Column Know Your History ? It Counts! Joe Brennan 27/09/2007 13comments | Jump to last I am 9 months away from my sixtieth birthday; I guess my dad first took me to Goodison when I was about 8 years old. We would then walk from Goodison to the Pierhead, have a cup of tea and a ?burn your mouth? pork pie and get the bus back home to Huyton, no wonder my legs still hurt! ? Happy Days? By the time we were beating Fulham to win the title in 1961, I was going with my mates ? Boys Pen (2.5p graduating to Gladwys Street (15p), then my first season ticket in the Paddock and eventually Upper Bullens Road until 7th November 1978 when I and my soon-to-be bride stopped attending Everton and we have never been back since. Why? Because of the shite we were playing. That night we lost 2-3 to Notts Forest in the League Cup whilst managed by Gordon (Perspiration rather than Inspiration) Lee. I suspect that a majority of the so-called Moyes apologists are under forty and therefore, through no fault of their own, have little to reflect upon. Henry Ford supposedly said ?History is bunk? but the same man also supposedly said ?You can have any colour you like so long as it is black?. I?m sad to say that the David Moyes?s mantra appears to be ?You can have any sort of football you like so long as it?s hoofball and stick the Club?s History up you?re arse?! Everton FC is a religion and whilst you may stop going to church you never lose the faith; I know that I never have. However, (IMHO) that is why people like Tony Marsh may well stop going to games, especially if the club also move to Kirkby. He will still bleed blue, he will still love the club, but like me I suspect that he will never return. In my day it wasn?t about winning it was how you played. One of the best games I watched was a 3-2 defeat to Man Utd at Goodison in the Inter Cities Fairs Cup 2nd leg in February of 1965. We?d drawn at Old Trafford, a great result, and I was there, we lost in the return but what a game ? where has all that gone? Evertonians used to take pride in the football they played regardless of the result ? but now? Reader Comments Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer Tom Hughes 1 Posted 27/09/2007 at 07:30:27 Report abuse Joe, I remember that match as it was my 14th birthday..... didn’t they score an own goal first? Burns? To be fair Forest were a great side who humbled better teams than us. That said, I thought we were quite good that year, certainly better than the previous seasons, so its a bit mystifying why you chose that moment to jib it. Did you really not return in the 80’s, things got pretty good you know!? Going the match is a bit of an addiction, I can’t imagine not going to GP, but then again a few years ago, I couldn’t imagine missing us anywhere, and I only take in the odd away these days, so who knows. You should venture back some time, see if you can rekindle the flame. Phil Guyers 2 Posted 27/09/2007 at 09:40:29 Report abuse Know your history ? It was 1963 when we won the league and if you haven’t been for nearly 30 years, why are you bothered now ? Chad Schofield 3 Posted 27/09/2007 at 10:12:41 Report abuse Christ I’ve been in a time warp... never realised that Moyes has been in charge since the 78-79 season.Not quite sure what you mean by this article, as you seem to be blaming Moyes for shit football since the day you stopped going... but then I would have been approaching my 1st birthday at the time, so perhaps I was simply naive (certainly young) when watching us in the early-to-mid 1980’s.Admitedly, most of the time I have supported Everton we have played some utter shite football - however, without trying to be too offensive, perhaps the bride to be had more of a significant influence on you not returning to Goodison than us playing hoofball for thirty years. Joe Brennan 4 Posted 27/09/2007 at 10:10:28 Report abuse Phil, you spotted my typo but completely miss the point of the piece. History is important and Everton is a religion. Try overtaking without looking in your rear-view mirror and you won’t last long! This is a comparison of Managers’ styles and what can happen if they ignore tradition. I hesitate to ask your age ? you might be a lady!Tom, I know it?s hard to envisage but if you break the habit it?s easy to give up - but please don?t try it! Having said that I still smoke!! McKinney 5 Posted 27/09/2007 at 11:16:55 Report abuse I think there is a point that you miss Joe. Whilst tradition and history are important, certainly in learning lessons from the mistakes, the game has changed and unfortunately winning is now a must for club survival!The money driven game that it is today means that