Source: Liverpool_Echo
Royal Blue: Everton FC have always been People's Club
EVERTON fans need little reminding that their club is based on a rich and fascinating history. When they sing about knowing their history at the match it could be anything from Dixie Dean's record goal haul to becoming founding members of the football league.[LNB]Well, now one academic Bluenose has put his study time to intriguing use by completing an in-depth study of the 1892 split of the original Everton FC which gave birth to city neighbours Liverpool.[LNB]The study consists of information Dr David Kennedy compiled for his 2003 PhD thesis, and now it has been given a worthy showcase by the people behind the Everton Collection.[LNB]Dr Kennedy goes beyond established explanations of the split being borne out of a rental dispute or the by-product of hostility between temperance and drink trade interests amongst the Everton membership.[LNB]He argues that local political events outside the club were of central importance in framing its internal squabbles and intensifying them to breaking point.[LNB]He believes Everton was drawn into the eye of a perfect political storm brewing in the north end districts of Liverpool in the early 1890s and duly split.[LNB]Dr Kennedy also studies the very different people at Everton and Liverpool football clubs prior to WWI, differences that, he suspects, had their origins in the social and political nature of the 1892 struggle.[LNB]He writes, 'John Houlding's downfall at Everton was not just the result of disagreements about the rent of Anfield. Many members of the Everton committee including George Mahon and William Clayton did not believe that a football club should be associated with the drinks' trade.[LNB]'Houlding owned a brewery. Also Mahon, who belonged to the Liberal Party, and Houlding, a Conservative, had clashed over local election campaigns.[LNB]'Houlding's supporters followed him in resigning from membership of Everton F.C. In March 1892 the Everton directors set up a sub-committee consisting of Dr. James Baxter, A. T. Coates, and Frank Currier to deal with these resignations.[LNB]'William Barclay, one of Houlding's staunchest supporters had already resigned as Chairman of Everton in January and had been replaced by George Mahon.[LNB]'Houlding made one last attempt to retain control of Everton FC. When the Everton Committee had voted to form a limited liability company in 1891 they chose the name 'Everton Football and Athletic Grounds Company Ltd.'[LNB]'In January 1892 Houlding registered this name at Companies House. Mahon protested and the case went to the FA for arbitration. In April it stated that only one club with the name Everton could be a member of the FA and that was the current one.
