The 60 Greatest Everton Players Who Played @ Goodison Park
The Old Lady has seen some amazing players grace her turf. Our history, and those who have played in royal blue, is something to truly be proud of. Nil Satis Nisi Optimum.
Let’s start with an apology. Sorry for forgetting your favourite player, sorry for mentioning that player you dislike, and sorry for getting those details wrong. It’s not that I didn’t make this list and check it far more than Santa did, it’s just that I’m a lowly blogger without an editor - so mistakes might happen.
Now that the apologies are out of the way, I hope you enjoy it!
#60. Tony Kay
1962 - 1964
58 Appearances
4 goals
==
Football League First Division: 1962-63
FA Charity Shield: 1963
“ They took away the game I loved and I have never really recovered from that.” - Tony Kay
“There was a lot of heart in Kay as a player. Professional sport made him, tested him, and broke him. He is one of football’s tragic casualties because he was so strongly equipped in nearly all his aspects. His counsel said in court, after his conviction: ‘He has given up for £100 what has in fact been one of the greatest careers of any footballer. He was tempted once, and fell.’” - Arthur Hopcraft, ‘The Football Man’
Kay was Britain’s most expensive footballer when Everton swooped for him in 1962, paying £60,000 for the red-headed wing half. Harry Catterick, a shrewd judge of talent, clearly had big plans for Kay, plans that sadly never fully blossomed.
He was a quick, skilled, dynamo with a nasty tackle, the Goodison crowd even nicknamed him “Cassius Kay”. That he is instead remembered for becoming embroiled in a betting scandal during his time at Sheffield Wednesday and being banned from football for life is one of Everton’s biggest tragedies. Capped once by England - a game in which he scored a belter - Kay resembles Everton’s major “what if” and the reception he received upon his return to Goodison with other past legends hints at the player he could have been.
Perhaps a “what if” for England in 1966 too.
“[Nobby] Stiles played magnificently for England. It is fair to ask whether he would have been given the chance had Kay been available.” - Arthur Hopcraft
A cocky enforcer with an excellent first touch and a brutal shot, Kay was an Orwellian nightmare to play against, popping up all over the pitch dishing out doubleplusungood tackles. Many blues who saw him play say that he’s among the best they’d seen in royal blue.
In our febrile imaginations, where us fans dream of playing for Everton, we’re still only half as good as Tony Kay.
#59. Martin Dobson
1974 - 1979
230 Appearances
40 Goals
“I think you learn more from failure than you do from success. I was and I was totally devastated. You just got a letter in those days – ‘Thank you, you’re crap, goodbye’” – Dobson on being rejected by Bolton as a youngster.
Bolton Wanderers must still be kicking themselves.
“Sir Dobbo” was a tall, graceful midfield player with excellent technique who was bought from Burnley by Billy Bingham in 1974, for a record British transfer fee.
The £300,000 that Everton spent on Dobson (which is now what some players earn in a week) provoked questions about whether money was beginning to rule the sport, questions which have never stopped and only get louder with every passing year.
Dobson had excellent close control which aided his wonderful shooting and passing, and when he was in possession of the ball he was neither hurried nor wasteful. He went on to win five caps for England under three different managers: Sir Alf Ramsey, Joe Mercer, and Don Revie.
#58. Alex Parker
1958 - 1965
220 Appearances
5 Goals
==
Football League First Division: 1962-63
FA Charity Shield: 1963
“Mrs. Shankly was keen that I got an education, and kept giving me books. I wasn’t really interested, and one day she took me out into the garden for a game of headers. Any heading ability I had in football was gained by learning from Mrs Shankly.” - Alex Parker on his time at Falkirk under Bill Shankly (and his wife.)
Falkirk’s most capped player, Alex Parker joined Everton in 1958 and spent seven seasons with Everton. The right back won a Championship medal in 1962-63 and left the club in September 1965 to join Southport. One of Everton’s best ever full backs, Parker was extremely lively, and made over 200 appearances for the club. Strong, fast, an expert tackler and a swashbuckling attacker, he was also noted for his modesty and self deprecating humour. To this day, people eulogise about Alex Parker’s slide tackles…
The Scotsman notes Parker’s humility in their obituary:
It is fitting that Falkirk fans voted him into their Millennium Team, even though many had never seen him play. Accepting his award, he displayed typical modesty, thanking all the grandfathers who had told their children about him. Modesty was one of his endearing characteristics, and he never failed to amaze with his genuine humility. He classed Tom Finney as his hardest opponent, and recalled meeting him in later life at Preston. “I didn’t recognise him from the front,” he said, “as I usually only saw his back and a number 11 disappearing towards goal, with me left floundering.”
The Independent also made a point of mentioning his modesty:
He proved a popular landlord of the Swinging Sporran in Runcorn, always ready to yarn about his playing days but invariably referring to his own achievements with characteristic modesty. Later Parker returned to his homeland to live in Gretna and in 2009 he suffered the amputation of his left leg. Still he relished a joke, though, chuckling delightedly when his compatriot and old Goodison chum Alex Young remarked: “At least it’s not the one you tackle with.”
During his time with Everton, Parker won a league championship and a charity shield, but its those slide tackles, always timed to perfection, that are still being talked about.
#57. Brian Harris
1954 - 1966
358 Appearances
29 Goals
==
Football League First Division: 1962-63
FA Cup: 1965-66
Even when the Moores money began to buy up some of British football’s best players, the £10 signing kept his place among the “Mersey Millionaires” - Obituary
In 13 years of Everton service Harris was employed in every outfield position but will best be remembered for the fantastic 1966 FA Cup Final victory, a game in which Harris starred and also playfully wore the fallen hat of a policeman during a chase with a rogue fan.
To call Harris a utility player doesn’t do him justice, he was a chameleon on the field because he had a thick portfolio of skills; he was an excellent tackler, solid in the air, skilful, and had a fierce shot. He was also a key part of what would become one of the truly great Everton sides during the 60’s.
Not bad for a tenner, not bad at all…
#56. Peter Beardsley
1991 - 1993
95 Appearances
32 Goals
Beardsley was 30 years old when we signed him from Liverpool for £1 million. A rare gem in an otherwise underperforming Everton side, he scored one goal for every three appearances for the club, and they came in all flavours. Hugely industrious and blessed with great vision, Beardsley deserved better than early 90s Everton. He’d score dinks, chips, and deflections, screamers, penalties, and volleys.
Forced out of Liverpool by the arrival of Dean Saunders, his exit from Everton was for an even more depressing (and sadly familiar) reason: we needed the money and a £1.5 million offer from Newcastle United was simply too much to turn down.
#55. Alex "Sandy" Young
1901 - 1911
314 Appearances
127 Goals
==
FA Cup: 1906
Sandy is a legend from the early 20th century and the first Toffee to score the winner in an FA Cup Final when Everton beat Newcastle United in 1906. Young played for St Mirren and Falkirk before coming south to Goodison in 1901. To twist PG Wodehouse – in terms of goalscoring, Young would pour but forget to say “when” – topping Everton’s scoring charts for five seasons running.
#54. Richarlison
2018 - 2022
135 Appearances
43 Goals
“Richarlison was a fantastic talent before me, and will be a fantastic talent after me. He has skills and ability… power and strength and speed. He is really the complete striker.'' - Carlo Ancelotti
He promised us.
He promised that he wouldn’t let us get relegated.
Not on his watch would we drop down a division.
He did just that.
Last season we projected all of our angst onto our Brazilian, and he stood up when it mattered, a skyscraper amongst bungalows, sadly now sold to Spurs,
I loved how, when he was back there, Richarlison was often our best defender.
I also loved Richarlison's reptilian football brain. He wants to play, and when he was younger he’d cry when subbed off. He wants to score, and when a penalty is awarded he’s first to grab the ball and never let go. He wants to win, and unfortunately that took him elsewhere. It's a double-edged sword sometimes, but I wouldn't have changed him for the world.
It’s interesting, too, to look back at the utter bedlam that came when we signed him. We’d ruined the transfer window, we’d spent far too much money on him, pundits lined up to have a pop, including Barry Glendenning and Julien Laurens below…
Everton haven’t replaced Richarlison, this is true. What’s also true is that replacing Brazil’s first choice striker might be a tad tough. Richarlison with his Roman nose, Brazilian feet, chip on both shoulders, and a SKYSCRAPING forehead, sits proudly and deservedly on this list.
#53. Edgar Chadwick
1888 - 1899
300 appearances
104 goals
==
Football League First Division: 1890-91
A pipsqueak at 5ft 6in, Chadwick was a huge name in football. He joined Everton in the inaugural Football League season of 1888-89, and went on to win the League in 1891 as Everton became the first champions to play at Anfield. Chadwick is also in the exclusive club of players to score over a century of goals for Everton. Seldom outfought by any opponent and a brilliant dribbler, Chadwick made 300 appearances for our club.
#52. Fred Pickering
1963 - 1967
115 Appearances
70 Goals
Fred was a beefy forward with a sensational goal to game ratio. A Catterick signing from Blackburn Rovers in 1964 for a club record £90,000, he was nicknamed “Boomer” because of his massively powerful right foot.
Pickering started wonderfully for Everton, netting a hat-trick against Nottingham Forest on his debut but sadly he never really recovered from being dropped from the 1966 FA Cup Final. Despite scoring in every round up to the semi final, Pickering watched his replacement Trebilcock score two at Wembley.
A knee injury and a loss of form made for a muted ending to Pickering’s Everton career and he signed for Birmingham City in 1967 – but at his best he was an astonishing goalscorer.
#51. Tommy Eglington
1946 - 1957
428 Appearances
82 Goals
Eglington had the pace that launched a thousand attacks during a career that had a wingspan of more than a decade. He came across from Shamrock Rovers in 1946 in a £10,000 deal that included Peter Farrell, and the two Irishmen brought with them a huge amount of success.
Eglington played on the left wing scoring a healthy number of goals, including a fabulous five against Doncaster Rovers in 1952.
#50. Jimmy Gabriel
1959 - 1967
303 Appearances
37 Goals
==
Football League First Division: 1962-63
FA Cup: 1965-66
FA Charity Shield: 1963
“Everton is in your blood – that’s what happens when you play for them.” - Jimmy Gabriel
No matter the player, there is always one episode in their career that will rise above the rest and become their sporting epitaph. For Jimmy Gabriel, his lapidary moment was playing for time in the corner flag, helping to chip away at the final seconds in our remarkable 1966 FA Cup Final comeback against Sheffield Wednesday.
