FOLLOWERS of 21st century football may not have heard of Govan-born player Hope Robertson – but this forgotten Jags hero was a star of the Scottish and English game.
He played for Partick Thistle in the first season of the Scottish Football League in 1893/94, while he was a shipyard worker on the Clyde.
Hope made a key contribution to the early years of Arsenal too, and he was one of Everton’s first “Kings of Anfield”, helping the Toffees to win the Football League Championship in 1891.
Now a new book based on memoirs Hope wrote in 1910 reveals a “great character” who – amongst other exploits - also fought in the Boer War, travelled to Egypt in 1891 and stole the goalposts from Goodison Park in protest against the Everton board.
“His memoir is full of eye-opening escapades and what becomes clear is that controversy and disputes between clubs and the powers that be is far from a new thing,” smiles author Rob Sawyer.
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“His stories offer a unique personal insight into football in Glasgow, London and Merseyside in the late 19th century – in fact, it is the only first-hand player’s account that I have come across of Everton’s first championship-winning season in 1890/91.”
Hope was born in January, 1868, in Govan, to assurance agent John and his wife Catherine. The family moved to Whiteinch and when Hope was 13, he was working as a rivet heater on the shipyards.
He began his football career with a team who played under the name of Minerva before joining Partick Thistle, where he became a regular feature of the forward line.
Rob adds: “Hope, by then an apprentice boilermaker, was in the Partick Thistle side on January 1, 1886, when they took on a ‘patched up’ Everton side before a crowd of 2500 spectators at Anfield. “They proved too strong for the home team and beat them by three goals to one.”
After a spell at Royal Arsenal, Hope joined Everton in 1890, where he enjoyed great success. He married and returned to Scotland, playing another season for the Jags, then the couple and their first child, Hope, returned to Liverpool.
After retiring from football he found work as a plater in a local shipyard. He died in September 1927, aged just 59.
Rob, who is an Everton FC heritage society member and a Partick Thistle fan because of a friend’s link to Glasgow, was given the memoir by Hope’s great-great-grandson.
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“I was very lucky to have access to the memoir – it provides unique insight into the glory, disputes and intrigue of football in the late Victorian era,” says Rob.
“Hope candidly describes his Everton teammates, including Andrew Hannah, Dan Doyle and Johnny Holt, and his sometimes difficult relationship with the Everton hierarchy, which culminated in him stealing a crossbar from Goodison Park – I think that’s my favourite story.”
He adds: “Through a friend who lived in Glasgow, Partick Thistle became my team in the city, and I have seen them a couple of times - including a visit to Firhill.”
He smiles: “So it's been great for me to celebrate a link between Everton and The Jags.”
The Hope Robertson Chronicles is out now.
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