Everton and technical partner hummel are proud to collaborate to present My Everton, a weekly series of first-hand accounts describing the most-treasured memories of fans, players, and staff both past and present.
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I was born in Accrington - and the first game Everton ever played in the Football League was against Accrington.
Maybe it was just meant to be.
I was three years old when we came to Liverpool and, soon after moving, my mum became very friendly with Brian Labone’s mother.
She said, 'You must take your Eric to Goodison!'
The date was 4 February 1956, Everton v Portsmouth, at a glorious Goodison Park.
My first impression was the four huge stands, then the sheer volume of people. There were 60,000 inside the ground that day. I'd never seen anything like it.
Although we were beaten 0-2, my memories are of a velvet green pitch and the wall of noise from the crowd.
The player who caught my eye was Jimmy Harris (circled in the photo above).
He stuck with me. My intrigue grew and I liked him more and more as time went on.
Jimmy scored 21 goals in his first season in 1955/56, ending up our top scorer - he started off brilliantly. In total, he scored 72 goals for Everton in 207 games.
What a fantastic player. He was tremendously fast and possessed great skill. I remember reading that he was an Evertonian because of his father and that his hero was Dixie Dean. Not a bad hero to have!
He left us for Birmingham City when we signed Alex Young. I still kept an eye out for him, though, and I remember he won the League Cup with Aston Villa in 1963.
Incredibly, I ended up befriending Jimmy many years later.
Someone from the Club gave him my phone number and a fortnight later I picked up the phone to someone asking, "Are you Eric?"
He said, "It’s Jimmy Harris - I’ve heard you want to speak to me?"
The call started off a very good friendship and we remain close. He reminds me a lot of my dad.
I love hearing him talk about Everton - he always talks so affectionately about the Club.
I’ve got three favourite Everton players, all of whom I’ve been lucky enough to meet: Tony Kay, Duncan Ferguson and Jimmy.
But Jimmy remains my favourite, and I never expected to meet him, never mind become his friend.
We went to The Winslow before a match a while back and it was ‘Jimmy Harris Day’.
I wondered if anyone would still remember him, but there must have been 20 people queuing for his autograph!
Evertonians never forget.
I'm 74 now and still have my Season Ticket and go away to watch Everton.
Unfortunately, in the 1980s, I had to let my ticket go for a while, due to my mum and dad passing away.
I actually only went to six games in the '80s, but one was the Bayern Munich game in the European Cup Winners’ Cup semi-final in 1985.
Bayern were a top, top side. My memories of the game - and the second half, in particular - are still so vivid.
I started going properly again in the early 1990s and finally got my Season Ticket back for the 1994/95 season. Joe Royle returned and Duncan Ferguson joined soon after.
It felt like being home again and I've not let it go since.
There’s something about Everton that's incredibly special - and the feeling never leaves you.
By Eric Williams, Evertonian
