Star Exhibits
7. The first team photograph taken in 1881, a short time after St Domingo’s changed their name to Everton.
The sepia-toned photograph of the first Everton team was taken at a local Merseyside studio in 1881. The photograph features Douglas, Evans, Higgins, Marriott, McGill, Richards, Williams and seven other players whose identities remain unknown. Of these only Higgins progressed to play for Everton during the inaugural Football League season seven years later.
During 1881 the Everton ledgers inform us that the team played in shirts made up of pink and white halves and the distinction between each half is visible in the photograph. It is also noticeable that the shirts do not display a badge or emblem of any kind. This is because, unlike most of its peers, the Club did not include a badge on the shirts for decades and players often preferred to wear their county or international badges!
An EFC badge was adopted for a couple of seasons in the early 1920s, but no further mention is made in the Club's ledgers or displayed on Club letterhead for another half-century.
Today's attractive crest portrays the Everton Bridewell, a historical landmark built in 1787, but the badge itself is of far more recent vintage. It was designed by secretary Theo Kelly to adorn a club tie and proved so popular that it was adopted as the official crest on March 15 1938.
David France bid for the photograph in question at Bonhams Auction of Sporting Memorabilia in Chester. The image measures 320mm x 165mm and at the time of the auction was advertised as the only known copy of the photograph to have survived. Some years later, however, another copy surfaced and both pay tribute to an age of simplicity where sponsors and shirt colour and design were not of importance.
