Chambers & Houlding celebration

source : official

Très beau texte de commémoration de Parry sur ces deux bonhommes a qui le club doit... tout.

Quote :

PARRY: WE SHOW PRIDE IN OUR HERITAGE
Rick Parry 11 July 2008


Our instinct at Liverpool FC is always to look to the future. It has been that way since the days of the great Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley.

We would win the greatest honours in the game, but our attitude has always been to put the emphasis on the next challenge.

That does not mean that we do not treasure our heroes or have a fierce pride in our heritage.

It's right and proper that we acknowledge our wonderful history and revel in it at timely moments.

This was the case last week when I travelled across to the little village of Shepley in Yorkshire where a gathering of Liverpool and Everton officials, former players and young stars of the future gathered to remember the man whose vision led to the Merseyside football empire that inspires us today.

The Rev. Ben Chambers was the Methodist minister who, in 1878, started the St. Domingo football team. Their home pitch was in Stanley Park and interest in the club and the new game of football was so intense in that first year that many 'outsiders' were seeking to play for and take an interest in the church team.

This led in 1879 to the formation of a new club, Everton, that soon switched to a new home in the nearby Priory Road.

By the time they moved to a pitch with real potential in 1884, Anfield, Ben Chambers had disappeared from the scene.

In 1892, following a row about the rent, Everton moved to Goodison Park and another massively influential pioneer, John Houlding, began to develop the dynasty that would become Liverpool FC.

Author Peter Lupson was fascinated by the various church links with the great football teams of the modern era and he produced a fascinating book entitled Thank God For Football.

Amongst others, Peter discovered the forgotten grave of Chambers whose vision at St. Domingo sparked football fever in Liverpool. I was delighted to speak at the service in Shepley with Everton's life president Sir Philip Carter.

Ben's overgrown grave has been returned to its original pristine condition and was re-dedicated in a service that created tremendous interest in the village.

When our founding father John Houlding died in 1902, three Liverpool and three Everton players carried his coffin to Anfield Cemetery as a symbol of the links between the clubs. It was also a signal that there was no lingering animosity following the 1892 split.

Of course, both clubs had won their first league championships by then and it never stopped the derby games being fiercely contested.

Fittingly, players from each club were in Shepley as we paid tribute to Ben Chambers. These included men with real derby match pedigrees in Liverpool's Brian Hall and Everton's Graeme Sharp.

It was a great turn-out and members of the Chambers family were also present. My own family actually once lived in the shadow of the now demolished St Domingo Church that you could actually see from the centre of the original Anfield pitch before the Kop soared to its present height.




It adds to my personal interest in the history of that era. I would like to see John Houlding's part in Liverpool FC history marked in a very positive way and we will have the perfect opportunity to do that when our new stadium rises in Stanley Park, fittingly the spiritual home of football on Merseyside. Houlding's former residence, Stanley House, still stands on Anfield Road, facing the Centenary Stand gates.

You can look up and see the balcony on the side of the property from where he first watched Everton playing in Stanley Park and later viewed both Everton and his new team Liverpool playing at Anfield. What a room with a view that must have been.

Of course, he was a famous brewer and his Sandon Pub still stands today, packed with Liverpudlians on every match day. I'm sure he would have approved of the club ultimately having a world famous brewing brand as a major sponsor, Carlsberg. I'm not sure what the Rev. Ben Chambers would have made of that, but Everton's main sponsors are also a brewer right now, Chang.

Full marks to Peter Lupson for his detective work in finding Chambers' grave. He deserves great credit for the research. It's vital we salute the people who inspired us in the past. Equally, you can rest assured that we will continue to look to the future, which is the Liverpool way.

Meanwhile, Rafael Benitez has appointed a new first team coach in former player Mauricio Pellegrino to firm up our backroom team following the appointment of Sammy Lee as assistant manager.

Rafa always spoke admiringly of Pellegrino in terms of his knowledge of the game. When Mauricio first joined us, the manager spoke about him being one of the real winners in the dressing room at Valencia. Rafa has been impressed with the way he has adapted to coaching since retiring as a player, not least with the younger players.

Mauricio now gets the chance to step up and develop further at Anfield.

Houl