Harry Catterick: The Untold Story of a Football Great

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He wasn't a demonstrative man. He did not court the press and perhaps they had their revenge because you don’t see the tributes to him you get for the likes of Busby, Shankly and Nicholson. But he was on a par with any of them.” The striker – who was the first major football talent from sub-Saharan Africa to shine on the big stage having been born in the then Portuguese colony of Mozambique – netted 41 goals in 64 internationals and enjoyed a phenomenal scoring rate at club level with Benfica, plundering 473 goals in 440 matches for the Lisbon giants, with whom he won 11 domestic titles and the 1962 European Cup. Eusebio never forgot his exploits at Goodison Park though and when returning to Everton's home for a Europa League match in November 2009, he said: “Sorry, I don’t speak good English. But today for me, for my family, it’s a good day, for Benfica to play here. This stadium for me is the best stadium in my playing life.” This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. There was film of the 1966 FA Cup final, and Derek Temple was introduced to huge applause. Typically, he said “People say I scored the winning goal. I don’t look at it that way, I simply scored the third goal. Without Treb’s two goals, mine would have meant nothing”. I had a brief word with Derek, and asked him whether he got fed-up with such evenings? “No” he replied, “these things are important. And let me tell you – Evertonians never forget”. With England World Cup winner Alan Ball joining a line up of rising stars such as Joe Royle, John Hurst and Jimmy Husband and with new signing Howard Kendall, 1968 saw Everton in Wembley once more. This time however their hopes were dashed when West Brom took the Cup in extra time.

I played as a pro for nearly 20 years around the globe and this now makes it all seem worthwhile – it gives me pride and satisfaction.” 'I played with great players... I just wish it had lasted longer'

Ball, Kendall and a homegrown hero called Colin Harvey formed a midfield partnership which has had few equals in Everton history, or indeed the English game. Buttner’s been great because he’s travelled to every away game with us. He’s been involved in every single training session, he’s played three times and been a substitute another 10 times, something like that. So I think that’s a contribution.” He is buried in the graveyard of St Anne's Church, St Anne's-on-the-Sea, Lancashire after a funeral held there six days after his death. His gravestone bears the Everton motto, "Nil satis nisi optimum". The manager could then be assured that the youngsters have the benefit of the same of coaching his first team men are getting.” It is a shame that people always look at the entertainers (or fools depending on your approach to the player in question) in the game, people like Mario Balotelli, Joey Barton, Steven Gerrard and Ravel Morrison to name a few recent players. Whilst their foolish behaviour is craved by journalists looking for a story and pundits looking to fill air time, there is always players who never get any attention, many of which im sure dont wish to be in the spotlight anyway, especially for the wrong reasons.

This was, after all, the era of Norman ‘Bites-yer-Legs’ Hunter, Ron ‘Chopper’ Harris and Tommy Smith, the Anfield Iron. Carey had been given full funding by chairman John Moores and spent well in building a good footballing side, true to the “ School of Science” ethos. Success, in the form of silverware, however, had eluded him. The winger said: “I never gave a medal much more thought until I saw on the telly that if you play in England now and just play five games you get one. I thought, ‘I played a lot more than that.’ Ball, Kendall and Harvey may have grabbed the headlines, but the manager had crafted a well-balanced side, considered by football purists to be one of the finest seen on English soil.No doubt the people behind the latest stunt will get their laughs from the “lolz” generation and Spurs, with a hefty fine on the cards, will be accused of not getting the joke. And what of the Football Association? At least when Rivaldo embarked on that wretched piece of play-acting in the 2002 World Cup it led to a full hearing and the player being fined. “We want to demonstrate that this type of simulation cannot be accepted and cannot go unpunished,” Fifa’s disciplinary chief, Marcel Mathier, said. The question of why the 69/70 team did not go on to further success remains a mystery to even some of those who played in it.

Here was a man who had spent 14 years at Goodison as a player, 12 as manager plus two as a “consultant” and who had created, arguably, one of the finest post-war teams to grace English football pitches, yet he had not been given recognition in the form of a biography. Some embraced the spotlight being shone upon them. I already eluded to Mr. Clough, whose national fame came later, but there were plenty of others who gladly stepped out of the shadows and into the glare of public life, and in return, the press were more than happy to indulge them. Those who saw the 62/63 side remember them as a class act. The 69/70 team were even better, some would say among the finest to grace the English game in the second half of the 20th century. It always irked me, and still does that people had the egotistic Liverpool manager as a better manager than Harry, no way, Harry was every bit as good, better to me, than the Liverpool manager, who was too much in love with himself for my liking, obviously my Everton bias coming into play there, but give me common sense and a quiet manner over showing off and looking for the limelight any day. No apologies, but despite all the good days he brought during his tenure and undoubted ability to build attractive, winning teams, I am still unable to forgive or forget the short sightedness of both his and the club’s attitudes.

'I played with great players... I just wish it had lasted longer'

Ross Barkley’s dive in the same game was a full-on deception, but Tomkins took gamesmanship to a new level and, though it scarcely matters given the wealth of these people, it would be nice to think that as well as a dressing-down from Sam Allardyce his club might have considered it worthy of some form of disciplinary measure.