Between 1960 and 1967, Jimmy played over 300 games for Everton and won League and FA Cup medals with us. A defensively minded player, he was bought for a hefty £30,000, becoming Scotland’s most expensive export south of the border. The fact that Gabriel only won two Scottish caps isn’t a reflection on his lack of talent, rather the huge choice of half-backs available to Scotland at the time. Gabriel was a player who managed to carefully tread the line between physicality and skill; he was able to both break up play and distribute the ball too. Manfully, Jimmy twice took on the role of caretaker manager at Everton, and both times he stepped up during a bleak nadir.
There’s a corner of Wembley that will forever be Jimmy Gabriel’s
#49. Tony Cottee
1988 - 1994
241 Appearances
99 Goals
Cottee hated being a substitute and he never warmed up in advance unless he knew he was coming on. That opportunity arrived with just 13 minutes left to play. “Howard put his arm around me and said, ‘Go on and get us a goal’.” Cottee looked at the electric scoreboard in the south-eastern corner of the ground. “I thought to myself, ‘What the fuck am I going to do with so little time left?’.” - Tony Cottee’s interview with the Athletic
A British record signing when Colin Harvey bought him from West Ham in 1988 – TC scored a hat trick on his debut, bagging the first after a mere 34 seconds. As an attempt to replace the irreplaceable – goalscorers like Gary Lineker, Andy Gray and Graeme Sharp – Cottee has always been underrated. Even though he scored 99 goals for the Toffees he is still – somewhat unfairly – looked down on. Cottee was a quick, off-the-shoulder striker similar to Michael Owen, and a true supersub in the 1991 4-4 draw at Goodison.
#48. Tim Cahill
2004 - 2012
226 Appearances
56 Goals
“The only way you can upset a crowd, especially at Anfield, is by scoring. It’s the best feeling ever. Anfield, Goodison Park, the derbies, it’s all about fire.” - Tim Cahill
Strong and unbelievably dominant in the air for someone who is only 5ft 10in1, Cahill had an unreal knack for goalscoring.
The Australian was the competitive heart of Moyes’ side, and is Everton’s post-war top scorer in Merseyside derbies. Whether he is scoring and then trotting off to box the corner flag, leaping into the stands to sign autographs on foreign tours, or mussing the hair of young and wide-eyed fans, he is always doing it for Everton.
Cahill’s late equaliser against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge was a personal favourite. For a sweet second the Aussie was the same way up as his countrymen with brilliantly executed bicycle kick.
Evertonians love Cahill and you get the impression that the feeling is very much mutual…
No. Sorry.
What I’ve typed isn’t enough. I still haven’t captured quite how important he was for us.
Perhaps a Peter Bottomley Dixie’s Sixty match report from back in 2010 will do the trick:
EVERTON 2 (Cahill 34, Arteta 50) – LIVERPOOL 0
Tim Cahill is 30 years old. Many players peak sooner, some, usually defenders and keepers peak later, but the Australian has reached the apex of his playing career and is currently a fearsome combination of physical strength and footballing craft.
Gorge your eyes on him, tell yourself to remember, remember, remember.
Those of us lucky enough to have seen Alan Ball in his pomp always regret we did not see more of him, make not the same mistake with Tim Cahill. In years to come people will ask “what was he like?”
On Sunday this player passed two landmarks, one mathematical the other mythical: His 34th minute strike was his fifth league derby goal, a post war record for a Blue, but it was his overall match performance, along with thirty or forty of equal intensity in recent years, that finally took him through the shimmering veil which separates the merely good, from the truly great. Though nominally operating in his accustomed role, playing just off the lone striker, Cahill was everywhere; at one moment auxiliary defender, the next supporting Arteta in midfield and then popping up to harass and to penetrate the Liverpool rearguard. It was all that we have come to expect from the Aussie, a performance of passion, intelligence and leadership.
Everton dominated from the start. Within eleven seconds a revitalized Yakubu flattened Krygiakos, inside ten minutes Carragher was barking a rebuke at Torres who angrily gesticulated in response, and just after the half-hour mark Everton were ahead.
The excellent Séamus Coleman beat Lucas and Konchesky and crossed for Cahill to instantly crash the ball into the net and the Toffees had the lead their play warranted. Distin and Jagielka were solid and dominant, Arteta was running the game and Osman was tackling, harrying and working so hard that the absence of Pienaar went unnoticed. Appropriately it was Arteta, scoring his first derby goal, who delivered the coup de grace shortly after the break. Kyrgiakos was first to a Baines corner but his header only found the Basque on the edge of the area – Arteta controlled the dropping ball before lashing a powerful swerving shot past Reina into the Park End goal.
To be sure from this point the Reds dominated possession, but carved out only one clear-cut chance, when the superb Sylvain Distin just managed to get to a through ball ahead of Ngog and block it away for a corner. During our slow start to the season some of the manager’s substitutions have been widely criticised, but his decision in the seventy fourth minute to send on Jermaine Beckford for the injured Arteta and go to 4-4-2 was spot on; Beckford saw plenty of the ball, pressurized the Liverpool back four and, if he had been a little more composed when clear through, might have added a third as the Reds pushed forward.
Everton’s season is now finally under way, but there is ground to be made up. Fellaini faces a lengthy layoff, but Rodwell, Pienaar and Saha will soon be ready to rejoin the fray. Yakubu is back, almost reborn; he looked strong as well as physically and mentally sharp, the goals will come. Next Saturday Spurs better be on their guard, they have a tough game in prospect.
#47. Andy King
1975 - 1980
1982 - 1984
248 Appearances
67 Goals
An effervescent and skillful attacking force, Andy King first came to Goodison in 1976 as a £35,000 signing from Luton Town. None of his 68 net bulgers were more memorable than his volleyed goal against the old enemy in October 1978, which has gone down in Goodison lore.
Afterwards, this game was to be known simply as “the Andy King Derby”. For Everton, it was a cathartic end to a terrible run of results against their local rivals…
Liverpool strutted into this match on top of the league and unbeaten in the derby since November 1971. Andy King changed all this; brilliantly ending the red dominance and seven years of hurt with a scorching 20-yard volley beyond a helpless Ray Clemence.
The 1-0 victory and King’s fantastic goal were greeted with wild celebrations, with an officious policeman bundling our hero away before he could talk to an eager reporter. Sadly, instead of sparking a challenge for the title, Everton hovered in second place before dropping to fourth in the league.
King had exquisite technique and a huge heart, and the only regret from Evertonians is that he didn’t truly fulfill his massive potential.
#46. Andy Gray
1983-85
68 appearances
22 goals
==
Football League First Division: 1984-85
FA Cup: 1983-84
FA Charity Shield: 1984
European Cup Winners’ Cup: 1984-85
“Goodison brought out the best in me. Everything about it – the fans, the team, the history of centre forwards – was right. It was like it was meant to be”
Glasgow born Andy Gray was 27, but very injury prone, when Howard Kendall bought him for £250,000 from Wolves, but the Scot managed to crowbar huge success into a short Everton career. They say that if Kendall had more money to splash he would have tried to bag Brazilian Nunes or Paul Mariner.
Luckily he didn’t.
At Everton, Gray would leap and ricochet his way to an FA Cup, a League Championship, and a Cup Winners’ Cup. Gray was exceptionally brave, putting his battered body on the line, leading with his head in places where most wouldn’t put their feet and inspiring those around him and in the stands.
Standout moments include his header against Sunderland, his European hat-trick when Everton swatted aside Fortuna Sittard, his goal in the final against Rapid Vienna, and his goal the year before against Watford in the FA Cup Final. Let’s remember the Gray of the mid-80s; a man a million miles from his white-noise wittering as a football pundit.
#45. Derek Mountfield
1982 - 1988
154 Appearances
25 Goals
==
Football League First Division: 1984-85, 1986-87
FA Cup: 1983-84
FA Charity Shield: 1984, 1985
UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup: 1984-85
"...he scored an incredible amount of goals. He was a bit like John Hurst - a magnet - or years later, Joleon Lescott." - Howard Kendall
A local lad born and bred, Mountfield was paired with Kevin Ratcliffe in the centre of defence when Mark Higgins was struggling with injuries. Neither Ratcliffe nor Mountfield looked back, forming a strong and successful defensive relationship. Both players were quick, but Mountfield was also a huge threat in the opposition area, goalscoring from a defender that wasn’t to be witnessed at Goodison again until the arrival of Joleon Lescott. Mountfield scored ten league goals during the title-winning 1984-85 campaign – but was shunted out of a first team place by Dave Watson in 1986, and Mountfield ultimately left for Aston Villa in the summer of 1988.
#44. Cliff Britton
1930 - 1939
242 Appearances
3 Goals
==
FA Cup: 1932-33
Everton signed Britton in 1930 from Bristol Rovers. Three years later the talented midfielder had won the FA Cup and was later to be recognized by England, winning nine caps in all. Britton provided much ammunition for Bill Dean, who would later claim that his crosses were the best he had ever received.
For more detail, Everton’s great historian aand writer Rob Sawyer provides a great window into Cliff Britton here.
#43. Wayne Rooney
2002 - 2004
2017 - 2018
98 Appearances
25 Goals
“He’s the biggest English talent I’ve seen since I arrived in England. We were beaten by a special goal from a very special talent.” – Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger
“A striker of astonishing precociousness” – Journalist Guy Hodgson
“There is no doubt in my mind. Rooney is no longer just a good prospect – he is already a good player.” – Leeds Manager Terry Venables
“He gave us a glimpse of what he is capable of, which was very exciting for Everton and the whole of English football. Two or three times he really stretched us and he’s only just 17. You’ve got to wonder how good he will be in two or three years’ time.” – West Ham Manager Glenn Roeder
Arsenal seem to have a special relationship with Everton. When Alan Ball left he moved to Highbury. Dixie scored his 60th against them, Arsenal won the title in 1998 by beating us 4-0. Over the years we’ve shared Swedish wingers, foxes in the box, and accident prone keepers. And then there’s Wayne, bagging his first league goal against a hitherto invincible Arsenal.
The sixteen-year-old came on with only the embers of the match remaining, already furious because David Moyes hadn’t played him from the start. It didn’t take him long to turn the game; sending a long range shot that looped over Seaman’s head like a vandal’s brick:
2-1 Everton.
After the goal our young Scouser was bouncing around like a videogame character somehow transplanted into a world of professional footballers. His feet doing what legions of teenagers could only dream of doing with their XBox thumbs.
