Tranmere once beat Liverpool and Everton on back-to-back days
When you contemplate Tranmere Rovers, Liverpool and Everton, it is difficult to escape cliché and ignorance, elitism and stereotype. Rovers are often portrayed as the frail sibling, the black sheep, the forgotten ruin lurking in the shadows of mightier monoliths across the Mersey. Few appreciate the unique heritage of Tranmere, who are treated as an inconsequential afterthought by the established commentariat.
Sure, Tranmere famously beat Everton 3-0 at Goodison Park in 2001, but aside from frequent bygone victories over New Brighton, that is their lone Merseyside derby triumph. Indeed, the rivalry between Tranmere and their bourgeoisie cousins is akin to that between a nail and a hammer – one exists to be thrashed by the other. Sadly, our beloved ragamuffins will never have the resources to readily compete with their Premier League overlords, and there is little we, as fans, can do about it.
However, what if I told you that, contrary to popular belief, Tranmere Rovers have beaten Liverpool – on Christmas Day, 1942, no less. Oh, and they also beat Everton the very next day. Yes, it sounds crazy – the stuff of hyperbolic Planet Prentonia fan fiction – but it is true. And nobody seems to know about it. I want to change that, and so this is the full story, presented in great detail, of the time our faltering heroes beat their bullies in successive days.
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Shortly after Neville Chamberlain declared war on Germany in September 1939, the Football League suspended operations. A 50-mile travel limit was imposed on football clubs, so stopgap regional leagues sprang up around the country. Tranmere were regularly outclassed by Liverpool, Everton and Manchester United. Rovers even struggled against the smaller fry of Chester, Wrexham and New Brighton – on-field inconsistency mirroring off-field turmoil.
Many professional footballers were drafted into the war effort, leaving established clubs to mould makeshift squads from a disparate pool of remaining players. According to the Birkenhead Advertiser, 140 players associated with Tranmere Rovers served in what became World War II, meaning the club had to beg, steal and borrow local players to stay afloat. Replicated nationwide, such uncertainty led to wild oscillations in wartime football results. Nobody knew who would turn up, and chaos reigned supreme.
Such chaos prompted several incongruous footnotes in the Tranmere almanac, however. In December 1940, for instance, Rovers beat Liverpool twice in the space of three weeks – 3-1 and 3-2, respectively. Other notable results included a 5-2 win over Manchester City and a 1-1 draw with Manchester United, mixed with a fair share of thrashings. There was an absurd unpredictability to wartime football that made it strangely compelling, but Christmas 1942 created a new dimension altogether.
Tranmere Rovers 3-2 Liverpool – 25 December 1942
Few expected Rovers to win either of the Christmas contests, though bumper crowds were anticipated, nevertheless. Perhaps cognisant of the gulf in class, Tranmere manager Bill Ridding convinced Dixie Dean to don the famous Rovers shirt one last time in the game against Liverpool, as reported by club historian Gilbert Upton. Tranmere’s greatest ever player, the prodigal son of Birkenhead, Dean was 35 and all but retired by then, but he agreed to Ridding’s offer as a ceremonial homecoming.
Local newspapers spread word of Dean’s participation, and fanfare surrounded the Tranmere-Liverpool game. An intrigued crowd of 7,207 traipsed to Prenton Park, eschewing Christmas traditions for a glimpse of the immortal Dixie, only for the hometown hero to – well – disappear. Dean did not show up, despite his name being printed in the matchday programme, which also featured the following message from Tranmere treasurer RS Trueman:
“A happy Christmas and a prosperous new year to all our patrons and players, and may next year see us on the way to everlasting peace. Today, we welcome as visitors old friends Liverpool, and we give a special welcome to Chairman R Lawton Martindale, Messrs. W. McConnell, Walter Cartwright, Ronnie Williams and manager George Kay.
Founded in 1892, twelve years later than ourselves, Liverpool have a grand record, and although the FA Cup has so far eluded them, their league record is something of which they have every reason to be proud.
This term, Mr Kay has moulded a particularly successful team together, and but for a couple of unexpected slipups, would have finished champions. In order to secure second place, they must beat our youngsters this afternoon.
A good game is anticipated, and may the best team win.”
Remarkably, even without Dixie Dean, Tranmere were the best team that day. Wearing blue in contrast to Liverpool’s signature red, Rovers scored first when Gilbert Glidden converted a 25th minute penalty following a handball. Willie Fagan equalised for Liverpool just after half-time, heading home from a corner, but Tranmere regained the lead after 55 minutes, when Arthur Frost dispatched a Harold Bell cross.
Frost had a further goal disallowed, before Billy Hall drew Liverpool level at 2-2. Aside from another disallowed Rovers goal, that scoreline looked set to hold, until Liverpool goalkeeper Alf Hobson spilled a shot with mere seconds remaining. Frost was on hand to score a halcyon Tranmere winner and spark pandemonium on Borough Road.
