, creating 3 chances. He also had 8 successful dribbles and was fouled 7 times. He helped his teammates defensively as well, making 8 successful tackles and 2 interceptions.

Following the match, Liverpool Echo’s Michael Charters spoke very highly of Pelé’s performance:

Pelé’s artistry was there for all to see. For long periods, he was out of the game but he moves like lightning when the crucial moment arrives. His chipped passes with either foot, his deft and deadly passing through a wall of defenders opened the way for Alcindo and others. It was not his fault that Brazil did not have half a dozen.

The ideal start for Brazil and Pelé. But unfortunately, that would be only game they left Goodison Park with a smile on their faces.

Pelé suffered a knee injury against Bulgaria due to aggressive tackling from the opposition and was forced to miss Brazil’s second match of the tournament against Hungary. Brazil lost 3-1 – their first World Cup defeat since a 4-2 defeat to the same opposition in their ill-tempered quarter-final clash in 1954. The Liverpool Echo said Pelé’s absence “loses so much of its power and drive” and the Daily Telegraph said Brazil’s attack “lacked genius”.

Pelé returned to training ahead of Brazil’s crucial clash against Portugal, who had won both of their games in the competition. Although, he was stopping goals instead of scoring them; he was in goal during practice while he and Brazilian fans were hoping he would be fit. Brazil needed to beat Portugal by at least three goals to guarantee a place in the quarter-finals.

Pelé was named in the line-up, much to the relief of Brazilians everywhere. But seeing as he had just overcome an injury, it made him an easy target for the Portuguese opposition. Over 58,000 fans were at Goodison Park to watch Pelé’s comeback – the highest attendance for a non-Wembley match at the 1966 World Cup. Brazil had a terrible start, losing 2-0 after nearly half an hour through goals by Antonio Simoes and Eusebio. Their fate at the 1966 World Cup was all but sealed at the half-hour mark when Pelé was a victim of a vicious tackle by Sporting Lisbon’s Joao Morais, who had only made his international debut the previous month. Referee George McCabe controversially only gave Morais a telling-off instead of a sending-off. The tackle rendered Pelé ineffective and, because there were no substitutes at the time, he played the rest of the game limping on the wing.

Brazil halved the deficit thanks to a goal by Rildo but Eusebio scored another in the 85th minute. Brazil’s World Cup campaign was officially over the next day after Hungary beat Bulgaria 3-1, despite a slight glimmer of hope for the Brazilians after Georgi Asparuhov gave Bulgaria the lead.

The defeat to Portugal was Pelé’s only World Cup loss. His World Cup record was 14 appearances, 12 wins, 1 draw (the goalless draw against Czechoslovakia) and 1 defeat. The 1966 World Cup might not have been a tournament Pelé looked back on fondly, but at least Goodison Park had the honour of having one of the greatest and most popular sporting figures in history play on its hallowed turf.

Goodison Park’s First Women’s Football Matches

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During the First World War, female factory workers started to form football teams to raise money for charity; the most famous one being Dick, Kerr Ladies. Women’s football quickly became very popular with match attendances often reaching five figures and remained popular after the war ended. Some matches were staged at Football League grounds, including Goodison Park.

Everton allowed women’s football teams to train at Goodison Park to prepare for their games:

It was resolved that all persons other than our own players, (and the lady football players) be precluded from using the ground and dressing rooms for any purpose whatever. That the lady footballers be informed that they must arrange that they withdraw from our premises before 4:30 p.m. and that whilst training or practising they must use the visitors dressing room and that no male will be permitted to accompany them.
Everton’s minute books – January 1918

Aintree Munitions Ladies v North Haymarket Ladies

In an Everton meeting on 30th January 1918, the club allowed Goodison Park to stage a women’s football match on Easter Monday morning (April 1st). A women’s team from munitions factories in Aintree and North Haymarket played against each other in front of over 7,000 spectators at Goodison Park to raise money for the Sportsmen’s Ambulance Fund. They played against each other the previous January at Prenton Park with Aintree winning 4-0. In a match report by the Liverpool Echo, both teams “entered the arena attired in short skirts, Aintree having red sleeves, and Haymarket dark green.”