What most don’t remember is that Rooney came close to scoring a second goal that day. To loop the ball over Seaman’s head once was impressive; to do it twice, and see the ball stray just a pixel too high was amazing. It was AUDACITY with the caps lock on.
I was sat there in the Park End next to my dad, in what – looking back – felt like a Royal box seat for Rooney’s coming-of-age…
And I wasn’t exactly sure what I was witnessing.
Was Wayne going to be another false dawn like Danny Cadamarteri?
The dreadlocked 17-year-old had come into the world of football feet first and hit the ground running, like a precocious young chess champ intent on playing a pickup game with the Grand Masters. But ultimately, Cadamarteri’s goal against Liverpool was the high water mark of his Everton career.
Of course, for our Wayne, it neither began nor ended with his goal against Arsenal. The Rooney phenomenon was already something of an open secret amongst those in-the-know at Goodison, and he went on to score other great goals for Everton, performing an impossibly sharp u-turn at Elland Road whilst leaving Lucas Radebe for dead, as well as a great return goal at Arsenal’s place. Against Bolton he didn’t score, but dominated proceedings to such an extent that stories from that game still bounce around…
Unbelievably, Rooney finished 8th in the 2004 Ballon d’Or, finishing just one vote behind Pavel Nedved…
The rest of this blue fairy tale remains unwritten; Wayne didn’t go on to drag us into a golden age, instead he left for Old Trafford. He did return, in his dotage, but he wasn’t the same player at all. Rooney is surely the greatest talent to come through Everton’s youth team and deserves his place on this list, and Everton were of course compensated with millions for letting him go, but the Wayne I knew, the bullish street-fighter with the world at his feet? I wouldn’t have swapped him for a wilderness of millions.
#42. Mikel Arteta
2005 - 2011
162 Appearances
27 Goals
“On the field, his talent often reminds me of The Golden Vision and off the field he has qualities similar to Alex The Great. You could say he is our La visión de Oro.” - Bill Kenwright
“That was probably the best performance in my time here. Some of our football was fantastic and our passing and movement was just outstanding. It is how I have been hoping to get an Everton team playing and I hope we see Everton playing that was more often – hopefully it’s the first of many. Mikel Arteta’s first 45 minutes was nothing short of magical. The things he did on the ball and the opportunities he created for us were just something else.” - David Moyes, post match, Everton 7-1 Sunderland. November 24, 2007
Our midfield laureate, Arteta had fantastic feet and a sharp footballing brain. Ostensibly brought in as Thomas Gravesen’s replacement – Arteta went on to outshine the Dane. No diver, Arteta was instead equipped with the fleet-footed skill and innate sonar to pick up countless fouls against him.
After his knee injury, we got a different player. If anything he seemed an even more cerebral player, soaking up possession, always looking to play balls on the deck – and rarely dribbling as much as he used to. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise that Arteta, with his plastic Ken-doll hair and glorious portfolio of passes, attracted the attention of Arsene Wenger.
Let’s celebrate the player Mikel was for us, the best little Spaniard we’ve ever known.
#41. Derek Temple
1956 - 1968
275 Appearances
83 Goals
==
FA Cup: 1965-66
FA Charity Shield: 1963
“I never fail to hold my breath and pray that Derek Temple will hit the target for the winning goal. He never disappoints.” - Dr. David France, OBE
Derek ‘Shirley’ Temple, a pacy and versatile player, scored the third miraculous goal in Everton’s famous 1966 Cup Final comeback against Sheffield Wednesday, a cool finish in a cauldron of pressure.
In Dr. France’s magnum opus, Everton Crazy, he asks our hero about that goal, Temple replies,
“If I had been Alex Young I would have dribbled up to the keeper before waltzing around him, nut-megging him and back-heeling the ball into the net. My practical alternatives were to chip the keeper or to blast the ball past him. I noticed that Springett had advanced from his line and decided to try my luck from the edge of the box. I knew exactly where I was going to hit the ball. Fortunately, the ball behaved itself.”
Temple’s quick-witted two-footed wing play even won the attention of Alf Ramsey, earning him one England cap in 1965. Thank you Derek, for that famous goal and answering Dr. France’s - and thousands of other Evertonians - prayers.
#40. Johnny Morrissey Sr.
1962-72
311 appearances
50 goals
==
Football League First Division: 1962-63. 1969-70
FA Cup: 1965-66
FA Charity Shield: 1963, 1970
"We went into Liverpool, and Bally gave me some of the best advice anyone could give. 'Don't take the ball off Johnny Morrissey in training.' Johnny was a fearsome character and you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of him. He did not suffer fools gladly. I've seen Johnny chase people around Bellefield for simply tackling him; Terry Darracott was one who was naive enough to try it. We were his team-mates too; among opponents he was hated and feared. He was number one in Jackie Charlton's 'black book' and completely ruthless. Luckily I was warned before it was too late." - Howard Kendall: Love Affairs and Marriage
A trapeze artist on the wing – as testament to his balance he wore rubber studs in all weather – but Morrissey was extremely tough, too. Add to this the fact that this (staunch) red turned Blue for £10,000 in 1962 and you have the perfect Goodison idol.
Morrissey made his debut against Liverpool after signing for Everton – and he scored in a 2-2 draw but the brilliance of the Holy Trinity has often, unfairly, left this man in the dark.
Morrissey scored 50 goals for the Blues, won two League Championships and an FA Cup, and regularly dispensed languid floated crosses for Joe Royle to attack with his head.
#39. Romelu Lukaku
2013 - 2017
166 Appearances
87 Goals
"I call Romelu the lawyer. He discusses everything, even his socks. It’s important that people know that because sometimes they think the younger generation doesn’t care enough.” - Thierry Henry
Big Rom, not so much the first name on the team sheet, but rather on the teamsheet's letterhead. As a striker, Lukaku's goals define him:
His cut inside from the right wing against Arsenal
His free kick against Palace.
His header against West Ham.
His 4 goals in one game against Bournemouth.
His slot against Man City at home, and his run and finish against Man City away.
His slalom and finish against Chelsea in the FA Cup.
There are goals I've forgotten, I'm sure. With Lukaku the goals are so regular, the variety so rich, that it's easy to forget about them - it's easy to take him for granted. In Everton blue, Lukaku was always a threat, keeping defenders up at night, forever bursting bubbles and seemingly always scoring. It's no coincidence that after netting against Arsenal when playing on the right (a Martinez masterstroke) he went to hug Roberto afterwards, and the same happened when he scored his free kick against Palace, no doubt after soaking up Koeman's advice on free-kicks like a sponge. Lukaku the "Lawyer" wants advice, and he uses it to make himself better.
The numbers on Lukaku, the raw facts, are so compelling - but they still don't do enough to quiet some of the more moan prone fans at our club. They wanted more from him, thought him too lazy (a word that comes with shades of racism) and thought he was always eyeing the exit.
Romelu Lukaku is goalscoring royalty, and sits comfortably amongst other greats on this list.
#38. Bob Latchford
1974 - 1981
289 Appearances
138 Goals
Big Bad Bob was England’s best centre forward during the 70’s – his thirty goals in the 1977-78 season won him £10,000 from the Daily Express (which he shared amongst team-mates, ground staff and the PFA Benevolent Fund) – indeed he was the first to reach that number in six seasons. Ian Rush’s idol, Latchford was a bustling centre forward in the classic Toffee mould. He may have only managed to halve Bill Dean’s superhuman season tally but he is still an Everton legend.
Bob’s Thirtieth; Everton 6-0 Chelsea. April 29, 1978 —
On American televisions Chelsea are dubbed “soccer legends” in commercials, fêted as a big team that has always been big and always will be. Back in the late 70’s they were dilettantes at best, and on this day they played the role of meek victims to perfection.
This six goal thumping sealed Bob Latchford’s £10,000 prize from the Daily Express for scoring his 30th goal of the season, a feat which hadn’t occurred in the top flight for six years.
Like Dixie, Big Bad Bob was a growling muscle car of a striker. The Latchford goal machine roared into this final match of the season on 28 goals – two short of his target and the Daily Express prize – but in this game none of the first three were scored by him. As Latchford kicked into gear, hitting the fourth and sixth (a slightly dodgy penalty) of this rout, emotions and fans spilled onto the pitch from the stands. Bob shared the prize money amongst team-mates, ground staff and the PFA Benevolent Fund
Fittingly, Latchford’s thirty came fifty years after Dixie’s sixty. Only Graeme Sharp and Dixie Dean sit above Bob Latchford in terms of goals scored for our glorious club. That season only Liverpool and champions Nottingham Forest finished above us.
#37. Jordan Pickford
2017 - Present
289 Appearances
“I dislocated my finger, I told the physio to pop it back in. I wasn’t coming off.” - Jordan Pickford
“Firstly, the reason he takes tonnes of sh*t is because he’s a brilliant football player and if you play at the highest level, and particularly if you’re England’s #1, the minute you get the jersey… someone wants to take it off you or say why it should be taken off you. That’s a real pressure that others don’t understand.'‘ - Frank Lampard, August 2022
“He reminds me of Eminem,” said a mate - a Gooner - of Jordan Pickford once. “He seems unstable.”
He’s not the only one on the outside looking in, waiting for Pickford to crash and burn. Yet, at almost 300 games for his club and over 70 for his country, Jordan Pickford is yet to let either down.
And that’s what he does, he stands up and puts the team on his back. In Sunderland’s barrel scrapingly disastrous season, he was better than any keeper in Europe. In one game, the Mackems got smashed 2-0 by Arsenal, but Pickford still picked up the man-of-the-match award after making eleven saves.
“Pickford absolutely standing on his head in goal, making one highlight-reel save after another as his defenders stand idly by taking in the scene. Arsenal’s detractors from within and without are surely going to offer their criticisms if they only escape this match with a 1-0 result, but truthfully this could be 5-nil if not for Pickford.” - Guardian minute-by-minute match report on Arsenal 2-0 Sunderland, 16 May 2017
Our player of the season in the last three years.2 How often has Jordan Pickford drawn a line in the sand, and dived around in front of it, determined not to let a ball past him?
When we were five points deep into the relegation zone and facing Chelsea in May 2022, his double save , diving from post to post, was remarkable. His manager at the time, Frank Lampard called it not just the save of the season but the “save of the Premier League era.” Pickford had to get medical treatment after saving Azpilicueta’s effort with his face.
Against Bournemouth, in yet another we have to win or we are getting relegated match, Pickford dislocated his finger. The physio clicked it back into place and he went on to repel Bournemouth attacks.