pretty football without winning is unacceptable. We would all love for EFC to play like Barcelona and I think you are probably right in pointing out Moyes’s lack of pedigree when it comes to "sexy" football. However, it is wrong to try and compare so directly the past with the present.Yes history is important and so is tradition, but times change and so do priorities. Players wages are no longer dictated by fans through the turnstiles, ticket prices are now dictated by players wages. This leads to the inevitable attitude within football that we must win at all costs, even at the cost of attractive football. This for me is why more clubs than know it are on the edge of financial ruin. A couple of bad seasons and a couple of large fee transfer failures and it all goes belly up.I don’t like it, but I accept that football has evolved into a game where losing is too costly and so attractive footbal is no longer the priority. Peter Singer 6 Posted 27/09/2007 at 12:02:51 Report abuse And your point is?Look around in the world of football, everywhere it’s results, results and results that matter. (Only miserable cretins with heaps of money demand that the team they spent a fortune on play attractive football. But when they say "attractive football" you can bet on them thinking "merchandising revenue streams".)In the old days, an international friendly was taken as seriously as a World Cup match if not more seriously. Nowadays no-one gives a toss about them and if some managers could have their way, they’d ban it altogether.It’s a sad situation but has really nothing to do with Everton in particular, it’s the way things have "progressed". Rob Paterson 7 Posted 27/09/2007 at 12:08:52 Report abuse Don’t wish to be pedantic, but the Fairs Cup game against Man U ended 2-1 to them ( unless of course you are talking aggregate scores. Still if that’s your best European memory it’s understandable that you remain so blinkered. Some of us who hated Gordon Lee as much as you did, carried on supporting the club we truly love through thick and thin. And saw one or two European games that even you might have enjoyed, Joe. karlklos@yahoo.co.uk 8 Posted 27/09/2007 at 16:13:30 Report abuse There nothing good about Everton these days.. we?ve gone backwards... FULL STOP!!! and I hate watching them ....where the football we use to play in the 80?s.. Its time for a new manager, new chairman but not a new ground in Kirby karl masters 9 Posted 27/09/2007 at 18:13:16 Report abuse It does seem you picked an odd time to stop going as it was only 10 days since the Andy King Derby victory over Liverpool. We were in the UEFA Cup, had finished 3rd the season before ( Latchford’s 30 season ) a season in which we scored six at home twice and four a few times too. It was also the season we didn’t lose a League game until December 23. Many of us these days would be quite happy with that!From what I remember, there were a lot of moans and groans from some fans that we were playing more defensively at home, but Gordon Lee rightly pointed out that had we defended better the season before, 77/8 ( when we let in 3’s & 4’s a fair few times and even a 6 at home against Manure on Boxing Day ) we could have been champions. We ended that 78/9 season 4th having under-achieved and made the UEFA Cup.I think it had more to do with alternative pursuits ( your wife to be! ), Liverpool’s domination that season and probably hooliganism and the yobs. I remember loads of messages in the programme that year about bad behaviour, throwing missiles etc. The fences had just gone up around the pitch, and days after your last visit, the match with Chelsea on November 11 brought about mass fighting in the Park End as Chelsea were put to the sword in revenge for the infamous High Street Kensington attack in August that year. Later that November we annihalated Manure 3-0 at Goodison. It was certainly an eventful time!Mick Lyons said he felt under less pressure playing away from home due to our critical fans at Goodison. Maybe this negative atmosphere was the reason you’d had enough. You should try it again - times have changed. The football isn’t always great, but assuning you live locally I’m sure the missus will let you out again after 29 years good behaviour! :) steve pugh 10 Posted 27/09/2007 at 21:15:52 Report abuse find it hard to understand why you have posted this, yes football was different in the 70’s with a lot of bore draws, that’s why so many rules have altered.my first game at gp was in 1976 v man city, a truly awful game to watch, not because of gordon lee’s tactics they were very positive but because of the away teams refusal to cross the half way line,hence