Forensic study of a decade full of Everton success

SUPPORTERS IN the blue half of Merseyside must be stuck in a never-ending cycle of frustration and longing right now. It’s one thing for their arch-rivals in red to be marching on in such impressive fashion to a first title in 30 years, but the fact that they have it in the bag more or less at this early stage of the season guarantees a difficult final few months for devout Evertonians.

The Liverpool victory march will be unavoidable and, just to rub further salt in the wounds, their near neighbours will gain great mileage from their second-string team recording a win in the recent FA Cup derby.

Perhaps Everton followers should console themselves by looking into their history and remembering some of the stellar deeds of old that rewarded the Goodison Park faithful for their unswerving loyalty.

In that regard, ‘Money Can’t Buy Us Love - Everton in the 1960s’, will be well worth their time and money, because it is a forensic study of an era when the club was moulded into one of the finest in the country by manager Harry Catterick.

It has been written by Everton statistician Gavin Buckland, and his penchant for facts and figures is reflected in the impressive research undertaken in order to recall the events of that decade in such forensic detail.

There was a sensational development in 1960 when John Moores, owner of the Merseyside-based Littlewoods Corporation, took control of the club, with an apparently limitless supply of cash available to assemble a squad capable of locking horns with the very best.

And with workaholic team boss

Catterick regularly covering three or four other games on a weekly basis in a bid to unearth some previously unheralded talent, the decade certainly brought its ample rewards.

When the coveted Division 1 title was captured in 1962-’63, it bridged a gap of 24 seasons and gave Evertonians the kind of bragging rights that are of long-lasting value in such a soccer-mad city.

It wasn’t a flash in the pan either, because the blues recovered from a 2-0 deficit to score a sensational 3-2 win over Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup final of 1966, back in an era when that competition actually meant something in the wider scheme of things.

And although a loss at the same stage to Jeff Astle’s West Bromwich Albion in 1968 certainly wasn’t part of the plan, the decade finished on a high note when another Division 1 title was secured in 1969-’70.

Buckland goes into impressive detail on these big days and much more besides. However, arguably the most praiseworthy aspect of the book is the fact that he’s also more than willing to deal with the many controversies that dogged Everton at the time.

Given his close links to the club, readers might be expecting a rather one-sided account with the emphasis on the positives.

To give him credit, though, he doesn’t shy away from the fact that the Everton support base in the early part of the 1960s had a terrible reputation.

Accusations of darts being thrown at opposing players were rife, while railway carriages were regularly torn asunder by rampaging fans on away days.

Thankfully, they had quality on the field though, and the deeds of Colin Harvey, Alan Ball, Brian Labone, Howard Kendall, Joe Royle and many, many more are remembered in a decade that Evertonians would give anything to match between now and 2030.

ALAN AHERNE

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