Dave Hickson passes away

My wife and I were lucky enough to meet him a few years ago.
A modest, humble man who loved Everton and everything associated with the might blues.

That image above is absolutely brilliant.

Hopefully there'll be some marking of it at one of the games so we can show our support and appreciation.

Sadly dad passed away a few months ago after a short illness - one great man following another - they will talk Everton for eternity.

God bless him and all his family.

My mum and dad's favourite player...........and they saw a lot!

All the best to his family.

We at ToffeeWeb extend our sympathies both to his family and the employees at Everton who will no doubt miss him in equal measure.

sad news

rest in peace Dave

RIP Dave an Everton legend

Much missed

Never forgotten

Class

His famous quote comes to mind; that's what you call a real legend. RIP, Davie.

Everton and the World is a poorer place for his loss. My thoughts go to his family.

A true gentleman and a true Evertonian. One of those chosen ones who will live forever in the Goodison folklore.

My sympathies to his family and friends.

RIP

RIP, Dave a real legend and an example to all these Johnny-come-Latley types who haven't a clue about class and how to conduct themselves. We will never see his like again... God Bless

Condolences to his family.

RIP Dave, Evertonians will never forget you.

So sad, more Dave Hickson's would set "The Grand Old Lady" afire.

Thanks Dave, you will always be as important to your club as your club was to you. Say hello to William Ralph, Tommy and Joe.

NSNO

A true gentleman and will be sadly missed.RIP

My sympathies to his family and friends

RIP Cannonball Kid, these modern day wannabe mercenaries are not and never will be good enough to lace your boots.

RIP Dave Hickson, now joining the likes of Catterick, Dean, Labone and Ball in the great Goodison in the sky.

RIP, Dave Hickson — the Cannibal Kid!

One of my dad's heroes too, and my three uncles. All Blues, and now alas all dead too. The Everton family mourns one of its own.

I also watched his debut for Liverpool against the Villa when he scored both goals in a 2-1 win and I recall seeing him play for Tranmere against Chelsea in a cup-tie.

I met him a few times in later years and he was always approachable,friendly and happy to talk about games gone by.
RIP, Dave

He used to leave his beloved wife in the Joe Mercer lounge to meet and greet as many people as he could before the ref blew his whistle to start the game. Lovely Pat didn't mind — she knew what the club meant to him.
Now they are together; Rest in Peace, Dave.

Never saw him play, nor met him but I know from others that he was a true Blue, legend and gentleman. RIP Dave.

Condolences to all who knew him. A true gent from an era sadly gone.

http://www.lfchistory.net/Players/Player/Profile/319

Sorry, seems to be a RS site!

I played against him once when he guested for the over-the-hill mob, he must have been 65, his boot laces wrapped round his old style boots. He barged into me and knocked me over, it was brilliant. I told him I would never wash my kit again!

Last time I spoke to him was a couple of years ago on an Easyjet flight with his wife to the south of France where he was staying for the summer – I carried his cases from the plane, through passport control and into a taxi.

What a gentleman and a true blue for ever.

A true Everton legend who will be sadly missed.

R I P Legend.

With him and Dixie up there in heaven, there's a few centre halves looking for a way downstairs!

As I live abroad I regrettably don't get to attend matches at Goodison very often.Back in 2007 I had saved up money so I could make the trip to Merseyside, and during my visit I was going on a stadium tour hosted by the legend himself.

Sadly, only a few days before the tour, Hickson suffered a heart attack and was hospitalised for some time. I was absolutely gutted missing out on the chance to meet the "Cannonball Kid" in person, but thankfully he recovered well from the incident.

Dave Hickson will live on forever in Everton folklore.

My sympathies to his family, friends, colleagues and loved ones... May he rest in peace.

Thank you for your contribution Mr Hickson!!!

Rest In Peace.

We spent a priceless few minutes talking about football as it used to be played, and shared the irony and satisfaction of having just embarrassed a club that contradicted everything that Dave stood for.....undying loyalty to his club where the glory and enjoyment of playing came second to the money.

A gentle and modest man , who seemed genuinely pleased and humble that a mere mortal like me should consider a short chat with an icon like him.

He played before my time, but I can recall everything my late Dad told me about Dave as a player in his heyday......and I feel a bit empty tonight.

God bless Mr Hickson.

