The Great 1970 Everton Mystery

By the time Everton woke up to what had happened, the other lot had established themselves as the Major force, don't forget that Manchester United had gone from European Champions to the 2nd division in a relatively short period of time. Even Arsenal who done the double in 1971 fell apart in this period as well. It makes you wonder what really happened to the game at this time. Everton, Arsenal and United were traditional clubs and didn't adapt well to the new media world, whereas the other lot welcomed the media with open arms and the rest as they say is history.

At Arsenal he was a very different player. He was far less aggressive, and played a lot more defensively (bit like Arteta now). He recognised the change himself, once saying that he was now more like a new car that had been 'driven in' rather than the 100-mph engine he'd been before.

You've got to remember that in those days you didn't get 'dynasties' – ie, clubs dominating the awards for several years on the trot. So Everton's demise, though surprising, was hardly unusual. You've also got to remember that then there was always a new club on the block being hailed as then next 'team of the decade' – Venables's Crystal Palace for instance!

As to Everton 1970-71, yes, this was a huge turning point, particularly that week in spring 1971 when we went out of the European Cup to Panathinaikos and lost a FA Cup semi to Liverpool.

The 69-70 team was a brilliant one and we would regularly have something like four or five players in the England squad. Without looking those squads up, the names West, Wright, Newton, Labone and Ball come to mind and I have probably forgotten someone.

I do wonder if we under-estimate the impact on several players of games they played in South America not only in 1970, but also 1969 when England went on a warm-up tour to acclimatise. There is a huge difference between the ways that players looked after themselves then and now.

We lost in the final of 1968 but had one final game against Fulham where we put 5 past them on the Monday night. The crowd refused to go home until the team returned for a final ovation. This wasn't your usual end-of-season tired lap around the pitch... this was on par with a trophy triumph and crowd and team were as one.

We kicked things off immediately the following August and I think we peaked that year despite not winning anything. Go look at the results that season and the goals we put past teams for fun. Especially away there were some majestic performances.

I feel the first half of 1969-70 went in tandem with those previous two seasons but there were tell-tale signs early in 1970 that they weren't functioning as soothly as previously did. Joe Royle was stuttering and earlier Catterick had made a move to sign the then Glasgow Rangers centre forward Colin Stein as his replacement.

Labone – who some years earlier had changed his mind from retiring – sustained an injury that was to keep him out of the title run-in and that would eventually mark his decline. Colin Harvey missed a portion of the early months of 1970 with an 'eye injury' that was rumoured to have been caused by a glass attack in Liverpool and this broke up the midfield a great deal. Keith Newton sadly never settled and the wonder name of 1970, Alan Whittle, was burnt out and gone as soon as he made an impact but really (bit like a certain forward in the second half of last season) fired Everton to the title but then couldn't hit a barn door the season after sadly.

Catterick I felt was starting to become a man out of step with 70s management styles which were quickly changing and the likes of Revie and new kid on the block Clough were able to deal with better than old Harry who got stressed and ill and was never the same.

As for Alan Ball, Catterick cited the World Cup as burning him out in Mexico. He lasted the 69-70 season well but was never the calming skipper that Labone was and infuriated his fellow players – I recall him and Whittle sparking up to each other once at the Bareball Ground (Derby) a while later while play went on around them. He could never adapt to those who weren't giving it as much as he did. There is that telling comment though that Catterick gave about 1972 on film in the updated Everton History film that there were reasons other that he was not going to disclose about the backdrop of why he felt Ball should go.

Yes, in 1971 we were one game from a cup final and went out of the European Cup in the quarterfinal stage with that year's final being played at Wembley – it could have all been a bit different. But the Everton team of April 1971 was a sad sad reflection on the one the previous April and a dismal 0 - 0 draw on a rain soaked Goodison Park v relegated Blackpool really summed up the way the team fell apart.

It only seems like yesterday but it was a sad sad fall from grace that we never got over for a long long while.

It's a mystery to me too and one which I have thought long and hard about but never reached a satisfactory answer. However, I have read quite a lot about Catterick from a variety of sources and one possibility I came up with is that he was very (perhaps pathologically) egotistical and may well have been one of those personality types that would not have been happy enough with the success of his own 'creation' but found satisfaction in dismantling the team in order to show he could it all again... and failed.

I have no real evidence to support this obviously but the overwhelming impression I get is that Catterick did not particularly like footballers, especially if they were taking the shine off him. He picked fights with Alan Ball and it was apparently clear he didn't particularly like him. Catterick was a very ordinary player according to my dad, and perhaps he preferred the company and responsibility for other ordinary players rather than those of exceptional ability.