a draw and good away point for city.i nearly gave up watching football then as my first game was so boring to watch.soon after they started to give three points for a win (and you have not been to a game to see the difference that has made, shame on you my next games were the 6-0 defeat of chelsea when the great latch got his 30 goals and coventry 6-0 so their was some cracking games then. where were you in the late 80’s ? merseyside domination Andy Williams 11 Posted 28/09/2007 at 22:18:08 Report abuse Wasn’t the ’85 team playing good football?Who cares what you think when you couldn’t be arsed going for match for thirty years? Jim Hillier 12 Posted 29/09/2007 at 01:42:39 Report abuse Oh, I get it now. We support Everton so long as they win everything, play with the most advanced tactics in Europe, and are beyond comparison with all the other teams in England.That is what football is all about. Win win win. What a prick I was to think it had something to do with identity, with working class pride, with a sense of loyalty and commitment and staying power.Fuck all that people?s club nonesense, and buy me another Ecuadorian goal scorer.If only some fucking scumbag had sold off the Russian people?s heritage a la Thatcher and come to our rescue. Wouldn?t we all be happy then?Who cares where football is going? Not us. So long as someone can wave a magic wand and buy Everton a super-manager and a place in the top four, who gives a fuck?What planet do Tony Marsh and his negaitivity-wallahs come from?COYBJim Donny T 13 Posted 29/09/2007 at 08:43:43 Report abuse Ok so we’ve gone from school of science to playgroup of poo, but get the results and i’m happy. So he’s saying playing well and losing is more pleasing than playing shit and winning? Alrighty then???!!!Some people really like to use this mailbag to release the mini shakespeares from within and they really don’t care about what the hell there going on about as long as theres a few big words in there! This isn’t A-level english, its a bloody football rant page!Play shit win the game - HappyPlay well win the game - HappyPlay well and lose - ShitPlay shit and lose - Shit Bob Turner 14 Posted 29/09/2007 at 10:01:07 Report abuse If you’re in a position to go to the match, but choose not to go, then what sort of supporter are you??Your admission that you haven’t been to the match for 30 year, through your own choice, kind of invalidates your opinions. And I think it means that you don’t have much faith, either, to be honest.Still, I’m sure you’ve spent the money you’ve saved over the last 29 years well... Jay Harris 15 Posted 29/09/2007 at 23:23:06 Report abuse JoeI must have been in the boys pen with you that year.Do you remember climbing over the railings at the end and running on to the pitch?Boy?s own stuff.Its sad to see the supporters have changed so much too.In those days with 65000ish at derby games suppporters all looked out for each other.Now it seems fashionable to ridicule each other.So much for the people?s club eh?I count myself blessed to have seen Cattericks Alex Young Roy Vernon teamthe Ball harvey Kendall team of the 70?s the Kendall team of the 80?s and the rapid decline thereafter of football and performances. For all those pro Moyes teams I say good on you - he brought us back from the brink - but in my opinion he is now lacking the extra dimension to turn us into the force we should be and I believe we will need a foreign coach to achieve that.Just look at the turnaround in City, Arsene Wenger?s teams both built relatively cheaply and playing good football.It breaks my heart to see the shite we are playing now but I still love them to death.NSNO died with John Moores, god bless him. Michael Kenrick 16 Posted 30/09/2007 at 00:44:07 Report abuse I was conversing with another Blue, as one does, and he was telling me John Moores went a bit doolally towards the end... completely lost the plot. This perhaps explains why there was no follow-up plan to the era of the Mersey Millionaires. Guess I oughta read one of them Everton History books... Billy Piper 17 Posted 01/10/2007 at 08:20:07 Report abuse Golden eras are not Golden eras if they last forever !You’re old enough to remember Liverpool,Man Utd,Spurs,Newcastle and Chelsea playing in the second tier of English football.I don’t think you’re old enough to remember Everton in the second tier.I’m just grateful that we’re still in there,trying to get back to the top and not plying our trade with Leeds or Notts Forest for example,down amongst the dead men.Evertonians continually amaze me....so many of them are just away with the faeries when it comes to a sharp dose of reality ! © ToffeeWeb