Most recently against West Ham, he somehow managed to stop a cruel last-minute deflected shot by Danny Ings - a man who always seems to score against us - and grab us a share of the spoils.
Is there any better feeling than seeing Pickford grab a cross or shot in the dying minutes of a match and watch him fall to the floor, exhausted, smiling, triumphant?
He’s been through a wilderness of managers - Koeman, Unsworth, Allardyce, Silva, Ferguson, Ancelotti, Benitez, Ferguson (again), Lampard, and now Dyche - and a rotating cast of defenders, some of whom couldn’t defend. But he’s always there, saving us, putting the team, the fans and whoever the manager is at the time, on his back.
#36. Adrian Heath
1981 - 1989
308 Appearances
94 Goals
==
Football League First Division: 1984-85, 1986-87
FA Cup: 1983-84
FA Charity Shield: 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987
UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup: 1984-85
"I looked constantly for what the paying public would consider an 'Everton type of player'. By that I meant men who liked to go forward, have a crack at goal and entertain the fans. Adrian was one of those players." - Howard Kendall
A club-record-signing when he joined Everton from Stoke City in January 1982 for £700,000, little Adrian Heath brought guile to Everton’s midfield. Health was a polyglot player who was comfortable speaking both the language of a forward and a midfielder.
Intelligent off-the-ball movement meant that the pitter-patter of Inchy’s feet was heard everywhere, most obviously with his vital goal against Oxford in the League Cup - "The Scene of the Climb" - and a game that marked a change in fortunes for Howard Kendall and his team.
#34= Séamus Coleman
2009-Present
424 appearances
28 goals
“On day one, Séamus came to my office, and was honest about the club, things will remain private, but the situation and the size of the situation. And straight away I could see the burden Séamus was carrying, in a good way because he cares so much." - Frank Lampard
“He epitomizes what this club’s about more than any other player that I can remember in our history, because he’s so community minded…he’s in touch with the fans, he could sit amongst the fans and watch the game. He really is a terrific kid.” - Joe Royle
It’s 2009.
A young full back we signed from Sligo Rovers for just 60 grand, has to undergo surgery on an infected blister that nearly went to the bone.
“It wasn’t until maybe a month, six weeks after that, I was told, ‘We were concerned, you could have lost your big toe.’ That would have been the end of that.”
Months later, Everton are playing Spurs.
After just 15 minutes an injured Joseph Yobo is substituted and a young, unknown Irishman trotted into the right back position.
Everton’s back four now contains three right backs. Spurs lick their lips.
Shoulders dropped. Few on the pitch, or in the crowd, doubt that Spurs, already looking threatening, were going to be trouble.
A few minutes later, the Irishman sees an opening and surges into the Spurs penalty area, he beats his man and delivers a cross which Tim Cahill misses by inches.
In that moment we see the birth of a Premier League footballer: he had crossed the threshold. Later, he was given the Man of the Match Award. But the real coffee spluttering moment comes when we realize that we bought him for just sixty grand.
Dixie’s sixty is rightfully woven into Everton and footballing folklore, but there’s another player to whom this number also holds huge significance.
Séamus’ Sixty.
Rarely can a young player, promoted from the reserves, on home debut, have made such an immediate impact. My dad says he’s witnessed just three; Joe Royle, David Johnson and Wayne Rooney.
After years of waiting for a good right back, we got even more than we had asked for; this boy, Séamus is ruthlessly direct – like a mouthy child that spouts awkward home truths – and he has the fearless effervescence of youth3. Whenever he plays he itches to attack.
==
It’s 2012.
My dad bumps into Séamus Coleman before a game at Goodison. Bottomley Sr says, “I’ve put a pound on you to score!” Séamus laughs.
“You should have bought a cup of tea instead!”
==
It’s 2014.
Séamus is named Everton’s Player's Player and the Supporters Player of the Season.
"It's indescribable to win these two accolades. When I arrived here in 2009 I couldn't have imagined I'd be stood here with these awards in my hands.”
==
It’s 2017.
Séamus breaks his tibia and fibula in his right leg during Ireland’s World Cup qualifier with Wales. It's a horrific injury.
==
It’s 2018.
James McCarthy suffers a double leg break while playing for Everton.
"When I got into the tunnel I looked up and Séamus was there which was great. We're best mates in football. He was telling me not to worry, saying I'll get through it and come back stronger. The next day he came back up when I was in hospital which was really good of him.”
Later that year… Séamus scores his first goal in 652 days in our 3-1 win over Brighton. As he slides towards the Gwladys, he puts his hands to his ears.
Everton have long been criticized for being softies on the pitch. Perhaps, perhaps, we’re too nice on the pitch, and not nice enough off it.
==
It’s 2022
Séamus is still our right back, and we’re in trouble. Relegation looms.
Lampard, in the changing rooms, pays emotional tribute to our right back:
“This fella is one of the best people I have ever met. As a man, and as a player.”
He’s deservedly rested for the final game against Arsenal. But Lampard continues:
“On day one Séamus came to me, sat in my office and was honest about the Club. Things that will remain private. But he was honest about the situation and the size of the situation.
“I could see straight away the burden Séamus was carrying, in a good way, because he cares so much, and he just wanted to change it. From then on, after those words, his actions have been something else: speaking, training, standards every day, performances in games.
“I have never seen humility like it, in my time in football. I heard a lot of good things about Séamus before I came to the Club. He has gone there and beyond. I have never met anyone who has his morals and standards and he is an incredible player.
“You talk about legends of football clubs and he is certainly one of those.”
==
It’s May 2023.
Same sh*t, different season. We are a horror movie, and not even a good one, I Know What You Did Last Summer's incompetent footballing sequel:
I really don’t have a f*cking clue what I did last summer.
Everton are again floundering, relegation again looms, and Séamus - returning from injury in a vital match against Leicester City - is playing right back.
In the last few weeks, we’ve asked the players to fight for our club.
And Séamus does fight… (Of course he does)
Before half time, Séamus collides with Soumaré. It’s an awkward, painful looking collision. Séamus’ leg twists in an unnatural way. He’s down and in pain. A stretcher comes, but even then he sits up and roars our boys on as he’s leaving the field.
That afternoon, we didn’t know how bad the injury was. Even so, it was hard not to think that that might have been the last we saw of Séamus the Everton player. This felt like a Pyrrhic draw, and only Everton could find a way to get a Pyrrhic draw.
==
It’s 2024.
Séamus Coleman is still an Everton player, and gives everything for us whenever he sets foot on the pitch.
#34= Leighton Baines
2007 - 2020
420 Appearances
39 Goals
"I think Leighton is more than a player - he is an icon." - Roberto Martinez
When it comes to Everton, it’s the hope that gets you. And Leighton Baines gave us hope. He had a left foot like a preacher’s mouth. Made us all believers, while he did unbelievable things.
Legend?
The legend tag annoys me. Let’s bin it, There has been a slow, tectonic shift in Everton, from Dixie’s time, the barren 50s, Merseyside Millionaires in 60s, the wonderful 80s, the skint 90s, and the current listless spend, spend, spend lose, lose, lose era. The past is a foreign country, or more accurately /several/ different countries…
Because Everton, and football, has changed so much, it seems unfair to compare legends from different eras. But for the Everton that Leighton Baines played for, he was exceptional.
In the 2012/13 season he created more chances than any other player in Europe. His 96 chances eclipsed everyone from Ozil to Suarez to Silva. At one point he was the defender with the most assists in Premier League history . It took Leighton Baines until 2014 to miss a Premier League penalty, and he was the third defender to score 30 Premier League goals after John Terry and David Unsworth.
And those free kicks. Just look at the faces of the West Ham fans when he was lining up… They knew. And so did we. He scored two free kicks in the same game.
That left foot, like a preacher’s mouth.
That free kick against Newcastle? Unbelievable. Impossibly far out, yet destined for the back of the net.
420 appearances? Unbelievable
That match against Chelsea in the FA Cup, scuttling over challenges, launching cross after delectable cross, even trying his luck with his lesser known right foot, and then scoring that 119th minute free kick? Unbelievable.
Perhaps this weekend, his last game for Everton, just 20 minutes in front of an empty Goodison against Bournemouth, was fitting for such a modest man.
But we won’t forget him.
Make no mistake, the naughtiest left back in town stacks up against Ray Wilson and his vicar’s collar.
I remember asking my dad about Ray Wilson, “How good was he dad?”
I don’t remember my dad’s exact reply, but I do remember thinking I wish I could have seen him play.
When our kids ask us the same question about Leighton, make sure you do him justice too.
****
Don't think Leighton Baines should be this high on the list?
In the 2012/13 season Baines created more chances than any other player in Europe. His 96 chances eclipsed everyone from Ozil to Suarez to Silva. He's also the defender with the most assists in Premier League history , it took him until 2014 to miss a Premier League penalty, and he's only the third defender to score 30 Premier League goals after John Terry and David Unsworth.
His 53 asssts asre the THIRD most assists for a defender in PL history.
One fewer assist than Mesut Ozil and Eric Cantona, and three more than Roberto Firmino.
This modest southpaw can cross, tackle, attack, and by God – can he hit a free kick, The Baines that I would want in my side above all left backs is the one that played at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea in the FA Cup last season: scuttling over challenges, launching cross after delectable cross, even trying his luck with his lesser known right foot, and then scoring that 119th minute free kick…
Still have doubts about our Leighton? Watch his free kick against Newcastle, impossibly far out and destined for the back of the net.
#33. Joe Mercer OBE
1932 - 1947
184 Appearances
2 Goals
==
Football League First Division: 1938-39
A league title winner at Goodison in 1938-39, Ellesmere Port born Mercer was an excellent left half and an England legend. Everton got four seasons out of him before the war. As with many players of his generation the war ‘stole’ what would have been his best years. He moved to Arsenal for £9,000 in 1946, though he continued to commute from Merseyside. Mercer’s fierce tackling and marauding runs were to be missed. His long and distinguished managerial career included spells at Sheffield Utd., Villa, Manchester City and as the caretaker England boss.
