Everton's Greatest Ever Side
(as chosen by Football England)

Substitutes:

Gordon West
Mike Lyons
Howard Kendall
Alex Young
Bob Latchford

Manager: Howard Kendall

Neville Southall
1981-97; 578 appearances.

Sixteen years of magnificent service, two league titles, two FA Cup winners medals and a Cup Winners Cup triumph are more than enough to secure Southall’s place in the all time Everton team but Big Nev’s status is owing to more than sheer statistics and honours.
In the mid to late eighties, when he was at his peak, Southall had a presence between the posts matched only by Peter Schmeichel in the modern era. Big and brave with razor sharp reflexes there were occasions when the Welshman appeared truly unbeatable.

Tommy Wright
1964-72; 308 appearances, 4 goals.

This quick, sharp tackling and progressive full back gave sterling service to the Goodison club for the best part of a decade and formed outstanding partnerships for the club with both Ray Wilson and Keith Newton. A fine defender who always upheld the traditional footballing values of the club.

Brian Labone
1957-71; 451 appearances, 2 goals.

The last of the Corinthians, a revered man at Goodison and a centre half of genuine class.
Labone was a tall, commanding defender who had a deserved reputation for fair play but remained an imposing opponent. Dominant in the air, a keen tackler and an expert reader of the game he was at the hub of two, basically completely different, championship winning sides.
Also a real leader but he’s not captain of this team.

Kevin Ratcliffe
1978-92; 359 appearances, 2 goals.

Another magnificent servant of the club and the perfect partner for Labone. Rapid across the ground and a strong tackler Ratcliffe could match the swiftest of centre forwards across the ground as well as taking on the target men in aeriel combat. Was instrumental in Everton’s dramatic rise to prominence in the mid 80’s but, despite being captain of that team, he’s not the captain of this one.
Like Labone he only managed two league goals in his long Goodison career but don’t worry, I think this team will still score it’s fair share from set pieces.

Ray Wilson
1964-69; 116 appearances.

One of England’s finest left backs Wilson was at his peak when he came to Everton and played some of his best football for the club before injuries began to weaken his powers.
Lightening fast and a superb timer of tackles Wilson was the consummate full back who was also an excellent crosser of the ball when venturing forward.

Alan Ball
1966-71; 208 appearances, 66 goals.

Arrived at Goodison fresh from his personal triumph with England in the 1966 World Cup and was the highest profile member of the clubs’ celebrated midfield trio that was completed by Howard Kendall and Colin Harvey.
Dynamic, fiercely competitive and always eager to be in the action Ball would no doubt rove from his right wing berth but this would only benefit the team.
A real, all round midfielder.

Joe Mercer
1932-46; 170 appearances, 1 goal.

Mercer’s career was badly curtailed by the war and his Everton career prematurely written off because of an apparently crippling knee injury but there was still time for him to prove himself perhaps the club’s greatest ever midfield player. We certainly think so anyway.
In his day and age Mercer was called a wing half which more or less translates into the holding midfield player in modern terms. He was never a purely defensive player, however, and would constantly move forward to prompt his attack with accurate and incisive passing.
Defensively he was absolutely assured and was a real inspiration to his teammates both in the way he played and in his ability to cajole the best out of everyone, no matter how diverse their characters.
Joe Mercer, who won two league titles and one FA Cup with the club, is definitely the captain of this team.

Peter Reid
1982-89; 159 appearances, 8 goals.

Does Peter Reid deserve his place in this team? No, I’m not sure either.
There were other candidates; Britton, Harvey, Kendall, Dobson etc., but Reidy gets in just ahead of the competition perhaps through personality as much as anything.
A real character who gained everyone’s respect with his never say die attitude on the pitch Reid was the type who would spill blood for the cause without question and had more ability than he was generally given credit for as a creative influence.
He would undoubtedly strike up a rapport with Mercer both in a football and a wider sense.

Dave Thomas
1977-79; 71 appearances, 4 goals.