Aintree: M. Lewis, E. Geddes, Bessie Burrows, E. Thomas, Belle Saunders, M. Creane, Daisy Clayton, J. Jones, May Williamson, L. Reece, Lily Molyneux

North Haymarket: A. Blacklock, Nellie Woods, Mabel Wilson, M. Harrison, Ivy Fulford, R. Rose, B. Way, C. Murray, Amy Bragg, May Sale, Kitty Molyneux

Aintree started the more dominant side but the first half ended goalless. The red-sleeved ladies eventually broke the deadlock in the second half through May Williamson. Despite Aintree’s dominance, Haymarket had a chance to equalise but “the ladies forgot to charge, but shoved, pulled and pushed each other until the goalkeeper cleared.” Lily Molyneux doubled Aintree’s lead and a goalkeeping error made it 3-0. Reece hit a shot which slipped through Blacklock’s hands and went into the goal. Lily Molyneux had a chance to double her tally and make it 4-0 from the penalty spot but Blacklock made amends for her earlier error and saved the penalty. Aintree did make it 4-0 with Reece scoring her second of the game. The match ended 4-0 to Aintree, repeating the scoreline of the Prenton Park meeting.

This is the first known record of a women’s football match being played at Goodison Park.

The Liverpool Echo praised the match and women’s footballers in general:

Ladies are good at promising, men are always agreed, but in among the war-growths that have occurred recently, nothing promises quite so richly as the lady footballer. Time was when they tried to play the winter sport and were laughed to scorn. Many fans must have gone to Goodison Park on Monday morning for a pantomimical affair, and they had their eyes opened. There were laughable incidents, of course, but some of the players showed such good form that the possibilities of ladies’ football had to be recognised.

The cardinal fault was pushing instead of charging; but this is quite a minor matter, and time will remedy it more emphatically than a referee can. Aintree’s left-winger and all the full backs showed a keen perception of the game and its requirements, and I doubt not that if the playing area had been reduced to the size that obtains when school teams meet, the ladies would have done far better. It is too much to expect the weaker sex to last 90 minutes’ football on the full scale of football’s measurements. Whatever else the ladies have done, they have, in linking up with football, found a channel for charity that has fared well, and promises to bring with it some football in the future.

Aintree Munitions Ladies v Rest of the League

Just over a month later (May 8th), Aintree returned to Goodison Park to play against a Rest of the League XI in front of just over 1,500 spectators. Although, there does not appear to be any report of the match or record of the scoreline.

Dick, Kerr Ladies v St Helens Ladies

On Boxing Day morning 1920 (December 27th), England’s most famous women’s football team at the time Dick, Kerr Ladies played against St Helens Ladies at Goodison Park in what became one of the most famous matches in women’s football history. The date of the match has often been mistaken. In 1920, Boxing Day was on December 27th, not December 26th, because the 26th was on a Sunday and Boxing Day traditionally had to be on a working day. Furthermore, Sunday football was forbidden in England until the 1970s.

Everton had allowed Dick, Kerr Ladies to play at Goodison Park in January 1919 and a match was requested to be played on February 5th the same year. Although, Everton said the date was not suitable. A date was eventually agreed and Dick, Kerr and St Helens played against each other at Goodison Park to raise funds for the National Association of Discharged Sailors and Soldiers.

Dick, Kerr Ladies in 1920
St Helens Ladies in 1920

Dick, Kerr: Annie Hastie, Alice Kell, Lily Parr, Alice Woods, Jessie Walmsley, Sally Hulme, Florrie Haslam, Jennie Harris, Alice Mills, Lily Lee, Daisy Clayton

St Helens: Edith Waine, M. Makin, F. Gee, E. Britch, M. Ransome, Swift, Davies, N. Johnson, Scott, E. Woods, F. Hayes

Florrie Redford was in Dick, Kerr’s original line-up but she unfortunately missed her train to Liverpool. Minnie Lyons was also in the original line-up but missed the game for unknown reasons. Alice Mills and Lily Lee took their places. St Helens had a couple of late replacements themselves – Swift and Davies replacing Gornall and Bayley.

The match was kicked off by Ella Retford, a well-known music hall comedian, singer and dancer in the early 20th century, at 11 o’clock in the morning. Dick, Kerr wore black and white jerseys and St Helens were wearing blue. Jennie Harris broke the deadlock and Dick, Kerr went into half-time with a one-goal lead. In the second half, Alice Kell moved from right back to centre forward and scored a hat-trick. No more goals were scored and the match ended 4-0 to Dick, Kerr. According to the Liverpool Daily Post, the scoreline could have been a lot worse for St Helens if it was not for Edith Waine.

