When Everton played Peterborough United as part of a transfer deal!
Peterborough United are at Everton for an FA Cup third round tie on Thursday (8pm kick off).
It’s a first trip to Goodison Park in Posh history. The teams have met competitively only once before in a League Cup tie at London Road in September, 2006.
But Posh statistician Mick Robinson has revealed there was another clash between the clubs when Everton agreed to visit the city as part of a transfer deal.
In 1938 Posh transferred utility player Cecil Wyles to Everton for £350, although newspapers at the time reported it as an ‘undisclosed fee.’
Negotiations continued for some time with Everton as well as other leading clubs Spurs, West Ham United, Crystal Palace and Leeds United.
But Everton agreed to visit Posh for a friendly and that clinched the player’s move to Merseyside.
The match took place at London Road on Saturday, April 9 with Everton winning 5-2.
The teams came be seen in the attached photo of the matchday programme which was sold for the princely sum of one old penny. Advertising alongside was paid for by famous city businesses like Harry Nobbs, the main supplier of school uniforms back in the day, and Robertson’s All Sports.
Nobbs was based at the town end of Park Road and closed in 1992 after the death of the owner. Robertson’s was situated at the end of Cowgate. It became a bicycle shop under the same name and is now a barber shop.
Boyd pianos also took advertising space, a business that was nothing to do with Posh legend George Boyd!
WHO WAS CECIL WYLES?
Wyles was a footballing Jack of all trades. Posh signed him as a striker from Lincolnshire-based non-league side Gosberton Clough in 1936, but it's believed he played in every position for the club apart from goalkeeper.
He was only 18 when he won a prized move to Everton, but his promising career was interrupted by the outbreak of World War Two.
Opportunities were limited in the first-team, but he did deputise for Everton’s legendary centre-forward Tommy Lawton in wartime games and scored a 14-minute hat-trick in a fixture against Wrexham in 1943.
He scored 23 times in 18 games in 1944-45 which included three hat-tricks.
Wyles moved onto Blackburn Rovers in October 1945 and scored four times in his first game. After a brief spell with Bury he signed for Southport in November, 1946 and became captain of the Haig Avenue club for whom he scored 53 goals in 143 games. He went on to play for Bangor City and Spalding United before managing Merseyside club Prescot Cables FC.
Wyles was born in Stamford in 1918 and died in a Liverpool hospital aged 70 in 1990.