Author : Paul McParlan

How Catterick avoided the dreaded taxi ride!

Everton’s unexpected 1966 Cup triumph “I get knocked down but I get up again” Chumbawumba 1999 January 15 1966 – the Blackpool Rumble The League table made grim reading for Everton fans. The side, convincing Champions just three years earlier had endured an awful campaign. The team had mustered a meagre four wins from their […]

Paul Lambert: The Unlikely Messiah

Optimistic and exuberant are hardly words that have traditionally associated themselves with Paul Lambert, but suddenly after just one game in charge he has transformed the mood around the Britannia Stadium from one of despair to one of hope. Lambert is the man unexpectedly tasked with preserving Stoke City’s Premier League Status by Chairman and […]

Saturday Night Fever!

Saturday Night Fever! Everton v Liverpool 11th March 1967. F.A. Cup Fifth Round. “I am just wondering if you remember the Derby match at Goodison. F.A. Cup, Fifth Round and it was shown on a big screen at Anfield?” “I do. I played in it. I was the goalkeeper for Liverpool… it was a great […]

Archie’s Last Stand

Sunday 19 November and I am in Edinburgh to watch Heart of Midlothian’s first home league game of the season. Heart of Midlothian, the club that most assume was named after the famous novel written by Sir Walter Scott as part of his Waverley trilogy. The truth is much simpler although far less romantic . […]

Seven Days That Destroyed A Decade!

On Tuesday 01 April 1970, Everton clinched the League Championship for the seventh time in their history by beating West Bromwich Albion 2- 0 at Goodison Park in front of a crowd of over 58,000 ecstatic supporters. Everton finished the season with 66 points, nine points clear of runners up Leeds United. It was the […]

Joe Baker: The Reluctant Englishman

“ A Jock playing for England! We ain’t that bad are we?” On August 17th this month, it will be seventy seven years since Joe Baker, who sadly died in 2003, was born. If circumstances had turned out differently, then arguably Joe Baker not Geoff Hurst would have been leading the England attack in the […]

When Bobby got Hammered in Blackpool

It is hard to credit now but in the 1960’s and the early 1970’s Blackpool was almost the British equivalent of Las Vegas with its swinging nightlife and range of exotic attractions that catered for almost every need. Most football teams, from London and the South, enjoyed playing against Blackpool because an overnight stay was […]

When Stereotypes Ruled the World

Chelsea v Leeds United. F.A. Cup Final and F.A. Cup final replay. April 1970. The 1970 F.A. Cup final and the subsequent replay was a classic encounter in every sense of the word. It brought together two of England’s top sides, Chelsea and Leeds United, whose intense dislike of each other was well known and […]

The Golden Vision

“What’s your Daddy do? Plays football. Who for? Everton. Is he good? Yes. What’s his name Alex Young” Golden Vision. BBC Play for Today. 1968 Like most Everton fans, I was devastated to hear the sad news of the death of The Golden Vision himself, Alex Young. He had just recently celebrated his eightieth birthday. […]

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