The Curious Case Of New Brighton Towers FC

A brand spanking new ground with an eighty thousand capacity, rich owners of a 20 acre leisure complex, on site cowboys and lions and fair (oh my!), this team was destined for greatness.

This greatness was to begin in 1896 and along with other teams such as Liverpool (who where in their infancy at the time) and Chelsea a team was manufactured to play in a purpose built stadium in the New Brighton Tower leisure complex, this was primarily done to bring in visitors and tourists during the winter months.

The complex was a bold venture which consisted of the New Brighton Tower which was the tallest structure in England, a Ballroom, Fair, Theatre and even a small zoo with two very special star attractions, Prince and Pascha where the resident lions, they even had an Wild West show which consisted of Cowboys and Indians (who where notoriously bad on the Firewater, so much so that the Native Americans where prohibited from being served alcohol in the New Brighton and Wallasey area, Sitting Bull would not have been impressed!) and had a five hundred strong cast of performers in the show.  It had vast gardens complete with man made canals and Venetian Gondolas and the theatre boasted the biggest stage in the world at seventy six foot deep.  It would be most comparable to a modern day Las Vegas resort and Casino.

The teams first season started successfully with silverware as they won the Lancashire League with apparent ease in the 1897-1898 season and applied for election to the Football League, at this point the Football League only had two divisions so this was a huge deal to this new club barely two years old and they where no slouches in making plans for the big time, Home Nations international players were brought in to bolster the squad, the plan was going well.

Business was booming for the leisure complex, top acts where playing to huge crowds, the seaside resort was truly becoming the place to be in the North West, the affluent flocked there to see this truly stunning structure that looked down upon the promenade, the River Mersey and the Irish Sea.

In their first season in the Football League the success continued with a fifth placed finish and followed that with a fourth place finish the following season, success on the pitch was astronomical with the club looking at the very real possibility of top flight football surely not too far away in their future.  Off the pitch things where very different, in that giant stadium and athletic ground that at the time was state of the art there was at least seventy nine thousand unsold tickets for each and every home game.

The Towers folded in 1901 after the owners saw the business of running the football club no longer financially viable, thirteen years later the demise of this bold, brave and grandiose complex followed suit.  In 1914 the First World War broke out and the tower was requisitioned for military use, this may be due to the fact that from the top of the tower military personnel could see as far down as the Great Orme in Llandudno right out to the Isle of Man and as far up as the Lake District.  Whilst the Military where in situ during the war years due to lack of maintenance the steel of the tower became rusty and dangerous and when the war was over the owners decided that they would dismantle the structure as the cost of renovating would be much more than they could afford after losing so much business because of the war.

Boom and bust the story of New Brighton Tower and the Football Club, in a different time the story could have been so very different, but alas it was not to be, New Brighton did have a team that brought the Football League back to Wallasey but this club was born out of the ashes of South Liverpool FC who went bankrupt and they filled the void in the Lancashire Combination League and where not connected to the Towers FC or their owners.

Next time you are ambling down New Brighton prom, think to yourselves how impressive the complex and the sports ground must have been but be careful…….there is a lot of rat-arsed Indian’s roaming around looking for a rogue cowboy.

@TheBullensUltra

A CALL TO ARMS: AN OPEN LETTER TO EVERTONIANS

A CALL TO ARMS: AN OPEN LETTER TO EVERTONIANS

by The Bullens Ultra

"The seed of revolution is repression"

Woodrow Wilson

Goodison Park, The Grand Old Lady is full of electric energy, you can feel it, the enthusiasm, the hope, the Goodison roar, Gwladys Street sucking the goals in, we all know that feeling because despite whatever our financial situation a great majority of us get to the game whenever we can and every now and then these great days and nights come along and live long in the memory.

In recent times I feel we have fell behind slightly, we may not have grasped the new age quite as well as we might have, whilst we certainly don't want to become the dog and pony show that has festered itself at certain 'soccer' clubs (one maybe not a million miles away from ourselves) I think there are things that we can do to make our match day experience that bit more enjoyable.

