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Everton 1963-1970

The School of Science

GK:  Gordon WEST 1
RB:  Tommy WRIGHT 2 CB:  Brian LABONE 5 (c) DF Ray WILSON 3
MF- Howard KENDALL 4 MF- Alan BALL 8 MF-Colin HARVEY 6
FW- Jimmy HUSBAND 7 FW- Alex YOUNG 9 FW- Mike TREBILCOCK 18 FW- John HURST 10 FW- Joe ROYLE 11


SUBS:
Johnny MORRISSEY 12, Brian HARRIS 6, Alex SCOTT 17, Derek TEMPLE 11, Jimmy GABRIEL 15, Gerald HUMPHREYS, Sandy BROWN, Billy BINGHAM


Manager: Harry CATTERICK
Home ground: Goodison Park

Supporters from blue side of Liverpool regard the 1960’s as Evertons true golden age. It’s during this period that they became winners of the League Cup and Charity Shield twice, along with the FA Cup. The 1950’s were a barren time for the Toffees, and it wasn’t until Harry Catterick’s appointment to the manager’s position that things started looking up. Directly ordered by the clubs owner to get the side back to the top of the league, Catterick completely transformed Everton. Catterick himself played for the club throughout the 1940’s and into the 50’s, and he was welcomed back with open arms by older fans, who hoped that he would be just as talented off the pitch as he was on it. His arrival back at the club saw the acquisition of several top players including John Morissey, Fred Pickering and Ray Wilson. The trio assisted the club in reaching fourth place and conceding the fewest goals in the league in Cattericks first season at the helm, and the following year they achieved the ultimate goal – winning the First Division title.

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Dubbed “The School of Science” due to their methodical approach to the game in the style of Dixie Deans famous Everton side of the 1920’s, the team played inventive and flowing football in the tradition of Tottenham’s “Push and Run” technique. Cattericks spirit, however, was crushed when, in 1965, Tony Kay who was one of Cattericks purchases, was scentenced to prison for match fixing from his time at Sheffield Wednesday. This was the only dark spot in the era. Ironically, Everton competed in the final of the 1966 FA Cup against Wednesday, simulataneously becoming the first club since Bury FC in 1903 to reach the FA Cup final without conceding a single goal in the preceding rounds.

 

In a match attended by Liverpool’s favorate sons John Lennon and Paul McCartney from The Beatles, and famous for Everton fan Eddie Cavanah invading the pitch and being chased across it by a policeman, Everton famously came back from a 2-0 defecit to win 3-2. Catterick threw the dice on a previously unknown Mike Trebilcock to replace fan favorate Pickering, and thanks to two goals from the former it paid off. Everton became the second team ever, after Blackpool’s legendary 1953 side, to come from two goals down to win the cup without the need for extra time. This feat has not been repeated since. It was also the first time Everton had won the cup since Dixie Dean and co. lifted it in 1933.

 

World Cup winner Alan Ball joined the club for a record £110,000 as an addition to rising stars Joe Royle, John Hurst and Jimmy Husband. Howard Kendall also came on board and these player helped Everton the FA Cup final again in 1968 – but this time, it wasn’t to be. They went down to a talented West Brom side by a narrow 1-0 in extra time. It was memorable however, as a match of firsts – the first time both clubs wore away colours, the time the FA Cup final was telecast live and in colour and the first time a substitute was used in an FA Cup final – West Brom’s Dennis Clarke.

 

In 1970, Everton became league champions again, matching expectations from fielding one of the finest sides English football had yet seen which starred their midfield “Holy Trinity” of Kendall, Harvey and Ball. The title clinching match was against the same West Brom that had defeated them in the cup final two years earlier, and the same referee officiated the game! It all came crashing down with semi-final defeats at the hands of Panathinaikos and eternal enemies Liverpool and a very unspectacular 14th place league finish the following season. Then Catterick suffered a heart attack while driving home one night in 1972. He survived, but had to step down to a less strenuous senior executive role.

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Achievements:
English First Division – Champions x2
League Cup – Winners x2
Charity Shield – Winners x2
FA Cup – Winners x1

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Star player: Alan Ball dob 12 May 1945, pob Farnworth, England

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The youngest member of England’s 1966 World Cup winning squad (he still lived with his mum at the the time), Alan Ball began his career by the seaside with Blackpool after his father called in a favour with the clubs coach, who was an old friend of his. Ball’s magnificent World Cup performances gained him the attention of bigger clubs, and Everton came knocking, breaking the clubs transfer fee record to aquire him. There, he joined Colin Harvey and Howard Kendall to form “The Holy Trinity”, Evertons best midfield trio. Ball played in 259 games for the Toffees, hitting the net 79 times. In 1971, Ball was purchased by Arsenal in another record fee of £220,000 and at the hight of his form and fitness, he made his debut against Nottingham Forest. However, he couldn’t help them defend their league title and they also lost their grip on the FA Cup with a 1-0 defeat to Leeds United in the final. When Arsenal’s double-winning side was dismantled, Ball was one of the few remaining players of great quality in the side and he was named club captain in 1974. Unfortunately, later that year he broke his leg and Arsenal finished 16th, then 17th the following season. After 217 appearances for the Gunners, Ball was sold on to Southampton, whom he helped back into the First Division in 1978. Ball then moved to the US, playing for Philadelphia Fury in the NASL. He then joined the Vancouver Whitecaps where he was successful, winning the NASL Soccer Bowl title and the 1979 Playoff MVP award. He then returned to where it all began, Blackpool, where he became player-manager of the club. Their fans were optimistic that Ball could bring the good times back to Blackpool, but the club struggled for survival in the top flight under Ball and after publicly criticizing the fans for not wanting the club to succeed as much as he did, he was sacked. He continued playing again for Southampton alongside Kevin Keegan, Eastern Athletic in Hong Kong and Bristol Rovers, before finally hanging up his boots after 975 competitive games. He went on to have a lenghy managerial career that went on to 1999, controlling clubs such as Portsmouth, Stoke City, Manchester City and Southampton. Ball passed away in 2007 at 61 years old while suffering a heart attack while trying to extinguish a fire that he accidentally lit. Ironically, despite being the youngest member of Englands 1966 team, he was only the second to die, following Bobby Moore in 1993.
 

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