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REST IN PIECES:
SOUTH LIVERPOOL FOOTBALL CLUB 1894-1994

By Hyder Jawad
BRAND NEW LIMITED PAPERBACK EDITION
688 PAGES: 320,000 WORDS - one of the most extensive and in-depth football books ever written

No book better sums up what it is like to run a non-League club, support a non-League club, and play for a non-League club. And no book better sums up how the non-League game has changed over a hundred years

"THE BEST BOOK EVER WRITTEN ABOUT NON-LEAGUE FOOTBALL" (Nick Webster, Fox Sports, Los Angeles)

"BRILLIANTLY WRITTEN WITH STUNNING RESEARCH AND REMARKABLE STORIES" (BackPass magazine)

SIX BOOKS IN ONE VOLUME. A voluminous history of the four interlinked clubs that have borne the famous name: South Liverpool Football Club. At 320,000+ words, this is one of the largest club histories ever written. This is actually six separate books in one volume. The original hardback edition, produced privately by the author, sold out its 125 copies within a week (at an average price of £60 per book) and is now a collectors' item.

Pre-Christmas delivery in the UK guaranteed

The book is based entirely on primary source research: including more than 2,000 pages of original club documents from 1912-1994, more than 1,000 official home programmes from 1913-91, hundreds of newspaper reports from 1894-1994, and interviews with more than 150 former South Liverpool players, managers, and directors. The author has also spoken to descendants of six of the original 12 directors who formed South Liverpool from African Royal in 1910, and who formed New Brighton from South Liverpool in 1921.

NEVER BEFORE HAS A NON-LEAGUE CLUB BENEFITED FROM SUCH AN IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS.

SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR

Includes 28 pages of glossy photographs, plus statistics

This is the story of:
  1. South Liverpool I 1894-1900
  2. African Royal 1904-1910
  3. South Liverpool II 1910-1921
  4. New Brighton 1921-1983
  5. South Liverpool III 1935-1991
  6. South Liverpool IV 1991-present

Featuring:

  • The real story of how South Liverpool became New Brighton in 1921 and joined the Football League two years later
  • The intriguing tale of African Royal FC, the best amateur club in Liverpool
  • William James Sawyer: the charismatic character behind the rebirth of South Liverpool in 1910
  • How Everton FC and Liverpool FC tried to stop a third South Liverpool from forming in 1935
  • How South Liverpool's stadium at Holly Park nearly became Everton FC's new training ground
  • How did South Liverpool manage to sign Jimmy Case and John Aldridge from under the noses of Football League clubs?
  • What was the real story behind the Nigeria match at South Liverpool in 1949, under Britain's first permanent set of foodlights?
  • The stunning story of South Liverpool's German-British director who had to change his name when World War I broke out in 1914
  • The role of Rinus Michels, later to lead Holland to the 1974 World Cup final, in the history of South Liverpool
  • The stories of Liverpool South End and Liverpool Caledonians during the late-Victorian era
  • The mystery of South Liverpool's failed bid to join the Football League in 1920
  • This is also the story of the other clubs with which South Liverpool came into contact: Tranmere Rovers, Marine, Skelmersdale United, Prescot Cables, Bootle, Morecambe, Workington, Burscough, Altrincham, Wigan Athletic, Wigan Borough . . .
  • In-depth interviews with some of South Liverpool's greatest-ever players: Jack Roscoe, John Aldridge, Jimmy Case, Phil McFerran, Harry Boydell, George Jones, Arthur Goldstein, Russ Perkins, Brian Parkinson . . .
  • The remarkable efforts in the late Eighties and early Nineties to keep South Liverpool at Holly Park

Proof of extensive research comes in the shape of the references. Rest In Pieces contains:

  • 176 references to Prescot Cables
  • 190 references to Marine
  • 147 references to Wigan Athletic
  • 556 references to New Brighton
  • 173 references to Southport
  • 186 references to Tranmere Rovers
  • 76 references to Bootle
  • 83 references to Skelmersdale United
  • 86 references to Altrincham
  • 42 references to Gateshead
  • 82 references to Accrington Stanley
  • 15 references to Bradford Park Avenue
  • 61 references to Morecambe
  • 47 references to Macclesfield Town
  • 34 references to Shrewsbury Town
  • 90 references to Bangor City
  • 49 references to St Helens Town
  • 52 references to Northwich Victoria
  • 33 references to Fleetwood Town
  • 30 references to Hyde United
  • 66 references to Burscough
  • 128 references to Runcorn

THIS IS A CULTURAL TRIUMPH - THE ULTIMATE HOMAGE TO NON-LEAGUE FOOTBALL


Includes 20,000 words of new material not published in the hardback

THIS IS A LIMITED-EDITION PUBLICATION, WITH A LOW PRINT-RUN . . . AND AN EXCELLENT CHRISTMAS PRESENT FOR THE FOOTBALL ENTHUSIAST IN YOUR LIFE

SAMPLE PASSAGE FROM REST IN PIECES:

In the late-Victorian era, Woolton Road in Garston was notable for the rattling sound of its horse-drawn carts and for the cream-coloured cottage that sat on the expanse of land called Holly Farm. The Garston docks were burgeoning but the village itself was not yet part of Liverpool. The original South Liverpool FC had a home three miles away at Shorefields and – in 1899-90 – played in the Lancashire League against the likes of Blackpool and Crewe Alexandra.

By September 1949, flamboyant motor cars had replaced the horses. A third South Liverpool FC had emerged from the ashes of the two that vanished. The chickens and cows of Holly Farm were gone, and had been replaced by the football players of what was now Holly Park. Garston, by now a part of Liverpool, was about to put its mark in perpetuity on the history of football.

