While dozens of books have chronicled the individual glories of Liverpool and Everton, it has somehow been 62 years since a single volume captured the complete story of Merseyside football. That landmark work was Percy M. Young’s Football on Merseyside, published in 1963 by the distinguished Cambridge scholar who was equally renowned for his work on Elgar and British music history.
Now, Philip Ross’s exhaustive new book, And Then There Was Football: Merseyside Football, A History 1878-2025, finally provides the definitive chronicle that this football heartland deserves.
This 458-page hardback does what no modern work has attempted: it tells the story not just of the giants at Anfield and Goodison Park (or the Hill Dickinson Stadium), but of the entire footballing ecosystem that makes Merseyside one of the game’s most significant regions.
Ross takes readers from Everton’s origins as St. Domingo Methodist Church team in 1878, through Liverpool’s dramatic birth from the Anfield boardroom split of 1892, and into the present day. But he goes much further, illuminating the amateur and semi-professional clubs, women’s teams, works sides, church teams and even the Sunday morning leagues that form the grassroots foundation of the game. There are long-defunct clubs in here, forgotten grounds and the evolution of stadiums from humble beginnings to modern arenas.
Philip Ross has devoted years to this project, sifting through both physical and online archives to track down records of all aspects of Merseyside football. His meticulous approach is evident throughout, from the detailed club summaries to the extensive appendices covering competitions ranging from the Premier League to the I Zingari League, and from the FA Cup to the Lord Wavertree Cup – all published together in a single volume for the first time.
Ross previously worked as a researcher on Faith of our Families: Everton An Oral History, one of the most in-depth and comprehensive single-club histories ever published, which utilised hundreds of original interviews and documents. He brings those same rigorous research skills to bear in this unique work, of which he is the sole author.
This is football history embedded in its social, economic and cultural context. Ross charts the transformation of a nascent Victorian sport into a global entertainment business that puts the region on television screens worldwide every weekend, while never losing sight of the grassroots game that feeds this cultural and economic behemoth.
From Goodison Park’s construction to Anfield’s Spion Kop, from forgotten characters who built the game to modern-day superstars, from obscure competitions to European Cup nights – every level of football receives the attention it deserves.
And Then There Was Football: Merseyside Football, A History 1878-2025 is released on November 5, 2025, priced at £30.00 (£25.00 direct from us). For anyone seeking to understand Merseyside’s unique place in football history – whether supporter, historian or scholar – this definitive account is essential reading.
After 62 years, Merseyside football finally has the comprehensive history it deserves.
ISBN: 9781917064927 | 458 pages | Hardback
