Nigel Martyn has told ToffeeWeb the truth about how his proposed move to Everton collapsed in extraordinary circumstances in 1996, revealing how a club director effectively sent him on his way to Leeds United despite knowing Goodison Park remained his preferred destination.
The former England goalkeeper was travelling to Merseyside to complete a transfer from Crystal Palace when Leeds matched Everton’s bid, prompting his agent to suggest they hear what the Yorkshire club had to offer. Martyn was still keen to join Everton, not least because of family connections in the area, but the events that followed left him questioning how badly the Blues wanted his signature.
With manager Joe Royle unavailable and the chairman Peter Johnson away on business, Everton director Clifford Finch was left to handle negotiations. However, rather than doing everything possible to secure Martyn’s signature, the goalkeeper recalled being given travel directions to Leeds and told to hurry along before the traffic built up.
Martyn subsequently travelled to Leeds, where he and his wife were given a much warmer reception. After deciding to join the Elland Road club, his agent became embroiled in a heated conversation with Royle, who was left disappointed that Everton had missed out on a deal he believed was all but completed.
Seven years later, Martyn finally made the move to Goodison Park, joining Everton from Leeds in 2003 and going on to become one of David Moyes’ most important signings.
On the events around that failed move, Martyn told ToffeeWeb’s Once a Blue podcast: “Yeah, we were driving up the M6 to come and sign, and whilst we were on the way there, my wife and I were driving in the car, and my agent was probably a few miles ahead of us. He just rang to say, ” Look, Leeds have matched the bid, and I think it’s in your interest to speak to both clubs.
“So we sort of informed him that we still felt Everton was the number one choice because my wife had an uncle who was living in the area, and we thought he was somebody we would know and we could, you know, sort of get to know the area with. We still saw it as the first choice. But when we arrived, my agent informed the director who was there that we were going to go and speak to Leeds as well, but, you know, Nigel still preferred to come here. It kind of all went into a bit of a panic. I know Joe Royle wasn’t there. I think his wife was particularly poorly at the time, which is fair enough. You know, that’s far more important. I think the chairman was in London on business.
“So, it was left to the director to get me to sign, which is what everyone thought was happening at the time. But obviously a phone call from Leeds, probably two hours before we’re due to arrive, sort of upset that a little bit. The director kept going out of the room to make calls, I presume to Joe or to the chairman. He kept coming back in, and my agent was just saying to him, look, Nigel is going to go and talk to Leeds, but he’s going to come back here. This is his first choice.
“I know it’s sort of gone down in a bit of folklore, but it is absolutely true. We literally got directions to pick up signs for the M62 from the Mersey Tunnel, going through that way. And told to really get a move on because the traffic would start to build across the M62 as late afternoon was approaching. So we found that a bit odd.
“My agent was saying there was no way they should have let you go. What they should have done is everything in their power to make sure you stay, not sort of let you go so easily. When we came across to Leeds, it was the exact opposite.
“There was no way they were going to let me go back. It was a funny time and really not the outcome that we were expecting when we set out on that journey. “
Asked if his agent’s insistence that Martyn met with Leeds upset those at Everton, the goalkeeper had no doubts.
“Yeah, definitely. I know Joe rang my agent that evening. I think my agent had said, ‘ Look, Leeds have basically made a big fuss of Nigel and his wife. They were going to take my wife around to look at the area and show her all those sorts of things.
“So when my agent said that I was going to sign for Leeds, I think Joe and my agent had a very heated conversation. From Everton’s point of view at that point, it was pretty much done. So there was a lot of disappointment at that time.”
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