News from around the Archdiocese of Liverpool
“
"If the Italians had got into the quarterfinals, they were to have stayed at the Hall instead."
By Neil Sayer, Archdiocesan Archivist
It’s 60 years since England won the FIFA World Cup on home soil, and one surprising story from the competition was of a Communist takeover of a Catholic retreat centre in Rainhill.
Just over a decade after the Korean War, the team from North Korea almost provoked a diplomatic storm when they qualified to play in the finals. The British government of the time might have been pleased to have them safely out of the limelight in Middlesbrough, where they played their group matches at Ayresome Park. Their underdog status combined with the players’ good manners and willingness to use their sporting skills for public relations purposes had made them welcome in Middlesbrough, and they surprised everyone by progressing from the group stage. One of the teams they beat was Italy, who had booked Loyola Hall in Rainford as their base for their confidently anticipated appearance in the quarter finals.
Loyola Hall had been built as Rainhill House by Bartholomew Bretherton in 1824. A substantial landowner and Catholic benefactor, he is remembered in the dedication of St Bartholomew, the Rainhill church built in the 1840s. Following the First World War the Stapleton- Bretherton family sold off most of their Rainhill estates and moved to the south of England.
In 1923, Rainhill House and four acres of land were bought by the Society of Jesus for use as a retreat house, named in honour of St Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. Many readers are likely to have memories of visits to the premises. As a retreat house, Loyola Hall catered to the varying needs of priests, nuns, and lay groups offering periods of prayer and contemplation, as well as UCM Study Days, youth leadership courses, and Young Catholic Workers’ events. Its facilities included a chapel, library, dining room, lounge, and recreation room. Every weekend, about 40 lay people could be accommodated on traditional parish retreats: often men would visit one week, followed by their wives the following week. In 1965, Fr Peter Blake, Jesuit Superior of the Hall, put his institution forward as accommodation for one of the teams in the football championship then being planned. “We had a new £100,000 wing with every facility required”, he said. “The World Cup people jumped at the chance.”
Denise Newcombe was a schoolgirl living in Rainhill at the time. She was in the fourth form at Notre Dame High School in St Helens and reported on the visit of the North Korean team for the school magazine. “If the Italians had got into the quarterfinals, they were to have stayed at the Hall instead. They were so confident that before they played the match, they sent Father Blake a present of a golden chalice.”
According to the Pic, when the Italians “crashed sensationally” to the Asian side, “the Koreans decided to take their place. Together with their coaches and cooks, trainers and cheerleaders [they] posed for pictures before meeting Portugal at Everton.”
As at Middlesbrough, the team became popular locally, and Denise Newcombe remembered: “Although they were not Catholics, the North Koreans stayed at Loyola Hall and were welcomed by everyone. They brought with them two chefs to cook all their meals. My brother was lucky enough to get the autographs of all the players as well as those of the two chefs. Although he was unable to read them, because they were written in their language, he was very pleased. Father Blake, the Rector at Loyola Hall, often watched the team training and tried to give them tips on what he thought were their weak points.” It was said that the team’s “communist minders” were not in favour of such fraternisation.
The crowd of almost 52,000 for North Korea’s quarter final match against Portugal on 23 July 1966 at Everton’s then-home of Goodison Park included many Boro fans who had taken the World Cup underdogs to their hearts and followed them from Teesside. Their adopted team in fact took a 3-0 lead, but a Eusébio-inspired comeback saw Portugal score 5 goals to win the match, progressing to the semi-finals where they were beaten 2-1 by England.
Loyola Hall was closed in 2014 and sold to a property developer in 2017. It is now a hotel and popular wedding venue.
