Brian
Labone
Brian Labone's death on 24th April 2006 at the awfully premature age of 66 stunned the Everton community - not least because the man seemed to be an immortal part of the very fabric of the club.
From 1955, when he joined Everton as a 15-year-old schoolboy, right up until his untimely death just hours after attending a supporters club dinner, Brian's life revolved completely around the club. He was Everton to the core.
The bare statistics of his Everton career are below (only Neville Southall and Ted Sagar played more League games for the club; only Southall alone played more games in total) but they only tell a small part of the story.
He made his senior debut in March 1958, deputising for the injured legend Tommy E Jones and after a tricky start to his career (including being given the run-around by Tottenham's Bobby Smith in only his second game) he went from strength to strength.
He was hard but fair (booked only twice in his career) strong in the air and calm and collected on the ball and, in 1962, he became the first Everton player since the war to be capped by England. He played a pivotal role in that season's title triumph, eventually becoming captain of the club and lifting the FA Cup aloft in the famous 1966 comeback triumph against Sheffield Wednesday.
That same year he made the initial England World Cup squad but subsequently asked to be stood down to concentrate on his upcoming wedding. A decision that would be unheard of now of course but even more shockingly, in 1967, he announced his retirement! He had lost form and confidence but he soon saw the error of his ways and reversed his decision, helping Everton to another title in 1969-70 and playing alongside Bobby Moore in 3 out of England's 4 matches in the 1970 Mexico World Cup. In all he was to win 26 England caps.
An achilles injury in 1971 brought an end to the playing career of the man that Harry Catterick called 'The Last of the Corinthians' but he could not stay away from his beloved Goodison and 35 years later he was still there on match days, looking after sponsors and making himself accessible to supporters young and old.
He was a great footballer, a great leader and a great gentleman and - most of all - he was as passionate an Evertonian as there's ever been. He once memorably said that "One Evertonian is worth twenty Liverpudlians". He was right of course! But Everton and Liverpool, and football in general, have lost a very, very special and irreplaceable person and Goodison Park is now a lonelier place.
The stats:
|
|
League
|
FA Cup
|
Lge Cup
|
Europe
|
Other
|
Total
|
||||||
|
|
Apps
|
Gls
|
Apps
|
Gls
|
Apps
|
Gls
|
Apps
|
Gls
|
Apps
|
Gls
|
Apps
|
Gls
|
|
1957-58
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
|
1958-59
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
|
1959-60
|
31
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
32
|
0
|
|
1960-61
|
42
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
47
|
0
|
|
1961-62
|
41
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
44
|
0
|
|
1962-63
|
40
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
45
|
0
|
|
1963-64
|
34
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
41
|
0
|
|
1964-65
|
42
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
6
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
52
|
0
|
|
1965-66
|
37
|
2
|
8
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
48
|
2
|
|
1966-67
|
40
|
0
|
6
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
51
|
0
|
|
1967-68
|
40
|
0
|
6
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
48
|
0
|
|
1968-69
|
42
|
0
|
5
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
51
|
0
|
|
1969-70
|
34
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
39
|
0
|
|
1970-71
|
16
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
23
|
0
|
|
1971-72
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
5
|
0
|
|
Total
|
451
|
2
|
46
|
0
|
15
|
0
|
19
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
534
|
2
|