.jpg) Dean during his tenure withEverton | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Ralph Dean | ||
| Date of birth | (1907-01-22)22 January 1907[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Birkenhead, England | ||
| Date of death | 1 March 1980(1980-03-01) (aged 73) | ||
| Place of death | Goodison Park,Liverpool, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2] | ||
| Position | Centre forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1923–1925 | Tranmere Rovers | 30 | (27) |
| 1925–1937 | Everton | 399 | (349) |
| 1938–1939 | Notts County | 9 | (3) |
| 1939 | Sligo Rovers | 7 | (10) |
| 1940 | Hurst | 2 | (1) |
| Total | 447 | (390) | |
| International career | |||
| 1927–1932 | England | 16 | (18) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
William Ralph"Dixie"Dean (22 January 1907 – 1 March 1980) was an Englishfootballer who played as acentre forward. Dean holds the record for the most goals scored in a single season in top-flight English football, with 60. He is regarded as one of the greatest centre forwards of his time and was inducted into theEnglish Football Hall of Fame in 2002.[3]
Born inBirkenhead, he began his career at his hometown clubTranmere Rovers, before moving on toEverton, the club he had supported as a child. A prolific goalscorer, he was particularly known for having a penchant for scoring goals with his head, courtesy of his elevation and athleticism, as well as his powerful and accurate heading ability, which has led pundits to describe him as one of the greatest aerial specialists of all time.[3][4][5][6] Dean played the majority of his career at Everton, before injuries caught up with him and he moved on to new challenges atNotts County, and eventuallySligo Rovers.
In Everton's league championship-winning season of 1927–28, Dean scored a record 60 league goals (out of the team's 102), having played in 39 of Everton's 42 games. That season, he also made his debut forEngland: he went on to score eighteen goals in sixteen appearances for his country.
A statue of Dean was unveiled outsideGoodison Park in May 2001. A year later, he became one of 22 players inducted into the inauguralEnglish Football Hall of Fame.
Dean was born at 313 Laird Street inBirkenhead,Cheshire, across theRiver Mersey fromLiverpool. Dean's family on both sides hailed fromChester. He was the grandson of Ralph Brett, a train driver who drove the royal train during the reign ofGeorge V. Dean grew up as a supporter ofEverton thanks to the efforts of his father, also named William, who took him to a match during the 1914–15 title-winning season.
Dean's childhood coincided with theFirst World War, and between the ages of seven and eleven he delivered cow's milk to local families as part of the war effort: "Well, it was war time you see, so you were grafting all the time. I used to take milk out. I'd be up at half-past four in the morning and go down and get the ponies and the milk floats, then I'd come out to this place inUpton, between Upton andArrowe Park, and Burgess' Farm was there. We used to collect the milk in the big urns and take it out to people's houses, serving it out of the ladle. And not only that, you had an allotment, and that was in school time. And there was no such thing as pinching and stealing and all that bloody caper. In those days, you were growing all that stuff and you needed it for the war time."[7]
Dean attended Laird Street School[8] but felt he received no formal education: "My only lesson was football ... I used to give the pens out on Friday afternoons ... the ink, and the chalks. That was the only job I had in school ... I never had any lessons."[7] When he turned eleven, he attended Albert (Memorial) Industrial School, aborstal school in Birkenhead, because of the football facilities on offer. The Dean family home had little room for him due to the family's size; Dean was happy with the arrangement, since he could play on the school's football team.[8] Dean falsely told fellow pupils he had been caught stealing, since he wanted to be "one of the boys".[9]
He left school at fourteen and worked forWirral Railway as an apprentice fitter; his father also worked there and had been working since he was eleven years old[7] forGreat Western Railway. The elder Dean later became a train driver before moving to Birkenhead to work for Wirral Railway, to be closer to his future wife (and William Jr's mother) Sarah. Dean's father would later retire with the company.[8]
Dean took a night job so that he could concentrate on his first love, football: "The other two apprentice fitters, they didn't like the night job because there were too many bloody rats around there, coming out of the Anglo-Oil company and the Vacuum Oil Company ... rats as big as whippets. So I took their night job, and of course, I could always have a game of football then."[7] Dean would kick the trespassing rats against the wall.