A friend of mine was discussing Everton's form over the last few seasons and how it improves after Christmas with a West Ham supporter who described Everton as being "a fine old Bentley, a little slow to start but once it kicks in it is a refined, stylish & classy ride". I think that is a great analogy, we are a 'proper' football club, we applaud the oppositions keeper when they approach the goal, we are known in football circles as a knowledgeable, well liked set of fans.

As we all know we have a rich history, founder members of the football league & premier league, players have turned into legends here, silverware (although not in recent years) has adorned the clubs trophy cabinet, our reputation is known worldwide, our sister team in Chile these are major selling points that as fans or as a club we are not exploiting as well as we could.

A quick example of us not exploiting the internet as well as we could:- Go to youtube and type in 'Johnny Heitinga' you will see that the top 6 videos are tribute videos from Ajax fans, a funny short video where Phil Neville interrupts an interview Johnny is doing and then finally we get to a proper Everton related one where Heitinga shoulder barges Ashley Cole on his way to take a penalty against us in the FA Cup........THAT WAS UPLOADED BY A MAN UNITED FAN!!!!! Now whether or not you are a big fan of Johnny Heitinga or how good a player you consider him to be you can tell he is passionate about the club and his place in it, he always comes over to thank travelling fans when we play away win, lose or draw. There must be talented people amongst us who can knock up little videos like that, there is a youtube user called Susiehood who does great season reviews with a good soundtrack that is relevant to the action that is being played by the video.

Celebrating Our Icons

Go to Arsenal's fantastic ground, they have banners up all year around that celebrate their legendary players, even though that is a new ground you feel a great sense of the history of Arsenal, they have a banner of Dennis Bergkamp that has a picture of his face and reads "Why fly when you can walk on water?" (making light of his fear of flying).

How many Iconic images do we have? Sharpy's derby goal, Alan Ball with the league championship, Duncan Ferguson swinging his shirt over his head, Alec Young, Ratcliffe winning so many honours and too many more to mention. The famous quotes from Alan Ball, Brian Labone etc.

Why not get permanent banners up around the ground? Where the advertising board on the Upper Bullens is empty why not fill them?

Power In A Union

A supporters union, where we can have an open dialogue for new ideas, but where we can respect each others opinions. A new venture called Trust Everton has been launched with a view to providing sustainable long-term funding for the real-estate assets of the football club. The two that spring to mind are the training ground and the stadium. What a great thing for Evertonians to get behind no matter whether they side with The Blue Union or the current board or have no opinions either way.

What I have put foreword is just a brief letter with a few points on it, you may agree or disagree with these points but I think there is far more we can do as both fans and as a club to further help ourselves and further our enjoyment of our club.

Anyone who would wish to look at helping create a more visible online presence or those who have any further ideas in how we can assist the club in moving forward I would be most interested in hearing from.

Nil Satis Nisi Optimum

Twitter - @TheBullensUltra

Blogger - http://thebullensultra.blogspot.com/

Email - thebullensultra@googlemail.com

I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues - Jelavic & Manolas

We where all expecting a quiet deadline day, Kostas Manolas maybe coming in from AEK Athens may have been the only bit of business with whisperings of Kevin Doyle and Hugo Roddellega but not really expecting that to happen.

We then find that Nicoka Jelavic is at Finch Farm and having a medical, what a signing I suspect he will be if that goes through without a hitch, the 6 foot 1 inch Croat certainly has an eye for goal  with a ratio of 0.66 goals every game for Rangers, but also a very respectable amount of assists. 

The boy Manolas looks like a good prospect but is very much unproven with only 14 senior games under his belt, a good punt for £500,000.

If as part of transfer deadline day we lose Louis Saha then so be it, he will be no great loss in the form that he has been in this season 2 goals in twenty games as a first choice striker is just not acceptable.  Far fetched reports of a loan for Pienaar would be welcomed but really we need a long term solution, I would like that to be Royston Drenthe but insiders state that Moyes is concerned with his attitude he probably wont last past May.

