It’s September the 4th, 1976. ABBA are number one in the charts with Dancing Queen, The Omen has been petrifying cinema audiences all summer and out on the M6, Jethro’s Tours is making its maiden voyage, heading to Leicester City’s Filbert Street to watch Everton away.
While Liverpool could only muster 14 to West Ham’s Boleyn Ground in February 1975, with Lawrenson’s Coaches reportedly cancelling buses after receiving no bookings and only one of five ‘specials’ leaving Lime Street, Evertonians travelled in numbers but were growing restless being let down by trains every other week.
Jim ‘Jethro’ Morton was only 18 but was urged to set up a coach so Blues could watch the Toffees on the road. Organising travel for the 60-mile trip to the East Midlands to watch Mick Lyons, Martin ‘Dobo’ Dobson, Andy King and Bob Latchford, Jim and the group witnessed the number nine cancel out Frank Worthington’s opener with an equaliser six minutes from time in that first game.
This would prove to be a season of disappointment for the travelling Blues but they were treated to wins at Roker Park, the Baseball Ground and the Victoria Ground as well as a 3-0 League Cup victory at Old Trafford and semi triumph at Burnden Park on the way to reaching the final at Wembley. Jethro’s Tours was there for it all.
“It really took off,” says Jim, who worked at the post office and soon even had fellow postmen jumping on the coach to watch Everton.
Back then, fans could purchase tickets through Town’s Travel Services at Clayton Square, Bottle, Prescot and other spots around the city. Supersports Travel, meanwhile, offered transport to London aways with ‘one or two nights’ stay in modern hotels’, ‘discounted theatre tickets’ and a ‘Full Ladies’ programme for non-football freaks’. Different times indeed.
However, when it came to coaches, only Jethro’s Tours and the Everton Supporters Club went away and so when the Everton Supporters Club stopped doing them, everyone hopped aboard Jim’s bus. After taking on extra passengers, the Supporters Club on City Road invited Jehtro to one of their nights as a thanks.
“I was heading out after I had a suit on,” Jim remembers. “I bought a bingo ticket at the Supporters Club and won! The prize though was 150 eggs. I was meant to be going out and thought, ‘What the hell am I going to do with all these?!’”
Leicester away magazine
Of course, there is always going to be hi-jinx, jokes and pranks on an away coach, and one of the early ‘incidents’ on Jethro’s Tours involved risking the wrath of a pub landlord.
“We’d stopped at a pub in the middle of nowhere and someone came back with a pool cue,” says Jim. “We were driving off when suddenly the manager of the pub came flying out and running after the coach. We were about to turn the corner when he suddenly caught up with the driver. As he climbed the steps of the coach, I told the lad, ‘you’ll have to give him the cue back’. The fella from the pub said, ‘Listen, we’ve taken more money today than we’ve taken all year. Will you please come back on your other aways?!’ Everyone burst out laughing because we thought he’d legged it to tell us off and take the cue back!’”
In the 1970s and 80s, football hooliganism was rife in the English game, with most clubs having their own firms. This meant even the standard supporters intent only on watching the game would have to seriously keep their wits about them. Even more so the away fans who could be targeted. Jethro’s Tours were never instigators but realised they had to look after themselves and each other.
“The coach always stuck together and managed to fight our way out of anything,” admits Jim. “The game back then was renowned for fighting so, not only did you have to contend with a bad Everton result or the coach breaking down, but you also knew you’d likely have to fight. Going to certain places, you knew you’d have to scrap just to get the coach or that it was going to get bricked. Thankfully it’s way different now.”
Jethro Tour’s followed Everton in Europe and, after trips to Dublin, Bratislava, Sittard and Munich, arranged a special coach to Rotterdam for the Cup Winners’ Cup final in 1985. When all of the supporter coaches arrived at the ferry crossing, they were dumps with no toilets. Not Jethros’ though as, much to his amusement, the luck of the draw meant his arrived brand new with a toilet on.
“Everyone was fuming because we’d landed the best coach,” he laughs.
