Reader Story
When Gordon Fraser decided to research the sportsmen in his wife’s family, he had no idea that he would uncover almost enough to fill a football team, he tells Claire Vaughan
Gordon Fraser reveals how he discovered that his wife’s tree includes eight footballers who played for Everton
Last August, a crowd gathered on the Top Balcony concourse at Everton Football Club’s home ground Goodison Park for the unveiling of a plaque. Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine reader Gordon Fraser was there with his wife, Maureen, and other family members – all justifiably proud. The plaque commemorated their eight relatives who had played for the club. For Gordon (a diehard Everton fan), it was also the culmination of almost 10 years’ work researching and writing Sporting Genes, the story of the Rankin dynasty. Along the way, he uncovered record breakers, missed opportunities and men who shaped England’s sporting history.
Gordon started out by researching his own family, prompted by a genealogist friend. But it wasn’t until 2005, when he decided to write a book and picked sporting ancestors as its theme, that he began looking more closely at Maureen’s heritage.
“My wife’s grandfather Bruce Rankin had played for Everton. I also knew her cousin Andy Rankin had played for Everton, because our paths crossed when we were in the Liverpool City Police Cadets in 1961. He was only in the cadets a short time before he signed full time for Everton. And our son, Gavin, played rugby union professionally, and for Scotland on an international level. But I didn’t know anything else.”
In all, four of Maureen’s footballing family feature in the book. Her grandfather Bruce Rankin had played for Everton from 1901 to 1906, and later several other clubs. Andy, his grandson, was an
Everton goalkeeper in the 1960s and 1970s, before signing for Watford and later Huddersfield. Bruce’s son Billy, who was on Everton’s books as an amateur, also features. He turned out for Marine FC in the 1931/32 FA Amateur Cup Final, represented England at baseball and became a baseball referee. Finally, there’s Billy’s elder son and grandson of Bruce, George, who played for Everton in the 1950s before he moved to Southport FC. “They all represented their country at one level or another, but I think that the most notable achievement was probably down to Andy Rankin in 1970,” says
‘He was the first goalkeeper to save a spot kick in a penalty shootout in the European cup’