His disdain for Ball and Young tend to support this view and yet he signed great players... or did he? Was it Moores and the board who told him to sign them? Once Moores's influence waned Catterick started to sign shite and tried to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear time and time again.

It certainly is a strange one because, just like Bally, I thought we would be seeing trophies paraded around Goodison many times. But it all, for whatever reason, fell apart almost overnight.

By 1970 the times (generally and in football) they were-a changing.

It seems since the game began professionally, up to about 1960, there wasn't that much change in the relationship between players/managers/chairmen.

If the manager didn't like what the chairman had to say, tough shite.

A player didn't like what the manager had to say, tough shite.

Then, in a relatively short space of time, there was radical change in Britain.

Via John Osbourne (I think) the idea of the/an 'Angry Young Man' was born,

Then came the 'kitchen sink drama'

We had 'Room At The Top', 'The Reckoning', 'Saturday Night and Sunday Morning', 'A Kind Of Loving' and many a Ken Loach (or Ken Loach-style) Play For Today.

And the message in a great many of these was to tell your 'master' to shove his demeaning job/philosophy up his arse.

I have a feeling this change might have played some part.

That what might have been acceptable to swallow from The Cat in 1965/66 as a 20 year old, probably wasn't by 1970 when you were 25/26.

Particularly if you had just won a title and were looking to put a bit of a 'nest-egg' together.

(remember back then, due to filthy bastards like Tommy 'The Anfield Racist' Smith', many decent players were finished with top-flight football by the time they were 30, having had the shite kicked out of them).

Anyway, food for thought - certainly the change in attitude/s from 1960 to 1970 was immense.

As for your news- not good (states bleeding obvious)

Basically sounds like you're looking for the medical equivalent of a Limpar dive in the box.

Well it CAN (nb: and did!) happen.

And we DID beat both Sheff Wed in 66 and Wimbledon in 94.

Anyway, Adele isn't singing just yet - best of luck with everything.

We became very used to disappointments, which means that when we are lying 5th in the league I can't be too critical of the current team. Maybe I am wrong, too accepting. Others who post on this site want to fight, fight, fight with all their might, and they may be right to do so. I guess you will be making your own decisions about accepting or fighting, and the only correct decision will be the one you make for yourself and your family. Very best wishes, whichever philosophy you adopt.

Colin was never a prolific scorer but I think it was that season when he scored a most sublime individual goal against, I think, WBA.

The title-winning season saw a far more pragmatic approach and whilst the quality was superb, overall, we needed to "grind out" a fair few one-nil wins.

Everything seemed to go tits up from the moment Labone limped off in the semi against that lot. The start of the 1970-71 sason with a disappointing draw with Arsenal against the backdrop of the half-built main stand. The purchase of players such as Henry Newton...reputed to possess 'enry's 'ammer" in the goalscoring department...who turned out to be as useful as tits on a bull. And then the sheer undiluted crap of the rest of the decade.

Ah well.... all the very best to you Michael

It all proceeded my team being born in scorching year of 1976. However, I have seen a couple of great programmes on the subject, that talk through the impact of mexico 70, the deterioration of the Cat's health, the break up of the side - with the disposal of the great Alan Ball, and all the great stuff before it.

A decade that started as Champions, sadly withered, being surpassed by them across the park. If things had been different with us dominating the decade, and perhaps even getting planning permission on Stanley Park, things could have been very different of the world standing today. Typical Everton. If you can, I would look up Time of Our Lives on Sky – Royle, Kendall and Harvey talk about it in lovely detail.

Thoughts go to you and your family.

Born in 75 — it's all in books and on film for me so sadly I can't comment.

Guess I have my own fall apart to remember after 87...

I'm really sorry for your news and wish you the best of luck in your fight.

Much love and thought to you, Mrs B and family.

I've actually been around a bit longer than yourself as a fan and I well remember the 60s era as our best ever. I fully agree about Ball as a captain and he often used to castigate other players which is not the way a captain should act publicly. Sandy Brown was often the brunt of his remonstrations.

I also do not think of Catterick so highly and I was furious when Carey lost his job as he had built a tremendous side. We totally missed the boat by allowing our best team to be broken up so soon after having success.

Liverpool's Shankly was far better and established an absolute conveyor belt of top teams and lots of success. We could and should have done the same, but as usual our board sold hard and bought cheap once Sir Johns influence was lost.

Catterick was a poor player and Johnny Carey was a top player who twice won the players award even though he was a fullback. He was the man who signed Vernon, Ring, Young and Collins and made us a really attractive side. Catterick bought steel and hard work but never really liked flair and had a different attitude to Carey.

Anyway, that's the way I remember things but you wrote a fine article which I thoroughly enjoyed.

