Why am I a blue?
Well to take myself away from the depressing state of my beloved Everton. The day after our manager joined Man United. I thought it a good idea to put some positive energy into the love of my club and how I became a blue.
Why am I blue? Yes because my dad is a blue but the reason he is and now the whole extended family are blue is quite different.
In the mid 1950’s my family had moved to the leafy suburbs of Chester. And as a kid growing up in Chester, my dad although not a huge football fan, was like most kids an avid player and would often be kicking a ball round the streets of Chester. He had no affinity to Everton and would often be shouting the name of any team’s player who had been mentioned in the papers as kids do.
Now I know the mid 1950’s wasn’t a great time for Everton but a simple comment from my granddad a train driver from Liverpool changed everything. You see when he came home on a Saturday he would always moan how late he had to work because of the ‘football crowd’.
He would describe the sea of people at Lime Street and my dad would wonder how great it would be to go the match with all these people. To this day my dad, now in his 70’s, an Everton season ticket holder up until recently still says his dad could have been talking about Liverpool fans on the way to the match. He often laughs at the thought we could all be kopites, and how lucky we should be were Evertonians.
So after weeks and months wondering about this sea of people going to the game and moaning to his dad to take him to watch the match, his Uncle gave in one Saturday morning and said grab your coat I’ll take you to the match. They jumped on the train and head off to Liverpool. Upon arrival they called at a few pubs as you do and lost track of time and ended up jumping in a taxi to make kick off.
They got in the taxi and my dad’s uncle said ‘fast as you can to the football ground mate’ and off they went. Well about 15 minutes later upon arrival at Goodison Park the taxi pulled up. There wasn’t a person in sight and my Uncle said ‘why have you come here mate?
The taxi driver turned and said ‘you said take me to the football ground, and there’s only one team who play football round here. If you want to watch Liverpool try and play football you will have to be quick and cut across the parkway.
My Uncle seen the funny side and said come on lad we’ll have to run. My dad said as he got out the taxi the size of the stands at Goodison shocked him and was leaning back to the see how high they went. The taxi driver winked at him and said this is where you should be going son trust me.
My dad went on to watch the Liverpool game but couldn’t stop thinking about Goodison and what the taxi driver had said to him. In the following few months my dad was eager to get to see Everton and like many others, once it touched him there was nothing else like it.
Within a few years of leaving school my dad was regular at Goodison and had converted half a dozen or so Chester lads the same. He says it was easy to convert his mates once they stepped into the ground, we all remember your first match is like and how green the pitch was never mind the 50,000 blues singing.
My dad has followed Everton for 60 years now and the extended family are all blue. The latest count is 100+ and my dad claims it was because of that day in the Taxi.
The other reason I’ve decided to put this on paper as my dad is currently ill with cancer and has had to give up his street end season ticket.
So I’d like to say thanks to the taxi driver who ever you were. You have born 100+ blues throughout the North West.
Lee from Chester
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