Having bestowed an epithet of ‘THE THREE KINGS‘ on Scottish football managers Sir Matt Busby, Bill Shankly and Jock Stein for their excellent 2020 documentary on this trio of true greats, it may be worth Netflix considering a production entitled ‘THE FOUR ACES‘ – this one to cover the careers of a quartet of high-achieving English bosses.
While Busby (Manchester United), Shankly (Liverpool) and Stein (Celtic) were overseeing trophy-laden times for their respective clubs, Bill Nicholson (Spurs), Harry Catterick (Everton), Don Revie (Leeds United) and Joe Mercer (Manchester City) had instigated glory days at the places where they ran the show – silverware frequently heading to White Hart Lane, Goodison Park, Elland Road and Maine Road. Here successful sides were built, sometimes more than once, by a clear-thinking manager who insisted upon high levels of energy and endeavor to accompany expressive football.
Indeed, this particular ‘Fab Four‘ – to use popular parlance of the decade in question – each saw their charges become league champions, with Nicholson (twice), Catterick and Mercer also enjoying FA Cup triumphs before the 60s were out. Catterick and Revie also tasted defeat in the FA Cup Final, Leeds after falling at the last on two occasions, finally lifting the trophy in 1971-72 – a season when they went within a whisker of emulating the league and FA Cup ‘double’ Nicholson achieved with Spurs eleven years before.
There were also League Cup and European honours aplenty (although the biggest prize of all, the European Cup, would elude them all, as it did Shankly) but as the 1960s unfolded, on the home front Spurs and Everton soon emerged as trophy-winning merchants, Leeds and Manchester City on being promoted to the topflight quick to announce themselves as a coming force.
For Nicholson, Catterick, Revie and Mercer, the 1960s made up the bulk of time at the clubs they are most identified with, all remaining in situ for the early seasons of the 70s although each, for varying reasons, departing before 1974 was out.
In many respects 1970 was pivotal for them all. Nicholson paid West Ham £200,000 for England World Cup winner Martin Peters and began the process of integrating him into a Spurs side who would win a trophy in each of the next three seasons. Revie meanwhile on seeing Leeds thwarted on three fronts in regard to their challenge for honours as 1969-70 drew to a close, rejuvenated his side to the extent they reached four cup finals and won three major prizes (including the second league title of his tenure), before he left Elland Road to manage England in the summer of 1974.
On the same late April night in 1970 when Leeds were suffering an FA Cup Final replay defeat against Chelsea, a loss that condemned them to finish the campaign empty-handed, Manchester City were lifting the European Cup Winners’ Cup in Vienna – which ensured Mercer ended the season with a cup in each hand, City having won the League Cup two months before.
If the FA Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup were issues settled in the last hours of the season, the destination of the league title had been settled with April barely a day old. Having assembled a team brimming with attacking intent, Catterick took the League Championship to Goodison Park for the second time in his nine-year reign (to date), their purposeful, possession-based game built on an accomplished midfield trio of Alan Ball, Howard Kendall and Colin Harvey.
The innovative quality of their football not only made them worthy champions, but also looked a safe bet to land more laurels in the years to come. But like Mercer, Catterick had just enjoyed his last hurrah, the barren years to descend on the blue side of Stanley Park conjuring the great lasting mystery of 70s English football – namely how Everton went from masters of artistic merit to meagre also-rans in a relatively short space of time.
The previous seven years had yielded two league titles and a couple of FA Cup Final appearances, the next seven just one serious Championship challenge and a League Cup Final reversal – all of which served to increase the aura of the Catterick era.
But this being the land of Evertonia, below the surface things are always more complex than how they appear.
By all accounts a taciturn man, Catterick was a triumphant manager and from his appointment in April 1961 to the end of the 1969-70 season no first division manager accrued more points. His personality appears such that Darlington-born Catterick induced respect rather than affection from those he sent onto the field, yet once out there his teams would play in a fluid, almost Corinthian way – this in sharp contrast to the guarded approach he took to all other aspects of football management.
Between 1961 and 1966 he purchased a number of exceptional players, but thereafter spent more frugally as young, home developed talent became established in the side, his judgements endorsed by the number of trophies paraded in front of the Gwladys Street – not that Catterick indulged in such rejoicing, his demeanor closer to satisfied detachment.
My attempts at understanding the malaise that gripped Everton through the 1970s and the enigma that was Harry Catterick have coincided with the development of cordial friendships with Dave Dawson and Paul McGee, two splendid chaps dipped in the blue rinse virtually from birth. Having witnessed the times firsthand, their Evertoniasm is insightful and informed.
Hence, an email from Paul in relation to the Catterick conundrum is so full of detail and deduction, it is with his permission, published virtually verbatim.