A decade later, Jethro arranged for five coaches to head down to Wembley for the FA Cup final.
“Manchester United were flying in 1995 under Alex Ferguson and not many fans who came down with us were confident. Seeing Everton lift the Cup was so unexpected and so it was unbelievable to have five coaches bouncing back home.”
Jethro’s daughter Hana, who was at Goodison Park for the 4-4 Merseyside derby draw as a toddler, soon started attending aways with her Dad’s clan, standing in Wembley to see Paul Rideout score that cup final winner.
Hana laughs as she recalls her Dad, who also refereed local matches, walking to his seat in the Gwladys Street and being greeted by different names. Fellas from the post office would say ‘Alright Jethro’, while Sunday League lads would nod, ‘Alright Jimmy’.
“He was so well-known through his rounds, refereeing and the aways,” she says.
Jethro and daughter Hana at Kharkiv (A) in 2007
Jethro and daughter Hana at Kharkiv (A) in 2007
Soon the advent of the internet became a key driver in people booking on to the coach and so Hana took over from her Dad around 2006. Han’s Tours was born.
“Lots of younger people were coming on the coach and getting in touch to book on via Bluekipper, Faceparty and then Facebook,” she explains. “My Dad didn’t really bother with computers and so he handed over the reins to me.”
So, what goes into organising the aways in 2026?
“We have around 40 regulars and so first find out if they are coming to the next game. They take up around 70% of the coach and we know we need 57 people to fill it,” explains Hana. “Then we put out availability on social media to see if anyone is looking for travel. I then collect and chase deposits and write down where people are getting on as we have four pick-ups over the water all the way up to Junction seven. Then I have to liaise with the coach driver to plan our day. It’s my Dad’s job to ring a pub and book in advance as for normal kick-off times, we’ll always have a stop off for food and a few drinks. We tend to go to the same pubs each season and they love us coming. There’s lots to sort out.
“Sometimes the worst part of the day is the actual match! We make sure everyone is good getting back on the coach and my phone will be going mad because someone might have taken a wrong turn out of the ground and got lost. We have a great time if we’ve won. I sort out all of the music and we have a party all the way home.
“Then it all starts again because two weeks later we’ve got another game.”
Hana, like her Dad, has plenty of stories to share having followed Everton away for decades.
“We had a driver called Chris and told him that the next game was going to be fancy dress. He turned up dressed as a big teddy bear with the nose and everything but soon realised we’d pranked him and there was no fancy dress! Heading back from the match we actually got pulled over by the police. They came to talk to him and thought he was taking the piss because everyone else on the coach was dressed in normal clothes.
“Another game, the driver turned up with his wife on the coach. We stopped at a pub for food and a few drinks. When we were ready to head to the match, we got up to get back on the coach but she stopped us. ‘Nobody’s going anywhere, I haven’t had my pudding yet!’ There’s 60 of us out to watch Everton but we all ended up waiting so she could have her pudding!
“In 2008, we did a European away to Standard Liege and on the way back, it was freezing so the coach cut out. The driver said we’d be stuck until the coach warmed up. We were in the middle of nowhere but getting out, we crossed the road and discovered we had everything we needed. There was one bar, a chocolate factory and a porn shop… it was one Euro for two beers so everybody was loving it.”
Han’s Tours banner
However, things don’t always land so perfectly. Like stopping for a night in Frankfurt before heading to Vienna in pre-season. Forced to book with a different company than usual, a coach was sent from England but it was too small.
“That trip proved how important our usual arrangements are. We couldn’t get everyone and it was a nightmare,” says Hana. “Someone had also nabbed a cardboard cutout of a woman pouring coffee from one of the cafes so she was stranded too but ended up coming all the way to Vienna with us.”
Then there was Arsenal away when a double decker carrying 91 Blues broke down in North London to kick off a series of mishaps.
“Everyone had to rush to the nearest tube station. I got to the Emirates Stadium ten minutes into the match and Everton got t***ted,” she remembers. “It was a late kick-off so I was glad that by the end of the game, the coach was good and ready to take us home. We got on and it rolled down the road before, bang, it hit a bollard and the wheel popped.”