#32. John Hurst
1965 - 1976
402 Appearances
34 Goals
==
Football League First Division: 1969-70
FA Charity Shield: 1970
A product of Everton’s youth system, Hurst was a key member of the 1970 league championship-winning side, playing at the heart of the defence alongside Brian Labone. An imposing and skilful player, Hurst has been somewhat neglected by the historians but his contribution is not forgotten by this admirer. Confusingly for those less flexible times he wore the No 10 shirt. Legend had it at the time that this allowed the goal-shy Colin Harvey to wear the No 6 shirt thus lifting psychological pressure from the attacking midfielder’s shoulders. Given Harry Catterick’s man-management skills, this is not as outlandish an explanation as might be imagined…
#31. Paul Bracewell
1984-89
95 appearances
7 goals
==
Football League First Division: 1984-85, 1986-87
UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup: 1984-85
“Brace complemented Peter Reid perfectly. Their understanding was terrific right from the start and you could almost guarantee that if somebody got past Reidy, Paul would be a few yards behind him waiting to get them.” - Andy Gray on Paul Bracewell.
Bracewell, a tough, tidy, and driven midfielder won a Championship medal with Everton, as well as the 1985 European Cup Winners’ Cup. For England however, Bracewell won a scandalously meagre three caps.
Bracewell’s severe ankle injury kept him out of the entire 1986-87 title-winning campaign and took over 18 months for doctors to successfully diagnose and cure.
The great shame about Bracewell is that his talent was hobbled by injury, and he was only at the top of his game for a ridiculously short amount of time. Despite this, he left his mark on Goodison, and was a major artery in our midfield.
#30. Tommy Wright
1964-73
371 appearances
4 goals
==
Football League First Division: 1969-70
FA Cup: 1965-66
FA Charity Shield: 1970
Pugnacious Tommy Wright was a product of Merseyside and had already been recognised as an England schoolboy when he joined Everton. When he wasn’t fiercely defending his flank, he was making wingers lives a misery by storming into the opposition half with his penetrating runs. A part of the miraculous 1966 FA Cup final win he went on to win eleven caps for England, including some appearances in the 1970 World Cup. Whilst never as accomplished as his blue colleague Ray Wilson, Wright was still a top class full back who played for Everton for almost a decade...
#29. Gordon West
1962 - 1973
402 Appearances
==
Football League First Division: 1962-63. 1969-70
FA Cup: 1965-66
FA Charity Shield: 1963, 1970
“I was better than Neville in the Sixties but I’ll accept that he was better than me in the Eighties. Today, we are about the same – both of us are fat bastards.”
"As a goalkeeper he was undoubtedly one of the best in the game; as a character he was one of the biggest too. He was truly great goalkeeper." - Howard Kendall
Harry Catterick’s first signing; £27,000 from Blackpool in March 1962, for what was then a record fee for a ’keeper, turned out to be one of his most astute. West was an agile goalie whose excellent handling, shot-stopping and judgement of angles made him a virtual ever-present during two championship winning campaigns. It beggars belief that West had never played in goal until a friend asked him to accompany him to a trial with Blackpool which led two him turning professional in 1960...
As Howard Kendall attests to above, he was certainly a character as well. Journalist Nick Szczepanik writes that his "comedic double act with the Everton captain Brian Labone could have prospered on the stage had it not been essential to success at Goodison Park."
Had he not had the misfortune to be a contemporary of the legendary Gordon Banks, he would certainly have had more than just three England caps. West turned down a chance to join the squad in the World Cup finals in Mexico in 1970 because he wanted to stay at home with his family, "I get homesick if I'm away a long while"
#28. Andrei Kanchelskis
1995-1997
60 appearances
22 goals
I remember the long drawn out process of signing Andrei Kanchelskis. It was tortuous.
First beating off rivals for his signature - Middlesbrough and Liverpool were interested. Then came extricating him from Man Utd and working out compensation for his previous club Shakytar Donestk. Somewhere in there came dreaming about signing him, not quite believing it. Something had to go wrong, how the hell were we going to sign him!?!
Once we'd bagged him I thought it would be easy, but even then lay a problem. An innocuous tumble in his first game led to a dislocated shoulder and an endless wait to see him grace Goodison.
It was preposterous, but somehow all that fuss and intrigue and injury was worth it. He was sheer quality.
The number of goals Kanchelskis scored for Everton from the right wing would make most strikers green with envy. He earns his place on this list thanks to his explosive first season on Merseyside, when he scored 16 goals in 21 games. The season after he was hampered by injury and distracted by an agent whispering sweet transfer nothings into his ear.
Kanchelskis is regarded by Joe Royle as the best player he has ever managed, and it was hard to disagree as the Russian sliced through the opposition with his pace.
Mike Tyson’s hugely influential trainer Cus D’Amato used to tell him that “speed kills” and he’d repeat it like a mantra to his young charge; Kanchelskis displayed a similar brutally direct speed to the heavyweight, he was like lightning.
#27. Gary Stevens
1982 - 1988
293 Appearances
13 Goals
==
Football League First Division: 1984-85, 1986-87
FA Cup: 1983-84
FA Charity Shield: 1984, 1985
European Cup Winners’ Cup: 1984-85
Pace.
It was all about pace for Stevens, pace that covered (small) cracks in his game, pace that gave him two (even three) opportunities to tackle, pace that allowed him to get to a loose ball first in the ’84 cup final and set up Graeme Sharp…
Undoubtedly one of the best graduates of the Everton youth team, initially Howard Kendall brought Stevens into the side as a midfielder, but soon he had supplanted Brian Borrows at right back, who was eventually sold in 1983.
Even better than Bainaar was Steven(s)…
Such was his symbiotic relationship with the man who played in front of him that Gary Stevens and Trevor Steven effectively came as a pair. After Everton, they continued to play together at Glasgow Rangers…
Stevens won two league titles, four Charity Shields, and FA Cup and a Cup Winners Cup with Everton…
#26. Bobby Collins
1958 - 1962
147 Appearances
48 Goals
Collins was only 5ft 4in, his career at Everton was only four years, and yet he made a lasting impression. An inside forward with amazing awareness, it only took two campaigns for the ‘Pocket Napoleon’ to be top scorer. He went on to bigger success at Leeds United where he won player of the year in 1965 and was described by manager Don Revie as a ‘teacher’ on the pitch. However, Evertonians still remember his sharp passing and how he demanded the ball as if possession were his oxygen. Above all, Collins lays his claim for a place on this list with the way he took responsibility for pulling the socks up of the whole team, twice helping the Blues avoid the drop.
#25. Dave Hickson
1951-56, 1957-60
243 Appearances
109 Goals
“I would have died for Everton. I would have broken every other bone in my body for any other club, that’s how I look at it, you know. I would have died for this club.”
As Everton’s “Cannonball kid”, Dave Hickson hurtled around the field, fighting for his team during a fruitless era and securing his place in the Goodison firmament. Hickson played for all three Merseyside clubs, but it was Everton that he fell in love with.
Stuck towards the bottom of the second division, Goodison looked to the FA Cup for hope. A crowd of almost 78,000 saw Dave Hickson and his blonde quiff go into battle against reigning champions Manchester United.
Naturally Hickson threw himself head first into this game, and got a gruesome gash above his eyebrow for his efforts. He had his wound stitched up, unexpectedly returned to the fray, scored the match winner, and even tore his stitches open later in the game. He was carried off the pitch a hero, and a Goodison legend was born.
Hickson would ricochet around other clubs, including Liverpool and Tranmere – but he was first and foremost an Evertonian and lifted spirits in a dour decade for our club.
#24. Kevin Sheedy
1982 - 1992
369 Appearances
97 Goals
==
Football League First Division: 1984-85, 1986-87
European Cup Winners’ Cup: 1985
FA Charity Shield: 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987
"His left foot was like a wand; his technique glorious." - Howard Kendall
Sheedy’s talent lay fallow at Liverpool, until Kendall took him to Goodison for £100,000 – it speaks volumes that Bob Paisley was both against the deal and unhappy with the tribunal-set price. Blessed with a left foot that was responsible for countless perfect passes – aiding and abetting Gary Lineker during the striker’s smash-and-grab tenure at Goodison – and wonderful free kicks, he was a vital part of Everton’s heady mid-eighties success. Look beyond his left foot – I know it’s hard – and you see an excellent 97 goals in 369 appearances. Another genius signing by Kendall, he gave the two-fingered salute to the Kop after scoring, pushing him higher up this list.
#23. Trevor Steven
1983 - 1989
299 Appearances
60 Goals
==
Football League First Division: 1984-85, 1986-87
FA Cup: 1984-85, 1985-86, 1988-89
FA Charity Shield: 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987
UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup: 1984-85
"One of the players that I knew straight away I would do anything to sign was Trevor Steven...He looked an Everton player, and when I say an Everton player I'm talking about an Alex Young-type player - that standard, that level of class." - Howard Kendall
Trevor Steven provided ammunition for Sharp and Gray in the mid-eighties and scored his share of goals too. Steven was the archetypal winger and the brilliant crossing and sheer cunning of the man known as “Tricky Trev” was a wonderful asset in a hugely successful team. Like almost all of the eighties Toffee alumni Steven took a while to bed-in but his four medals are steeped in success.
#22. Dave Watson
1986 - 2001
528 Appearances
37 Goals
==
Football League First Division: 1986-87
FA Cup: 1994-95
FA Charity Shield: 1987, 1995
When Howard Kendall, aware that Derek Mountfield was waning, made his move for Dave Watson the Norwich City manager Ken Brown said that selling his defender would be akin to "cutting off my right arm."
Evertonians were lucky to see 15 years of service from Dave Watson, who proved to be the consummate defender. Merseyside born, and regurgitated by Liverpool, 24-year-old Watson was signed from Norwich City in August 1986 for a record fee of £900,000. He won 12 England caps. His championship medal in his first season and the 1995 FA Cup win in the tail-end of his career are fitting bookends for this gutsy club captain.
#21. Gary Lineker OBE
1985 - 1986
57 Appearances
40 Goals
==
FA Charity Shield: 1985
Ballon d’Or: runner-up 1986
"There’s no doubt at all that Everton was the best team I ever played in."
For months the Gwladys Street looked upon Andy Gray's replacement with suspicious eyes, but eventually this goal-glutton won over huge swathes of Goodison. Lineker spent only one season at Everton, but it was punctuated by goals at every turn. He scored 40 goals in 57 appearances in total for Everton, won the Golden Boot at the 1986 Mexico World Cup - and then moved to Barcelona. His short Everton career was the perfect season for a striker, and if he had stayed longer he would surely be even higher on this list.
#20. Warney Cresswell
1927 – 1936
308 Appearances
1 Goal
==
Football League First Division: 1927-28, 1931-2
FA Cup: 1933
FA Charity Shield: 1928, 1932
“You cannot beat this side by charging; you can’t get near them to deliver your charge; you must apply brains, and if they beat you, well they are the better side.” – Warney Cresswell on losing to Arsenal in September 1931, showing his belief in brains over brawn.