CURTLY HARRY – by Paul McGee:
Spoiler alert – I was never his biggest fan, so this lot may seem overly negative towards someone who achieved so much.
His understated arrival in April 1961 was overshadowed by the manner in which his predecessor, Johnny Carey, was sacked – in the back of a London taxi following a meeting at the F.A.
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.
Maybe they lacked a measure of mental toughness, (nothing new there, then), and despite being fourth when Carey was sacked, the “Merseyside Millionaires” as the press branded them, never really looked like they had the edge to land trophies.
Despite funding – by guaranteeing the loans to fund – Carey-era signings of Bobby Collins, Alex Parker, Jimmy Gabriel, Alex Young and Roy Vernon, chairman Moores wanted trophy success. His statement on the appointment of Catterick went something like:
“These fans pay good money to see good football and successful football – I am determined to see a successful team and that is why I have made this decision.”
No pressure there then Harry?
As an ex-Everton player, Catterick saw his Goodison playing career interrupted by WW2 service. He had been a journeyman centre-forward, drifting down the divisions before taking up coaching.
Immediately prior to EFC, his time at Sheffield Wednesday had seen them promoted as Second Division champions, which was followed by finishing runners-up to the Spurs double side of 1960/61. Containing such players as established England internationals Ron Springett and Peter Swan, free-scoring centre forward David (Bronco) Lane, the excellent and uncompromising Tony Kay and clever Johnny Fantham, Catterick had built them into a very useful side.
Coincidentally, his first game in charge at Everton was at home to Wednesday, where two goals from Frank Wignall saw a 2-1 win for the Blues.
In this era “club sources” – usually the manager – fed newspaper journalists with information, but there were no press conferences and the new media of TV, as yet, had no real interest in the game, so the relationship between club and newspaper coverage was on a personal basis.
The word which I thought summed Catterick up was dour. He appeared to have an aloof, introverted nature, creating the impression he didn’t trust anyone and always seemed to be mindful of the chairman’s “successful team” statement on his appointment. I reckon he was a worrier and certainly lacked the bluster and bonhomie of some of his contemporaries.
Bill Shankly had been appointed Liverpool manager in December 1959, he and Catterick chalk and cheese.
At a time when The Beatles were ascending their heights, the city of Liverpool had become the darling of the press. Everyone wanted a slice of it, and with the emergence of TV coverage, suddenly music, comedians and two football teams caught the public imagination.
Shankly saw the potential of this interest and quickly cultivated a media, gagging for something Scouse, by inviting them into his world. He was always ready with a one liner, a quip or storyline aimed at promoting LFC and the city itself. Winning hearts and minds was his undoubted strategy – and it worked.
The world woke up to Liverpool and he was the face of the city – the ringmaster of the Liverpool Circus, gregarious and often outrageous in his musings.
Catterick in contrast was rarely seen, never heard.
Within months Shankly had won the PR war hands down. Catterick preferred to let his team do the talking and the 1962-63 league championship triumph vindicated his stance – strangely, but tellingly, in a survey at the time, many people did not even recognise Everton as residents of the city of Liverpool!!
Catterick was tough, often unwieldly and never one to shirk a difficult decision. He went about the job in an unobtrusive manner, rarely above the radar, his signings done in the background – the first inkling being the photo on the back of the “Liverpool Echo” of the smiling player putting pen to paper.
Early signings set the tone – Bobby Collins, great ball player, top scorer and crowd favourite was gone almost overnight, to be replaced by Dennis Stevens.
Whereas Collins was seen as a proper inside-forward, his replacement, a cup winner with Bolton Wanderers in 1958, relied on diligence and positional discipline. Stevens rarely misplaced a pass, picked up loose balls, broke up opposing attacks and was frequently in the right position to link defence and attack, but perhaps lacked true creativity. It took him a long time to sway the fans (not this one) in his favour.
No surprise then Catterick’s first signing was in his own image and likeness – a disciplined, diligent, unsung hero.
As his team started to take shape, the signing of Gordon West at a record fee for a goalkeeper raised some eyebrows, especially given his tender years and lack of experience, but then two signings showed the ‘Cat‘ at his best – like his feline namesake, stealth and an ability to pounce on a target were to the fore with both Alex Scott and Johnny Morrissey.
Scott was a quick and powerful winger who could also score goals. He had won trophies with Glasgow Rangers and apparently was on his way to London to join Spurs when “waylaid” by Catterick who signed him to replace an ageing Billy Bingham.
