Thank God for Football
Peter Lupson

Everton ... and its offspring Liverpool

“In 2003 the Everton club shop introduced a new range of T-shirts, caps and bobble hats. There is nothing particularly remarkable about that because items such as these are a normal feature of club sales. Yet these items were very different. They did not bear the name of Everton but of a totally different football club. So why was the Everton club shop selling T-shirts and headgear with the name ‘St Domingo's’ emblazoned across them? Quite simply because 2003 was the 125th anniversary of the club's birth and it was honouring the chapel by which it had been founded. These items are still on sale at the club today but they could also be sold with equal justification at the Liverpool FC club shop at Anfield. Because, surprisingly, Everton's great local rivals across Stanley Park can also trace their roots to St Domingo Methodist Chapel. This is a story that must be told.

St Domingo's, the Wades and the Cuffs
The decision to build St Domingo's was taken in 1868 after it had become clear that the numbers attending three other Liverpool chapels belonging to the Methodist New Connexion (one of the branches of Methodism at the time) had dwindled to an unacceptable level. It seemed to make more sense to close the three non-viable chapels and to run a single thriving one. Bethesda, Bevington Hill and Chatham Place chapels were therefore closed and the building of St Domingo's started on 12 september 1870 when 55-year-old Jospeh Wade, one of its newly appointed trustees, laid the foundation stone. About a year later, on 20 july 1871, the first services were held there. It is worth mentioning that St Domingo's did not choose its name for any religious reasons. It simply took the name from two parallel streets between which it was situated. St Domingo Grove and St Domingo Vale. It was a predominantly middle-class area. (...)

The St Domingo Football Club is born
Chambers (n.b. predikant van de kapel) was a great lover of cricket. Within only a month of arriving in Liverpool, he had persuaded members of the Young Men's Bible Class in the Sunday School, most of them aged about 20, to form a St Domingo's cricket team. And such was Chamber's enthusiasm for the game that he could not resist joining in with them. He didn't know what he had started.

A year later, in 1878, these same cricketers, among them Alfred Wade, felt it would be a good idea to take up football during the long winter months to keep themselves fit. And to give themselves a distinct identity as footballers they decided to call themselves The St Dominog Football Club. The first step had been taken on a road that was to lead to fame and glory.

The youthful St Domingo's enthusiasts had founded nearby Stanley Park ideal for cricket and they felt it would serve equally well for football. They choose an area in the south-east corner for their games, probably because it was closest to where they lived. Of course, there were no conveniently marked out pitches with goalposts. If they wanted goalposts, they had to carry them from a lodge in the centre of the park and erect them themselves. Nor did they enjoy the luxury of changing facilities in Stanley Park. But they probably didn't need any because in the very early days they would have just turned up in old clothes.

At first, they played impromptu games between themselves but few passers-by would have been tempted to stand and watch because there was little to see that would have aroused wonder or admiration. Their style of play was very basic, being little more than a furious scramble for possession. However, it did last at least enthral one ardent supporter, ten-year-old Will Cuff, son of St Domingo trustee Henry Cuff. Will was a regular spectator and it gave him huge pleasure to watch his older friends from the chapel in action.”


Van de 38 clubs die in de Premiership spelen of hebben gespeeld, hebben er twaalf hun oorsprong in de kerk. De meeste clubs weten echter maar weinig van hun kerkelijke roots. Thank God its Football bevat hoofdstukken over: Aston Villa, Barnsley, Birmingham City, Bolton Wanderers, Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester City, Queen's Park Rangers, Southampton, Swindon en Town Tottenham Hotspur. (N.B. Uitgever geeft normaal gesproken theologische boeken uit.)



(uitg. SPCK/Azure)
isbn: 1902694309
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paperback 171 pagina's
verschenen juli 2006
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