Laid back, almost to the point of excess in his early days at Goodison, Cresswell oozed such class that he became known as “the prince of full backs”. Cresswell was both an attacking force for Everton and an impeccable defender. For a time the world’s most expensive footballer, it took a lot, one reporter observed to “stand up to a man of the arts and classes of Cresswell”. Reports at the time breathlessly talk of a player who didn’t tackle, but rather performed a “nonchalant robbery of the ball” and was praised for both “his calm judgement and his delicious football.”
These days you'd assume that a 29-year-old signing wouldn't be with a view to the long-term, but Cresswell played for Everton over 300 times, and was on our books for almost a decade, collecting three championship medals and an FA Cup in the process.
#19. Mick Lyons
1970 - 1982
473 Appearances
59 Goals
Mick Lyons had the misfortune to play during the barren years of gradual decline at Goodison following the 1969/70 title win. Not skilful but powerful and physically imposing, not even his iron will was enough to resist the slide which culminated in the bleak Gordon Lee years. He said he would run through a brick wall for Everton……..and frequently did.
#18. Jack Sharp
1899 - 1910
342 Appearances
76 Goals
==
FA Cup: 1905-06
Signed from Aston Villa in 1899, he was a short, stocky man described by one writer of the day as a “Pocket Hercules.” - Everton FC
Born in Hereford in 1878 Sharp was a lightning-fast and exciting outside right who represented England at cricket and football, he played 342 games for Everton and went on to be a director at Goodison. Jack bagged three league championship runners-up medals, one FA Cup runners up medal and lifted the FA Cup in 1906 when Everton beat Newcastle United 1-0 at Crystal Palace. A superb cricketer, he hit 38 hundreds for his beloved Lancashire and, in 1909, also managed to crowbar three Test matches against Australia into his career, scoring 105 at the Oval.
Immortalised in countless cigarette cards, stocky, fast, and talented in two sports, Jack Sharp is a true legend.
#17. Joe Royle
1965 - 1975
276 Appearances
119 Goals
==
Football League First Division: 1969-70
FA Charity Shield: 1970
"When you're looking at centre forwards, Joe's got to have been one of the best in the club's history." - Howard Kendall
Merseyside-born and home-grown, Joe made his debut aged 16 versus Blackpool. A precocious talent who was a superb header of the ball and an imposing physical presence, Royle scored 23 goals in the 1969/70 championship season at the tender age of just 21. Under Catterick’s inventive management, Joe frequently operated as a lone striker in front of a five-man-midfield, long before the formation became commonplace. His penalty-taking technique was literally stunning….hit the ball as hard as you can!
#16. Ray Wilson MBE
1964-69
154 Appearances
==
FA Cup: 1965-66
World Cup: 1966
“There wasn’t a winger who played against him who could claim to have broken even in the exchange, let alone come out on top.” – Alan Ball
“Whenever I wander down the streets I used to roam as a kid I get a lump in my throat, a tear in my eye and a twinge in my heart. Backstreet football, a paper round, a punch on the nose, that was my heritage.” - Ray Wilson writing of his home town, Shirebrook, Derbyshire
Ramon Wilson is not only the best full back in Everton’s history, he became a world champion in 1966 playing every single minute of England’s six games. It’s not an exaggeration to write that he would have had a claim to be in a World’s Best XI at the time.
“Wilson was possibly the first modern fullback. Before the 60s, fullbacks were big bruisers pitted against speedy, nimble wingers. It made no sense. So fullbacks became fast and nimble, like Wilson, and could overlap and attack in their own right.” - Simon Hattenstone
He was 29 when Harry Catterick bought him from Huddersfield in 1964 for £35,000 plus Republic of Ireland international Mick Meaghan; England’s Alf Ramsey regarded him to be the best left back he had ever seen. Tough, nimble, hard in the tackle, and armed with the ultimate defenders’ get-out-of-jail-free card, raw pace, he improved under the more intense Everton training system. Wilson also played a clean game, and was only booked once in his career.
There’s a statue, close to where West Ham’s Boleyn Ground used to be, called “The Champions”. Unsurprisingly, it features the three West Ham players that won the World Cup, and one other person: Ray Wilson. In general though, he was one of the forgotten men of ‘66 and wasn’t given his MBE until 2000. Four years later, when watching a documentary about the 1966 team, Wilson remarked,
“Geoff Hurst, Nobby Stiles, Bobby and Jack Charlton, Gordon Banks . . . after ten profiles I was waiting to see myself bringing up the rear. But nothing. They ignored me, as if we hadn’t had 11 players that day. It made me smile.”
Forgotten by some England fans, never by Evertonians.
#15. Sam Chedgzoy
1910-26
300 Appearances
35 goals
==
Football League First Division: 1914-15
Ellesmere Port born Chedgzoy can claim to be the main catalyst for the corner-kick rules that were highlighted years ago with the corner kick controversy involving Wayne Rooney and Ryan Giggs at Old Trafford. Against Arsenal, Chedgzoy dribbled a corner kick into the area and took a shot, exposing a loophole in the rules.
England’s outside right – the successor to Jack Sharp at Everton - and a father figure to the young Dixie Dean – Chedgzoy won the league title in 1915, supplying Bobby Parker with cross after delectable cross, and was capped eight times for England.
Chedgzoy played football at various levels until he was 51(!)
#14. Peter Reid
1982 - 1989
235 Appearances
13 Goals
==
Football League First Division: 1984-85, 1986-87
FA Cup: 1983-84
FA Charity Shield: 1984, 1985, 1987
European Cup Winners’ Cup: 1984-85
"I played against Reidy when I was at Stoke and I thought he was a good player even then. I could see it and I could feel it when he tackled me, and he stuck in my mind." - Howard Kendall
Howard Kendall was famed for his transfer clairvoyance, and few signings eclipse the purchase of Peter Reid. Although he was a player whose career had been pebble-dashed with injury, the tenacious Reid came to symbolise a team that could mix brutal steel with a velvet touch. In the seminal second-leg game against Bayern Munich, Reid, lying prone with a huge gash on his shin from a Lothar Matthaus tackle, ran to the touchline and instead of leaving to repair his wound, thrust a wet sponge down his sock and carried on. His actions set the tone for the rest of the game. Reid and his huge, growling midfield engine not only won the League Championship with Everton but won himself the PFA footballer of the year in 1985.
#13. Howard Kendall
1967-74, 1981
277 Appearances
30 Goals
==
Football League First Division: 1969–70
FA Charity Shield: 1970
“I’ve had love affairs with other clubs, with Everton it’s a marriage.”
It wasn’t just Harry Catterick who was interested in signing Howard Kendall; numerous other clubs were tracking him too, most notably Bill Shankly’s Liverpool. Catterick won this tug of war not only by signing Kendall for £85,000 but by leaking to the press that Liverpool had won the race for the Preston man.
Even Kendall himself knew of Liverpool’s long term interest in him, and assumed that the Merseyside team that would come in for him would be red.
Counterfactual history is fashionable. What if Hitler had won the war? What if JFK hadn’t been assassinated? Students of Merseyside’s football history could ask, “What if Howard Kendall had signed for Liverpool,” and the answer doesn’t bear thinking about…
When Shankly realised that he’d been sold a transfer dummy he was so infuriated that he tendered his resignation to the Liverpool board, they rejected it (it wasn’t the first or last time Shankly offered to quit) – but Shankly had been outfoxed by his Merseyside rival in one of Goodison’s greatest mind games.
As a player Kendall was a member of the Holy Trinity – a gang of three lads who were anything but likely – and someone with an important foot in both the 1970 and 1985 championship camps. Kendall was, in modern parlance, the ‘holding’ midfielder who facilitated the rapier thrusts of Harvey and the ‘free’ role played by Ball. Whereas Alan Ball and Colin Harvey coursed over the Goodison turf like lusty hounds, Kendall sat deeper, scheming and spraying his ecumenical passes. The clever through-balls of the late 60's turned into hugely astute signings as a manger during the 80's. He represented England at schoolboy, youth and under 23 level but amazingly never won a full England cap.
I never knew Howard Kendall. I can’t write about what a fantastic man he was, but clearly, he was. The squall of beautiful anecdotes that I have seen, from players, managers, and fans of all teams attest to that. The cliché that athletes die twice, first after retiring and second after death, doesn’t quite work for Kendall. He always seemed to be around – as a player, as a manager, and as an Evertonian.
We are who we are today because of him. Like Dixie, like Catterick, like Big Nev he has made us. When you look at our badge, when you hear Goodison’s lusty roar, and your mind whirs like a rolodex in a hurricane, his is one of the names that appears.
The past is a foreign country, and Everton’s past has always fascinated me. For someone who grew up on a diet of relegation scraps with a side order of underwhelming signings, I used to ask dad about the Holy Trinity (and still do). He never could quite explain what they were like. Great players, truly great players can’t be summed up in words, can’t be neatly wrapped up by metaphors – they are too unique. There is no foothold into these players with comparison. When I asked my dad who Alan Ball was like, he couldn’t come up with a satisfactory answer, and the same goes for Kendall and Harvey. “He was a little bit like X, but more classy, and scored more goals.” No. These players are different from anyone I’ve seen. And thank god we signed Howard Kendall. As one of our greatest players and our greatest ever manager, Catterick’s signing of Kendall, when he could easily have been bagged by Liverpool, is Everton’s Louisiana Purchase.
I’m happy Howard Kendall got a minute’s applause after he died, because Kendall’s life was worth more than just silence. It was a life to be happy about, to be proud of. The only tragedy would be to forget him.
#12. Graeme Sharp
1980 - 1991
447 Appearances
160 Goals
==
Football League First Division: 1984-85, 1986-87
FA Cup: 1983-84
FA Charity Shield: 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987
European Cup Winners’ Cup: 1984-85
“Sharp! What a fantastic goal! An unbelievable finish from Graeme Sharp! And the Evertonians have gone berserk!”
His Anfield goal will stay in our hearts and stick in the gullet of Liverpool fans for years. The cathartic 30 yard half-volley started with a Stevens’ long pass and ended with Sharp, who stroked the ball down and rifled it over Grobbelaar’s head. We would beat Liverpool again later in the season, become champions and win our solitary European trophy, and Sharp’s goal makes all those memories flutter back. Behind only Dixie Dean in terms of scoring, Sharp – a £120,000 signing from Dunfermline – went on to score 160 goals, playing in Royal Blue for over a decade.