Night had fallen and the bus had to snake to the nearest services.
“We were told a new tyre was on the way but it was coming from Birmingham. We waited for three hours, with 90 people to look after. The guy finally arrived only to realise the tyre wasn’t right. He had to travel all the way back to Birmingham, pick up the right tyre and back again. It’s now nine hours after kick-off and we’re all fuming. We got back to Queens Drive at six in the morning!”
Han’s Tours joined thousands of Blues in staying behind at the King Power Stadium to join in a continuous rendition of ‘Spirit of the Blues’ after Everton beat Leicester in a crucial relegation six-pointer back in May 2022. However, getting there proved nearlyas stressful as the ninety minutes.
“Heading to the ground, we got back on the coach after a stop at the pub but the driver reversed straight into a lamppost and the back window smashed everywhere. There was no chance we’d be going anywhere so we had to find ways to get everyone to the match. Some people ordered taxis while a fella did shuttle runs back and forth for us. A few lads even dived into the back of vans to make sure they got to the match.”
The coach has hosted plenty of big characters over the years.
“Elv gets everyone up singing and dancing every game. He got us through some of the worst times during the recent relegation battles and kept everyone going with his positivity. He’s fantastic; just a really funny guy who lives and breathes Everton. He hasn’t missed an away in years and hasn’t missed a home game in even longer.
“Colin Evans is another. We call him the Piano Man because that’s his karaoke song. He’s not a well man at the moment and told us he wouldn’t see Hill Dickinson but he’s made it and still gets picked up at ‘El Rocket’ every week for the aways.
“Then there’s Greggo; he’s tee-total now but he’d only need one drink and was round the bend. Now his son comes too and it’s mad how often that happens.”
Mark Bowen was another much-loved member of the group though is sadly no longer here to join the Everton away days.
“Our lovely friend Mark passed away after getting off the coach from Aston Villa. It was a Friday night in 2019 and it was so tragic and horrible.”
“That whole day was one of the worst of my life. Mark had complained of a pain in his leg for a few weeks. After his Dad had come to pick him after getting dropped off from the coach, he sadly died in the car from a blood clot. It was so tragic and horrible.”
Mark Bowen pictured with son Liam, Hana and Jethro
Mark Bowen (left) pictured with son Liam, Hana and Jethro
More than 300 people attended Mark’s funeral, with supporters of different clubs coming together to pay their respects.
“He was such a character and made everyone on the coach feel so welcome. He was only in his 40s and so it was such a shock. He was still so young.
“Mark would bring his son to the aways and Liam still comes everywhere with us. He’s a real credit to his Dad who gets talked about every day.”
Mark Bowen was a lifelong Evertonian and Han’s Tours regular
Mark Bowen was a lifelong Evertonian and Han’s Tours regular
Hana insists the group does feel like family and says Mark’s death brought the coach closer together. This is a place where friendships are forged through a love of Everton and strengthened by hours on the road following the club up and down the country.
Hana is now joined at home games by her own son and so together with Jethro, three generations of the family have been cheering the team on this campaign.
Already plans have been made for Everton’s pre-season trip to Murrayfield in August but there is a bigger fixture in the calendar before then. On Saturday, Hana, Jethro and the rest of the gang will celebrate 50 years of Tours with a party at the Denbigh Castle where there will be music, a quiz, scran, stories and even awards.
Since Jim’s trip to Filbert Street to see Bob Latchford score in 1976 right through to this season’s away day triumphs at Old Trafford, Villa Park and St James’ Park, they’ve seen it all.
From early starts and night-time delays waiting for new tyres to demoralising defeats and last-minute winners, Jethro and Hana know it’s never dull watching Everton away.
Either no responses have been submitted so far to this article or previous submissions are being assessed for inclusion.
Only registered users of Evertonia can participate in discussions.
Or Join as Evertonia Member — it takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your thoughts on artices across the site.