The sons of Dean's manager at Wirral Railway were directors ofNew Brighton, and they were interested in signing Dean. However, Dean told the club he was not interested in signing and instead played for local team Pensby United inPensby. It was at Pensby United where Dean attracted the attention of a Tranmere Rovers scout.[7]
Some said that Dean and his family disliked his nickname, and preferred people to call him "Bill" or "Billy". The popular theory regarding how Dean acquired his nickname is that he did so in his youth, perhaps due to his dark complexion and hair (which bore a resemblance to people from theSouthern United States).[10] In Dean's obituary inThe Times,Geoffrey Green suggested that the nickname was taken from a "Dixie" song that was popular during Dean's childhood; there was "something of theUncle Tom about his features".[11]
Alternatively,Tranmere Rovers club historian Gilbert Upton uncovered evidence, verified by Dean's godmother, that the name "Dixie" was a corruption of his childhood nickname, Digsy (acquired from his approach to the children's game of tag, where Dean would dig his fist into a girl's back, hence "Digsy").[12]
He played football for Laird Street School, Moreton Bible Class, Heswall and Pensby United. He then joined the professional ranks with his local club,Tranmere Rovers in November 1923. He was sixteen at the time.
Whilst at Tranmere, he was on the receiving end of a tough challenge which resulted in him losing atesticle in a reserve game againstAltrincham.[13][14] Immediately following the challenge, a teammate rubbed the area to ease the pain. Dean shouted, "Don't rub 'em, count 'em!"[15]
In his sixteen months at Tranmere, spanning the 1923–24 and 1924–25 seasons, he scored 27 goals in 30 league appearances. All 27 were in the second of those two seasons, in which he averaged exactly a goal per game. His exploits attracted the interest of many clubs across England, includingArsenal andNewcastle United.[7] Upon leaving Tranmere Rovers, managerBert Cooke reneged on an agreement to pay ten percent of the transfer fee to Dean. Dean was paid one percent of the fee, which he gave to his parents (who donated it toBirkenhead General Hospital).
His father had taken him to a league game atGoodison Park when he was eight years old. It was a dream come true for Dean, when Everton secretaryThomas H. McIntosh arranged to meet him at the Woodside Hotel in 1925. Dean was so excited that he ran the 2.5 miles (4.0 km) distance from his home in north Birkenhead to the riverside to meet him.[7] He signed for Everton in March 1925, having just turned eighteen.
He later revealed that he expected a £300 signing fee to be given to his parents when he transferred to Everton. They received only £30, and Tranmere Rovers managerBert Cooke told him "That's all the League will allow". Dean appealed toJohn McKenna, vice-chairman ofthe Football Association, but was told "I'm afraid you've signed, and that's it."[7] Dean signed for Everton in March 1925 for £3,000, then a record fee received for any Third Division player, any 18-year old, and any Tranmere Rovers player.[16] He made his debut away toArsenal, and scored his first Everton goal later that month, at home toAston Villa.[16] He scored 32 goals in his first full season, 1925–26, benefiting from achange to the offside law.[16] A motorcycling accident atHolywell in north Wales in summer 1926 left Dean with a fractured skull and jaw, and doctors were unsure whether he would be able to play again.[16] In his next game for Everton, he scored using his head, leading Evertonians to joke that the doctor left a metal plate in Dean's head. He re-joined the first team in October 1926, scoring in his first game back, away toLeeds United.[16] Dean finished the 1926–27 season with 21 goals from 27 games as Everton avoided relegation by a single place.[16]
Dean's greatest point of note is that he is still the only player in English football to score 60 league goals in one season (1927–28).[17][16] At that season's end he was 21 years old.Middlesbrough'sGeorge Camsell, who holds the highest goals-to-games ratio for England, had scored 59 league goals the previous season, although this was in the Second Division.
In that 1927–28 season, Everton won theFirst Division title. When they were relegated to theSecond Division in 1930, Dean stayed with them. The club went on to immediately win the Second Division in1931, followed by the First Division again in1932. They then won theFA Cup in 1933 (in which he scored in thefinal) – a sequence unmatched since.
In December 1933, Dean issued a public appeal to have stolen goods returned to him.The Times issued a statement: "Dixie Dean, the Everton and England forward appeals to the thief who robbed him of an international cap and presentation clock to return them. His house in Caldy Road, Walton, Liverpool was entered in his absence over Christmas, and the thief left behind gold watches and jewellery (sic)."[18] By then, Dean was captain of the side. However, the harsh physical demands of the game (as it was played then) took their toll and he was dropped from the first team in 1937.