It will soon become apparent that this team needs an expert crosser of the ball and although Thomas was only at Goodison for a short time he proved himself as good as anyone in that art.
A fast winger who weaved past defenders at pace without recourse to any real trickery Thomas could whip over perfect centres with either foot and generally did not ask too much of his centre forwards when it came to converting them.
Bob Latchford would be the first to testify to the quality of Thomas’s crossing ability but we think we have a couple of players up front who could put it to even better use than he did.

William Ralph “Dixie“ Dean
1925-37; 399 appearances, 349 goals.

“Dixie” suffers, along with all his contemporaries, the cynicism of the modern age which wonders at the relevance of footballing achievements recorded before a certain date but that is nonsense really. Everything may be relative but the greatest centre forward of any age remains a great centre forward and a great centre forward is what Dean, undoubtedly, was.
Rightly famous for his incredible heading ability Dean, with his tree trunk neck, scored an incredible percentage of his goals with his head in the days when it was often difficult to kick the ball any great distance let alone head it anywhere.
Dean was certainly an assured finisher in every respect, however, as his goalscoring record clearly demonstrates and his record 60 league goals in the 1927-28 season were instrumental in bringing that seasons’ league title to Goodison.

Tommy Lawton
1937-39; 87 appearances, 65 goals.

It is generally an arduous task trying to replace a legend. Finding the right man is a massive task for the club and the players charged with such a task, even if they have decent ability, usually buckle under the weight of expectation and demand.
When Everton Football Club signed an almost unknown teenager with the idea of grooming him to step into the daunting boots of William Ralph Dean it seemed to be one giant step away from reality and into the realms of schoolboy fiction. Within a season, however, Tommy Lawton had usurped the King’s throne and was the Everton number nine while people everywhere began debating as to whether the youngster might turn out to be an even greater player than the one he had taken over from.
Lawton‘s greatest asset, like Dean, was his incredible heading ability but he also possessed a strong shot in either foot and was a clever leader of the forward line with excellent control and the perception and ability to play in colleagues.

Substitutes Bench

Gordon West was Everton’s goalkeeper for a decade from the early 1960’s and was a generally safe keeper whose agility allowed him to frequently pull off something truly astonishing.
There may have been defenders with more ability than Mike Lyons in the course of Everton’s long and proud history but surely there has been nobody more likely to bleed blue than this totally committed centre half. Lyons was the type who would put everything on the line for the sake of his team but could also play as well, often doing a decent job up front for the club in his early days.
Howard Kendall was a cultured midfield player who was naturally astute in defensive situations but could also unlock a defence with a telling pass or a sudden burst with the ball at his feet.
Alex Young, Everton’s very own “Golden Vision”, would be a handy man to have on the bench on the off chance that the raw power of Dean and Lawton wasn’t working. Clever in his movement and use of the ball Young was a scheming forward who made life a whole lot easier for everybody he played with.
Then again you might just think that all Tommy and Dixie really need is a bit more support for a real air raid and then you can throw Bob Latchford on. He also has the benefit of a telepathic understanding with Dave Thomas and might just get his head to the odd centre before the other two.
On really special occasions I’m going to throw Latchford and Lyons on together with Tommy and Dixie and show the world just how route one football really should be played.
Scary.

Manager: Howard Kendall
1981-87, 90-94 & 97-98.

Kendall’s glorious reign almost ended before it began as he initially struggled to mould a side capable of rising out of Liverpool’s giant shadow in the 1980’s and was then tarnished by ill advised, unsatisfactory returns but the four years at the end of his first stint as manager were gloriously uplifting and successful as a highly functional side tipped the scales of greatness playing a brand of vigorous, physical but also skilful football that seemed to encapsulate everything that is good about English football.
That is the Kendall that we want in charge of this side and we want someone else to take control of the Bells whiskey when he wins the manager of the month award.

To conclude

This team might not look so great on paper when compared against some other giants of the English game but we have a feeling that it might comprise one of the best actual “sides”. It is a very strong side physically, looks to have good defensive balance with a midfield that will certainly protect the back four and two of the most lethal finishers this country has ever produced.
It’s real strength might be the leadership qualities abundant within the team, however. Southall, Labone, Ratcliffe, Ball, Mercer, Reid, Dean, Lawton. Real characters, genuinely inspirational and, to coin a popular term, winners.