My Dad was very much a Johnny Carey 'man', I always got the impression from him that he felt that as he had led Everton to our highest position in years Johnny Carey was very badly treated by John Moores. I always remember my Dad telling me that the 1962-63 Title winning team was essentially Johnny Carey's team. In writing the article, I didn't want to be accused of any bias against Harry Catterick.

Thanks for all your good wishes and especially thanks to Eugene – yes indeed Wembley '66 and Wimbledon '94 were victories!!! A medical equivalent of a Limpar dive in the box is indeed what I am looking for... and the medical equivalent of a Barry Horne 'bolt from the blue' as well!!! I was at the Wimbledon game and have seen it on DVD since – I am still taken by surprise by Barry Horne's goal!!!!

Yes Eugene, I would agree about Catterick's intransigence. At certain points, that can be a strength... but, as Catterick's abilities were on the wane, it became a weakness.

I say that his abilities as a manager were on the decline, and that is basically only my opinion. However, if you look at some of the transfer dealings for example after 1970 they are in many cases very alarming. In 1972 we signed Rod Belfit – for many years a Leeds United reserve who had found a new lease of life at Ipswich – but he was never really a top striker to put it mildly.

I personally think that Caterick's decline can be summed up in how he dealt with the goalkeeping situation. Compare how Liverpool replaced the long serving Tommy Lawrence with Ray Clemence, who went to be Liverpool's keeper for the best part of a decade and then in turn was replaced by Grobelaar who again was their first choice for years. In the same period, we had about twice as many keepers!!

Gordon West had an alarming loss of form in September 1970 and was replaced by Andy Rankin. In my opinion, he did well for the rest of the season – only to be replaced by Gordon West for the start of the 1971-72 season. Rankin moved on in November 1971 but West himself only stayed as first choice till the end of that season. Lack of foresight by Catterick, I think as Rankin was a far better keeper than Davies and Lawson ,who Catterick signed. He had a good keeper already at the club, who should have taken over from Gordon West, but he was allowed to move on and he signed inferior players to take over a key position.

Being a season ticket holder from 1970-71 for a few seasons with my Dad, I got to see a lot of the Reserves, and – whilst there were some good performances from the 'Second String' who always seemed to do well in the Central League – not all of the players were good enough for the first team. I remember a lad called Alan Wilson, a striker, who was good in the Reserves but when he was given his debut at Goodison v Coventry he looked way out of his depth.

Perhaps Catterick's other big weakness was that he trusted too much in the youngsters coming through. Some of them had great potential but in a team that was struggling it's very difficult for young players to do well; maybe he should have been more aware of this.

Sorry that I seem to be going down the route of having a go at Catterick. But as he was the manager at the time – he was the one making the decisions re the team. He was the one who decided to break up the 1970 title-winning squad – and replace them with.......? That's just it – he didn't replace them with good enough players and he didn't rebuild. And, as Harry S Truman said about the buck stopping here, I think that it was the case with Mr Catterick – the buck stopped with him.

Ring was unfortunate because he had a bad injury which finished his career but basically Catterick got rid of all the Carey team and replaced them with players who did a job rather than entertain.

Tony Kay was his best acquisition but everyone knows what happened to him.

Johnny Carey was a great player and could have done for us what Shankley did for Liverpool, our directors have never been blessed with foresight, I'm afraid.

We don't do dynasties, never have. I think it was a combination of 'shit happens' and the Cat's waning judgement, which was a factor, but a bigger one IMO as the inabilty to see that the game and players playing it were changing.

It didn't start in the post 69-70 era Catterick for many reasons got rid of Collins, over 30 was a key factor. Collins went on to play for Leeds until he was 37 and was only forced out by a (I think) double leg break.

(Some) players were playing longer, all action wingers who had a decent 'head' on their shoulders and a good engine were playing into their late 30s: Giles, Ball, Callaghan, Paine, Charlton. Catterick could not or would not see this.

Then there is the 'shit happens' reason. Tony Kay, good for 10 years or maybe only 5 given Harry's 30 and out mentality. (I saw him in the Roger Hunt testimonial playing under AN Other. Only 3 people gave it 100%: a young Kevin Keegan, Gerry Bryne – if he played on with a broken arm in the Cup Final the mere fact of being too old was not going to stop him... and Tony Kay, best player on the field.

Harry and the transfer Market. I must say his earlier deals where on average better than his later ones:

Keith Newton; bought at Christmas to replace Sandy Brown who was hung out to dry on TV special as the weakest link and after the own goal lost a bit of confidence.

Henry Newton; Forest poster boy pre-Beckham flattered to deceive, was made to look good by Hard man / minder Terry Hennessey (he would've done better buying him)... Turns out he had glass knees.

