Sunderland travelled to Goodison Park following an 8 v 1 thrashing of Queens Park in a Glasgow situated friendly the week before. Everton, as expected, proved to be made of sterner stuff as they came from 2 down to draw level with their visitors from Wearside with a last gasp equaliser. The point of this post isnt so much the match report that you can read below but the two images that accompany it.
In those days there were no cameras to catch the action and therefore the local newspapers employed sketchers to portray events to their readers. The two images on this page are from actual news periodicals of the day, one from Sporting Sketches and one from the London Illustrated News. The latter has been colourised by my good friend and Wigan fan George Chilvers, the other has been left black and white just as it was portrayed.
Both items were acquired on E-Bay with the colourised woodcut illustration, clearly originally in black and white, setting me back a hefty £70!. Note in the black and white image from Sporting sketches how Hugh Wilson is portrayed to have thrown the ball into play from a throw in. Novel!
Football League Division 1
27 October 1894
Everton 2 v 2 Sunderland
Everton Scorers; McInnes (86), Boyle (89)
Sunderland Scorers: Millar (3 & 35)
Referee Mr Ashmole of Leicester Attendance 25,000
Everton: Cain, Kelso, Parry, Boyle, Holt, Stewart, Latta, McInnes, Southworth, Chadwick, Milward
Sunderland: Doig, Meehan, McNeill, Wilson, McCreadie, Johnstone, Gillespie, Millar, Campbell, Hyslop, Hannah (J)
The uncertainty of football was never better shown than in this game at Goodison Park where with 4 minutes to go it looked odds on a 2-0 Sunderland win. However in these last 4 minutes Everton managed to draw level to the great disappointment of the travelling supporters who had been delighted with the splendid display of football given by their team. Many hundreds of Everton supporters had already left the ground so news of the draw was as surprising as it was pleasing.
Everton have played well this season and are undoubtedly one of Sunderland’s greatest rivals for the championship. Both teams have lost only once but Everton have played 2 more games and are in a better league position. Sunderland were taken to Gilsland on Monday and in their comfortable accommodation at the Shaws Hotel they trained earnestly in preparation for this game. They left for Liverpool on Friday night and broke the journey with an overnight stay in the County Hotel in Lancaster. Sunderland took lunch at the Star and Garter Hotel before driving to the ground.
Everton delayed their team selection until the last minute before leaving out Adams and Bell and bringing in Kelso and Milward. Two packed excursion trains left Sunderland shortly after midnight on Friday and Sunderland had plenty of support in the 25,000 crowd which assembled in the magnificent Goodison Park enclosure. The weather in the morning was dull and threatening but after a brief shower the rain held off. Everton won the toss and Campbell kicked off for Sunderland.
Sunderland made a sensational start and swept towards the Everton goal in the very first minute to force a corner. From the flag kick Gillespie sent in a terrific shot that crashed against the bar and came back into play. The visitors forced another corner and Millar got possession to shoot Sunderland ahead from close range after 3 minutes. Everton retaliated through Milward and Chadwick and won a corner from which Doig made two fine saves. Another corner quickly followed which was cleared as the play evened out for a time.
Wilson sent a great throw in into the Everton goal mouth where Kelso managed to clear to get the ball up to Milward. The Everton winger was up against an old adversary in Wilson who managed to check him time after time. Latta and McInnes tried to break but Doig rushed out and kicked away the through ball. Milward sent then ball back in and Chadwick forced a corner that came to nothing. Some fine passing along the Sunderland forward line followed and took them close to the home goal before they were pulled up.
They returned to attack vigorously and looked likely to score at any moment but Everton defended doggedly to keep them out. Sunderland got a free kick and McCreadie sent in a stinging shot that was wonderfully saved by Cain. McCreadie had another try but this time Kelso got the ball away. Away came Everton and went close to scoring until Meehan got the ball off Latta in the nick of time. Southworth made a run but McCreadie was on hand to halt his progress and get the ball up to Gillespie.
Kelso tidied up for Everton and lofted the ball into the Sunderland goalmouth where Southworth got in a hard shot that Doig saved. Everton kept going and applied strong pressure and only some splendid defensive work by the visitors kept them at bay. A sharp breakaway by Sunderland was stopped by Kelso and the Everton forwards returned to the attack with some grand combination. They were repulsed and Campbell made off towards the Everton goal, beat Holt and sent a grand pass out to Gillespie.
The winger cut in and sent in a cracking shot that brought Cain to his knees to save. Parry quickly booted the loose ball away before Sunderland could rush it through. Latte got the ball up to Southworth but McCreadie tracked him all the way and succeeded in putting off his stride and the final shot was poor. Everton continued to press and gave the visiting full backs plenty of work to do. Latta got the ball in the net but the whistle had already gone for offside and not long afterwards Latta missed a good chance for the home side.
Everton were doing some grand approach work but their shooting was below par. A sharp raid by the Sunderland right saw Holt miskick and Millar seized on the opportunity to let fly with a great shot that flew past Cain in the home goal after 35 minutes to put Sunderland two up. Everton were stunned and Sunderland set about them again at a terrific pace in an attempt to grab another goal and wrap the game up. Only superb defence kept them out and they must surely have scored again against a weaker side.
Whenever Everton did manage to find a route to the Sunderland goal their shooting was poor and as the halftime whistle went the league leaders looked a well beaten side. Everton had the better of the early exchanges in the 2nd half and forced several corners but Sunderland were defending splendidly and they were not improved upon. Gillespie set off on a run and was well supported by his forward teammates. Hannah whipped the ball in splendidly and Gillespie headed into the net but was just offside.
The referee agreed with Everton’s appeals and despite Sunderland’s protests disallowed the goal. Sunderland mounted another attack but were repelled and when Everton won a free kick Holts shot was turned out for a corner. This was cleared and Chadwick put in a shot that brought another corner. The home side forced yet another corner but Southworth sent his shot behind. Sunderland had another spell of attacking and put in some really fine shots but none found the target. At the other end Meehan fouled Milward but the free kick went behind.
Southworth got in a powerful shot that Doig saved in fine style and immediately afterwards he made another grand save. Everton got a corner and Southworth rattled in another fine shot. Everton were going great guns and Sunderland were doing well to keep them out but after a quick break by Campbell Hannah drove a shot over the bar. With 15 minutes left Cain turned a shot from Gillespie over the bar but the corner was cleared. Millar put a shot wide and Cain saved from Hannah and then Gillespie in quick succession as Sunderland tried to clinch the game with a 3rd goal.
Everton grab a last gasp equaliser
They really deserved a 3rd goal but couldn’t find the final touch although they continued to press hard in the closing stages. The crowd began to head for home feeling sure that Everton were beaten but with only 4 minutes left an amazing change came over the game. Everton were awarded a free kick and when McInnes headed past Doig from Stewarts cross the ground erupted in wild cheering. Everton stormed forward in search of an equaliser and it came with only a minute left when Boyle sent a high shot into the net.
There was barely enough time to kick off when the final whistle went. Despite taking a point on the ground of the league leaders Sunderland left the field bitterly disappointed after seeing a well deserved victory snatched from their grasp in the final minutes.