The wooden sign outside Holly Park was large enough, high enough and laconic enough to let passers-by know exactly what was going on: Association football match: Under lights: South Liverpool v Nigeria FA XI: September 28: Kick-off 7pm.

The sense of excitement was tangible, the perception of mystery overwhelming. Rare, indeed, was the Englishman who could point to Nigeria on a map. It would have been different in London, where Nigerian athletes visited Wembley during the 1948 Olympic Games (but were ineligible to compete), spreading goodwill and cheer. Garston, however, was neither multicultural nor politically liberal. Protestant conservatives dominated the social and political landscape. Stories circulated Liverpool about the “coloured players” who “played in bare feet” and could “run quickly”. With the black population of Garston somewhere around the zero mark, it is easy to see how such a match, involving such a team, under such circumstances, could arouse such interest. It was also the last of Nigeria’s nine-match, five-week tour of England.

The Nigerians, who travelled third class from Lagos on the RMSS Apapa, docked at Liverpool on August 29. Kunle Solaja, the Nigerian journalist, described the preparations in Lagos for the tour and the journey to Liverpool on the RMSS Apapa. “On August 16, 1949, the players, dressed in grey trousers and olive green blazers with a badge emblazoned with the initials NFA and with ‘United Kingdom 1949’ woven underneath, were seen off by a large crowd that included the Bishop of Lagos and many important African and European personalities. There was also a message of support from the governor-general, Sir John McPherson. The players travelled third class for the two-week voyage. They had to run round the deck four times every morning to keep fit. They arrived at Liverpool on August 29, 1949. John Finch, a former Fulham forward, the Nigeria trainer for the tour, welcome the party. There was also a welcome message from the Duke of Edinburgh. On disembarking, the players and the officials talked to the BBC. They were scheduled to play nine matches in the four weeks they were to stay in the United Kingdom.”

The editor of Colonial Cinema wrote in 1949 that the Nigerians “did not take long to establish a fine reputation not only for fast, clever football but also for excellent manners and sporting behaviour on the field”. These, however, were not the Nigerians of the well-worn, unenlightened stereotypes, of obscure African villages and tribes. These were educated men and, arguably, representative of the westernization of colonial Africa. Of the 18 players, 14 were civil servants (a loose term that could mean anything), two were schoolteachers, and the team’s administrator, Kanno, spent some of his youth in an English school. In an age of food rationing, they brought their own provisions – rice, peppers, yams, and shrimps – and went everywhere with their smart suits and exaggerated smiles.

The Nigerians began their programme with a 5-2 victory against Marine at College Road. Sir Sydney Samuelson, the famous cinematographer, filmed the match and he had a particular fascination in the Nigerians’ feet (ie, the lack of boots). While it is hard to avoid the cheap cultural stereotypes – if boots equated to civilized, then the lack of boots equated to uncivilized – it is interesting to note that the commentary does not refer to the differences in footwear. In later years, Samuelson admitted to being fascinated at why Nigeria did not wear boots. Passion for the tour grew match by match. There was great interest in these “coloured” athletes, all exuding youth and vitality, who played in “bare feet”. The Football Association, eager for the tour to prove successful, assigned to the Nigerians the administrator, Andrew Ralston, who was an expert in amateur football and a keen diplomat.

The Marine match, watched by an attendance of between 6,000 and 7,000, is important in the social context of the Anti-Black riots in Liverpool just thirteen months before, in August 1948. The National Union of Seamen, keen to exclude black seamen from British ships, attacked the social clubs frequented regularly by non-white sailors. In the aftermath, the police arrested more black “rioters” than white ones. The Liverpool black community numbered about 9,000 in 1949 and was growing, creating racial tension and – according to the Union – economic uncertainty.

By the time they arrived at Holly Park, with summer long since gone, the Nigerians were no longer the main topic of conversation. They were merely a sideshow to the main act: the first set of permanent floodlights used for an English football match. “When it was announced there were many shaking heads,” Ted Dixon, the South Liverpool director, said. “It was believed to be a one-night affair, but this is not so. It is the gateway to a permanent field of future entertainment in winter evenings.” South Liverpool, now a Cheshire League club in decline, provided the only professional opposition for Nigeria.

Advanced ticket sales – a green ticket for one turnstile and a red ticket for the other, to avoid congestion – had given club officials every reason to believe that they would fill the 13,007 capacity at Holly Park. “Such has been the demand for tickets for the visit of the barefooted Nigerian team, that it has been decided to issue them for the Ground and the Paddock,” R.A. Joynson wrote on September 10. “Once again, the smallness of our Stand is proving a great handicap, for ten times as many tickets could have been sold. The seating capacity is only 342 and we have been requested to reserve one third of these for use of the visitors’ connections. In order to be fair to Season Ticket Holders, each one can purchase a Stand ticket, although his own particular seat cannot be guaranteed. We will hold the Stand tickets over for one week for Season Ticket Holders and next Saturday all tickets for the Stand not disposed of will be offered to the general public (first come, first served). It will be obvious, however, that unfortunately there will be very few available. Howe we wish there were thousands instead of hundreds. Those requiring Ground tickets will be well advised to purchase them early for unprecedented scenes were witnessed at Marine, when thousands failed to gain admission. Ticket Holders will be guaranteed admission and it is only if all the tickets are not sold will any money to be taken at the turnstiles. The ground will be floodlighted and the kick-off is 7pm.”

If you're not satisfied, return the book within 14 days for a full refund