The Man Who Created Merseyside Football
John Houlding, Founding Father of Liverpool and Everton- Authors:
- Publisher:
- 2020
Summary
A comprehensive look into early professional football, this biography of Everton and Liverpool’s founding father John Houlding breaks new ground by addressing the important role of football club ownership in the early history of the game.
Football supporters the world over are aware of the great rivalry that exists between the two giants of Merseyside football, Everton and Liverpool. This rivalry was created out of a split within Everton FC that gave rise, in 1892, to Liverpool FC. The two clubs subsequently went on to dominate the English game, amassing twenty-seven English top flight titles between them, more than any other city in the country.
What isn’t as well known is that one man was responsible for the rise of both clubs: former Lord Mayor of Liverpool, John Houlding. In The Man Who Created Merseyside Football: John Houlding, Founding Father of Liverpool and Everton, David Kennedy recounts the sporting legacy of Houlding. A brewer and Conservative politician, Houlding was a polarising yet fascinating figure. His financial input, first at Everton Football Club and then at Liverpool Football Club, provided the launch pad for the establishment of two nationally and internationally known sporting organizations. By the time of his death in 1902, both clubs had reached the pinnacle of the English game and Houlding’s place as the founding father of professional football in Merseyside was assured.
More than just a football biography, The Man Who Created Merseyside Football also details the many other aspects of Houlding’s life—a family man, businessman, and local politician with parliamentary aspirations. His business and political life, in fact, became entangled in dramatic fashion with the Liverpool football scene on more than one occasion. The complete story of this captivating and influential individual is finally told for the first time in this book, in full and wonderful detail.
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Bibliographic data
- Copyright year
- 2020
- ISBN-Print
- 978-1-5381-4123-6
- ISBN-Online
- 978-1-5381-4124-3
- Publisher
- Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
- Language
- English
- Pages
- 149
- Product type
- Book Titles
Table of contents
- Contents No access
- Preface No access
- Acknowledgments No access
- Introduction No access
- 1 From Tenterden Street to Anfield Road No access Pages 1 - 18
- 2 Conquering Everton No access Pages 19 - 34
- 3 From Hero to Villain No access Pages 35 - l
- 4 Political Ambitions Checked No access Pages 53 - 74
- 5 The Foundation of Liverpool Football Club No access Pages 75 - 92
- 6 John Houlding, Lord Mayor of Liverpool No access Pages 93 - 110
- 7 Death and Legacy No access Pages 111 - 130
- Notes No access Pages 131 - 138
- Bibliography No access Pages 139 - 142
- Index No access Pages 143 - 148
- About the Author No access Pages 149 - 149




