Harry Catterick: The Untold Story of a Football Great

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Spoiler alert – I was never his biggest fan, so this lot may seem overly negative towards someone who achieved so much.

Early signings set the tone – Bobby Collins, great ball player, top scorer and crowd favourite was gone almost overnight, to be replaced by Dennis Stevens. The Catt – as he was known by Evertonians – was too wise and pragmatic to rise to the bait and preferred his team to do his talking on the pitch; something they accomplished with terrific results. Atherton recalled: “In that title-winning year, I went to Nottingham Forest, a night game; we were 2-0 down early on but went on to win 4-3. Ray Veall had a smashing game.”Whether Dixon shared his manager’s enthusiasm for the role is unrecorded, but the following month Dixon left the Blues to succeed Tommy Docherty as assistant manager of Hull City. After the move to Deepdale failed to re-ignite his career a transfer to Huddersfield Town followed.

He was a player of vast experience and tremendous character. This would have meant an awful lot at a critical time for a very young team. He probably lost the opportunity to skipper Everton for five years and with Kay in the team we would have had more success, far more success.” Frozen out of the first team scene, Veall’s Everton career stagnated over the following two years – he would later confess it was a case of too much too soon. The highlight of the evening followed Dave Prentice asking his wife Melanie, grand-daughter of William Ralph Dean, to present the Dixie Team Memorial Trophy for Sportsmanship and Respect. It went to John Hurst, who was correctly labelled “an impeccable role model of class and consistency”. These fans pay good money to see good football and successful football – I am determined to see a successful team and that is why I have made this decision.”Most would go for the charismatic bosses, Bill Shankly or Matt Busby, men who courted publicity and made headlines as well as winning trophies.