1913: Tommy Fern, £1,500 (£154,000, taking into account inflation)
Destination: Everton
The first significant transfer fee City received came more than a century ago, when goalkeeper Tommy Fern left Sincil Bank for Everton in November 1913. The Imps had reportedly wanted £2,000 for Fern, but negotiations eventually produced a fee of £1,500, still a considerable sum for the period and enough to establish a new benchmark for outgoing transfers. Fern had joined City in 1909 after spells with Worksop Albion and Worksop Town, and went on to make 133 Football League and FA Cup appearances for the club before Everton came calling. That £1,500 record would stand for almost 12 years.
Fern’s move also proved to be a significant one for the player himself. He established himself as Everton’s first-choice goalkeeper and was part of the side which won the Football League First Division title in 1914/15, immediately before league football was suspended during the First World War. Fern remained at Goodison Park until 1924, making 231 appearances in league and FA Cup competition, before joining Port Vale at the age of 38. He still managed another 90 appearances there, playing regularly well into his forties, before ending his career with Colwyn Bay United.
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