Dean's 310 First Division goals for Everton remain as the record for most goals for a single club in English football's top tier.[19]
Dean went on to play forNotts County for one season, in which he scored three goals in nine games. At age 32, Dean signed for Irish clubSligo Rovers in January 1939 to help the club in theirFAI Cup campaign. On his arrival, therailway station inSligo was said to be filled with locals trying to catch a glimpse of him. Dean scored ten goals in seven games for the club,[20] including five in a 7–1 win overWaterford (which remains a club record for the most goals scored in a single game). He also played in four Cup matches, scoring once (in the 1–1 final againstShelbourne, who won the replay 1–0). Dean's runner-up medal was later stolen from his hotel room; on a return trip to Ireland to watch Rovers 39 years later in the 1978 FAI Cup final, a package was delivered to his hotel room with the medal inside. He is considered a legend atThe Showgrounds and is featured in the club's outdoor museum.
Dean ended his professional playing days withCheshire County League clubHurst (now Ashton United) in the 1939–40 season, managing two games and one goal before the outbreak of war ended his career. He made his debut in a 4–0 loss toStalybridge Celtic; 5,600 people attended the game, paying sixpence, earning the club gate receipts of £140.[21]
Dean made his debut for theEngland national football team against British rivalsWales at theRacecourse Ground inWrexham in February 1927, less than a month after his 20th birthday. His final game for England came in a 1–0 victory overIreland in October 1932 atBlackpool'sBloomfield Road, when Dean was 25 years old.
Dean was involved in the1927 and1929 editions of theBritish Home Championship. During the 1927 edition, Dean scored four goals in his two games for England and scored twice againstScotland at Hampden Park. Despite the loss, the Scots won the competition overall and applauded Dean (who finished the tournament as top scorer). In the 1929 edition, he scored in his only outing against Ireland atGoodison Park.
The only international competitions outside the British Home Championship during Dean's international career were the 1928 and 1936 Olympic Games and the inauguralFIFA World Cup, which took place in1930; however, neitherGreat Britain nor England participated. Dean represented England sixteen times, scoring eighteen goals in nine games (includinghat-tricks againstBelgium andLuxembourg).
Dean became aFreemason in 1931 while playing for Everton and England. He was initiated in Randle Holme Lodge, No. 3261, in Birkenhead on 18 February 1931.[22] After retiring, he went on to run the Dublin Packetpub in Chester (Everton and the Dublin Packet commemorate this with memorabilia) and work atLittlewoodsfootball pools as a porter at their Walton Hall Avenue offices, where he was remembered by fellow workers as a quiet, unassuming man.
In January 1972, Dean was admitted to St Catherine's hospital in Birkenhead suffering from the effects ofinfluenza[23] and was released a month later.[24] In November 1976, he had his right leg amputated due to ablood clot; his health was declining, and he became increasingly housebound. Dean died on 1 March 1980 at age 73, after suffering aheart attack at Everton's home groundGoodison Park, whilst watching a match against their closest rivals,Liverpool. It was the first time that he had visited Goodison Park in several years, due to ill health. "He belongs to the company of the supremely great, likeBeethoven,Shakespeare andRembrandt", saidBill Shankly.[25] His funeral took place at St James' Church on Laird Street (the street where he was born) in Birkenhead.[26] He was survived by his four children: William, Geoffrey, Ralph and Barbara;[27] he outlived his wife Ethel, who died of a heart attack in 1974 after 43 years of marriage.[28]
Dean was an internationally known figure. Military records show that during theSecond World War, an Italian prisoner of war was captured by British troops in the Western Desert and told his captors "fuck yourWinston Churchill and fuck your Dixie Dean".[29] One of the soldiers present was Liverpool-born Patrick Connelly, who later went into show business using the pseudonym "Bill Dean".[29]
Everton arranged atestimonial for Dean on 7 April 1964. Over 34,000 people saw teams from Scotland and England, composed of players from Everton and Liverpool, compete;[30] The "Scots", with one Englishman and one Welshman, won 3–1.[31]
The match raised £7,000 for Dean.
