 Labone at the1970 FIFA World Cup | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Brian Leslie Labone | ||
| Date of birth | 23 January 1940 | ||
| Place of birth | Liverpool,Lancashire, England | ||
| Date of death | 24 April 2006(2006-04-24) (aged 66) | ||
| Place of death | Liverpool, England | ||
| Position(s) | Centre half | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1958–1971 | Everton | 451 | (2) |
| International career | |||
| 1962–1970 | England | 26 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Brian Leslie Labone (23 January 1940 – 24 April 2006) was an Englishfootballer who played for and captainedEverton. Aone-club man, Labone's professional career lasted from 1958 to 1971, during which he won theFootball League championship twice and theFA Cup once. He also played 26 times for theEngland national team.
Brian Labone was born inLiverpool, England, on 23 January 1940. He has 1 daughter, named Rachelle, who still lives in Liverpool. His parents were Arthur Leslie Labone and Bridget Patricia Rice. The Labone family have distantItalian roots on his paternal side through an ancestor called Nicholas Antonio Labone who taught various foreign languages inGlasgow, Scotland. He was also of Irish descent on his mother (Bridget Patricia Rice) side.[1][2]
Labone attended the Liverpool Collegiate School.
Liverpool-born Labone chose to join Everton at 17 in July 1957 instead of going to university. His debut for the first team was in 1958.[1] He was widely regarded as one of the best central defenders of his era. He was a strong tackler, good in the air, adequately fast but he rarely used his left foot.
Labone made 451 League appearances for Everton and a total of 534 in all competitions.[1] He scored two league goals and wasbooked only twice throughout his career. ManagerHarry Catterick called him"the last of the Corinthians". Labone played in thechampionship teams of 1962–63 and 1969–70, in theFA Cup winning team of1966, and in the FA Cup final of1968. He also won theFA Charity Shield in1963 and1970.[3][4] Labone showed his high opinion of Everton in a simple quote"One Evertonian is worth twenty Liverpudlians"
Labone played 26 times forEngland national team between 1962 and 1970. He withdrew from England's1966 World Cup squad because of his imminent marriage but played in three of the four games in theWorld Cup in 1970 in Mexico.
In 1970–71 Labone sustained a serious injury to hisAchilles tendon and retired from playing. A few years earlier he had announced, at the beginning of the season, his intention to retire at the end of that season, in typical fashion giving the club as much notice as possible so that he could be replaced. Such was the outcry however that he changed his mind and played on for two more seasons.
Labone maintained his links with Everton where he worked as a guide for guests & visitors and a website columnist. Labone was included in Everton's 'Greatest Ever Team'[5] as voted for by the fans at the start of the 2003–04 season to mark the club's 125th anniversary.
Whilst returning home from an Everton fans awards evening at the Winslow Hotel inWalton, Labone died suddenly after collapsing in the street close to hisLydiate home at the age of 66. He was survived by Pat, his wife of 40 years,[6] and daughter Rachelle (born 1970).
Another former Everton captain,Kevin Ratcliffe, paid the following tribute:"Brian was Everton. If you could put together a team of every player that has ever captained Everton, every one of us would turn to Brian to lead us out. He will always be known as the captain of Everton". Everton ChairmanBill Kenwright also paid tribute by saying:"On the foot of the Dixie Dean statue outside Goodison Park are the words 'Footballer, Gentleman, Evertonian'. Those words summed up Dixie and they apply, equally, to the great Brian Labone."[7] Part of Everton's home ground,Goodison Park, was named in his honour.[8]
Everton[9]
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Everton captain 1965–1970 | Succeeded by |
England squads | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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