1-3-1980 On this day in 1980 Everton’s goalscoring hero Dixie Dean dies while attending the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park. 73 year old Dean had joined Bill Shankly and Billy Liddell at a lunch before the game.
Liverpool won the game 2-1 in front of a crowd of 53,013. Johnson and Neal (pen.) scored for Liverpool and Everton substitute Peter Eastoe reduced for the Toffees.
Everton: Wood, Gidman, Bailey, Nulty, Lyons, Ross, Hartford, Wright, King, Kidd, McBride
Liverpool: Clemence, Neal, A. Kennedy, Thompson, R. Kennedy, Hansen, Dalglish, Case, Johnson, McDermott, Souness
Dixie Dean scored 349 goals in 399 games for Everton and 18 in 16 games for England. His most prolific season was 1927-28 when he netted an incredible 100 times including 60 league goals. He won two league championships with Everton in 1927-28 and 1931-32.
Shankly described Dean with these words at the dinner before the game:
“Dixie was the greatest centre-forward there will ever be. He belongs to the company of the supremely great, like Beethoven, Shakespeare and Rembrandt.”
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixie_Dean
Photo: TommyPatto
