Howard’s Way Film.

You may have recently been made aware of this initiative via Toffee TV who handled the initial announcement, through an interview with Graeme Sharp, Andy Gray and Rob Sloman who’s idea the film was, or perhaps social media. This piece is an attempt to produce a small palette of our hopes and aspirations for the project.

Rob Sloman is a Journalist, Film Maker and although not from Merseyside has been a blue since the 1970’s. In 2015, at the infamous “penalties” cup tie against West Ham United at the Bolelyn ground he stopped me and briefly outlined his dream of making a documentary film about Everton F.C. in the early-mid 1980’s. It had the working title of “The team that time forgot,” the Gaffer was still alive at this stage of course. He asked would I be interested in being involved? I would indeed be interested, went the reply. He then informed me that he was booked solid for the following 18 months-2 years but after that he would come back to me.

Well 18 months / 2 years is a long time so I filed it away on the; interesting-but- unlikely-to-go-anywhere pile and basically moved on. That was until 2 years later when Rob did indeed come back to me. This time with a plan- its called a “treatment” and a schedule. I then introduced him to Keith Mullin to assist with the musical stuff and off we set.

The synopsis of the film is to tell the story of us, kids left in the wake of Bally’s departure going to school during our neighbours rise to prominence of first English football then the European game. It was no fun. If you think it’s hard now then you have no idea what it was like when they actually won things. Big things regularly, in fact it seemed like always for a period there. Point is it was grim but we never stopped going. Therefore, along with Thatcherism early 80’s Goodison Park also saw the return of a member of the Holy Trinity as manager of the football club and whilst each of us, our parents and grandparents wished him well no-one could have foreseen where he would take us. To redemption.

The film begins around the time of the Magnificent 7 and proceeds through those stormy initial years, via leaflets at the game calling for Howard’s dismissal to graffiti on his garage door. Lest we forget, he was literally inches from the sack at one point indeed it was only as a result of Philip Carter’s personal loyalty that many believe that he survived at all. However, the manager, his team and it’s supporters, indeed this whole club were to turn things around, to rise from the ashes to such an extent as to be utterly breathtaking in retrospect. Going from a 0-5 home defeat to our neighbours in Autumn 1982 to lifting the F.A. Cup in May 1984 then on to the League Championship and European Cup Winner’s Cup a year later. It was a truly magical period and rightly deserves recognition however this being Everton FC there will always be an inherent element of heartbreak which duly arrives on cue, as manifested initially at Wembley three days following our triumph in Rotterdam. In another cup final- this time the F.A. Cup indeed in extra time and with Manchester United having had a man sent off, Norman Whiteside beats Neville Southall at his far post with a pearler and we narrowly miss out on being the first English club to achieve a domestic double and lift a European trophy. It hurt deeply of course but it would be nothing to the nuclear warhead that was about to hit 10 days later as the word Heysel becomes synonymous with the decline of our club for the next 35 years. Some would argue that it continues to date.

As a result- and specifically if you add the various elements of fashion, music, politics and drugs all prevalent in this area during the period, we feel that our tale not only merits a telling but has dramatic, even cinematic elements. We have all the major characters of the period involved and all with a passion to do justice to the Gaffer- after whom the documentary is now titled, to that group and to that era. In any retrospective of the era this Everton side never gets a mention primarily due to game we never even played in. We feel it is time to attempt to resolve that. We shall therefore endeavour to do them justice.

As we go forward there will be further updates, snippets etc on these pages and through Social Media and Toffee TV Youtube channel,  so keep your eyes open. Thanks from all of us for the support we have received to date.

Up the Toffees.
David Fehily. #LCAB

#HowardsWayFilm