Website 20th Anniversary
A Pictorial History of the Website
February 2021
For those who are unaware - which is probably everyone - the Convocation website is twenty years old around about now.
'The official website of the University of Liverpool Convocation Football Club' as it proudly proclaimed itself to be in the early days - when it seems there may have been worries about bogus Convo 'sites - was the brainchild of kneepad aficionado and professional Mancunian Phil Holt, and while the exact date of its creation is something even he has long forgotten, it was definitely up and running by the 17th of February 2001.
How the website originally looked, until 2003
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Sadly, due to the trend back then, of match reports only remaining online until the next game, the one from that day has been lost to the ether, but for a while in those nascent months the home page did remain unchanged, displaying the image of a poster spotted after a Second Team tie at Broughton (later Sealand) Vets in March.
'Performing live at the Broughton Vets Social Club next week - Des Martine pays tribute to our Convocation 1st XI centre half' [actual caption from the time]
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After Heidelberg 2002 a group photo of tourists and Germans adorned the home page for several years, while in 2003 the website was updated, and in 2004 the stewardship of it was passed on to Barry Wheller, who helped revamp it again.
Heidelberg 2002 - Main image on the home page until 2007
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How the website looked 2003-2004
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The website has survived some difficult times - most notably when the original domain name, convocationfc.com, was 'gazumped' by someone called Ethel Grant, who demanded a king's ransom for its return - and numerous dalliances with libel action, from (amongst others) a frequenter of Berlin's KitKatClub, a delicate soul who objected to pharmaceutical rep Dazza being called "a drug dealer" in the Auntie Pauline agony aunt column (still available upon request), a captain from a team in North Wales who wouldn't laugh if he saw a chair walk, and Andy Willis on pretty much every day ending in a 'y'.
Auntie Pauline
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It has also had to cope with competition from other arms of the written media - the Echo, Daily Post and Sandbach Chronicle, for example (never, however, that must-read for the Corinthian footballer, The Chap) - but the hassles are worth it so that the club doesn't have to return to the pre-website days of the Convo dark ages.
Never leave home without it
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So a Happy Convo Birthday to the website. (And to Andy McLaren, who made his debut for the club at about the same time. They could be twins - Phyllis and Si Lineton have a lot to answer for.) To celebrate this momentous occasion here are some of the photos and clippings that have appeared on these pages over the last twenty years...
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Liverpool Echo, 2000-01
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Seconds (away v Denbigh Wanderers) 16/02/2002
The Banksy red card game
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Convocation (on tour v Mannheim Rangers) 02/06/2002
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Convocation (on tour v Dudenhofen) 03/06/2002
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Seconds (away v Huddersfield Amateurs) 14/12/2002
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Firsts (away v Oakes Institute O.B.) 15/02/2003
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Seconds (away v Chester College of Law) 22/03/2003
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Seconds (away v Denbigh Wanderers) 29/03/2003
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Seconds (away v Ramblers) 06/03/2004
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Convocation (on tour v SV Gommersheim) 30/05/2004
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Seconds (away v Radbroke Hall) 13/11/2004
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Seconds (away v Halkyn) 29/01/2005
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Convocation (on tour v Kilkenny Country Boys) 05/03/2005
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Firsts (away v Business School) 26/03/2005
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Convocation (on tour v Royal Standard Inn) 08/10/2005
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Seconds (away v Ramblers) 10/12/2005
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Wyncote, 2006
View of Wyncote's old Pitch #1 from the changing-room balcony
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Convocation (on tour v Mannheim Rangers) 10/06/2006
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Convocation (on tour v Friedelsheim) 11/06/2006
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Sudley
Although this photo was taken several years after Convocation dossed there, Sudley hadn't changed
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Convocation (on tour v Royal Standard Inn) 07/10/2006
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Firsts (home v Essemmay O.B.) 28/10/2006
The famous Sudley slope seen in the background
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Convocation (home v Bühnen Köln) 03/11/2006
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Liverpool Echo, Mon 11/12/2006
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Convocation, 2007 AGM Game
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Convocation (on tour v Tollymore F.C.) 02/06/2007
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Convocation (on tour v Royal Standard Inn) 06/10/2007
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Liverpool Daily Post, Wed 28/11/2007
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Convocation (on tour v Bühnen Köln) 03/05/2008
