Gents

 

Advanced apologies for a bit of a lengthy e-mail

 

Dr David France has been assembling, over the past 25 years, a collection of football memorabilia relating to Everton which has been described by the experts at both Sotheby's and Christies as "the best single club collection of memorabilia" they have ever seen.

 

These two famous auction houses have estimated that the collection is worth almost £1.5m, maybe, even more if it is broken up and items sold individually.  David has offered it to the club for a 'knock down' fee.  However, negotiations have been prolonged, and the majority of us Everton supporters are at a loss as to why the club are stalling.  However, we are all pursuing a new avenue.  Instead of selling directly to the club and being at the whim of whoever owns the club, therefore, it was decided to set up a trust to own the collection and deal with it's showing either in the Liverpool museum or elsewhere, as well as on line.

 

Just to give you a flavour of what is in the collection, the following may be of interest:

 

Every medal from League victories, FA Cup victories (except the 95 Cup Final) and various others - including the first ever League medal from 1891.

6,065 programmes, both home and away, including the earliest known programme for a match involving Newton Heath (which we all now know as Manchester United), as well as a full set of home programmes from the first League season, plus programmes from almost every game that Bill 'Dixie' Dean played in for the club.

A full set of club ledgers detailing the weekly board meetings of the club, including team selections.  These ledgers cover the period from October 1887 through to May 1964.

 

I could go on, however, if you click on the link below then you will see what is in the collection.

 

Whilst it is primarily an Everton collection, I'm sure you will all realise the historical significance that this provides to football as a whole, and I'm sure you would all have some questions from early meetings between Everton and your club which the collection should be able to answer.

 

I have been one of the fortunate few who have seen the actual ledgers and medals in the flesh, and it is a surreal experience.

 

All I ask is that anyone who is remotely interested in preserving this monumental collection, then please click on the link below and fill in the survey (it will take about two minutes of your time), and hopefully, when the collection has been secured and is available for viewing, you will arrive in Liverpool a bit earlier for your next match against us and have a quick look at it.

 

The link is www.evertoncollection.org

 

Many thanks for your time.

 

Steve Flanagan

Independent Everton historian and statistician