Ernie Hunt; just didn't fit in for some reason.

Bernie Wright... Think Stracq

All the last 3 were bought on the back of good games against us... Harry was losing it.

Shit happens 2, 3, and more:

Joe Royle, essentially finished at 22 due to bad back.

Labone got an Achilles, game over in those day,

Tommy Wright did his knee ligaments in, game over in those days.

Jimmy Husband, never the same after Dave Mackay did him.

Alan Whittle, never quite made the step up to real top class and with David Johnson was moved on sharpish as a result of the Holly Lodge School girls 'scandal' — they were all over 16 but in those days...

Ill judgement then ill health did for Harry. Throw in the RS's pact with himself in 1969... and there you have it.

We don't do Dynasties.

It was brilliant going to the match when you knew you'd see a performance 5-2, 6-2 away wins! Great days, a team built around a core of youngsters we teenagers could identify with and even have a drink with in West Derby Village.

I spoke to Bally 4 years ago when he was delighted to sign my ticket stub and programme from the 1967 FA Cup derby; he told me Catterick told him selling him was "good business, son" ... The greatest Everton player I've ever seen - sold for club profit. He told me he remembers TV cameras poking into the carriage of the Euston-bound train and, when they'd gone, breaking down in tears.

The 1970 World Cup took a lot out of the Everton contingent – we never really got going in the League.

I've always thought the catalyst for Everton's 15-year demise was that dreadful few days in 1971 when we went out of the European Cup and FA Cup

All best wishes, Michael – 60s youngsters share a lot more than memories.

1969-70 was my first season as a sort of regular with my dad in the old Goodison Road enclosure when he wasn't working; occasionally he managed to come up with some seats in the Park End stand thanks to a work colleague who knew an ex-player named Jackie Grant.

Born in 1961 and blue through and through, every trip to Goodison Park was greeted with massive excitement by me. The crowds, the royal blue jerseys, the whitewashed walls, the smoke smells, and the green of the grass... it was just a magical place to be. I was just a bit too young to fully appreciate the great football on display but my memories are still pretty clear for games and goals I witnessed.

Aside from the clincher against WBA, one that I recall with great pleasure was a 5 - 2 home win over Chelsea; walking out of the ground there was an incredible cheer went up as the news of a win for Southampton over Leeds meant we were virtually home and dry.

I suppose hindsight is a wonderful thing but I think the biggest reason for the demise was the decision not to strengthen the squad that summer and especially finding a successor to Brian Labone as the defensive rock and leader from the back. Maybe even back then there was a shortage of funds as the new main stand was being erected and all available cash could well have been thrown at it.

I also think football was changing with 4-4-2 becoming a more common formation with the leading teams as opposed to 4-3-3 which Harry Catterick liked to use. Also, the emergence of strike partnerships: Jones and Clarke, O'Hare and Hector, Keegan and Toshack (hated typing that), Radford and Kennedy playing ahead of a four-man more compact midfield was achieving results more consistently.

For me, we just didn't move with the times and the buck stops with Mr Catterick for that but it's all consigned to the history books now and I for one do not hold it against anyone. I'm just grateful to have some fantastic memories to cherish from that magical era.

All great sides reach there sell-by date at some point but the one thing that separates the truly great managers from the rest is the ability to recognise this and rebuild without spending years in the doldrums. I feel quite fortunate that, in my lifetime only Everton and Arsenal have not spent time in the second tier of English football – even if we have witnessed some (I'm going to be nice here) very average teams along the way.

Good luck in your battles, Michael, and thanks for stirring my memories once again.

Everton, Liverpool, Man United, and Arsenal all had 7 titles. Sunderland and Villa had six. What a brilliant league!

With that team we should have pushed on and become the most successful league side.

Not my vintage, but selling Bally was a catastrophic decision.

Within 15 years that lot across the park had 15 titles total.

And now we have a $3 billion behemoth dividing titles between it, oil sheiks and oligarchs.

Anyway, Michael, all the best for your fight ahead. You have my prayers.

If you read what the players say from that era, nearly every one bar none says making Alan captain was a mistake.

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Love and Peace

Like Peter Reid after him, he was always talking/shouting/dictating the game anyway, no matter who 'had the armband' (nb: no armband back then).

Ball not being captain didn't, for one second, curb his desire or his urge to scream his opinions at those around him, but having Labby as captain may have had just enough of a calming effect to keep him on the right side of 'the law'.

Giving a player of his temperament/ego the captaincy was, as you suggest, almost certainly not the best decision.

That said, he is my number 1 all-time Everton hero.

I LOVED Alan Ball and always will.