Roy
Vernon
Johnny Carey had been manager of Blackburn Rovers before taking over the helm at Everton in 1958 and
in February 1960 he returned to his old club to sign Welsh inside-forward Roy Vernon.
Vernon enjoyed a magnificent five years at Goodison, scoring 111 goals in 201 goals, a fantastic strike
rate for the era he played in.
He struck up a wonderful partnership with Alex Young, the two scoring 40 League goals between
them in Vernon's first full season and then 46 in 1962/63 as Everton won the League title,
with Vernon netting 24 himself. Vernon's had pace and could take players on but his main attribute was
his shooting.
He was as good a dead-ball striker as there was at the time and he converted 19 of the 20 penalties
he took for Everton.
He was not exactly a paragon of virtue off the pitch - hardly training and indulging in many a crafty
cigarette. Indeed he was rumoured to be able to hold his cigarettes at such an angle to allow him
to enjoy them secretly in the Everton showers!
He won 13 Welsh caps whilst at Everton and 32 in total and he moved on to Stoke City in March 1965
after being ousted from the side by Fred Pickering.
The stats:
|
|
League
|
FA Cup
|
Lge Cup
|
Europe
|
Other
|
Total
|
||||||||||||
|
|
Starts
|
Gls
|
Starts
|
Gls
|
Starts
|
Gls
|
Starts
|
Gls
|
Starts
|
Gls
|
Starts
|
Gls
|
||||||
|
1959-60
|
12
|
9
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
12
|
9
|
||||||
|
1960-61
|
39
|
21
|
1
|
0
|
4
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
44
|
22
|
||||||
|
1961-62
|
37
|
26
|
3
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
40
|
28
|
||||||
|
1962-63
|
41
|
24
|
3
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
46
|
27
|
||||||
|
1963-64
|
31
|
18
|
5
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
39
|
21
|
||||||
|
1964-65
|
16
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
20
|
4
|
||||||
|
Total
|
176
|
101
|
12
|
7
|
4
|
1
|
8
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
201
|
111
|
||||||