50 YEARS ON | Everton Cup Tie Remembered

The FA Cup third round always generates a sense of excitement and, 50 years ago this weekend, nowhere was the anticipation greater than at Southport.

At a time when the Sandgrounders had gained recognition for their exploits in the cup, they were handed the sort of tie that captures the very essence of the competition: the chance to take on Everton at home.

With a star-studded line-up, featuring two players who had won the World Cup with England 18 months earlier, Everton arrived at Haig Avenue for a derby with a difference and a clash that captured the town’s imagination.

All the ingredients were there: the underdogs at home against illustrious opposition, two local teams, a capacity crowd watching on and a bumpy pitch that Southport hoped would be a leveller.

There was also an element of history. Six of the Southport team started their careers at Everton and Billy Bingham, the manager, had won the First Division title during his three years as a player at Goodison Park.

Sadly for Southport, they were to fall short. With the prospect of a lucrative replay tantalisingly close, the Sandgrounders succumbed to a goal from Joe Royle, Everton’s 18-year-old striker, 11 minutes from time.

The build-up was fevered, with reports claiming that the 19,000 capacity imposed by Police could have been sold three times over.

Interest was such that the local press reported Everton fans had been phoning up households in Southport and asking to use their address in order to qualify for tickets.

The attendance recorded is Southport’s second-highest behind the 1932 fourth round replay against Newcastle United and, while the match will not be remembered for its quality, it still seen as one of the club’s biggest moments.

“There was great excitement about the fact we were playing Everton,” says club statistician Geoff Wilde. “A lot of people were disappointed not to get a ticket, Everton were given so few out of necessity, and there were fears that thousands of Everton fans would turn up and try to get in.

“It was packed on the terraces but there were no problems. 18,795 was the attendance that was put out on the day but it is thought that there were more inside the ground.

“The Everton goal came late enough to give us hope of the bonus of a replay. By that time, we weren’t so much worried about scoring ourselves as holding onto a draw so we could get a big pay-out. Joe Royle got the goal that spoilt it all in that respect.”

Footage of the Everton cup tie by Hark Harris

In many ways, it was the tie Southport had wanted two years earlier, when they reached the fifth round, only to draw Hull City.

Under the management of Bingham, it was a memorable time for the Sandgrounders, who were competitive in the Third Division having achieved the club’s first promotion the previous season.

After years in the wilderness, Southport were on the up, but within a fortnight of the Everton tie, Bingham, who would later go on to manage at Goodison Park, had left for Plymouth Argyle.

“We were playing well at the time and I think the players felt we could beat them,” adds Wilde.

“We had such a strong team that even Alan Spence, our record Football League goalscorer, could not get a start.

“The aim was to destroy Everton’s rhythm which meant we didn’t play in the same way we had been doing that season. We were playing really good, studious football, and we wanted to see us beat Everton on merit by outplaying them.

“Eric Redrobe was assigned the role of being the battering-ram against their goalkeeper, Gordon West. It was a role that Bingham had given to him, not just in that game, and it is a job he confessed years later that he did not relish.

“As a result, the Southport supporters felt that we didn’t get the match that we were expecting. That was the one disappointment.

“Coming after what we had been through, the Bingham era stands out. We couldn’t believe it was all happening.

“We referred to the Southport teams from that time as the ‘Golden Boys’ and it wasn’t just because of the colour of their shirts.”

By Alan Jones, with thanks to Steve Beverley and The Sandgrounders: The Complete League History of Southport FC, by Geoff Wilde and Michael Braham

How they lined up …