The Bullens Ultra

Tangled Up In Blue

DEALING WITH THE, AHEM.....OTHER SHOWER OF SHITE

Well with Derby day looming, I have come to accept that there will be a certain amount of shit flying across the office, in fact I may have even threw some petrol on the fire, one of the usual Alehouse Warriors from the red persuasion was listing to his cretin friend all the reasons why they will beat us in the Derby, as I was in their vicinity I enquired "Is there a match on this weekend boys?", took a-back and a little surprised my colleague responded (quite annoyed at my ignorance) "Yeah lad its the fucking Derby" I reply with indifference "oh yeah, it's your FA Cup final, I think most Evertonians have out grown it" and then I casually walk away........its all about the small victories.

They really get on my nerves at times, and I am sure I get on theirs, but I would hate to be a one club city.  Don't get me wrong I would love to see them in League 1 for a few years even if it was just to see how many of their Scandinavian contingent would keep their season tickets for home games against Carlisle. I enjoy the banter, I enjoy the fact that workplaces, family and friends are of mixed allegiances it makes for good times and good laughs.

Football means so much to this city, it is inbuilt in its residents, passed down from father to son, it gives people hope and in some cases a reason to live.  During the 1980's when Margaret Thatcher and her Government tried to systematically destroy the city of Liverpool and in the midst of the widespread unemployment, poverty and depression played out in the backdrop of crumbling terrace houses, the success of the city's football teams brought people out of themselves, escapism from a dreary and desperate time.  A member of the upper echelons of the clergy once stated that he truly believes Everton and Liverpool's haul of trophy's stopped people who we would now term as 'suicide risks' from taking that final step. 

Cheer on the blues, lets hope we batter the bastards but remember Rocky Balboa could not be the great good guy that he was if he was not put against the horrible villain Ivan Drago.

Scouse Woman to Evertonian husband - "You think more of fucking Everton than you do of me!"

Husband - "I think more of Fucking Liverpool than I do of you!"

Lets hope all us Blues have a great weekend.

The Bullens Ultra

Twitter @BullensUltra 

The Middle Children Of History

"We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War’s a spiritual war… our Great Depression is our lives."

Tyler Durden's iconic monologue from the film Fight Club, I watched it with my girlfriend over the weekend and it seemed to hit home, we are the middle children of Everton Football Club.

Starting in recent history there was the 80's Everton's most successful era, all the trophies all of the stories, lifetime experiences happening over the course of 90 minutes.  If you are like me (early thirties) you just missed that............DAMN!!!

What you might remember however is Barry Horne's shin against Wimbledon, and Gareth 'The New Sheedy' Farrelly's magnificent strike (well, he didn't do much else) and seeing a overjoyed Howard Kendall sporting his centre part (sort of) lift his arms aloft and be embraced by (Ooh, Ah) Mick Madar, those moments of sheer jubilation when the final whistle went and Evertonians went streaming on to the Goodison turf (from that day against Coventry there has been a bit of Goodison turf growing in our back garden) and the feeling that took over your body was immense.  In my adult life I have never known Everton to lift a trophy, but I dont think that no matter how special it would be even to win the European Cup against the Shite at Wembley with Tony Hibbert scoring the winner it could not compare to what I had felt that day in May 1998 as a Seventeen year old season ticket holder looking into the Abyss and coming out the other side, it was not just joy and celebration it was relief and a new found hope.

Fast forward to today, we have moved on from those 'dark days' and are now consistant finishers in the top half of the Premier League, we have a great manager in the eyes of most supporters and the best team that we have had since the glory days, but somehow it seems a little beige.  We had the Cup Final and the UEFA Cup run for bits of added excitement but it didn't feel like it used to, I feel sorry for the Everton fan aged 25 years and younger, they are the middle children of history, they have no great war, no great depression.

Personally I believe that this has a huge part to play in the division of fans in the Blue Union vs The Board struggle, people like excitement in their lives especially if they have not truly experienced it before and will call for progression with the Blue Union, and maybe there are the element that will say "We remember what it was like before Kenwright", they remember Claus Thomson, Danka and selling Duncan Ferguson, they remember exactly how close we come to being in football's wasteland, a club being relegated from the Premiership can spiral into a huge decline. Don't believe me? Look at Forest, Southampton, The Sheffield clubs, Leeds United, Charlton Athletic and Manchester Cit.........errrrrrrr scratch the last one, but you see the fucking point!

