League Details

Top Scorers

- Joe Royle 23 goals
- Alan Whittle 11 goals
- Alan Ball 10 goals

Highest Scores

- 6-2 v Stoke City at home 
- 5-2 v Chelsea at home
- 4-2 v Southampton at home

Everton squad for the start of the 1969-70 season which saw the club win the league title for the seventh time

The team from left to right :
Back row : J. Barnett, G. West, A. Rankin.
Middle Row :W. Dixon (trainer), J. Hurst, J. Royle, B. Labone, R. Kenyon, A. Brown, H. Kendall, Harry Catterick (manager).
Front Row : A. Whittle, J. Morrissey, G. Humphries, J. Husband, T. Jackson, T. Wright, A, Ball, C. Harvey..

FA Cup Details

Inter City Fairs Cup

The 1969-70 season was to be shortened to eight months, from the usual nine, due to the impending World Cup in Mexico and meant that sides had to play seven games in the first three weeks of the season. The campaign got underway on the 9th August with Everton having to face two difficult away trips to Arsenal, then to Manchester United. The Blues picked up maximum points with 1-0 and 2-0 wins respectively to set the tone for the remainder of the season.

Everton’s form was relentless and by the end of October they had won 14 and drew two of the 17 games played, including an excellent 3-2 win over champions Leeds United at Goodison Park, this victory not only emphasised the team’s credentials as title contenders but ended a 34 game run without defeat for Leeds. Harry Catterick’s young side sat proudly on top of the table going into November but a slight dip in form, injuries to key players and a recovery in Leeds’s fortunes meant that by the end of the year the team from Yorkshire had captured the top spot.

Everton suffered a blow when Jimmy Husband, who had been in inspired form, was injured against Burnley but this let in Alan Whittle to make his mark on the season with valuable goals that settled close games in Everton’s favour. Ray Wilson had left the club following a bad injury and Harry Catterick wasted no time in finding a replacement when he paid Blackburn Rovers £80,000 for the services of Keith Newton. Worse news was to be received by all at Everton when it was reported that Colin Harvey had lost the sight in one eye following an infection, he was to be missing for two months but returned to the team in mid January. As he returned Alan Ball was suspended for five weeks after the Football Association decided to crack down on undisciplined players, Ball, and Everton, felt the full force of their ruling.

During January and February the team could only manage two wins in the seven league games played and it looked as if their championship challenge had faltered. The title hopes suffered a further blow at the beginning of March when the club announced that captain Brian Labone would miss the rest of the season with a back injury. Catterick, however, surprised everyone when he appointed Ball as captain for the remaining games, he hoped that the extra responsibility would help channel the player’s aggression into the right areas; it was to work a treat.

With Leeds competing in three competitions, the League, FA Cup and European Cup, Everton grasped their chance to put pressure of their Yorkshire rivals in title race. In his first game as captain, Ball was inspirational and led the side to a 1-0 win away to Tottenham Hotspurs, thanks to an Alan Whittle Goal. Three days later the two teams met again at Goodison and again Everton came away with the points. Twice Spurs came from behind to equalise firstly after Whittle had scored and then Ball, Joe Royle, with his twentieth goal of the season, won the game with 15 minutes left.

The win put Everton three points clear at the top of table ahead of the Anfield derby a week later. The Goodison derby had ended with a 3-0 Liverpool win and had featured a spectacular own goal from Sandy Brown, this time it would be different. Royle gave Everton the lead with a great head past Ray Clemence in the Liverpool goal, and when Alan Whittle deflected a Colin Harvey shot into the net; the side had avenged the defeat earlier in the season.

The next game was at Goodison Park against Chelsea and Everton turned on a sensational display and easily beat the London side 5-2: then on Easter Monday the side beat a stubborn Stoke City side 1-0 thanks to another goal from Whittle. While the Blues were on a great winning run Leeds were letting things slip and after losing 3-1 at home to Southampton they lost heavily, 4-1, at Derby County; the championship was now in Everton’s reach.

With three games left the Goodison outfit only needed two points to secure the league title. The next game was the following Tuesday, 1 st April, with the opponents being West Bromwich Albion and prior to the game Catterick took his players away from the pressure that was building up all over Merseyside. His plan worked and after just 19 minutes Alan Whittle sent Everton on their way, with his eleventh goal of the season; fittingly the goal that secured the title was scored by Colin Harvey on 65 minutes with a spectacular 25 yard drive. At the final whistle thousands of fans surged onto the pitch in celebration, once order had been resumed the players returned to the pitch to complete a lap of honour in front of 58,523 cheering supporters. They then went to the directors box were stand in skipper, Alan Ball, received the League Championship trophy from Manchester United chairman and League Management Committee member, Louis Edwards.

Everton had won the league title with style and as Harry Catterick said “there were no destroyers in the team”. They ended the season just one point short of the record, 67, set by Leeds the previous season and nine points ahead of last season’s champions.

Photo Gallery

 
Brian Labone and Alan Ball with the old First Division Trophy

  Programme from the Title winning game

 Goals from Joe Royle and Alan Whittle secure the win at Anfield towards the end of March 1970