#11. Roy Vernon
1960 - 1965
201 Appearances
111 Goals
==
Football League First Division: 1962-63
FA Charity Shield: 1963
“There’s Denis Law, there’s Jimmy Greaves, and there’s me…” – Vernon, on being asked to name the top goalscorers of his generation.
Cast your mind back to the 60’s, a time when Everton were made of money. People called us “The Bank of England” and “The Merseyside Millionaires.” We even became “Chequebook Champions”. John Moores was our chairman. With a hair trigger temper, he wanted results and he wanted them yesterday. When Johnny Carey didn’t do well enough quickly enough for our chairman, he fired him in the back of a taxi. Moores didn’t dwell on rear-view mirror sentimentality. He brought in a new man, his man, someone who would get the job done yesterday. Enter Harry Catterick ,a stiff pragmatist blessed with a dreamer’s chequebook. One of players Catterick inherited was Royston Vernon, a nippy Welsh goal-getter. Vernon was a cheeky character, a dark haired demon poking his head through our vicar’s collar and setting fire to our royal blue shirt. As a youngster he had turned down a move to Everton (amongst others), in favour of an easier path to first team football at Blackburn Rovers. It proved to be a shrewd move. At 19 he won his first of 32 caps for Wales. Soon his temper and his distrust for authority would get the better of him. After a series of exchanges with Blackburn manager Dally Duncan he moved to Goodison in 1960 to be reunited with his mentor Johnny Carey. By ’61 Catterick had taken over. Vernon initially flourished under his manager’s Orwellian control even though his sarcastic rebellion still caused Catterick occasional problems. At one point the Welshman was sent home from a tour of the US after he broke curfew. Catterick stood firm, desperate to squeeze more goals out of his striker. He decided to give Vernon the captaincy, a masterstroke, which somewhat mellowed his angry man.
“Taffy Vernon was about 10 stone. Wet through he looked about as athletic as Pinocchio.” – Brian Labone
Alex Young used to joke that he could pick Vernon out by the glow of his cigarette, and Royson was known to smoke in the shower after games – balancing the cig just so – and managing to simultaneously shower and smoke. Vernon and Young had a sensational on-field relationship. Vernon took penalties like mortals take breaths, missing only one out of twenty spot-kicks. He wasn’t just a player, he was a character. A cocky Welsh gunslinger, a Lucky Luke lookalike, even down to the cigarette, dangling from his lip like a fear filled victim hanging from a cliff.
Vernon hit his peak in the 1962-63 season. He was captain of Everton Football Club, and Everton Football Club were league champions of England. On the joy drenched day that the league title was secured against Fulham, Vernon bagged himself a hat-trick. Clearly, Vernon’s relationship with a Catterick-controlled Everton was always going to be tricky, eventually it became untenable. A 28 year-old Vernon joined Stoke City for £40,000 in 1965. Vernon played for other clubs, but never had the same levels of success at Everton. Goals were his addiction as much as nicotine – he was Everton’s top scorer in all four of his complete seasons with the Blues, scoring 110 times in 200 games. He remained as sardonic as ever. After a non-League coach wailed that the midfielders couldn’t find him because he was so immobile, Vernon quipped:
‘If they can’t find me when I’m standing still, how the hell do you expect them to find me if I’m running around.’
#10. Colin Harvey
1963 - 1974
388 Appearances
24 Goals
==
Football League First Division: 1969-70
FA Cup: 1965-66
FA Charity Shield: 1970
Colin Harvey was a home-grown talent who made his debut at 18 years of age, playing against Inter in the San Siro in 1963, and is one of the few to both manage and play for this great club. Alongside Ball and Kendall – he made up the Holy Trinity; adored by the Goodison faithful, he was labelled ‘the white Pele’…
A hugely skilful player who’s skimming passes across the park, more often than not to the waiting feet of winger Johnny Morrissey, provided the outlet and set up attack after attack. Harvey had an accurate and powerful long range shot but not always the confidence to try it or his goal tally would have been much higher. Unfairly never given international recognition, his 1 England cap seems like a cruel joke, especially considering Mr Beckham’s huge pile of caps. Even when he became Kendall’s number two in the mid-80’s he would leap into tackles, ignoring the pain of his hip injury to show the way for the squad during training sessions.
#9. T.G. Jones
1936 - 1950
175 Appearances
5 Goals
==
Football League First Division: 1938-39
“Tommy had everything. No coach could ever coach him or teach him anything. He was neater than John Charles, for instance, and could get himself out of trouble just by running towards the ball and then letting it run between his legs, knowing his team-mate would be in a position to make it.” – Dixie Dean
This gracile Welsh centre half was bought for £3,000 from Wrexham, and – with friends Tommy Lawton and Joe Mercer – was a key part of Everton’s resurgence, culminating in the 1939 League Championship. The Everton team of the time had youth and dynamism and Jones was a classy and technically-advanced defender. Dixie Dean once described Jones as “the best all-round player I’ve ever seen”. Stalked by Roma in the 1940’s, Jones instead stayed at Goodison after a £15,000 move collapsed, a fact which hurt Jones and his relationship with the club. Known as the “Prince of Wales”, the unflappable Jones played 175 times for Everton.
A technically advanced defender, who was the only player given special dispensation to head the ball back to ‘keeper Ted Sagar, Jones would fit seamlessly into any team. He sits just one above Tommy Lawton, and the Jones was best man at his wedding.
#8. Tommy Lawton
1937 - 1945
95 Appearances
70 Goals
==
Football League First Division: 1938-39
“Technically, surely the greatest number nine of all time” – Joe Mercer
A teen sensation, Tommy would be even higher up this list if the war hadn’t halted his career and deprived him of six seasons of football. Underneath the centre parting and lashings of Brylcreem, lay an instinctive goalscorer. So prolific was Lawton that it seemed as if he had dipped his feet in gunpowder; including war fixtures, Lawton scored a ridiculous 222 goals in 209 first team games. Tommy refused to be bowed by the pressure of filling Dixie’s boots, and is only bettered by Dean as Everton’s greatest striker.
#7. Ted Sagar
1929 - 1953
497 Appearances
==
Football League First Division: 1931-32, 1938-39
FA Cup: 1933
"I tried to make collecting crosses my life's work, I would practice for hours on end, week in week out, with a couple of lads pushing high balls into the box and another one coming in to tackle me as I grabbed."
Shunted down the list only because Southall is one of the best goalkeepers in history, Sagar is an Everton behemoth. Amazingly, Ted was just 11 months short of spending a quarter of a century on the Toffees’ books as a ‘keeper and unsurprisingly he holds the record of the longest time playing for one club in league football. The enormously athletic Sagar played almost 500 times for Everton – winning two division One Championships, an FA Cup, and a Charity Shield in the process. Although he was capped by England only four times, he remains a legendary Blue.
#6. Alex Young
1960 - 1968
273 Appearances
87 Goals
==
Football League First Division: 1962-63
FA Cup: 1965-66
FA Charity Shield: 1963
“I left Everton Football Club in 1968. But I can honestly say that Everton has never left me.”
A unique player who was never truly liked or trusted by manager Harry Catterick, Young bewitched the fans with his rare skill and it soon became fluorescently obvious to Evertonians that they had someone truly special. Alex Young was the beatific poster boy for the School of Science. Bought for £42,000 from Hearts, “The Golden Vision” with his vicar’s collar and blonde locks was an elegant forward, even Bill Shankly was an admirer. It might not sound like it but Young was a fighter. He fought his manager’s icy glare, crippling lack of self belief, horrendous blisters on his feet, and deafness to be one of the most expressive, exciting, and aware attackers this Isle has ever seen.
“I’d have loved to have had you in my team at Anfield. The Spion Kop will smile on the day you hang up your boots but I’ll weep.” – Bill Shankly to Young.
By his own admission he faded in games, and he lacked confidence in his abilities; very little film of the Scot is out there but it makes him all the more fascinating, and the tales of a blonde god holding court at Goodison are more than mere rumour. The romantic’s choice, sit down with some on Merseyside and you’ll leave believing that the tongue on Young’s boots was as expressive as the one in Oscar Wilde’s mouth.
Young was at the peak of his powers during the 1962/63 Championship season – scoring 22 and helping Vernon hit 24. It’s a tragedy that there isn’t more footage of Young, as it is we can only look at his talents through the grubby window of grainy reports and hazy memories. So acute was his reading of the game that he could deliver exquisite passes without even checking where his teammates were. Young scored 87 goals in 273 appearances; his 22 strikes helped win the league for Everton in 1963 and he was in the FA Cup winning team of 1966. There was something almost ethereal about Young, who somehow throttled the life out of games with the lightest of touches, and he is probably the most beloved of all Everton legends.
Everton 1-0 Tottenham. 20th April 1963. —
“Our biggest rival was Tottenham and thanks to the work of Jimmy Gabriel and Tony Kay, we slaughtered them at Goodison. It was a tremendous effort and I was thrilled to score the golden goal. I must admit that it was a pretty good header.” – Alex Young
Everton came into this game level on points with Tottenham at the summit of the league table. The next six games would be a straight sprint for the title. Alex Young, on seventeen minutes, hung in the air as he headed in a Roy Vernon cross and won Everton this game. Young’s leap was a springboard for success – pushing them from third place to first. They wouldn’t relinquish their place at the top for the rest of the season. “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” – these words could have been written for the Golden Vision just as easily as the Louisville Lip.
#5. Brian Labone
1958 - 1971
534 Appearances
2 Goals
==
Football League First Division: 1962-63, 1969-70
FA Cup: 1965-66
FA Charity Shield: 1963, 1970
“One Evertonian is worth twenty Liverpudlians”
Everton’s consummate defender and captain, Labone was firmly ensconced in the England set up of the 60s; however, ‘the Last of the Corinthians’ turned down a place in Alf Ramsey’s 1966 World Cup squad to marry his wife. Both a modest and loyal servant, Labone’s relationship with Everton was monogamous, and light years away from the modern crazed transfer carousel where players put multiple club badges to their lips.
Booked just twice in his 530 games for the blues; it would be easy to portray Labone as an annoyingly prim head boy, with squeaky clean shoes and a shiny school blazer. Labone was more than that, he was hard but fair – he’d bring class to the defence, and his comedic double act with Gordon West is the stuff of legend.
Labone was an unflappable, cut glass footballer. Just as importantly, he was a vigorous protector of his defensive team-mates. Willing to dish out sharp tongued taunts in the dressing room, he would react with prickly unease when anyone teased a member of his defensive unit.