Have your opinions, discuss with each other what is going on at our club, debate it, argue over it if you must but respect each others opinions and LISTEN to each other, but stand united behind the team, as the old saying goes, you are born an Evertonian, you cannot choose so stay loyal, proud, determined and true and keep the flag you fight for blue.

The Bullens Ultra
Twitter @BullensUltra

No Way Jose!

It transpired on Twitter today that Jose Baxter is heading over the water to Tranmere Rovers on loan for a while to get some regular first team football.

Good news for all involved I think, Jose will get some regular starts against decent opposition and should slot in quite nicely between John Welsh and Enoch Showumni.  Jose is a classy player but he can only be so happy playing reserve games in front of 800 people in Widnes, the new surroundings and a fresh challenge will hopefully shake things up for Jose who promised so much early in his career.

Tranmere have started well this season and if their good form continues they could well be promotion candidates in a tough league, lets hope our boy can contribute with plenty of goals and some good performances.

Good luck Jose.

The Bullens Ultra

Twitter @BullensUltra

Slight Return

So here we are, the football season is back upon us, the transfer window has been and gone, and clear battle lines are being drawn between your colleagues at work, your mates and in a lot of cases your families. You are in your head thinking how you are going to take the piss out of your opposition whether it be those Liverpudlians who need a sat nav to find Anfield or those bitter blues from the other side of Stanley Park, so get ready as the season continues it will just get worse and worse.

My overwhelming thought of the last few weeks have been of how good it is to have football back again, weekends just are not the same in the close season, you try to fill your time doing other things on a Weekend but it never really hits the spot in the way that a good old fashioned schedule of association football does. You might try 'that new thing on TV that everyone is talking about' which ends up being shite, you may take in the cultural side of your city and wonder down to the Tate gallery in the Albert Dock with your good lady, but somehow something always reminds you what you are missing, whether you are absent-mindedly singing in your head about how little you care about the colour of David Moyes' hair whilst moving from one work of art to the other or whether you are thinking 'If John Heitinga had a fatter head he would look the spitting image of UFC fighter Georges St. Pierre' it always seems to catch up with you, it is ALWAYS worse for me when there is no national tournament such as the World Cup or the Euro's it just seems like an absolute eternity.

Then comes pre-season usually a poisoned chalice for my club of patronage which if you have not guessed by my pen name or the opening notes (you are very stupid) is Everton. Everton if they have a good pre-season they get all us blues so excited for what is to come, "maybe a fifth place and even another trip to Wembley on the cards?", then they get beat by fucking Blackburn and do not win their next five premier league matches and get dumped out of the League Cup by the 'mighty' Brentford on pens, I once again turn into the frustrated man tearing out what is left of his hair and consider whether I should just start watching WWE full time and give up football for good so I am no longer disappointed (at least you get entertained with WWE). But then like in 2008/2009 season out of the 7 matches we took place in during Pre-season only two wins one against against Nob End of Preston and another against Colorado Rapids (Not the MLS team you understand but a team made of employee's of the local Rapid DIY store in Colorado) we finished 5th that season and went to the FA Cup final beating Liverpool, Villa and Manchester United along the way. So this year a pretty mixed pre-season, what you would call a 'Meh' programme of matches - so does this mean the blues will have a pretty 'Meh' season? Only time will tell.

I enjoyed Pre-season and had a good trip to Birmingham away with the boys that ended up in much piss taking and a liaison with some tart from one of these shitty shows about Chelsea or Essex or some other place where twat heads roam. I also attended the Villareal game at Goodison before me and my mate proceeded to get very drunk after a boring game and end up leaving The Abbey on Walton Lane about 3am, with a funny but quite obviously insane Delta driver delivering us safely home (sort of).

Without being funny and trying to get a 'low dig' in at Liverpudlians I feel a bit sorry for them not going to the match as much as us blues do, it is really not the same watching the game in the alehouse, its not just the atmosphere inside the ground you are missing its the whole experience, aside from Top 4 games & Derby's it is quite easy to get a ticket for a Liverpool home game and I would encourage any red to get down to the ground for the game even if it is an obstructed view or not in your favourite stand, take that thirty quid you would normally spend on ale and put it towards your match ticket.

