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Paul Rideout was signed by Howard Kendall in August 1992 from Glasgow Rangers
for just £500,000 to partner Tony Cottee in
the Everton forward line. His first goals did not come until October 1992,
in a League Cup tie against Rotherham United, when Paul scored twice.
The partnership with Cottee never really blossomed under Kendall; he had
them competing for that No 9 shirt. They only started together 4 times
that first season. The 1993-94 season started better, with Rideout
and Cottee getting more than a dozen consecutive starts, and producing 16
goals together (seven in the League Cup games against Lincon City). But
injury stopped that run, team form went downhill, and eventually Mike Walker
came in January 1994, when Rideout began to figure mostly as a substitute.
The start of the next season is best forgotten, with Rideout leading a
particularly ineffective strike force devoid of Cottee, and Everton struggling
desperately at the foot of the table. The first win came only after
13 games, and Walker was on his way...
In Joe Royle's first game as the new manager, memorably against
Liverpool, Rideout
came on as a second-half substitute to slide home the clinching second goal.
He went on to play for most of the season, apart from a spell of injury
in the spring.
Paul Rideout will always have a special place in Everton history: he was
there to head in the winning goal of the 1995 FA Cup Final. This capped
off perhaps Rideout's finest season in an Everton shirt, when he was leading
scorer with 16 goals.
Rideout remained in the side until two months into the 1995-96 season, when
he picked up an injury against
Sheffield Wednesday.
Unfortunately for him, Duncan Ferguson
was just back out of prison and so Rideout lost his place at the front.
Season 1996/97 was a difficult one for Paul. At the age of 32, his
lack of pace was beginning to show, and Michael
Branch was getting on the teamsheet ahead of him He was left warming
the bench on 21 occasions and only got onto the field 7 times, usually when
there were injury problems. He came into the midfield for the FA Cup match
against Swindon Town, and played
very well, but after a poor performance -- ironically against
Sheffield Wednesday -- he was
dropped again and didn't get many more chances.
It was clear that he could not run down his career at Goodison, and in April
1997 a very lucrative opportunity came his way in the Far East. A
transfer to Huan Dao Vanguards of Xaopyangon, China, was arranged for
£250,000. But his personal contract included payments totalling
£350,000, making a tidy retirement nest-egg.
But his Goodison days were not quite over: new caretaker-player-manager,
Dave Watson, was left a depleted and
injury-riven squad by the departing Joe Royle. Desperate for players,
Watson called him back from China before the transfer was completed, to
support an ailing midfield. Paul Rideout's last performance in the
Royal Blue shirt of Everton will be remembered by many: it was a vital home
game against Tottenham Hotspur.
Rideout was a magnificent inspiration in the midfield, taking command
and spraying around passes as the team clung to an early
Gary Speed goal. Victory and three vital points
were assured in no small part by Rideout's masterful midfield contribution.
Paul is a good footballer, in the Teddy Sheringham mould, but like the Spurs
ace he lacks pace which as we know, is a vital part of any forward's game.
We wish him well as he plays out his career in the strange new footballing
world of the Orient.
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