“Although Liverpool equalised twice during the game on Christmas Day, Tranmere justified their all-round superiority by scoring the odd goal of the five a minute from the end,” read local newspaper reports, as relayed by Paul Terence Matthias Jackson in a biography of his grandfather, Pat Jackson, who played for Rovers that day. “It was a grand game, thrill-packed and quick-moving, with the issue in doubt until the last kick of the ball. The most pleasing feature of all was Tranmere’s complete mastery over the League contenders, who, although not at full strength, had the assistance of Hughes, one of the best pivots of the day; Westby, the Blackburn Rovers back; Fagan and Done.”
Even while possessing such an embarrassment of riches, Liverpool were dominated by one Tranmere player in particular: Abe Rosenthal, a bruising striker with deceptive skill who earned folk hero status at Prenton Park. “Rosenthal outshone everybody else on the field,” read local reports, per Jackson. “A master of ball control, he tried all the tricks at his disposal on Liverpool and came off best every time.”
Tranmere Rovers 2-1 Everton – 26 December 1942
Big Abe and his teammates could have been forgiven for enjoying liquid celebration of a grand Tranmere Rovers heist, but they had another game to prepare for in less than 24 hours’ time. Not just any game, either. Another Merseyside derby, no less, as Everton came to Birkenhead.
Buoyed by the slaying of Liverpool, even more Birkonians poured into Prenton Park on Boxing Day – a crowd of 11,088 contributing record gate receipts of £782. Nominally, this was considered the first game of a new cup competition, though such arbitrary distinctions lost meaning in the hodgepodge of wartime football. Regardless, Tranmere produced another heroic performance to topple their shocked neighbours, as devoted supporters could scarcely believe their eyes.
“There was another football treat at Prenton on Boxing Day, when Everton, complete with Tommy Lawton, were victims of the same blitz tactics which beat Liverpool the day before,” wrote the press, cited by Jackson. “Right from the start, the stylish Everton side were swept off their feet by the systematic first-time methods of the home players. In fact, the Rovers just carried on from where they had left off the previous day. Seldom was the famous Everton passing-to-pattern scheme allowed to be put into operation, but whenever it was, the home defence could be relied upon to prevent a successful culmination.”
Pat Jackson, the focus of that aforementioned biography, put Tranmere 1-0 up after 18 minutes and also played an instrumental role as Rovers doubled their lead in the second half. A tall, 18-year-old winger, Jackson gained possession in midfield, beat his marker, dashed down the flank, and crossed for Frost to ram home an emphatic strike. Lawton scored a consolation goal for Everton with five minutes remaining, and Rosenthal was again named man of the match, but Jackson earned the most praise from attendant newspapermen. Pat was the toast of Birkenhead that night.
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“Tranmere Rovers had the most successful Christmas of any Merseyside club, and it was a big feather in their cap to defeat Liverpool and Everton on successive days,” wrote the Liverpool Daily Post on 28 December 1942. “They were better value for the victory over Liverpool than the one over Everton. Allowing all that, however, Tranmere earned praise for a very fine performance.
“Their win over Everton was undoubtedly the better achievement, for apart from the fact that the visitors had Watson in goal, and Boyes taking his place at left half, Everton had a very strong side, including six of the pre-war championship team. Though Everton served up the more polished and precise football, it availed them little against a side which fought doggedly for every yard of ground.
“After a fairly even first half, it was nearly all Everton in the second portion, yet do what they could, the visitors were unable to get the better of Tranmere’s gallant defence, in which inside forwards and sometimes even wing forwards lent a hand. Everton repeatedly cut the Tranmere defence by neat midfield passing, yet found the home halves so speedy in recovery that they were always there in time of danger, and the home goal was so tightly packed that three out of every four Everton shots were blocked.”
In fairness, Everton thumped Tranmere, 4-0, just days later, on 2 January 1943 at Goodison Park, reiterating the unpredictability of wartime football. Furthermore, all fixtures between 1939 and 1945 are considered ‘unofficial,’ due to the sporadic availability of key players. Nevertheless, those games happened, and Christmas 1942 saw Tranmere Rovers beat their arch nemeses on back-to-back days. The only imagination required here is to consider the euphoria – the limbs, the delirium, the cataclysmic carnage – of such an occurrence today. I, for one, would probably implode with joy, because let’s face it – things cannot get better from there.
Other sources
- Play Up Liverpool
- Tranmere Rovers, 1921-1997 by Gilbert Upton and Steve Wilson
- Tranmere Rovers: The Complete Record by Steve Wilson, Gilbert Upton and Peter Bishop