How I became an Evertonian: Colin Drury

Forgive me Father…for I have sinned.

My story as an Evertonian started as a 9-year-old boy growing up in Kirkby.

Kirkby in the 1970’s was a rough old place, but it was home, I’m from a family of 10

and having such a large family was not unusual in those days.

I never understood it at the time, but my childhood was dictated by religion, we had a form of sectarianism. My Dad was a Protestant who regularly walked through

Liverpool with the Orange Lodge every 12th July, my mother on the other hand was a Catholic. She wasn’t very devout as she used to take me and my brothers and

sisters on the bus into town to watch the parade!!

Protestantism won the day, and I grew up as a Protestant. This meant I went to a

Protestant School, St Chads. Most of the lads who lived near me were Catholic, so

they went to a different school, St Josephs.

Football then was different. I don’t mean the game itself was different, it was still 22

men chasing a bit of leather around, but it didn’t get the coverage it does now. Kids

were not taken to games by their dads, well this kid wasn’t, match days were for

having a good piss up with your mates, Goodison even had the ‘Boys Pen’, a caged

off area of Gwladys Street where the kids were put, out of harm’s way. Not sure

about that, it was like spending 90 minutes in a young offender’s prison!

The Pink Echo on a Saturday night and the Sunday Newspapers provided the post-

match news. We had access to limited highlights on BBC with Match of the Day on a

Saturday night with Jimmy Hill and on ITV, The Big Match with Brian Moore on a

Sunday afternoon.

My world centred around being a Blue or Red. I remember meeting a kid on Kirkby

market one day and I asked him the first question you always asked a kid back then.

“Who do you support, Everton or Liverpool? When he replied, Leeds United, I didn’t

know what to say. Leeds United? I thought, this lad must be a bit weird. I genuinely

couldn’t understand it. How can you live in Liverpool and support Leeds United?

Most of my Catholic friends supported the Darkside, when they were talking football, I always felt a bit left out, so one day, aged 9, I went home and asked, “Hey dad, would you mind if I support Liverpool instead of Everton?”

The minute the words came out of my mouth knew I was in trouble. I expected him to

explode with anger at any minute, but he just calmly said, go to your room Colin lad

and I’ll come and have a chat in a minute.

I went to my room and sat on my bed. My dad came in and sat on the bed opposite

mine; I’ll never forget his words. He didn’t shout; he was very calm, which made the

whole thing a thousand times scarier. “If you ever ask me if you can support those

red bastards again, I’ll take my belt off and give you a hiding you will never forget, do

you understand? No son of mine will ever be a red. You are an Evertonian, you were

born an Evertonian and as long as I’ve got breath in my body, you’ll always be an

Evertonian.” Then he uttered the words that still haunt me today. In a quiet voice he

said, “I’m so disappointed with you son”.

I was in bits.

My Dad died over 30 years ago. On his headstone are the words Nil Satis Nisi

Optimum. I still feel guilty to this day that I disappointed him so much. Now that I

have kids, I appreciate how he must have felt.

Soon after that, he came home from work one Saturday morning and said “hey lad,

get your coat and scarf, I’m taking you to the match today.

That was 30 th October 1971. We played Newcastle United and Alan Ball in his white

boots scored a screamer, top bins from 25 yards. He became my first Everton hero;

(there would be many more to come) and I became an Evertonian.

Colin Drury – ESCEM Member

Up the Toffees!!