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Peter Mills
1 Posted 11/04/2022 at 09:03:35
I enjoy these articles, they give a good perspective on our heroes from younger days.

John Hurst gave me my first great “Goodison under the floodlights” memory, scoring the winning penalty in the 1965 FA Youth Cup final. There was a big crowd that night, and a cracking atmosphere.

I met John a couple of years ago, he was very quiet and unassuming. He said he had the easiest job in football, he “just waited for the ball to drop to him and he would pass it to Brian (Labone).”. He was selling himself short, he was an excellent player.
Rick Tarleton
2 Posted 11/04/2022 at 11:23:07
A very good player, under-rated, but solid as a rock. As a schoolboy, he'd broken many records as a goal-scoring centre-forward for Blackpool boys and some of his early Everton games were in that position, but as a second centre-half or even as a sweeper alongside Brian Labone was how we remember him.

Intelligent, an excellent reader of the game, and defensively reliable. God, how the present team could do with him. He was unlucky to be a contemporary of Moore, Hunter, Smith, Harris and Stiles or he'd have been a full international as well as an Under-23 player.

I remember, at one time, he had a shop on Kensington, opposite the library.

I really enjoy these snippets and what a reminder of the days when footballers were part of our community.


Dave Abrahams
3 Posted 11/04/2022 at 11:27:10
John Hurst, I think he started off as a centre forward before he became a great assistant to Brian Labone, they complemented each other actually and John scored the goals that Brian hardly ever did, an excellent combination.

As Peter says above John was very unassuming, surprised to be recognised, I met him outside Goodison Park at Andy Kings funeral, I went over to him and thanked him for the pleasure he had given me when he played for the Blues, he thanked me for thanking him!! Then said it had been a pleasure and a privilege to play for Everton.

I sincerely wish those days of John Hurst and his like were back today,not just for the success we had then but for the way players gave their all and were grateful to be footballers and knew how lucky they were to be earning a good living playing the game they loved and most of them always had time for the fans and appreciated the acknowledgement they received from us.

I hope him and Rosemary have many more happy and healthy years in their autumn years.
Danny O’Neill
4 Posted 11/04/2022 at 12:02:13
These accounts always make my tear ducts play up. A great account of what it means to represent Everton and be the better half of someone who had the privilege to do so. Thank you as always, Becky.

Hopefully a trip to Wembley next season beckons for John and the Evertonian masses.

John Keating
5 Posted 11/04/2022 at 13:34:54
Wish she hadn't mentioned the 1968 FA Cup Final. I still can't get over it. We were certs, it was supposed to be about us just turning up!
Danny O’Neill
6 Posted 11/04/2022 at 13:39:36
I have those moments, John Keating. The 1985 Norman Whiteside moment and missing out on a historic treble. And the less said for 10 May 1986, the better. I still wake up at night thinking of that day.
Brian Murray
7 Posted 11/04/2022 at 13:52:03
The 1968 FA Cup Final was beyond a joke, us having pummelled West Brom home and away that season. Ditto the 1985 final vs Man Utd.

Agree though, Danny, I never felt as bad as in 1986.

Clive Rogers
8 Posted 11/04/2022 at 15:30:08
John Hurst was a tremendous player, very underrated indeed. His problem was that he made it all look so easy especially with his brilliant reading of the game. He was well worth England caps, but of course there was lots of competition then. He played 349 times and chipped in with 29 goals. He would walk into our team today. Great player.
Alan McGuffog
9 Posted 11/04/2022 at 15:38:35
Clive...only underrated by the London based sports media, not by ourselves.

So many northern-based players were overlooked in the sixties.

Tremendous partner for Labone but with an eye for a goal. He hooked in a beauty at Highbury as we went on that barnstorming start in 1969. Sighhhhh...

Becky Tallentire
10 Posted 11/04/2022 at 16:10:24
I love reading your comments, it properly makes my day.

While you’re in the ‘Hurst’ zone, may I exploit your memory a bit more?

If you could have a One2One with him, what would you ask?

⚽️
Ray Robinson
11 Posted 11/04/2022 at 17:04:50
My question would be "What was it like to play against George Best?" John was an underrated gem of a player, consistently good with an eye for a goal, a perfect foil for Brian Labone but in the home games against United in the late sixties / early seventies when a nervous hush descended on Goodison, each time Best got the ball, John Hurst would be there to snuff out the danger - not always legally I might add! Was he specifically detailed to mark him? That's how it seems to me. Of course my memory might be deluding me. Best never scored at Goodison in those days by the way.
Clive Rogers
12 Posted 11/04/2022 at 17:05:28
Alan, true. He was so comfortable when he moved into midfield also. He could play anywhere. I remember a winning goal at old Trafford when he moved forward and just kept going running through their defence clear and slotting into the net, brilliant.
Dave Abrahams
13 Posted 11/04/2022 at 19:33:31
Becky (10), I would ask John what he thinks about todays football and the attitudes of footballers and managers these days, does he still watch football but knowing John’s reputation as the quiet man I don’t think he would be too scolding about the present scene or even be envious of the obscene wages they receive, couldn’t say “ earn”.
Dave Abrahams
14 Posted 11/04/2022 at 19:34:05
Becky (10), I would ask John what he thinks about todays football and the attitudes of footballers and managers these days, does he still watch football but knowing John’s reputation as the quiet man I don’t think he would be too scolding about the present scene or even be envious of the obscene wages they receive, couldn’t say “ earn”.
Danny O’Neill
15 Posted 11/04/2022 at 20:20:52
Becky, a simple one for me. Is it possible to bottle what it means to pull on that shirt and walk out onto Goodison Park? If so, please pass the meaning of that to those who are charged with that privilege now.

I was never good enough or blessed enough but support and worship those who are and have been.
Graham Reed
16 Posted 11/04/2022 at 21:34:47
Peter @1. That is a surprising quote. If anybody brought the ball out of defense and set up attacks it was John Hurst. I would have expected Labone to say 'I just won the ball and passed it to Hurst' - or more likely John Hurst to say 'I just got the ball and passed it to Ball, Kendall or Harvey'.
Peter Mills
17 Posted 12/04/2022 at 08:26:24
You’re quite right, Graham#16. Equally, the ball was unlikely just to drop to him, there were some pretty tough forwards around and John would have to work hard to get the ball at his feet. He was just being self-effacing with me.

As has been mentioned, he could score a goal too, including the day Numbers 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 put seven past Peter Shilton.
Steve Hogan
18 Posted 12/04/2022 at 17:12:47
I love reading Becky's articles. Hurst and Labone, what a partnership. John gave the impression of being slow, but he moved the ball out of defence like a Rolls-Royce, with amazing skill.

Like all good players, he made it look easy, a great header of the ball too.

Becky's articles on the 'Goodison Wives' of a different era all have a common trait: none are desperate to emulate the current celebrity status of most of the Premier League wives and girlfriends of the present time, or the huge financial benefits that go with it.

I wonder whether Westy was his 'Best Man', both had Blackpool connections?

Greg Anderson
19 Posted 13/04/2022 at 00:00:24
Becky, thank you so much for sharing these precious interviews with us. The husbands, like the fantastic John Hurst, are often my boyhood heroes. But it is so lovely to hear the perspectives of their wives. I am always struck by how thoughtful, observant, and generous-spirited they all seem to be. They have a way of remembering all the telling details that really help to evoke a whole way of life. With some, like Rosemary, it is as if they had been waiting all these years for someone to ask them about their experiences of life in and around the world of "big time" football, and their memories just come gushing out in rich technicolour detail. A true pleasure to read and my absolute may favorite feature on Toffee Web. Thank you again.

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