My match day routine differs depending on who I am going with and how I have got my ticket etc, normally goes a bit like this, Saturday morning, get up and read the sports sites have something to eat, Egg & Soldiers – Breakfast of champions, have a big shit get showered and changed. I then head up to Hunts Cross station get the Southport train, change at Sandhills go one stop to Kirkdale and walk up Westminster Road. I basically have an unofficial matchday play list starting with The Bunnymen 'All That Jazz' as we go past South Parkway, then arriving at Cressington to 'North Parade' by The Coral from there it is mostly 80's Mod stuff and some 90-00's Indie ending usually with The Bluetones 'Slight Return' as I am walking up to a pub that I and a few of the older generation know as 'The Darkhouse' but is actually called The Barlow Arms opposite the Elm Tree, its a great little pub that gets packed on matchdays but you always get served quickly and there is a good atmosphere.

Before walking up to the ground I put a little accumulator on in the betting shop and take that walk up to see "the grand old lady" one more time. When I see Goodison it still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up, whilst I know that it is one of the biggest things holding us back, there is still something special about her - I don't want an Identikit stadium on the edge of the city next to some soul-less retail park, Goodison has character, it has soul, it is unique, homely and glorious all in equal measure.

As a kid and through to my mid twenties you could find me on the Gwladys Street with the scallies, now that I am a respectable 30 years of age I don't do that any more, I have taken my rightful place at the side of the pitch in the Bullens Road, there is a good atmosphere but it seems to be more tranquil. A bet on the Everton game in the ground (usually correct score and first goalscorer), then to the bar for a pint of Chang which is inevitably followed by the question that in my head I always ask myself "WHY DO YOU CONTINUE TO BUY THIS BEER THAT TASTES LIKE RABBIT SHIT?" and I can never honestly answer to my own satisfaction other than the fact that it is all that they have. After a quick scan of my fanzine, I head up to my seat and for the second time in the day the hair on the back of my neck stands up as I take in a sight that I will never take for granted – the boys in their royal blue jerseys running out to the sound of Z Cars and the hive of activity that is the Gwladys Street cheering the team onto the pitch.

The match kicks off and there are the usual chants, shouts, moans and groans. No matter who we play whether it is Dagenham & Redbridge in the 3rd round of the League Cup on a rainy Wednesday night or Real Madrid in the Champions League there is always one urchin that will scream "Come on Everton, these are shite". Half time comes and another quick scan through the fanzine and maybe a coffee if the weather is a bit nippy, Rossy from Radio City babbles on about crap in the background as some poor bastard tries to hit the crossbar from outside the penalty area and ends up falling on his arse and everybody laughs at him. Watch the second half and hopefully celebrate a victory, clap the team off, then the melee ensues as everyone is trying to get out of the stand to head for the heavenly sanctuary of the rain-free boozer.

I head to the Taxi Club on Cherry Lane to meet up with my uncle's or cousins if they are about, the taxi club always has the evening game on and they do an exceedingly good and very cold pint of Carling, I usually sit about chat shit about the Blues, do Moyes's job for him and point out that Moyes really must be knocking off Anichebe's bird or how the fuck else is Big Vic getting a game? have a few pints and spend time with my family and family friends I have known since I was knee high to a grasshopper and all that jazz. I get the 81 home and look forward to either heading out for a night out or maybe watching football first or match of the day and seeing it all again.

This is all so very special to me, I have visited Goodison Park since I was little I have seen few highs and a what seems like a lot of lows but I will love the place until the day I die, I know that others do too and I hope that when sooner or later we do leave Goodison and relocate to a posh new ground, these tales will be told of how Goodison was and is and re-layed to our children and to theirs and will never be forgotten.

The game is what it is and whether we win, lose or draw and whether I come home ecstatic, despondent or indifferent I always feel richer for the experience, always.

The Bullens Ultra

Twitter @BullensUltra