| England | Scotland |
|---|---|
| Rankin | Lawrence |
| Byrne | Brown |
| Moran | Thompson (Eng) |
| Harris | Gabriel |
| Labone | Yeats |
| Kay | Stevenson |
| Callaghan | Scott |
| Stevens | St. John |
| Pickering | Young |
| Temple | Vernon (Wal) |
| Morrissey | Wallace |
Dean's 1933 FA Cup winner's medal sold for £18,213 at auction in March 2001.[32] In May 2001 local sculptor Tom Murphy created a statue of Dean, which was erected outside the Park End of Goodison Park at a cost of £75,000 with the inscription "Footballer, Gentleman, Evertonian".[33] In 2002, Dean was an inaugural inductee to theEnglish Football Hall of Fame.[34] There is an annual Dixie Dean award, which is given to the Merseyside player of the year; it has been won by players from his former clubs (Tranmere and Everton) and Liverpool.[35]
When asked if he thought his record of scoring 60 goals in a season would be broken, Dean said: "I think it will. But there's only one man who'll do it. That's the fellow that walks on the water. I think he's about the only one."[27] In total, Dean scored 383 goals for Everton in 433 appearances — an exceptional strike-rate which includes 37 hat-tricks, 30 in league matches.[36] He was known as a sporting player, never booked or sent off during his career despite rough treatment and provocation from opponents.[37] OnlyArthur Rowley has scored more English-league career goals; however, while Rowley made 619 appearances and scored 433 goals (0.70 goals per game), Dean scored 379 goals in 438 games (0.87 goals per game).
In December 1930 and again in October 1931, Dean became the first Everton player to score two hat-tricks in one month of competitive play. His record would not be equalled for nearly ninety years (Dominic Calvert-Lewin did so in September 2020).[36]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Charity Shield | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Tranmere Rovers | 1923–24 | Third Division | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 1924–25 | Third Division | 27 | 27 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 27 | |
| Total | 30 | 27 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 27 | ||
| Everton | 1924–25 | First Division | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
| 1925–26 | First Division | 38 | 32 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 33 | |
| 1926–27 | First Division | 27 | 21 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 24 | |
| 1927–28 | First Division | 39 | 60 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 63 | |
| 1928–29 | First Division | 29 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 31 | 28 | |
| 1929–30 | First Division | 25 | 23 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 25 | |
| 1930–31 | Second Division | 37 | 39 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 48 | |
| 1931–32 | First Division | 38 | 45 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 46 | |
| 1932–33 | First Division | 39 | 24 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 46 | 33 | |
| 1933–34 | First Division | 12 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 9 | |
| 1934–35 | First Division | 38 | 26 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 27 | |
| 1935–36 | First Division | 29 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 17 | |
| 1936–37 | First Division | 36 | 24 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 27 | |
| 1937–38 | First Division | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | |
| Total | 399 | 349 | 32 | 28 | 2 | 6 | 433 | 383 | ||
| Notts County | 1937–38 | Third Division | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 1938–39 | Third Division | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | |
| Total | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 3 | ||
| Sligo Rovers[40] | 1938–39 | League of Ireland | 7 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 11 |
| Hurst[39] | 1939–40 | Cheshire County League | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Career total | 447 | 390 | 39 | 29 | 2 | 6 | 488 | 425 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 1927 | 7 | 12 |
| 1928 | 5 | 5 | |
| 1929 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1930 | – | – | |
| 1931 | 2 | 1 | |
| 1932 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 16 | 18 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 February 1927 | Racecourse Ground,Wrexham, Wales |  Wales | 1–0 | 3–3 | 1926–27 Home Championship | [42][43] |
| 2 | 3–3 | ||||||
| 3 | 2 April 1927 | Hampden Park,Glasgow, Scotland |  Scotland | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1926–27 Home Championship | [44] |
| 4 | 2–1 | ||||||
| 5 | 11 May 1927 | Stade du Daring Club de Bruxelles,Molenbeek, Belgium |  Belgium | 5–0 | 9–1 | Friendly | [45] |
| 6 | 6–0 | ||||||
| 7 | 9–0 | ||||||
| 8 | 21 May 1927 | Stade de la Frontière,Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg |  Luxembourg | 1–2 | 5–2 | Friendly | [46] |
| 9 | 3–2 | ||||||
| 10 | 4–2 | ||||||
| 11 | 26 May 1927 | Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir,Colombes, France |  France | 2–0 | 6–0 | Friendly | [47] |
| 12 | 5–0 | ||||||
| 13 | 17 May 1928 | Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, Colombes, France | France | 3–1 | 5–1 | Friendly | [48] |
| 14 | 4–1 | ||||||
| 15 | 19 May 1928 | Olympisch Stadion,Antwerp, Belgium | Belgium | 1–1 | 3–1 | Friendly | [49] |
| 16 | 2–1 | ||||||
| 17 | 22 October 1928 | Goodison Park,Liverpool, England |  Ireland | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1928–29 Home Championship | [50][51] |
| 18 | 9 December 1931 | Arsenal Stadium, London, England |  Spain | 5–0 | 7–1 | Friendly | [52] |
Everton
Sligo Rovers
England
Individual[53]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
