LIVERPOOL

Barclay had been the first secretary at Everton when they became a league club in 1888, and so in turn became the first secretary at Liverpool. Bearing in mind Barclay's suggestion, it was surprising that on 26th of January 1892 Houlding tried to form a 'new' Everton: The "Everton Football Club and Athletic Grounds Company plc" was registered in London on that date and as the 'old' Everton club was not registered as a plc Houlding had hoped to perform a weird "takeover" of Everton; stealing the name of the club in a legal way. But a meeting at the Football Council on 4th of February 1892 ruled that it could not approve membership of a new club with the same name as an existing member!

At the same time a group of Everton patriots, among them the organist from the St. Domingo's church, had made a deal to buy a piece of land north of Stanley Park. The land cost them £8,090. Four members paid £1,000 each to let the deal go through. Houlding, left with an empty ground, took the bold step of forming a new football team to play in it.