Players from that period (50s/60s) always seem to have a real affinity with the club and the fans that would be impossible to foster in this day and age. They were truly working class heroes that interacted with, and inspired, the local community. Dave Hickson may not have been handed the lucrative contracts & luxury lifestyle that nowadays comes as standard to sub-par players who would struggle to even lace his boots, but he earned something much more enduring.....true legendary status.... and the admiration and respect of generations of Evertonians.

And what about that nickname? 'The Cannonball Kid'! Kicks the crap out of 'Pip' or a yawn-inducing 'y' whacked on the end of every single surname.

A good player by all accounts, my dad loved him, and a nice man to any Blue he met. Very humble as well.

Steve Jones, that is a great post. Hairs on the back of the neck stuff there.

RIP.

He was a man who clearly loved the club though, and was deeply loved in return.

Seeing him in the stands he always looked to me like a member of a family - not a supporter, ex-player or guest, but part of the fabric of the club - and someone who made you proud to say you were an Evertonian. One of the greats.

All thoughts to his family.

R.I.P.

One thing not mentioned is his love of the horses. We'd be sitting there, waiting for some words of wisdom over the team selection and Dave would point us in the direction of the 2nd favourite in the 3:00 at York!

All the fans, and I would add the other ex-players wandering through the lounges all treated him with the utmost respect. He had a store of awful jokes, but of course everyone laughed. So proud to have met him...

Obviously I can't confirm if it was true or not, but my dad would sing to me to the tune of Davy Crockett (I think it was a 50s tv series??)... "Davy, Davy Hickson – king of the forward line".

RIP Davy.

Without doubt, the perfect illustration of that was the wonderful winning goal he scored against Man Utd in what I think was a 5th round cup game at Goodison when he had returned to the pitch with his head bandaged. What a header from almost the edge of the box if my memory serves me right.

In addition, as youngsters we remembered his battles against centre-halves whose names I think were Ken Chisholm (Plymouth I think) and Malcolm Barrass I think at Bolton at the time who were "uncompromising" to say the least! Even as young boys we knew that these were real "battles" but "our Dave" never seemed to flinch.

I can even remember my first experience of real sadness associated with Dave Hickson – when he went to play for Villa and even worse – Liverpool. But that was simply were he went to "work" – we all knew that deep down he was an Evertonian.

As an Evertonian I can only express my thanks for the part he played in my early days of learning to be a Blue and to extend my genuine sympathies to his family.

Both now sadly gone but hopefully dad will have a beer waiting for him at Heaven's Bar so they can continue to reminisce. His 'Break Every Bone' quote is right up there, together with Labby's 'One Evertonian' and Bally's 'Never Leaves You' quotes, as the best description of our special Blue family. Not wanting to wish my life away, but, get a pint ready on the bar for me men so we can continue our footy chats. RIP, The Great Dave Hickson.

RIP Dave Hickson, Everton Legend.

Bumped into him at the players entrance at GP back in 96. It was a Monday night game on Sky against Coventry and my son was attending his first match. When Dave found out he made a real fuss of him, with his love of all things blue. He still goes to this day, with memories of the great mans words still in his head.

Gone but never forgotten.

On seeing us coming, he hid behind a pillar, and did the Harry Worth thing, if you remember! – sticking one leg and an arm out from behind pillar.

A gentleman, wonderful company for those couple of hours. RIP.

Peter Cummins #639
That team made my heart skip a beat, except that I think you've got Fielding and Parker swapped around.
"John Willie" was always inside-right and "Wally" was inside-left.

RIP Davy.

From time to time I'm very lucky to be invited on corporate days by a friend, and some suppliers myself and my wife deal with. About 4 years ago we were invited to a day in the 300 Club, and whoever is man of the match comes in for photo's etc.This day it happened to be Jags who was introduced by Dave. We had my Grandsons autograph book so we asked Jags to sign it which he obviously did. I then asked Dave could he sign it which he was only to happy to do. Now fast forward to the following year, and we where again invited on another corporate day, only this time in the Joe Mercer Suite. As I was walking through the suite I saw Dave coming the other way and nodded in his direction, he stopped shuck my hand and said nice to meet you again, I thought he was just being nice but he actually said, " you where the chap who asked for my autograph in the 300 Club". To say I was amazed is an understatement, obviously I recognised him but for him to recognise me made me feel ten foot tall

All the best to his family and thanks for everything Dave.

I didn't know until this morning he played for an amateur team until he was in his in his 70s!

Only one of 8 players to pass the 100 goal mark for the club.