“The last of the great Corinthians” – Harry Catterick
#4. Kevin Ratcliffe
1980 - 1992
493 Appearances
2 Goals
==
Football League First Division: 1984-85, 1986-87
FA Cup: 1983-84
FA Charity Shield: 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987
UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup: 1984-85
In American sport-speak, Ratcliffe is the “most winningest” Everton captain ever and he won two league championships, an FA Cup, and the European Cup Winners’ Cup for the Blues. The Welshman initially played in a variety of roles, and it wasn’t until he was moved to centre half that he really excelled. Ratcliffe was blessed with pace and an exquisite reading of the game, and above all he was a born leader, becoming captain at 23 and the youngest man to receive the FA Cup since Bobby Moore. His name comfortably sits amongst the best British defenders of all time and he’ll forever be remembered for his tackle on Kogl in the blood-curdling Bayern Munich game at Goodison which crunched like credit, and still echoes around Goodison to this day.
#3. Neville Southall MBE
1981 - 1998
751 Appearances
==
First Division: 1984-85, 1986-87
FA Cup: 1983-84, 1994-95
FA Charity Shield: 1984, 1985, 1995
European Cup Winners’ Cup: 1984-85
==
FWA Footballer of the Year: 1985
“It was my first signing, and my best, in his prime, Neville was the best keeper in the world.” – Howard Kendall
The Southall of later years repelled wave after wave from Manchester United in the 1995 FA Cup Final and the earlier, supremely elastic ‘keeper of the mid 1980s was the world’s best. Such was Everton’s domestic supremacy in 1985 that they gobbled up 60 per cent of all votes for the writers’ footballer of the year, with a deserving Nev eventually winning the award. Southall is the best Everton ‘keeper of all time, and won two Championship medals, two FA Cups and a Cup Winners’ Cup, made a staggering 578 appearances for Everton (easily a Blue record), and has won more games than any other Toffee. After winning his second FA Cup, this footballing perfectionist will be remembered for leaving to be with his wife and kids rather than join the celebrations.
I’d take the mid 80’s Nev, the best goalkeeper in the world – and a player who during his Everton career won more games than any other blue. With seemingly elastic limbs and a huge heart, you’d trust him to catch a bullet, let alone a football.
Great goalkeepers have an agility that enables them to get down quickly but Southall also had an underrated ability to leap high. Study footage of Big Nev, and you’ll see him leaping at crosses, tipping shots over the crossbar, making double, even triple saves. All the time Southall’s hands would frantically move like a waiter juggling plates but his face would stay neutral. In post match interviews, he seemed deadpan, the words reluctantly creeping out from underneath his moustache but between the sticks he was a exciting, eccentric genius.
My three favourite Southall moments:
1.His comical TV duel with Michael Owen. Southall valiantly tries to coach a young scamp – he’s a fat mustachioed Jimminy Cricket whispering goalkeeping tips into the lad’s impressionable ears. Meanwhile, Owen, with a reptilian coldness scores and laughs in the boys face like the avaricious goal digger that he is. Bizarre TV.
2.An anecdote. In training Southall would face shots with his hands tied behind his back. He would save the majority of them.
3.The 1995 FA Cup Final. An older, wiser Nev repels wave after wave of Man Utd attacks and wins us the cup.
#2. Alan Ball Jr. MBE
1966 - 1972
251 Appearances
79 Goals
==
Football League First Division: 1969–70
FA Charity Shield: 1970
FA Cup runner-up: 1967–68
World Cup: 1966
“No one was greater than their club, but you came pretty close.” – Tribute sent to Goodison after Ball’s death.
‘I was running back to the centre-circle after I scored the second goal against Liverpool and pure elation welled up inside me. I remember thinking: “I just love this place, I want this place forever.”‘
Ball, who chased his surname perpetually, like a Jack Russel chasing its tail – was a true Everton legend. The zest from this orange haired dynamo was extraordinary, and it was borne out of an utter hatred for losing. Remarkably he may have hit his peak in the summer of ’66; a 21 year old squeaky ginger drill-sergeant with the world at his feet.
“Run you bastard, run!” screamed Ball – the youngest man in the team – upon spotting an exhausted Nobby Stiles flagging in the World Cup final. Two weeks after England lifted the Jules Rimet, Harry Catterick – Everton’s shadow-dwelling mastermind – made Ball an Everton player as Britain’s first six-figure signing. Ball himself was tireless, a blur of orange and blue, moving his white-hot boots in perpetual motion.
Ball led his Everton to their 1970 league win; they finished on 66 points – a heady nine clear of Leeds United – very impressive for a time when two points were given for a win. Catterick’s sale of Ball was controversial, but Everton had him in his pomp. He left Goodison in body but not spirit, he was to remain an Evertonian for the rest of his life.
I know precisely what I was doing when I heard that Everton were selling Alan Ball. I can even remember the exact time. I was peering into the mirror, shaving, with the radio tuned to the BBC. It was shortly after 8-00 am on Wednesday 22 December 1971, I was a 21 year old getting ready for my daily commute into Liverpool Exchange station and in that instant the bottom fell out of my world and Christmas was utterly spoilt. As I recall the BBC report focussed on the fact that the fee, £220,000, was a British record; I couldn’t care less. I was crying.
It came as a complete surprise and utter shock to me, the football world and to Ball himself. Everton manager Harry Catterick had summoned the player into his office and informed him that he was being sold to Arsenal. No debate, no discussion, deal done, goodbye and thanks. Apparently Ball cried too.
In football terms it marked the end of the fabulous Harvey-Ball-Kendall ‘holy trinity’ and the ‘Catterick era’ and it would be a long 13 years, before the Blues would rise again.
#1. William Ralph “Dixie” Dean
1924-1938
433 Appearances
383 Goals
==
Football League First Division: 1927–28, 1931–32
Second Division Championship: 1930–31
FA Charity Shield: 1928, 1932
FA Cup: 1932–33
“There was an atmosphere wherever Dixie went; there was excitement. I’ve seen around 2,000 people following him around in places like Switzerland, Germany and France. He was bigger and better than life.” – Joe Mercer
The Babe Ruth of football, Dean cost Everton £3,000 from Tranmere Rovers in 1925 and became the greatest goalscorer in English history, recording 377 goals. Dixie was Deane's nickname - just as Pele was Edson’s.
Being in goal and seeing Dean bearing down on you must have been like looking down the barrel of a gun. Armed with a header almost as powerful as his shot, one number percolates through from his glorious Everton career - his 60 goals in one season, a record that will never be touched.
Dean himself describes his “lust” for goals and he was a relentless matchmaker, introducing ball to net with astonishing regularity; rumours also swirl around the solid statistics and add to the legend of the man. Did he really score from the half-way line with his head? The more you look into this remarkable player, the more you begin to believe. Pre-war footballers are often fobbed off as a Jurassic breed - but Dean was a T-Rex, and his goalscoring feats are impossible to ignore.
I could tell you about great sportsmen, and how they usually begin with the gigantic cliche, practice makes perfect. Their success is whittled from sheer effort – whether it’s Rooney pummelling balls along the Streets of Croxteth, Siniša Mihajlović decimating his father’s fences with his free kicks, or Dixie Dean bouncing the ball of his church roof for heading practice. I could tell you about Dixie and his nickname, his meeting with Babe Ruth, the stories of how he scored from the half way line with his head, but it wouldn’t do him justice. Ultimately, where William Ralph Dean is concerned, numbers speak far louder than words:
Everton Appearances: 433
Everton Goals: 383
England caps: 16
England goals: 18
First Division Championship winner 1927/28 and 1931/32
Second Division Championship winner: 1930/31
FA Cup Winner: 1933
Charity Shield winner: 1928 and 1932
15 major operations in his career
1927/1928 Season: 39 League Games. £8 a week. 60 goals.
100 league goals before he turned 21
37 true hat-tricks in his career
==
In 1928, Dixie Dean scored his famous sixtieth goal. Across the Atlantic baseball’s Babe Ruth had also hit sixty a year earlier. These two stars met twice, once in person and once in the record books.
Before their talent rushed them into a sporting phone booth they were simply George Herman Ruth, Jr. and William Ralph Dean. They stepped out as supermen - “Babe” and “Dixie” and hit us with a swarm of achievements: 714 home runs (Babe), 37 true hat-tricks (Dixie), a headed goal from the half way line (Dixie), a ball in Detroit hit with such feral ferocity that it left the stadium (Babe), both men even clambered into crowds to deal with hecklers.
Together they have the makings of a musical super group and it's amazing to think they met, two Desperate Dans who instead of guzzling cow pies feverishly gnawed away at sporting records.
September 30, 1927, New York Yankees 4-2 Washington Senators
Babe’s 60th home run.
In 1927 Babe, the Sultan of Swat, thwacked sixty home runs to beat his own record. Ruth, leader of a bloodthirsty line-up of Yankees hitters dubbed the "Murderer’s Row", hit his 60th on September 30, in the Yankees' penultimate game. Ruth was triumphant, roaring, "Sixty, count 'em, sixty! Let's see some son-of-a-bitch match that!"
As it turns out, it took less than a year.
May 5th 1928, Everton 3-3 Arsenal.
Dixie’s 60th goal.
In 1928 Dean was at the business end of his greatest season. In his final game he was a hat-trick away from breaking George Camsell’s record of 59. Harry Cooke, Everton’s mystical nicotine addled trainer, helped Dixie recover from a muscle injury before the showdown with Arsenal. Out of the plumes of cigarette smoke came a reinvigorated Dean who scored twice before half time and “just butted the ball in” to reach heights that haven’t since been scaled in football.
Babe meets Dixie
In 1934 Babe came to England and met Dixie on a visit to White Hart Lane, seldom have two chronic record beaters been so close. As Dixie shook the Bambino’s hand they began to chew the sporting cud. A 1977 interview with journalist John Roberts allows us to be flies on the dressing room wall. .
"Gee, you'll get some cash today," Ruth told Dixie.
When Dixie told Ruth that he got paid just £8 a week, Ruth looked back with wide eyed and slack jawed disbelief.
“Jesus Christ,” spluttered the Bambino. “I'd demand two thirds of this gate!"
Ruth ,who earned almost 20% of Yankee payroll compared to Dean’s 3 percent later declared:
"What a racket! What's the chances of me buying into one of those football clubs?"
Two greats, who in the space of a year broke records by reaching sixty…
Seriously, how is he only 5ft 10!?
At the time of writing
He never really lost that
I wonder who I've missed...