Tough, skillful and always a goal threat himself, Morrisey, as well as being an astute provider, was a steal from across Stanley Park, his transfer sanctioned by the Liverpool hierarchy whilst Shankly was away from the club – a move which rankled Shanks so much he threatened to resign if it ever happened again. It must have needled that his nemesis had got one over on him – suffice to say, Morrissey’s first goal for the Blues came shortly afterwards in the first Merseyside derby for almost a decade.
All of a sudden, the ‘School of Science‘ had toughened up – Stevens, Scott and Morrissey were no shrinking violets, had a winners’ mentality and the Blues became hard to beat.
The spine of the team with West, Brian Labone and Young spoke for itself. There were excellent full backs in Alex Parker and George Thompson/Mick Meagan and the power and skill of a young Jimmy Gabriel. The goalscoring of Roy Vernon promised great things, but the signing of Tony Kay, the complete player in my book, took the Blues in April 1963 to their first league title since 1939 – a well-deserved trophy and great side.
To Carey’s legacy of skill, Catterick had moved quickly to add the steel and power which had evidently been lacking. His first four signings of Stevens, West, Morrissey and Scott, replaced highly skilled performers in Bingham, Albert Dunlop, and Derek Temple. When Collins departed in March 1962, I thought him the equal of anyone, a tough cookie and as his subsequent Leeds career showed, a winner (Footballer of the Year 1964-65) – a personality clash with Catterick probably led to his Goodison exit.
Even as champions, Catterick’s Everton courted little attention. Sure, the back pages acknowledged the way in which they had entertained on their way to winning the title, but the “Merseyside Millionaires” tag still seemed to damn their achievement with faint praise – and whilst Beatlemania and the Mersey Sound were now part of the national lexicon, the boys from L4 seemed a long way from this hype.
On thumping FA Cup winners Manchester United 4-0 in the Charity Shield at Goodison (August ’63), the outlook for 1963-64 looked bright, but an early exit from the European Cup on a 0-1 aggregate to Inter Milan, the eventual winners, set the scene for a disappointing run through the middle of the season. Cue the second tough decision from the ‘Cat‘, as he signed Fred Pickering, a big, robust centre-forward from Blackburn Rovers, (he had passed his interview by scoring a hat trick against us at Goodison in our first home defeat in over a season), to replace Alex Young.
As expected, the fans were not happy, but Catterick was, big Fred scoring a hat-trick on his debut against Nottingham Forest. By mid-March his goals had returned the Blues to top of the table – but a drop off in form during the run-in saw us finish third as Liverpool won the league.
The 1964-65 campaign followed in similar vein, challenging at the top but not quite there. The season brought the emergence of a young Colin Harvey, the first of several youth team stars to be incorporated by Catterick and resulted in a fourth-placed finish – this being overshadowed by Liverpool’s FA Cup Final victory against Leeds, an accomplishment milked to the full by the media and their new darling Mr. Shankly.
The following season saw some changes in the Blues’ ranks, as Harvey cemented his place, Tommy Wright came through to replace Alex Parker and Sandy Brown came in to play everywhere.
Another tough decision to drop Alex Young and play 16-year-old Joe Royle at Blackpool resulted in the infamous “Kick the Cat” back page headlines. The story went that after the game a group (‘mob‘ was the favoured media description), surrounded the team bus to protest at the team selection and performance which had resulted in a defeat. In the melee, Catterick was pushed to the ground and kicked by the disgruntled mob, having to be rescued by the players.
The truth from fans who were there is that he was confronted by angry Evertonians and in the general pushing and shoving, lost his balance and fell. Rather than the kicking he supposedly received Catterick was helped back up by apologetic supporters – but why let the truth get in the way of a good story.
Catterick of course said nothing to the press, commenting only to briefly justify his decision to include Royle.
It didn’t seem so at the time, but 1964-65 was obviously a season of transition with the 1962-63 champions gradually being replaced as he built a new side.
Gone were Parker, Meagan, Stevens, Vernon and of course Tony Kay, who in turn were replaced by Harvey, Wright and Ray Wilson, the classy England international left back signed from Huddersfield Town in the summer of 1964. With this trio embedded in the team, the Blues’ went on to finish 1965-66 by winning the FA Cup for the first time in 33 years.
The 1966 FA Cup Final brought the nation into close proximity with EFC, but not even a stirring comeback from 2-0 down to beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-2 – capturing the neutrals’ imagination and winning the Toffees a whole new legion of admirers in the process – could eclipse the Red’s League title. On one afternoon Catterick’s team achieved glory in full view, but with the advent of MOTD, Shankly had never been off TV screens all season – capturing the PR initiative, whilst our leader remained tight lipped.
The Charity Shield loss to the Reds heralded perhaps the best kept secret signing of them all – Alan Ball from Blackpool for a record fee, just as Don Revie was convinced he was a Leeds player. It was a typical piece of Catterick work – no fuss, signed, sealed and delivered before the nation’s milkmen had even loaded their milk floats.
