Mersyside For Sport - Brian Labone

 

Brian Leslie Labone was born on the 23rd of January 1940 to Arthur Leslie Labone and Bridget Patricia Rice. He was centre half in his school team at Florence Melly and later attended the Liverpool Collegiate School. Aged 17, he had initially been reluctant to sign up for Everton, having set his sights on going to university, but Everton persuaded him to sign for them on the 17th of July 1957. He made the first four of his 534 appearances for the club in the 1957-58 season, and the next four in the following season. He consolidated his position from 1958-59 onwards, and in 1962-63 won a league championship medal, making 40 appearances out of 42 in the league. In 1964 he became captain and May 1966 saw him add an FA Cup winner's medal against Sheffield Wednesday 3-2. 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.

Two years later Everton were beaten in the Cup Final by a goal from West Bromwich Albion's Jeff Astle and Brian announced his retirement, but he was, once more, persuaded to change his mind. This enabled him to gain another championship medal in the 1969-70 season, when he played 34 games. He also won the FA Charity Shield in 1963 and 1968. James Corbett wrote, 'Labone was the footballing antithesis of the hard men who came to characterise the 1970s, at the end of a tradition of footballing gentlemen, such as Tom Finney and Stanley Matthews. Yet he could be idiosyncratic, as witness the priority he gave his wedding over the 1966 World Cup. The following year, at the height of his powers and aged just 27, he had announced his retirement at the end of the season because he wanted to take over his father's central heating business. Such was the outcry however that he changed his mind and played on for two more seasons.' His manager, Harry Catterick, called him "the last of the Corinthians" as he continued to be an influential figure, the perfect professional. He was booked only twice - and two was also the number of goals he scored. Having withdrawn from selection for the 1966 World Cup he did play in three of the four games for England in the World Cup in Mexico in 1970, playing 26 times in all for the England team.

Brian was a gregarious character and could often be found holding court in one of several Liverpool public houses, usually with a former colleague from either side of the Merseyside football divide. He was a relic of an era in which the players still mingled with the fans and always had time for supporters. He showed his high opinion of Everton in a simple quote, "One Evertonian is worth twenty Liverpudlians." A one-club man, a loyal servant and a graceful footballer, Kevin Ratcliffe, gave BBC News a fitting tribute to Brian after his death near his home on the 24th of April 2006 whilst returning home from an Everton fans awards evening at the Winslow Hotel opposite Goodison Park: "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."

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2026/08/merseyside-for-sport-jim-lloyd.html