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Convocation, 2008 AGM Game
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Convocation (home v Radio City Select XI) 06/09/2008
The late Terry Bargery on the right
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Sandbach Chronicle, Thurs 02/10/2008
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Convocation (on tour v Universidad de la Habana) 03/11/2008
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Convocation (on tour v ICAP) 04/11/2008
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Convocation (home v Bühnen Köln) 15/11/2008
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Sandbach Chronicle, Tues 30/12/2008
More purple prose from Jon Kearney
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Convocation (on tour v Kilkenny Country Boys) 25/04/09
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Seconds (v Waterside O.B., Sealand Cup Final at Winsford) 17/05/2009
Sealand Cup winners 2009
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Convocation, 2009 AGM Game
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Convocation (home v Bühnen Köln) 31/10/2009
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Firsts (home v Corinthian) 28/11/2009
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Seconds (home v Crewe Corinthians) 28/11/2009
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Convocation (on tour v Bühnen Köln) 13/02/2010
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Convocation, 2010 AGM Game
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Convocation (on tour v F.C. Casablanca) 19/09/2010
Ewan Shanahan, youngest ever Convocation player, front row third from right
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Convocation, 2011 AGM Game
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Sefton Park 5-miler, 2011
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Convocation (on tour v Magistrát mesta Košice) 28/05/2011
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Convocation (home v Bühnen Köln) 30/10/2011
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Liverpool Echo, Tues, 06/12/2011
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Convocation (on tour v Bühnen Köln) 18/02/2012
Players in Cologne - photographer possibly in Liverpool
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Seconds (v Halkyn, Sealand Cup Final at Wyncote) 12/05/2012
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Convocation, 2012 AGM Game
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Convocation (on tour v Freidelsheim) 02/06/2012
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Convocation (on tour v Mannheim Rangers) 03/06/2012
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Convocation (on tour v Dudenhofen) 04/06/2012
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Convocation (home v Bühnen Köln) 03/11/2012
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Convocation, 2013 AGM
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Convocation (v City of Košice Police) 25/05/2013
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Seconds (away v Rhewl Vets) 12/10/2013
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Convocation (home v Bühnen Köln) 26/10/2013
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Sky Sports, Thurs 06/02/2014
Simon Whitlock at the Echo Arena
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Convocation, 2014 AGM Game
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Seconds (away v Ramblers IV) 18/10/2014
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Convocation (home v Bühnen Köln) 25/10/2014
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Firsts (away v Richmond) 29/11/2014
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Convocation (on tour v Bühnen Köln) 14/02/2015
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Convocation, 2015 AGM Game
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Convocation (on tour v F.C. Referendaria Mannheim) 23/05/2015
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Convocation (on tour v Kilmanagh Hurlers) 17/10/2015
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Convocation (on tour v Bühnen Köln) 06/02/2016
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Convocation, 2016 AGM Game
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Convocation (home v Bühnen Köln) 29/10/2016
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Firsts (home v Kingsford) 12/11/2016
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Convocation, 2017 AGM Game
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Convocation (home v Fat Dads F.C.) 23/09/2017
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Convocation (home v Bühnen Köln) 28/10/2017
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Baby Convo (home v Politics B) 04/02/2018
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Cologne Tour, February 2018
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Firsts (home v St Margaret's O.B.) 08/05/2018
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Firsts (v Collegiate O.B., Alan Brown Trophy Final at Holly Lodge) 23/05/2018
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Convocation (on tour v Royal Standard Inn) 22/09/2018
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Convocation (home v Bühnen Köln) 03/11/2018
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Convocation (home v V.V. Kloetinge) 11/01/2019
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Convocation (on tour v Bühnen Köln) 02/03/2019
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Firsts (v Business School, Emrys Hughes Invitational Trophy Final at Wyncote) 11/05/2019
Emrys Hughes Invitational Trophy winners 2019
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Convocation, 2019 AGM Game
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Convocation (home v Bühnen Köln) 02/11/2019
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Firsts (v Sacre Coeur F.P.) 26/09/2020
Covid Convo?
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