The next rebuild had started in earnest.
The following seasons saw the introduction of a host of youth team players into the first team orbit – John Hurst, Jimmy Husband, Joe Royle, Alan Whittle, Roger Kenyon and latterly Andy Rankin came into supplement the previous promotions of Harvey and Wright. But it was yet another of Catterick’s clandestine operations which saw the final piece of the jigsaw fall into place.
Howard Kendall had been the youngest player to appear in an FA Cup Final when playing for Preston North End in 1964. The last of the wing-half’s, he could pass, tackle, score and defend. He had it all and was lined up as Liverpool’s next big signing – especially as Shankly was a former Preston player and had a close relationship with the club, having signed more than one of their promising young players.
All of this counted for nothing as Howard’s photo appeared on the Echo’s back page, alongside a beaming Catterick – this in itself was ground-breaking but may have been a two-fingered salute to the Red side.
Rumour has it that earlier in proceedings Catterick let slip he had lost out on Kendall who supposedly was on his way to Anfield – the resulting misinformation buying him that bit more time to complete the deal.
Who knows, but no surprise if true – his cards were kept inside his vest in most of his dealings, although never more so than this steal of a player coveted so much by Shankly.
The rest is history, well enough documented to require little comment from me, but another great side swept all before them and garnered huge applause from football fans everywhere for their stylish league title win in 1969-70 – the “School of Science” returned with interest.
The fact that the England 1970 World Cup defence was 3/4 Everton players, accompanied by Alan Ball, stood as testament to the outstanding quality he coached into and demanded of his teams.
The following season saw the double set-back in a week of a European Cup quarter final exit and defeat against Liverpool in the FA Cup semi-final. My own belief is that Catterick never fully recovered from this disappointment (I certainly didn’t and can still feel the pain even now), and this was transmitted to the players who lost their mojo in double quick time.
By the 1971-72 season he seemed hard pressed to reignite the flame of desire within the team and made the most unpopular of unpopular decisions – bizarre in some quarters – to sell Alan Ball to Arsenal.
He justified this on the basis that he had the best years of Bally and had doubled his money to boot – that’s as maybe and he didn’t shirk from the fallout, but it signaled the end of his and the Blues’ influence at the top table and the decline had set in.
Never again were we to sign the best player of his generation, playing at the top of his game in a team capable of the most sublime football – it was downhill for all parties and in 1973 he was asked to move “upstairs” into an advisory role to be replaced by Billy Bingham.
Catterick was considered uncompromising, which fitted his persona, but he seemed a man out of step with the spirit of the times. Rivals such as Shankly, Busby, Mercer and Revie accommodated the media, understanding where the future lay, but on occasion Catterick refused to speak to the press and even went so far as to ban the TV cameras from Goodison, fearing they may give away his secrets to the opposition – no wonder the media had/have little time or respect for us.
I always felt that this decision alone, in an era when Liverpool was the world’s favourite city did irreparable damage to the club, consigned us to an everlasting role as second fiddle in our own backyard and irrelevant beyond L4. The fact that his oppo across the park was able to make hay, promote himself and his club as everyone’s favourite gives them pole position as media darlings to this day.
With no media interest, there was no wider excitement about the club, a position which Catterick seemed to relish.
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.
His demeanour as a strict disciplinarian was a throwback to days gone by. Players were made to sign in for training and a line was drawn at starting time – latecomers were fined. As a disciplinary measure, he confiscated the TV set from the players’ lounge, all of which suggests a Victorian approach at a time when young people were accustomed to their freedom. The times they were a-changing but not for Harry, who seemed incapable of grasping and accepting the inevitable.
He often seemed remote and insecure, especially in the presence of John Moores. Players always knew when the chairman was due a visit as Harry turned out in his tracksuit rather than lounge suit and was accused of “spying” on them as they trained – the twitching blinds of his corner office which overlooked the training ground inducing extra effort from coaching staff and players alike.
Feared and respected but never loved probably sums up his relationship with his players.
He showed little interest in interaction with the fans, they were an inconvenience and almost an irrelevance, but by way of contrast, he always promoted the team before himself. There are few photos if any of him celebrating trophies – the focus was on the players’ efforts not his.
An enigma in many ways, he passed away aged 65 at Goodison Park in March 1985 after watching a game from the stands – fitting perhaps that his passing should be at the club which in his own way he obviously loved, but which never really loved him.
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NEIL SAMBROOK is the author of ‘MONTY’S DOUBLE‘ – an acclaimed thriller now available in paperback and as an Amazon Kindle book.