The attendance of the match has commonly been reported to be at least 53,000 with over 10,000 people being turned away because the stadium was too full. The day after the game, the Liverpool Echo reported the match was attended by around 45,000 spectators. According to Everton’s gate receipt books, the official attendance was 46,480 – far more than the other match at Goodison Park later that day, Everton Reserves vs Southport (just over 5,000), and more than the estimated attendance for Liverpool vs Chelsea at Anfield the same day (around 35,000 according to the Liverpool Echo). The official attendance was a record for a women’s football match in England until the 2012 Summer Olympics and remained a record attendance for a women’s club football match in England for over a century until 49,094 fans attended the 2022 Women’s FA Cup final at Wembley.

Following the match, both teams’ managers were full of gratitude. The Liverpool Echo reported:

Yesterday, Mr Frankland, of Dick, Kerr’s and Mr Gordon, of St Helens ladies’ football sides, having asked me to accept their thanks for, they said, “being mainly responsible for the excellent attendance at the ladies’ game.” To thank: also the Everton club’s officers and staff – and the ladies. They agreed and asked me to say to you all, “A big, big thanks for breaking the record.”

Both teams were lauded for their performances. The Liverpool Daily Post said referee Stan Peers “had no trouble with the ladies, who were not argumentative and played a hefty, fair game, and played to the whistle with a readiness that might be copied by the menfolk,” and the Liverpool Echo said:

The ladies at Goodison Park gave us all much pleasure. We appreciated their skill, their stamina, their determination, and their manner of taking hard knocks without “turning a hair.” Sometimes the cap didn’t fit, and there was a hair turned; still one must say that they all played well and hard throughout. One lady on the right wing of St Helens loved to dribble; she lived for it. But she did not succeed in the manner little Jennie Harris did – what a splendid little player. And what full-backs Dick, Kerr have; they study their kicks, and are the back-bone of the side.

The Dick, Kerr-St Helens spectacle was the last women’s football match at Goodison Park before the FA banned women’s football being played on FA-affiliated grounds in 1921 – a ban which lasted until the 1970s. The next major women’s football match to take place at Goodison Park was on 5th April 1997 when Everton Ladies played against Wembley Ladies in the Women’s Premier League. Everton lost 3-1 with Louise Thomas becoming the first female Everton player to score at Goodison.

Women’s football is becoming more and more popular with some WSL matches being staged at Premier League grounds. 5,998 fans watched Everton Women against Manchester City Women at Goodison Park in September 2021, which was a record attendance for Everton Women. Following England’s victorious Women’s Euro 2022 campaign, it is going to become even more popular. When Everton Women play at Goodison Park again, it is very possible that the ground will be full of women’s football fanatics again.

Springboks at Goodison

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In 1958, a team comprising of South Africans went on a tour of Britain and Ireland. It started in the summer with a 2-2 draw against Headington United. Victories against Bedford Town, a Norfolk County FA XI and a British Universities XI followed and then came their biggest test – reigning champions Wolves. The Springboks narrowly lost 1-0 to Wolves. They then beat a Wales Amateur XI before preparing themselves to face Everton at Goodison Park.

In September 1958, it was announced that Everton would play against the South African tourists under the floodlights at Goodison Park. The match took place on October 8th – and this wasn’t the first occasion South African tourists played at Goodison Park. In December 1924, Everton played against a South Africa XI at Goodison, losing 3-2. Jimmy Broad and Alec Wall scored for the Blues. The player who scored two of the South African tourists’ goals was David Murray, who subsequently joined Everton the following summer and became the first overseas player to play (and score) for the club when he made his debut against Cardiff in September 1925.

Teams

Everton South Africa XI
Jimmy O’Neill Trevor Gething
Alan Sanders George Martin
John Bramwell Ken Denysschen
Johnny King Henry Hauser
TE Jones Gilbert Petersen
Brian Harris Malcolm Rufus
Andy Penman Charlie Hurly
Jimmy Harris Wally Warren
Dave Hickson Les Salton
Bobby Collins Marty Deetlifs
Eddie O’Hara George Barratt

There are three names worthy of note. Gilbert Petersen, the tour captain, was nearly signed by Everton in 1955 when he was 18 but he decided to stay in South Africa. Everton then tried to sign compatriot and tour-mate Charlie Hurly the following year but he declined, saying he didn’t want to move to England. The remaining name is Andy Penman – said to be Everton’s youngest ever player. The Scotsman made his debut for the Blues exactly a week earlier in Everton’s Floodlight Challenge Cup meeting against Liverpool, aged 15 years and 223 days. He also nearly scored in that game, with the Liverpool Daily Post saying he “delivered a magnificent shot that was speeding away from [Tommy] Younger to a place in the net, when the international goalkeeper flung himself sideways for a save which did full justice to the shot.”

Bobby Collins broke the deadlock after just 3 minutes and then Dave Hickson doubled the lead after Trevor Gething saved Collins’ shot only for the ball to neatly fall to Hickson. Eddie O’Hara made it 3-0, heading the ball past Gething after meeting a Jimmy Harris pass. TE Jones then made it 4-0, converting a penalty after O’Hara was fouled by George Martin. During the first half, Everton were briefly down to 10 men after goalkeeper Jimmy O’Neill had a recurrence of a knee injury he suffered in a preseason tour of Ireland. For a few minutes, Brian Harris took his place between the sticks and had little to do, so he “played up to the crowd by wandering yards out of his goal with the spectators waving him back,” and whenever he did get the ball, his clearances fell to the feet of the South Africans. Albert Dunlop was then brought on shortly before half-time and the match was 11-a-side again. It looked like it was going to be a cruising victory for Everton as they were 4-0 at half-time. But that wasn’t the case.

Near the hour mark, the South Africans reduced the deficit to three goals after Les Salton eased past TE Jones to pick up on Charlie Hurly’s through ball and slotted the ball past Albert Dunlop. But the hopes of a comeback for them faded after Dave Hickson set up Jimmy Harris to regain the 4-goal lead and then go one better around 10 minutes before full-time with Harris returning the favour for Hickson to score his second of the game. But a few minutes after it was 6-1, the South Africans incredibly made it 6-4. Gilbert Petersen converted a penalty after John Bramwell handled in the area, Malcolm Rufus picked up on a pass by Wally Warren with a move, according to the Liverpool Echo, that was akin to Stanley Matthews and hit the back of the net, and Les Salton scored his second of the game from a corner. There was a possibility for the Springboks to make it 6-5 and make the last couple of minutes of the game extremely interesting but it wasn’t to be after Dave Hickson completed his hat-trick. Full-time score: Everton 7-4 South Africa XI.

It was a very creditable performance from the Springboks, with George Barratt, Charlie Hurly and Les Salton receiving some praise from Liverpool Echo journalist Leslie Edwards. But the one player who got the biggest praise was Malcolm Rufus, whom Edwards said was “the best non-stop left-back [he’s] seen since Joe Mercer.”

An admirable performance also from Everton. The only criticism would be the defence’s brief collapse in the latter stages of the game. One would think the defence would have learned from their mistakes ahead of their next game three days later. But it appears that they didn’t as Everton got thrashed 10-4 by Tottenham.

Everton and Baseball

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Everton and baseball had an unlikely friendship. In modern times, they are not linked with each other whatsoever, but from the 19th century to around the 1950s, their link was quite strong.

In 1890, Everton considered allowing baseball to be played at Anfield. A recommendation was made by from a certain Mr Betts, however the club didn’t go through with it because they believed Anfield was an unsuitable ground for baseball.

On 23rd October 1924, American baseball teams, the Chicago White Sox and the New York Giants, played an exhibition game at Goodison Park. Over 2,500 people watched the White Sox beat the Giants 16-11.

chicago-white-sox-goodison new-york-giants-goodison baseball-goodison

Former Everton chairman John Moores was an avid fan of baseball. In 1933, he created a Liverpool-based baseball league, and the champions would be awarded the eponymous John Moores Trophy. The foundation of the league and the growth of baseball in Liverpool led to Everton players taking part in the sport, such as Dixie Dean, who played for Liverpool Caledonians.

John-Moores-Trophy

In fact, in 1935, Dixie Dean met baseball great Babe Ruth in London. Babe Ruth came to London following a baseball tour in Japan and he was introduced to Dixie Dean after Babe Ruth once hit 60 home runs in a season and he admired the comparison to Dean’s 60 goals in a season. Although, despite being legends in their own field, Babe Ruth was earning a lot more money than Dixie Dean. According to American sport historians Stefan Szymanski and Andrew Zimbalist, Babe Ruth earned $70,000 a year whereas Dixie Dean earned just $2,000 a year. However, this was largely due to the maximum wage rule in Britain at the time.

In July 1945, Goodison Park was the venue for a baseball competition called the Lancashire Baseball Cup. Everton’s own baseball team took part in the competition, and other participants included Liverpool Trojans, Formby Cardinals and Swinton & Pendlebury. Everton lost to Formby Cardinals 13-10 – a 5-0 hammering in the sixth innings proved to be the fatal blow. The last time baseball was played at Goodison Park was in 1948, with Liverpool Trojans and Formby Cardinals being the last baseball teams to play there.