The Stanley Park Three
The names of Marriott, Morris, and Pickering might not instantly come to mind when mentioning former members of Everton Football Club but they played a major defensive role during their formative years on Stanley Park. The first of this trio to appear there was Thomas Marriott.
He was born on 4 February 1861 and was the third son of Mary and her husband, John, who worked as a cotton porter. The family were, at that time, living at 2 Duke Street but, by 1881, they were living in better surroundings at Gray Rock Street where Thomas was working as a clerk. He first played at full-back alongside Tom Evans, from whose experience all three were to benefit during the season of 1880-81, after which he was partnered by a man from the North-East of England.