Got to mention all the nice things our red neighbours are saying about the man also - the mark of a true great!!

Fantastic article in the echo today with photos of Dave in his prime.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/farewell-dave-hickson-true-merseyside-4888565

RIP Dave.

When I was 9 or 10, a mate of my Dad (Bill Warrington) promised to take me to a game. Very few cars them days so our journey would be by public transport.

On the Saturday, we caught the Crosville bus to Birkenhead for the first leg of our journey. A couple of stops later (Cemetery Gates), I looked out of the window to see my hero waiting to get on. I didn't know at the time that Dave & Bill lived in the same street, so imagine my feelings when Bill beckoned to Dave to come over. I'm in heaven – not only on my way to Goodison, but my hero is sat within touching distance & he's talking to me.

We chatted all the way to Birkenhead & walked down to Woodside where guess what - Dave actually paid for me on the Ferry & again on the bus from the Pier Head up to the ground.

The rest of the day is a blur – but even now, over 60 years later, that day seems like yesterday.

Thank you Dave for my most magical childhood memory.
RIP.

Actually I still have a programme showing that lineup, maybe a misprint as I was always able to rattle that team off as it was the same one for ages, unlike today when you sometimes can't pronounce the names let alone the lineups.

Being 75 and a lifetime Blue for around 70 of those years, my memories of both the Everton greats and those of other clubs could fill a book. Keep the faith, lads.

At your best with the club you loved, Everton. I first saw you at Tranmere at the end of your career and you still had flashes of class. You loved the game.

I remember having kickabouts around 1964 on the football pitches at Ness.

Peter Cummings is right regarding Wally Fielding and John Willie Parker, John Willie played the vast majority of his games at inside left, he made a handful of appearances at outside left (his debut position against Blackpool in a 2-0 defeat) this game was also Jock Lindsay's home debut, he was given a torrid time by Stanley Matthews. I witnessed this fixture from the boys pen. (Before the Bill Kenwright era!)

I have many great memories of Davey Hickson most notably the Man Utd FA Cup tie in 1953 and that wonderful night at Boundary Park in 1954. The most memorable moment for me, however, didn't happen on the football pitch; it was when Davey was playing for the Reserves in the old Central League.

I was at the time an avid collector of autographs and one Saturday afternoon, prior to a Central League game, I asked Davey to sign my book. As he prepared to do so, he broke the point of my pencil (Biros were few and far between in those days) his words were "Ah, I have broken your penceel". He then took me into the newsagents opposite Wally's Cafe and had my pencil sharpened, and completed the autograph signing. It's hard to imagine any of today's professional footballer (at any level) treating an 11-year-old schoolboy in the same way.

A couple of years ago, a friend of mine had purchased an Everton book for me prior to going on tour of Goodison Park, and he relayed the pencil episode to Davey and asked him to sign the book; Davey did so as follows:

"To Johnny Mac,
I have written this with my own pen
Best Wishes
D. Hickson."

A true example of once a Blue always a Blue. Rest in Peace, Davey.

"He is the idol of our crowd
He is our pride and joy
You'll always hear the Goodison roar
When out trots Davie boy"

RIP, Davie boy.

Obviously, the players changed match-day numbers, unlike today, but what number did he most commonly wear?

He had no word of criticism for any of the clubs he played for or the hard case defenders he came up against in his marvellous career. His love for Everton was incredible; his only regret, not playing for his country, an honour he richly deserved. My only deep regret is not being able to see him going to his final rest, but I will hope to visit his grave when we come over in September. RIP

If you can trust Everton – The Complete Record (co-authoured by Ian Ross!), then it was exclusively No 9...

But with one exception:

At Preston NE on 11 September 1958, when he wore No 8 (Harburn wore 9) and scored Everton's consolation goal in a 3-1 defeat.

Let's face it, he couldn't keep playing. The only reason to come back on was to lay that fucker out.

Will admit some envy. I didn't get to see him.

There's a a DVD sometimes available on eBay of the Tranmere / Chelsea FA Cup tie in 1963 in which Dave played. Score was 2-2.

I remember getting his autograph when I was about 12 in Horton's restaurant in New Brighton on a Sunday afternoon. He was with Alex Parker and their respective wives and he was so nice, a weedy word, I know, but he was that overused word nice sums him up. I remember crying a few months later when Everton sold him to Liverpool.

I feel shocked, he was a hero to all Evertonians of that era and he has gone. Sympathy to all his relatives.