TOMORROW marks 43 years since the death of an Ellesmere Port footballer who became one of the most influential players in the history of the game – but many readers will probably never have heard of him.

Sam Chedgzoy (pronounced Chedzoy), was born in the Port on January 27, 1889 and became one of the most distinguished players ever to don the blue shirt of Everton, surviving the First World War to play until he was 50.

But it was his actions in the 1924-25 season, towards the end of his Everton career, which singled him out.

That summer the FA had re-worded the rules to allow players to score directly from a corner kick.

Liverpool Echo sports editor Ernest Edwards spotted a loophole, however, and offered Chedgzoy £2 to dribble from the corner flag to score himself during a match against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane.

Never one to shirk a challenge, Chedgzoy agreed and duly scored.

When the referee lectured him, Chedgzoy successfully argued there was nothing in the rules to stop him doing it and the goal was awarded.

The FA called an emergency meeting and decreed the corner-taker could only strike the ball once to close the loophole.

But Chedgzoy had already secured his place in football history.

He began his top flight football career at Goodison Park in 1910, aged 21 after signing from West Cheshire League side Burnell’s Ironworks where he played with Joe Mercer’s father.

He spent 12 seasons with the Blues, interrupted by four years during the First World War, predominantly as a right wing forward.

He won a Division One Championship medal with the club in 1914/15 – Everton’s second league title – and in total made 300 appearances (279 in the league) for the Toffees, scoring 36 goals.

He also won eight caps for England, his first against Wales aged 30, thanks to his pace and bewitching style and he represented the Football League on five occasions.

Like his more famous fellow Portite Joe Mercer, Chedgzoy learned his football in Ellesmere Port’s school of hard knocks.

And through a twist of fate one of Everton’s greatest providers only played one season with the club’s greatest goalscorer, Dixie Dean, as the goal machine signed from Tranmere Rovers during Chedgzoy’s final season with the Blues in 1925/6.

That was not the end of his career, however.

In 1922 he had holidayed in Canada and two years later during the close season in England he returned to manage the Grenadier Guards in Canada’s Interprovincial League.

When he left Everton aged 37 he was signed by the New Bedford Whalers in Massachusetts to play in the American Soccer League.

After four years he returned to Canada when he signed for Montreal Carsteel as a player-coach in the Canadian National Soccer League.

Chedgzoy took them to seven league play-off finals, losing the first four before winning the title in 1936, 1939 and 1940.

He made his final appearance as a player for Carsteel in the Canadian Club Final in 1939 at the age of 50.

Sam Chedgzoy died on January 7, 1967, aged 78, having enjoyed a most illustrious career and was one of the first players inducted into the Everton Giants list in 2000 having already been inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame.