The First World War had been kind to Everton in that none of their players had lost their lives and only one player was missing from the championship winning side of 1915, Harry Makepeace had retired from football but continued to play cricket for both Lancashire and England. However, the majority of the players from four years ago were now past their prime and the club was not able to build on the pre war success.
During the 1919-20 season no fewer than 35 players were used, the impact of this on the team was inconsistency and despite an acceptable start to the campaign the team fell away, ending the season in a disappointing 16th place, just two points off relegation. The FA Cup did not offer any joy for Evertonians; the club were drawn away to second division side, Birmingham City, in the first round and lost 2-0.
The club recruited two defenders during the season right back Dicky Downs joined Everton from Barnsley for a fee of £3,000; he had starred in the Barnsley side that had beaten the blues in the 1910 FA Cup semi final. Centre half George Brewster was brought in from Aberdeen for a fee of £1,500 and along with Downs started to give the side a resemblance of stability.
Football was on the verge of a financial boom with gate receipts rising rapidly, in the season before the war Everton had an income of £12,059 12s from the paying public, the 1919-20 season saw this income rise to an astonishing £40,170 17s. There was disquiet, however, amongst those who were responsible for football’s new found wealth, the players. At the end of the season the player’s union asked for the maximum wage of £10 per week to be stabilized, but when the League Management Committee actually proposed a reduction to £9 the union met in Manchester and called a players strike. Before action could be taken several teams resigned and this left the players with no choice but to accept the £9 maximum. As a result of the players easy acceptance of the wage reduction the League further lowered the weekly wage to £8 at the end of the 1920-21 season.
Before, and during, the 1920-21 season changes to the Everton playing staff were made with Clennell, Jefferies, Maconnachie and Thompson all leaving the club, in came full back John McDonald and centre forward Charlie Crossley from Sunderland. Crossley formed a more than useful partnership with George Harrison and his 15 goals made him Everton’s top scorer for the season.
Everton’s league form noticeably improved and they finished the campaign in a creditable seventh place, although a full twelve points behind champions Burnley. The FA Cup started well with 1-0 wins over both Stockport County and Sheffield Wednesday and following a 3-0 over Newcastle United, Everton were in the quarter finals. When they were handed a home tie against second division Wolverhampton Wanderers, hopes were raised that another cup success could be achieved. Wolves had other ideas and shook everyone when they went back to the Midlands with a 1-0 win.
Despite progress on the field further changes to an aging playing staff was needed, most notably was the departure of Bobby Parker. He had not been able to recapture he heights he reached before the war due mainly to having a bullet lodged in his back and he left the club to join Nottingham Forest.
The 1921-22 season got off to a sensational start when Manchester United were soundly beaten 5-0 at Goodison Park, but that was as good as it would get and only two more wins were achieved before Christmas. Duggie Livingstone and Bobby Irvine, a magical dribbler from Dunmurry, were drafted in, but failed to stop the rot.
On the 7 th January Everton suffered what was surely their most embarrassing result since they started playing football. The FA Cup had paired them at home with Third Division South side Crystal Palace and while Everton tried to play at a stroll, Palace were much more determined and won 6-0. This humiliating defeat prompted the Everton board to pay Aidrieonians £4,000 for centre half, Hunter Hart and the Glaswegian stopper was to prove priceless in the team’s fight against relegation.
The second half of the season saw Everton continue to struggle and the threat of relegation for the first time was becoming a real possibility. The team, however, saved themselves with three wins and a draw in the last six games, finishing 20 th just four points above Bradford City
At the end of the disappointing season Everton accepted an invitation to go on another trip abroad, this time to Denmark. The short tour came at an appropriate time and would give the players much needed recuperation time. Two games were arranged against Copenhagen, the first was won 5-3; the second was a 0-0 draw.
During the summer months more changes were made to the Everton playing staff with the main departure being Charles Crossley who, after a good start to his time with the blues, never reached the expectations placed upon him and he was transferred to West Ham United. New faces around the club included Wilf Chadwick (no relation to the great Edgar Chadwick) who had progressed through Everton’s reserve sides and boasted a record of two goals a game at that level. Other recruits to the team included full back David Raitt, and inside forwards Billy Williams, from Darwen and Fred Forbes, from Hearts.
The 1922-23 season had a mixed start, with seven wins and six defeats in the first 13 games, and included heavy defeats at Blackburn Rovers and Liverpool, both by five goals to one. In the Blackburn game Everton had the indignity of conceding four goals in five minutes, all scored by McIntyre, a record that still stands today. The Everton directors reacted to the indifferent start with three important signings; Neil McBain was recruited from Manchester United and was joined by Chelsea’s Jack Cock and Dundee’s Alec Troup, who was signed for a fee of £1,950.
McBain’s transfer was the most prominent and his impending transfer from Old Trafford was met with around a thousand angry fans who turning up to a public meeting to express their anger, but to no avail. Cock was flamboyant, both on and off the field, he had been reported killed in action during the war but turned up once peace was declared and had joined Chelsea. Troup was an excellent winger who was one of the best crossers of the ball in the game; he also had courage and determination in abundance. He needed both of these qualities during his career to help him overcome the handicap of a very weak collar-bone, which had to be strapped before every game. The three new players along with established favourites including Sam Chedgzoy helped Everton to a much improved fifth place in the League.
The FA Cup Final had found a new and permanent home when the 1923 final was played at Wembley Stadium; the first final at the new ground was between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United, with Wanderers winning 2-0. The occasion was officially watched by a crowd of 126,947 but estimates of up to 240,000 have been suggested. The game become known as the “White Horse” final; the vastness of the crowd meant that it spilt onto the pitch and one policeman on a white horse was the focal point of the police operation that managed to gain control and allow the game to take place.
Everton’s recent poor run in the FA Cup continued and the team was knocked out in the first round following a replay against second division Bradford City. Despite a much needed improvement on the playing side, the season ended without a trophy.
In season 1923-24, when Huddersfield Town started their run of three consecutive titles, Everton finished a creditable seventh, with their highest ever points total of 49. The quality of Everton’s play during the early ‘twenties, and in particular this season, was stylish and pleasing to watch with the team receiving heavy paraise. The Athletic Times enthused that “No team in the country had served up more delightful football”, this was a nice accolade but it was not helping the club to win trophies.
Despite their seventh place finish in the league Everton could boast the leagues top scorer, for the sixth time, when Wilf Chadwick ended the season with 28 goals; and when Cock adding a further 15, a total of 62 was scored by the team, only beaten by three teams in the division.
Their was yet another disappointment in the FA Cup, after a convincing 3-1 home win in the first round against Preston North End they were drawn against Third Division South side Brighton & Hove Albion. The game took place on the south coast and Everton were soundly beaten 5-2 and ended the game with ten men, when Chedgzoy was injured and could not continue.
Everton’s stylish football was attracting interest from abroad and at the end of the season they were invited to Spain to help Barcelona celebrate their 25 th Anniversary. The visitors played two games against their hosts winning one and losing the other, both by a 2-1 margin. Newcastle United had also been invited and after Barcelona had played them twice, United and Everton played one game so that the Spaniards could witness two English sides in action. Everton won the game 3-2 and were presented with a silver cup, known as the Barcelona Cup, and each player received a medal. The Barcelona Club had paid Everton £1,000 to attend their celebrations and as the total expenditure of the trip had only been £1,009, the tour was seen as a complete success.
Will Cuff, who was now the club’s chairman, was far from satisfied, and despite all of the flattery that was coming Everton’s way he knew something was needed if trophies were to be added to the exceptional football they were playing.
Everton started the 1924-25 season very poorly, with only one win in the first ten games and the team languishing in the lower reaches of the league. As the season progressed they continued to struggle and although relegation was never a threat, the side could only finish in a disappointing 17 place. By now only Sam Chedgzoy remained from the side that had won the league title before the First World War and he was to cause a sensation on the 13 th September 1924.
Everton were playing against Tottenham Hotspurs, at White Hart Lane, and had been awarded a corner. Chedgzoy exploited a loophole in the rules, which did not state that the player taking the corner could not kick it more than once, and dribbled the ball along the touchline and hammered it past the amazed Spurs keeper. The goal was disallowed, and the game ended in a 1-1 draw, but the FA later admitted that it was legal and should have stood; within 48 hours the rule was changed so that once a corner was taken the player taking it could not touch the ball again until another player had touched it; the rule change saw the introduction of the ‘short corner’.
Apart from Chedgzoy’s inventiveness the season was dull, goal scoring was a real problem and by the end of the campaign only Preston North End and Nottingham Forest, who were both relegated, had scored less. The answer lay nearer to home than a lot of people realised.
Playing for Merseyside’s third league side, Tranmere Rovers, a young lad was making such an impression that he had teams like Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Arsenal, Birmingham City and of course Everton courting his signature. William Ralph Dean had scored 27 goals in as many games between September 1924 and March 1925 for Tranmere in the Third Division North. Nicknamed “ Dixie”, a name he came to despise, he was five foot ten and half inches and weighed twelve stone seven pounds, he was fast, strong and possessed a powerful shot with either foot, but his greatest asset was his heading ability. Hours spent heading the ball onto the roof of the Wesley Hall chapel in Birkenhead had finely tuned his heading skills, whether with bullet like force or subtle glances.
With some of the top sides in England clamouring for his signature Dean was spoilt for choice but his heart only belonged to one club, his beloved Everton. When Everton made an offer of £3,000 for the eighteen year old, Tranmere could not refuse and on the 16 th March 1925 “ Dixie” Dean became an Everton player.
He made his debut five days after signing against Arsenal, at Highbury, but it was to be a losing start to his Everton career as the home side ran out 3-1 winners. He kept his place for the next game, a home against Aston Villa, and scored his first goal for the club in a much needed 2-0 win. In all Dean played in seven games in his first season with the club and scored two goals, but plenty more were to come.
At the end of the season a radical change was announced by the Football Association when the offside rule was changed. Up until now three players had to be between the attacking player and the goal, the change meant that from now on only two had to be in position. It seemed to be no more than tinkering by the FA, who were always trying to improve the game but the actual impact was immense with the number of goals rising from 4700 in 1924-25 to 6373 the following season.
Season 1925-26 got off to a poor start with four draws and a defeat in the first five games; this resulted in a first team call up for Dean, especially after he had scored seven times for the reserves against Bradford City. Everton’s defence, along with most teams, was struggling to come to terms with the offside rule change and despite scoring a much improved 72 goals, 70 were conceded. Dean’s first goal of the season came in his third game, a 4-4 draw against Manchester City, four weeks later on the 17 th October 1925 he scored the first of his 37 hatricks for the club, against Burnley at Turf Moor. Dean scored three more hatricks and an incredible 32 goals in 38 games in his first full season with Everton but he could not help the team to a higher place than eleventh.
The FA Cup could not offer any solace with yet another dismal failure, this time at the hands of lowly second division Fulham. The season, again, turned out to be a disappointment and without the sensational start to Dean’s career, may have been worse.
This was the first season that attendance figures were published and Everton’s highest gate was now ‘officially’ set in the Merseyside derby when 49,426 turned up to witness a 3-3 draw, over the whole season the club averaged 26,876 for their home games.
At the end of the season Sam Chedgzoy, the last of the 1914-15 Championship winning side still at the club, retired and emigrated to the USA were he continued his playing career with the New Bedford Whalers. In 1930 he moved to Canada and became the player/ coach of the Montreal Carsteel, making his final appearance in the Canadian Cup Final aged fifty. He remained in Canada until his death in 1967, aged 73.
During the summer of 1926 all Evertonians held their breath after Dixie Dean was involved in a serious road accident. It was 10 June and was riding his motorbike along the St Asaph road in North Wales when he was in collision with a motorbike and sidecar, his passenger suffered only minor injuries but Dean and the two men on the other bike were detained in hospital. Dean’s injuries were serious, a jaw broken in two places and a fractured skull, and he was unconscious for 36 hours. The hospital doctors feared for his life, and the Everton club Doctor, Dr. Baxter, was under the opinion that should Dean recover he would never play football again. Metal plates were inserted into his jaw to help with the recovery and once well enough he was moved to a West Derby nursing home, to help with his convalesce.
Dean’s extraordinary recovery powers astounded his doctors and just 17 weeks after the accident that nearly took his life, he scored a headed goal in his comeback game against Huddersfield Town reserves. His first team return was 2 weeks later and he scored again, this time against Leeds United at Elland Road, and helped Everton to their first away win of the season.
While Dean was recovering from his injuries Everton were making further strides in making the club the envy of the football world and the next major development was to the stadium. During 1926 a new double-decker stand was built on the Bullens Road side of the ground at a cost of £30,000, the structure was again designed by Archibald Leach and incorporated the, by now, famous criss-cross design on the facia of the stand, which could also be seen at Ibrox Park and Roker Park.
When the 1926-27 started Everton made a disastrous start and lost seven and drew once in the first eight games, in fact they only won one game before Dean returned after thirteen games, that being the Merseyside derby at Goodison. The teams fortunes briefly changed and only lost one of the next eight games, much to the relief of all Everton’s followers. The improvement was short lived and by the turn of the year the team had only won six games and had amassed only 16 points, the spectre of relegation was looming large.
The Everton hierarchy were quick to react to the growing crisis, and over the Christmas and New Year period two important signings were made. First to arrive was Ted Critchley, a dynamic outside right who signed for £2,500 from Stockport County, and his acquisition filled the void following the retirement of Sam Chedgzoy. The defence that was starting to leak goals alarmingly was strengthened with the signing of Warneford (‘Warney’) Creswell, (left) who joined Everton from Sunderland for a fee of £7,000. Creswell was one of the classiest full backs in the country and had won several International caps for England.
The clubs’ spending spree did not end with those two major signings and other arrivals included Ted Taylor, an experienced England International goalkeeper, inside left Tony Weldon joined from Airdrie and Dick Forshaw was surprisingly signed from Liverpool. The huge outlay the Everton board had sanctioned on new players and wages, in all £27,690, left the club with a huge financial loss for the season but it was to prove worthwhile as the team avoided relegation by just four points and one place from Luton Town and West Bromwich Albion.
The reason for the team being embroiled in a relegation fight was easy to see, the meagre total of 64 goals being scored was swamped by a huge 90 conceded. Dean was obviously missed at the start of the season but even his 21 goals in 27 could not paper over the cracks in the Everton squad.
The FA Cup, once again, was in keeping with the league form and Everton were knocked out of the competition after two replays in the second round by second division Hull City.
Elsewhere in football centre forwards were reaping a great reward following the change in the offside law, two years ago, and one player had taken advantage above all others. George Camsell smashed the countries league record when he scored an amazing 59 goals in 37 games to help his team, Middlesbrough, to the second division title.
Under the guidance of Thomas McIntosh and the care of trainer Harry Cooke, Everton started the 1927-28 season with a very impressive 4-0 home win over Sheffield Wednesday. However, one win in the next six games had the club’s followers thinking that another mediocre season was on the cards. Despite the indifferent start Dixie Dean was beginning to make everyone in the game take further notice of him as he scored 12 goals in the first eight games. As the teams fortunes changed for the better Dean helped himself to all five goals in a 5-2 win over Manchester United at Goodison Park. Everton were by no means a one man side and two games later they crush West Ham United 7-0 while Dean was representing England in Belfast.
Everton were by now in a great run of form and by Christmas they sat proudly on top of the Football League and Dean started the New Year with an amazing haul of 35 goals in just 22 games to his name. After the turn of the yYear Everton fortunes took a turn for the worse and they went a ten game run were they only won once and picked up just 6 points. By the end of March they had dropped to second place, behind double chasing Huddersfield Town, during this period, however, Dean had reached a personal milestone. On 25 February, having scored 40 goals, he faced Liverpool at Anfield and scored three time to equal Ted Harper’s two year First Division scoring record, but he had to wait a full month to make the record his own, scoring both in a 2-2 home draw against Derby County.
The game against Derby was to be the end of Everton’s winless streak and they went on to finish the season with an unbeaten eight game run. During this period they caught and over took Huddersfield and went into the last week of the season with a three point lead. Everton’s penultimate game was away to Burnley, who were fighting against relegation, a 5-3 victory was secured with the help of four from Dean. An anxious wait ensued to find out how Huddersfield had done at third placed Leicester City. When the news came through it was not what Evertonians had wanted, Huddersfield had won 2-1, so remained three points behind but had three games left to Everton’s one. Huddersfield’s games in hand were at home against Sheffield United and away to Aston Villa, and had to be played within 48 hours of one another. They lost the Sheffield game and went to Villa needing to win, it proved too much and the home side won 3-0.
An amazing turn around had been achieved by all at the club, from near relegation the season before to First Division champions this season, with one game left all attention turned to one person.
Dixie Dean had plundered 12 more goals during the seven games that had led to the title but while scoring the four against Burnley he sustained a sprained leg muscle and had limped off during the second half. The week leading up to the last game of the season saw Harry Cook spend the whole time with Dean, even staying with him at his Claughton home, in order to get him fit for the game. The whole of Merseyside was hypothesizing as to whether the scoring record could be equalled, could it be beaten or would Dean even play.
The opponents for the momentous occasion were Arsenal and official crowd of 48,715 were in attendance, unofficially a crowd of around 60,000 crammed into Goodison Park to see if Dixie could break the record, and also witness Everton received the championship trophy.
Dean’s first goal of the day was a typical stupendous header and came after just five minutes; it was needed as Arsenal had taken the lead two minutes earlier. Soon after the restart he had another chance to score when Dean himself was felled in the Arsenal penalty box. There was only going to be one player to take the spot kick, Dean mis-hit his shot but fortune was on his side as the ball crept through the Arsenal goalkeeper’s legs and into the net. George Camsell’s record had been equalled and there was still 83 minutes left for Dean to collect the record for himself.
Arsenal equalised, but really the actual score was irrelevant, the only thing that mattered was to get Dean to the 60 goal target. Time was running out and with just seven minutes left Everton were awarded a corner. Alec Troup, who had supplied many of Dean’s goals, delivered a superb out-swinger, Dean rose above the Arsenal defence to send the ball into the net at the Park End of the ground, the crowd erupted, and one fan actually ran onto the pitch. Dean was congratulated by all of the Everton players, and when they had a chance by the Arsenal players also, Dean marked the record breaking goal with a simple bow to the crowd. Arsenal drew level again and the game ended 3-3, Dean had finished the game early when it became clear that he would be mobbed at the final whistle.
William Ralph Dean had set an English goal scoring record that has never been in danger of being beaten. His 60 goals came in 39 games and consisted of 31 in away games, 29 at home, forty shots and twenty headers and included 5 hatricks, a four and a five goal haul.
The season had been so competitive that only sixteen points separated Champions, Everton, from the bottom club, Middlesbrough and there was only five points between fourth placed Derby County and Portsmouth who finished twentieth.
During the season many teams tried to find a way to counter the successful forward play following the changes to the offside law. Newcastle United and Arsenal led the way with the introduction of the third defender to play between the two full-backs. Previously, the centre half in the side had always been part defender, part attacker, now he was to become a stopper with his job to prevent the opposition’s centre forward from scoring. Teams who introduced this new method of play lined up as followed: goalkeeper, three full-backs, two half backs, two inside forwards and three forwards.
During the summer of 1928 Everton reinforced their playing staff by adding Jimmy Dunn and Harry Ritchie, both signed from Hibernian. Dunn, who had been a member of the Scotland side dubbed the 'Wembley Wizards' after they humbled England 5-1, cost Everton £5,000 and both he and Ritchie made their Everton debut on the opening day of the 1928-29 season.
Optimism was high amongst Everton’s supporters and was only to be fuelled by the start the team made to the campaign, two wins and a draw in the first three games and two hatricks for Dean saw all Evertonians happy. This was as good as it really got, as indifferent form took a hold of the whole side, even Dean suffered the indignity of being dropped from the side. As Christmas approached Everton had lost as many games as they had won but a good run of form in early December, with three wins, two draws and one defeat, saw the ship steadied for a time.
The New Year started with another win, 4-0 at home to Derby County, but this was to be the end of the short purple patch and the team started to struggle once again. Of the last 19 games Everton were to lose 13 of them, including eight of the last nine, and club was dawn ever closer to the foot of the table. Fortunately for Everton there were four teams who finished the season below them and the club missed relegation be a safe margin of seven points, but the warning signs were there for all to see and something had to be done.
Despite the terrible season in the league Everton did win a trophy, on the 24 th October the side won the Charity Shield for the first time when they beat Blackburn Rovers 2-1 at Old Trafford, Dean grabbing both of the goals.
The FA Cup was as much of a disappointment as the league campaign had been, with a third round defeat to second division Chelsea by two goals to nil. Worse still, during the game Everton lost the services of Albert Virr with a serious knee injury. Virr had been an important part of the championship winning side of the previous season and was to be missed during the remainder of this season. He did attempt to make a comeback during the 1929-30 season, but it was not to be and he forced to retire from the game after making 126 appearances for Everton.
Despite the warnings from the previous season, 1929-30 was to turn out to be the most traumatic in the club’s history. The season started badly, one win in the first seven games, and got steadily worse and by the Christmas of 1929 the team had lost half of the 24 games played, winning only five. During this period,however, several notable players were to embark on their Everton career; Tommy White, who was signed from Southport in 1927, was starting to establish himself in the side, Jimmy Stein who had signed the previous season from Dumbarton; like White he started to make a first team place his own and Ben Williams joined the team in December when he was signed from Swansea for a fee of £4,300.
The turn of the year saw a brief improvement in the teams’ results and also saw the debut of Ted Sagar, in which he kept a clean sheet in a 4-0 win over Derby County at Goodison Park on 18 th January. Fortunes changed for the worse and by the end February Everton were embroiled in ferocious relegation scrap; the club’s Directors had to act quickly.
Alec Troup left the club to rejoin Dundee and in March Jock Thompson made the reverse trip when he joined Everton for a fee of £3,850. The club’s officials were determined to do all in their powers to maintain the club’s proud record of never being relegated and they had not finished in the transfer market. Tommy “Tosh” Johnson also arrived in March from Manchester City with Everton paying £6,250 for his goalscoring talents.
Everton were in the middle of a six game losing streak, and on 5 th April, following a 5-4 defeat at the hands of Leicester City, the team dropped to the bottom of the table. Next up was a home fixture was against fellow relegation candidates, Grimsby Town, and in a game Everton should have won they managed to be disappointingly beaten 4-2 and were now three points adrift at the foot of the table with just 5 games left.
Everton won three and drew one of the first four of the remaining games to give themselves a chance of staying in the first division. Five teams went into the final day of the season with the threat of relegation hanging over them, Burnley, Sheffield United, Newcastle United and Grimsby Town being the other four. Everton’s destiny, however, was out of their control and no matter what they did at home to Sunderland they were relying on the other teams losing.
Everton did all they could by winning the game 4-1, Tommy White scoring an impressive hatrick, in front of the season’s biggest crowd of 51,132. None of the huge crowd left the ground at the final whistle as they waited anxiously for the results of the other games. Their worst fears were realised when the results of all the other games came in to reveal that all of Everton’s rivals had won, sending Everton, along with Burnley, down to the second division.
After 38 years of uninterrupted top-flight football Everton were relegated and this did not go down well the club’s next Shareholders’ AGM and when the balance sheet was revealed to show a loss of £12,000 for the relegation season, the unrest increased. There were demands for Everton to follow the lead of many of their rivals and appoint a team manager; there were also calls for the board to be sacked. The club’s directors refused on both accounts and survived a vote of confidence by 82 votes to 61.
Despite relegation Everton’s directors refused to panic and only added two new faces to the squad who had ended the previous season. Cliff Britton, a stylish wing half, was signed from Bristol Rovers but was to spend most of his first two seasons at the club in the reserves. Charlie Gee was the second acquisition during the summer and was brought in from Stockport County to replace centre half, Tom Griffiths. Other changes to the playing staff saw Hunter Hart retire and join the Goodison office staff and Ben Williams took over as captain from the ageing Warney Cresswell.
The Everton players returned to pre-season training on 1st August and to prepare themselves for what all connected with the club hoped was to be a short stay in the second division. Four weeks later the season got underway at Plymouth Argyle’s Home Park, and Everton started their drive back to the top flight of English football with a 3-2 victory, the Club’s intent to gain promotion became evident when they won the next four games, to go to the top of the table.
Everton were finding goals easy to come by and scored four or more on several occasions, and on 27 th December they equalled the club’s record league score when they demolished Plymouth 9-1 at Goodison Park.
At the turn of the year Everton sat comfortably on top of the league table, having won 16 of the 22 games played and only lost three. There was no let up in the team’s relentless surge back to the first division and they won the first nine games of 1931, at the beginning of March, with eleven games left to play, they were 13 points ahead of nearest rivals Tottenham Hotspurs, which virtually guaranteed promotion.
With promotion an almost certainty Everton turned their attention to the FA Cup and after despatching Plymouth Argyle, Crystal Palace and Grimsby town, the team was next drawn to play local neighbours, Southport. The Sandgrounders arrived at Goodison with high hopes of coursing a huge upset, but by half time the third division north side were 7-0 down. The second half saw Everton ease off and Southport scored a consolation goal before the home side completed the rout by scoring two more goals.
The prospect of the club’s first visit to Wembley was causing great excitement amongst the supporters and it looked very much a reality when they were drawn against fellow second division side West Bromwich Albion in the semi final. The game was played at Old Trafford and Evertonians made the relative short journey to Manchester in their thousands, such was the interest in the match that it caused chaotic scenes both inside and outside of the ground. A crowd of close to 70,000 were in place for the game and at times the excitement was so intense that the crowd spilled onto the pitch, causing the game to be interrupted on several occasions. It was estimated that 20,000 people were locked out and this caused its own problems on the concourse outside the ground, which resulted in 333 people being injured.
Everton controlled long periods of the game but it was an error by the unfortunate Bill Coggins, who misjudged a cross and left West Brom’s captain Tommy Glidden to score the only goal of the game.
Despite the disappointment of not reaching Wembley for the first time, Everton’s focus turned back to obtaining enough points to gain immediate promotion back to division one. Easter Saturday saw them at home to Bradford City in the knowledge that a win would secure promotion and with the backing of a crowd of 32,313 they record a 4-2 victory to not only clinch promotion but also the second division title.
Everton eventually won the title by seven points from West Bromwich Albion and in doing so set a club record goal scoring record when they ended the season with 121 goals, in 42 league games. Dixie Dean, as usual, led the way with 39 goals and was one of six players who scored on 10 or more occasions. The season was personal triumph for Dean as he completed a double century of goals on 8 th November 1930 in only his 207 th appearance at the age 23 years 290 days.
The only significant change to the Everton playing staff for the 1931-32 season was the replacement of Bill Coggins in goal by the teenager, Ted Sagar. After playing eight games during the relegation season, Sagar had returned to the reserves to continue learning his trade but now was the time for him to step up and make the first team position his own. He grasped the chance and went on to make a record number of league appearances of 463, spanning a career with the Blues of 23 years. His record stood for over 35 years until another goalkeeper, Neville Southall, broke it and went to represent the club 578 times in the league.
Dean was made captain for the campaign ahead and the season started well with three straight victories, Dean turned goal provider and helped Jimmy Dunn to hit a hatrick in the first game and then assisted Tommy White to achieve the same fete in the next. Dean himself had to wait until the sixth game of the season, the first Merseyside derby at Anfield, to get of the mark; needless to say he did it in style with all three goals in a 3-1 victory.
By the end of November Everton were sitting on top of the first division, 17 games had been played, 13 won and 1 drawn. What was staggering about this early season form was the number of goals the team scored; Dean and co had amassed an amazing 60 goals with four results standing out above the rest; 9-3 against Sheffield Wednesday, 8-1 against Newcastle United, 7-2 against Chelsea and 9-2 against Leicester City. The teams in the first division were beginning to sit up and take notice in Everton as it became obvious their form was not a fleeting success and they were quickly becoming the most feared team in the division, especially at home.
Between the beginning of December and mid February the goals began to dry up and only four victories were achieved, giving the rest of the league hope of overtaking the team who had only just been promoted. The early season form, however soon returned and after West Ham United were well beaten 6-1 at Goodison Park on 16 th April this marked the eighth victory in a ten game unbeaten run. The following week the team travelled to Middlesbrough knowing that a victory would all but seal the championship, however they went down to a slender 1-0 defeat and with their lead now down to just five points it meant that closest rivals, Arsenal, could still catch them. Next up were Bolton Wanderers at Goodison Park and Everton knew that any sort of victory would clinch their fourth league title. Surprisingly only 28,546 turned up to witness the game and they had to wait until 33rd minute before Dean scored the goal that gave Everton the victory needed to secure the championship.
Everton had taken the first division by storm, and no little surprise, having only gained promotion the previous season nobody had expected the team from Goodison Park to pose a genuine threat to the countries top sides. For the second season in succession the side had scored more than 100 league goals, 116 this time, in winning a league title. Dixie Dean, as usual, led the way with an impressive total of 44 goals to top the counties scoring table; “Tosh” Johnson added a further 22 and Tommy White and Jimmy Dunn Scored 18 and 10 respectively.
For the second summer running no new players were added to Everton’s impressive squad but one player was to step up from the reserves to become, in Dean’s view, one of the finest half-backs the game had seen. Cliff Britton had joined the club in 1930 but had failed to make an immediate impact on the first team, only making 10 appearances in the previous two seasons. He was to play for Everton until 1938, leaving the club in 1945 after the Second Would War Two and, in 1948, returned to take over as manager, a position he held until 1956. New players, however, did arrive before the end of 1932, Albert Geldard, who held the record of the youngest player to play in the Football League aged 15 years 158 days, was signed from Bradford Park Avenue in the November and Billy Cook joined the club from Celtic for a £3,000 the following month.
Everton began their defence of the league title with an away defeat to West Bromwich Albion, two home wins followed but inconstancy took over and by Christmas they had lost nine out of the 23 games played, which saw them languishing in mid table. During this period, however, another trophy was added to the club’s display cabinet when, on 12 th October 1932, Everton won the Charity Shield for a second time; beating Newcastle United 5-3, with Dean getting four of the goals.
The turn of the year did not see any major improvement in Everton’s league form and only six more games were won before the season came to an end; the second half of the season also saw a record defeat in a Merseyside derby, when the team lost 7-4 at Anfield. With the defence of the league title turning out to be a disappointment, the season eventually ending with an eleventh place finish, attention was to turn to the FA Cup.
Everton started the competition with an away game at Leicester City, and goals from Dean, Dunn and Stein saw the side progress, narrowly, 3-2. The reward for the victory was a home tie against second division Bury, who were brushed aside by 3 goals to one in front of 45,000 spectators. After Leeds United were beaten 2-0, also at Goodison Park, Everton had progressed to the quarter final and faced opponents from the old third division south, Luton Town. A crowd of 55,000 turned up at Goodison Park hoping to witness an Everton victory, they did not leave disappointed as the home side ran out easy winners, 6-0, to reach the semi final for the tenth time.
Second division side West Ham United supplied the opposition; the game took place at Wolverhampton’s, Molineux ground, and nine special trains left Liverpool’s Lime Street Station and headed for the Midlands to watch favourites Everton, hopefully reach their first Wembley Cup Final. Within six minutes of the start of the game Everton went ahead, when Jimmy Dunn headed home a Jimmy Stein’s corner, the Blues should have gone on to win comfortably but West Ham responded well and with just two minutes left of the first half they equalised through Vic Watson.
West Ham grew in confidence during the second half and the game seemed to be heading for extra time when, with just seven minutes left, they were dealt a cruel blow. Ted Critchley dribbled towards the West Ham goal and unleashed a blistering shot, which the keeper saved but could not hold. The ball spun high into the air and when their defender attempted to clear he slipped on the greasy surface and the ball bounced off his chest and ended in the goal.
The Blues had reached their first final since 1907 and huge crowds were on hand to greet Everton when they arrived back at Lime Street station and to celebrate the team’s fifth FA Cup final. Their opponents in the final were to be fellow North West rivals Manchester City, who had beaten Derby County 3-2 in the other semi final.
Everton started their preparations on the Monday before the game by travelling to the Derbyshire spa town of Buxton; they stayed here until the Thursday before moving to their Cup Final headquarters in Dorking. As both teams played in blue, albeit different shades, it was agreed that both would play in their second kit, Everton in white and Manchester City in scarlet. It was also decided that, for the first time in a FA Cup final the teams would were numbered shirts; in sequence, 1 to 22, with Everton being allocated 1 to 11.
Interest in the final on Merseyside was unbelievable and to cope with the demand forty special trains, each containing 700 reserved seats, were laid on by the London, Midland and Scottish railways. The main talking point among Everton’s fans was whether Albert Geldard would replace the semi final match winner, Ted Critchley. The younger, and faster, Geldard was picked for the final as it was thought he would be better suited to the Wembley pitch.
The Everton players were reportedly on a bonus of £25 a man to lift the trophy and as the kick-off approached, the mood in the dressing room was one of extreme excitement and nerves. Surprisingly one of the most nervous was the experienced Warney Cresswell and with the help of a policeman he found an empty room were he could smoke his pipe in order to try to settle him down. Whether the quiet smoke helped Cresswell or not no will ever know but he was to put in an ice-cool performance and this ran right through the whole side.
The two teams lined up for the game as follows:
Everton - Sagar; Cook, Cresswell; Britton, White, Thompson; Geldard, Dunn, Dean, Johnson, Stein.
Manchester City - Langford; Cann, Dale; Busby, Cowan, Bray; Toseland, Marshal, Herd, McMullan, Brook.
City started the busier and forced the first action for either goalkeeper when, in the first minute, Sagar had to deal with a menacing cross. Everton soon took control and, in what rapidly became one of the most one sided finals, pressed for the initial opening, surprisingly it took forty minutes before the deadlock was broken. Under pressure from Dean, City keeper Langford fumbled a Britton cross and when the ball fell to Stein he had the easiest job of side footing the ball into the net. Ten minutes after the break Everton were two up after Dean scored with a powerful, close range header, from another dangerous Britton cross. With ten minutes left the game was wrapped up when Dunn scored the third goal with another header, this time from a Geldard cross.
The club’s second FA Cup win had been achieved with relative ease and when Dean received the Cup from a smiling Duchess of York, later to become the Queen Mother, celebrations started both inside the ground and back in Liverpool. The team did not return home until the following Monday afternoon and were met by an estimated 900,000 people. Crowds began to gather around Lime Street hours before the players were due to arrive and when they did they boarded a replica coach and four horses which had been used when Jack Taylor brought the Cup home for the first time in 1906. The town centre was a sea of blue and white as the team paraded the Cup through the city before travelling along Scotland Road, Kirkdale Road, Walton Road and then County Road before reaching Goodison Park. Waiting for them inside the ground was a huge crowd of around 60,000, a fitting culmination to a glorious Everton era which had seen two 1 st Division titles, an FA Cup win, two Charity Shield victories, relegation and promotion.
With the team ageing, Everton failed to build on the success on the early 1930’s and during a period of re-building there was a fall from grace for the club and Arsenal started to stamp their authority on football that was to last for several years.
The need for new players became apparent when the 1933-34 season got off to an indifferent start, with only three wins in the first 14 games. Everton’s cause was not helped when Dean had to have an operation to remove two pieces of bone from his ankle. He had started in excellent form, with seven goals in the first six games, and had passed the 300 goal mark but the operation was to keep him out of action for six weeks. On his return he was injured again, this time he needed a cartilage operation, and was only able to play in another handful of games during the season.
With Dean missing, Everton struggled and finished the season in a disappointing fourteenth place. An early exit from the FA Cup, Tottenham Hotspurs beating the Cup holders 3-0 in the third round, and a another 3-0 defeat by Arsenal in the Charity Shield compounded the misery for all followers of Everton.
New players were needed and, realising this, the board started to recruit throughout the season. Jackie Coulter, a crowd pleasing winger, was signed for a fee of £3,000 from Belfast Celtic and Alex Stevenson was brought in from Rangers for £2,750. During their early days with Everton, crowds of around 15,000 would turn up for Central League games to watch the two, skilful, Irishmen.
Everton embarked on a tour of Canary Islands during the summer of 1934 during which Dean was able to regain full fitness and confidence, as a result Everton embarked on the new season with renewed vigour. Winning six of the first twelve games saw Everton comfortably in the top half of the league but indifferent form took over and any chance of a title challenge stalled but the side still managed to finish in a creditable eighth place.
The teams fluctuating form was not better illustrated then over the Christmas period, they beat Sunderland 6-2 at Goodison, on Christmas Day, only to be beaten 7-0 the next day against the same opposition at Roker Park. More goals were scored in games involving Everton than any other team in the league, 177 in total with the Blues scoring 89.
Everton’s FA Cup campaign started with a home game against Grimsby Town, who were doing well in the top flight after gaining promotion the previous year. The Blues won relatively easily by 6-3 with goals from Geldard, 3, Stevenson, 2, and Cunliffe. Their reward for the victory could not have much worse when they received an away trip to high flying Sunderland.
Memories of the 7-0 hammering at Roker Park on Boxing Day were still vivid in Evertonians minds, and no-one gave the team from Merseyside a chance of getting any sort of result. The game was a brutal affair and several players left the field with cuts and bruises, including Dean who had to leave the field to change his shorts and they were ripped to shreds following an assault by the Sunderland defence. Everton had been awarded a free kick following the bad foul on Dean and, with The Blues centre forward still of the field, Britton was instructed to take the free kick. He did, and with his usual superb accuracy found Cunliffe who met the ball well to volley the equaliser, to send both teams back to Goodison.
The replay took place the following Wednesday, and after the pitch battle on the Saturday the FA appointed Ernie Pinkston, known as the “Sergeant Major”, to referee the game. To ensure the players knew who was in charge, he gathered all 22 players together just before kick off and warned them that any foul play would lead to players being sent off. It worked, and what followed was one of the greatest matches ever played at Goodison Park. Despite the match taking place mid week a crowd of 59,213 turned up to witness an exceptional game of football.
Everton raced to a 2-0, thanks to two goals from Coulter, and although Sunderland reduced the deficit, the home side went into the interval with confidence high. When Stevenson made it 3-1 a famous victory seemed assured, but Sunderland were not finished and pulled a goal back almost immediately. With full time looming and all Evertonians starting to celebrate a home win Sunderland equalised when Gurney scored with a sensational overhead kick. Extra time was now a certainty.
Both teams re-organised and within two minutes of the start Everton went 4-3 up when Coulter completed his hatrick only for Sunderland to draw level again shortly afterwards. With score standing at 4-4 the game seemed destined for a second replay when Everton found a new hero. With time ticking away Albert Geldard tapped in a Dean knock down and then scored again with a cross shot to complete an astounding victory for the home side.
Everton were rewarded for their famous victory with another home game, this time against Derby County and came away with another win, by three goals to one, in front of a huge crowd of 62,230. Yet another quarter final had been reached and another home game had been drawn, this time against Bolton Wanderers, who were chasing promotion from the second division. Against the odds Bolton ended Everton’s cup run for another year when they came away from Goodison Park with a 2-1 win.
The writing was now on the wall for several of Everton’s senior professionals as the team suffered a severe dent to morale when, in just the third game of the 1935-36 season, they suffered a 6-0 thrashing at the hands of rivals Liverpool, at Anfield. The defeat, along with a string of other poor results, hastened the departure of players such as Cresswell, Thomson, White, Stein and Williams, new favourites now started to emerge.
Joe Mercer, who had made his debut the previous season, cemented his place in the first team; Stan Bentham had joined the club in 1934 form Wigan Athletic and marked his senior debut, in November 1935, with two goals in a 4-0 away win at Grimsby Town. Everton were determined to bring i
n some of the game’s highly rated youngsters, as the club’s hierarchy strived to restore Everton the top of English football. In March 1936 they made one of their best signings when they brought in centre half Tommy Gwynfor (T.G.) Jones from Wrexham. Jones had broken in to the Wrexham side at just 16 and was regarded as one of the best prospects in the game; he made the switch to Goodison Park after only six appearances for the Welsh club.
The season had begun disastrously with only one two wins and two draws out of the first nine games, and included heavy defeats at Middlesbrough and Wolverhampton Wanderers to go alongside the embarrassment at Anfield. Indifferent form continued for the rest of the season and relegation was avoided by just four points, mainly due to the excellent defensive play of Tommy White and through the goals of Jimmy Cunliffe, who had taken over the goal scoring mantle from Dixie Dean. The FA Cup did not give any respite as the team were beaten 3-1 by Preston North End in the third round.
As the season drew to a close the main interest that the followers of Everton had was whether Dixie Dean could surpass Billy Bloomer’s record of 352 league goals, scored between 1892 and 1914 for Derby County and Middlesbrough. In the penultimate game of the season at Goodison Park, against Birmingham City, Dean had scored a hatrick, leaving him needing just one goal to equal the record. For last game of the season Everton were at home to Preston North End and Bloomer had been invited to Goodison as a guest of the club. He was greeted at the station by Dean himself, as injury had ruled out of the game. So the record was safe for a short while yet, and the two great players sat side by side and enjoyed the game which Everton won easily, 5-0.
Everton started the 1936-37 season reasonably well, with six wins out of the first nine games, early optimism, however, soon turned to concern as only seven more games were won throughout the rest of season. During the early season run of good form Dean equalled and then passed (left) Bloomers goal scoring record of 352 goals, when he scored firstly against Arsenal and then Sheffield Wednesday. It had taken Bloomer a full 22 seasons to set the record; Dean surpassed it in just 13.
As the teams fortunes turned for the worse the club’s directors responded by making one of their most ambitious signings when they fought off the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City, Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers to the signature of Burnley’s 17 year old goal scoring sensation, Tommy Lawton. On New Years Eve 1936 the youngster was called into the Burnley boardroom were he met three Everton officials, Will Cuff, Tom Percy and Theo Kelly and was persuaded to sign for the Merseyside team for a stunning fee of £6,500.
The signing of Lawton was seen as a long term replacement for Dixie Dean and the two played seven times during the season, both scored in the side’s biggest victory of the season when on 3 rd of March they beat Leeds united 7-0. This was to be the last win of the season, in the eleven remaining games the team could only muster four draws, and plummeted down the league only avoiding relegation by five points, finishing in seventeenth place.
During the close season the club embarked on a tour of Denmark and with two wins and a draw, confidence was given a boost for the start of the next season. However, the team suffered three straight defeats at the start of the season and when reigning champions, Manchester City, arrived at Goodison Park for the next game their was no Dixie Dean on the team sheet. He had been injured in the last game and Tommy Lawton was handed the number nine shirt for the City game which Everton won by four goals to one, Lawton scoring one of the goals. William Ralph Dean was to play only two more games for Everton, the last being on 11 December 1937 against Birmingham City, and in March 1938 he joined Notts County, for a fee £3,000, after making 399 league appearances and scoring an incredible 349 goals.
As the season progressed the threat of relegation was becoming a worrying possibility, and despite Lawton’s goals, he ended the season with 28 to top the first division goalscoring table, Everton were on the brink of the drop. After the team made a disappointing exit from the FA Cup in the fourth round to Sunderland, the staff took the players away for special training in a bid to arrest the startling decline. It seemed to work and the team earned 11 points out of the last eight games of the season to finish in fourteenth place but just three points above the relegation place.
With another turbulent season over the club was invited to Scotland to take part in the Empire Exhibition Tournament and along with Sunderland, Chelsea and Brentford from south of the border they joined Celtic, Rangers, Aberdeen and Hearts from Scotland. Everton’s first game saw them defeat Rangers 2-0 and after overcoming Aberdeen, 3-2, in the semi final they faced Celtic in the final of the tournament. The game was played in front of 90,000 at Ibrox and was one of the finest witnessed by the huge crowd. The two teams were very evenly matched and the game was settled by a single goal scored by Celtic’s Johnny Crum, Everton thought they had equalised straight away only for the goal to be disallowed for offside. Everton had performed well and received widespread praise from a normally critical Scottish press.
During the summer there was a change of leadership at the club when Will Cuff was replaced as chairman by Ernest Green; Cuff had served the club splendidly since 1895 as Director, Secretary and for the past 17 years as chairman
On 19th May 1938 Everton were honoured with their second Royal visit when King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visited Goodison Park to present new colours to the 5th Battalion the King’s Regiment (Liverpool) and The Liverpool Scottish (Queens Own Cameron Highlanders).
Everton made a blistering start to the 1938-39 breaking the first division record by winning their first six games; scoring 17 goals in doing so and only conceded 3. The fans had a new hero in Tommy Lawton and he was revelling in the role; helping himself to eight goals in the first six games. The first Merseyside derby took place on the 1 st October and with both teams in the top three 64.977 were attracted to the game, Everton won 2-1 through goals from Bentham and Boyes but many thoughts were elsewhere.
Europe was on the brink of war as Hitler’s Germany continued to make threatening advances towards neighbouring countries. As an expression of the countries hopes for peace the Nation Anthem was played at all sporting events.
Indifferent form for the rest of the 1938 saw Everton lose their top place in the league and by the end the end of the year they trailed the leaders, Derby County, by five points but had a game in hand. Derby had taken three points out of four from the Blues over the Christmas period but an FA Cup tie on 7 th January between the two teams was to prove pivotal for the whole season. Everton travelled to the Baseball Ground and came home with a 1-0 win but what was more significant was that Derby’s confidence had been shaken and they only managed to pick up eleven more points throughout the remaining games of the season.
Everton meanwhile went on a winning run that saw them win seven of their next eight games, and following a comprehensive 3-0 win at Anfield at the beginning of February, they found themselves back on top of the table. The Easter period proved to be the most profitable for ten years and the team came through it with an eight point lead over Wolverhampton Wanderers. The title was won two weeks later when Wolvers could only draw with Bolton Wanderers, despite the Blues losing at Charlton Athletic. Everton now had an unassailable lead of five points with just two games left, a margin they held until the end of the campaign. On a personal level Tommy Lawton was going from strength to strength and he finished the season as Everton’s and the league’s top scorer for the second season running, with 35 goals in 38 games.
Thoughts of a league and cup double were ignited following the victory over Derby County in early January and were not extinguished in the next round when third division north side Doncaster Rovers were easily despatched, 8-0. Next up was an away game at struggling Birmingham City and Everton had to settle for a 2-2 draw, the replay took place four days later and saw the Blues progress with a 2-0 victory. The quarter final draw saw Everton and title rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers drawn against each other with the game to be played at Molineux. The match took place only ten days after Everton had suffered a humiliated 7-0 defeat at the same venue, the result this time was the same but by a closer 2-0 margin.
After the championship was secured Everton promoted secretary Theo Kelly to become the club’s first manager and were the last of the countries top sides to do so. Kelly, as club secretary, was a great organiser and one of the best public relations men in football, but he was not the most popular man as far as the players were concerned and was cited as one of the reasons some players left the club.
The 1939-40 season started under a cloud as Europe and the World, prepared itself for the second global war of the century. Everton kicked of with virtually the same side that had won the title the previous season and made a reasonable start with a win and two draws from the first three games. There was to be no more football after these games as, on the 1 st September 1939, Germany invaded Poland to signal the start of hostilities, and, as in 1915, Everton were not able to defend their title due to the outbreak of war.
