LEAGUE SITUATION MAKES SPURS GAME A  VITAL ONE 
Liverpool Echo - Wednesday 01 November 1961
Says Everton’s Alex Young
Since Bill Curry, the Derby centre forward, had his unfortunate "argument" with the concrete wall surrounding the pitch at the Baseball Ground, there have been suggestions that the F.A. should recommend a safe minimum distance between the touchlines and the pitch surrounds. It was an idea I would have favoured—until we visited Stamford Bridge on Saturday.  Chelsea's pitch, as you probably know, is surrounded by a greyhound track, which means that the spectators were a considerable distance from the playing area. True, there was no danger of players receiving injuries through colliding with the surrounds, but something else was missing.  With just over 25,000 people watching the game-less than a third of the ground’s capacity—there was just no "atmosphere". From the playing pitch it felt as though hardly anyone was watching the game, and I think this was a possible reason why the standard of play deteriorated.  It made me realizejust how lucky we are to have such a fine band of supporters on Merseyside.  Without that mysterious thing called "atmosphere" no sportsman, be he footballer, cricketer, boxer, athlete or swimmer, can produce his best.  Having the crowd breathing down one's neck is, for me at any rate, a source of inspiration. I would hate to “lose" them another 10 yards or so away from the touchline. 
WELCOME POINT 
But still, whatever went wrong at Chelsea, an away point is very welcome, even though we expected more against the bottom club.  Most unwelcome, however, were the injuries to Albert Dunlop, Bobby Collins and Brian Labone. Then, on Sunday, came Roy Vernon’s unfortunate road accident.  Brian was passed fit to play for the Football League against the Irish League to-day. Now we'll keep our  fingers crossed an hope for  the same good news about  Albert, Bobby, Roy and, of  course, Billy Bingham, for  Saturday's game against  Tottenham.  This is a match we have been looking forward to right from the start of the season. Now, with Tottenham occupying second place in the table and leading us by a point, it is a match we have just got to win.  With only six points separating Spurs and the next 19 clubs, the team which can chalk up a few wins now is going to break away from the bunch and gain a most important advantage. Tottenham are as anxious to make the break as we are, so everything points to a thrilling match.
IN TOP GEAR 
I was travelling back from  Chelsea with the team on  Saturday night and did not  see the short television film of the Spurs-Burnley match,  but I've spoken to people who  did and they warn me that  last season's League and Cup  winners are now back in top  gear.  John White, the Tottenham forward, is an old friend of mine. John and I played together in Scottish juvenile football for the Musselburgh side, occupying the inside forward berths. Later we were together in the British Army side and I have also played alongside John in the Scotland team.  Spurs left half, Dave Mackay, is also a pal of mine, but I remember one occasion when our friendship nearly ended. Dave trains as hard as he plays, and during a Scotland training session he Three Cards tackled me so hard that I crashed heavily to the ground.  When I recovered myself and started to get up, this was Dave (always humorist) smiling all over his face and thinking what a joke it was to see your covered in mud.  My though at that moment are unprovable.  Nevertheless, Dave is a great character, I hope he recovers from injury in time to play on Saturday, the match would be poorer for his absence.  When we get the ball Mackay and his co-defenders however, we will find and of my Scottish pals, goalkeeper Billy Brown.  Bill is not the spectacular type but I consider him Scotland’s most brilliant and consistent goalkeeper for many years. 
BUSY TIME
It is nice to see Brian Labone amongst the honours again, and, of course, we are hoping there will be few coming Everton’s way, when the Scottish team is announced tomorrow morning.  Brian, however, has had a busy time ahead, for, being well, he will be call upon to play six games between now and November 18.  Tonight he plays for the Football league and on Saturday there Tottenham’s visit to Goodison.  The following Thursday Brian turns out for the England Under 23 team against Israel and on Saturday we visit Blackpool for a League game.  The following Wednesday, November 15, Dynamo (Kiev) come to Goodison for a friendly match and the Saturday Blackburn as our visitors.  Quite a programme Brian. Here’s hoping every match is a winner.  It came as no surprise when our manager signed 18-years-old Andrew Rankin on professional forms last week, for I have been very impressed on the occasion I have seen him in practice.  Andrew has made a tremendous improvement since last season when he played a number of times for the team and should gain experience in the next year or so to make him into a really first class keeper. 

EVERTON MANAGER IN SCOTLAND
Liverpool Echo - Thursday 02 November 1961
SEARCH FOR GOALKEEPER
DUNLOP INJURED
By Leslie Edwards
Mr. Harry Catterick the Everton manager whose only signing so far at Goodison Park, was on the Doncaster winger Veall, has been “away on business.” His business was in Scotland where, with other Everton representatives he saw a match last night between the Scottish and Italian League elevens.  Everton goalkeeper, Albert Dunlop suffered bad bruise at Chelsea and is a doubtful for the match on Saturday against Tottenham at Goodison Park.  It could be, therefore, that Everton will make an eleventh hour move to secure a deputy.  The goalkeeper they saw last night was 23-years-old Eddie Connahan, from Dumferline a former player Dumferline might need to deal of persading to part with him.  Their balance sheet a few days ago showed of 12,000 and they are in short of money. 
Alex Young was selected in the Scottish shadow team and Hampden Park against Wales

COLLINS DEFINITELY OUT OF MATCH WITH TOTTENHAM
Friday, November 3, 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
By Horace Yates
Bad news for Everton supporters, made none the more cheering because it was half expected, is that skipper Bobby Collins is a definite non-starter for tomorrow’s home game with Tottenham Hotspur.  This was the information given to me last night by manager Harry Catterick.  Albert Dunlop, on the other hand, is concerned almost certain to play.  Not until he has a thorough fitness test today will Billy Bingham’s fate be known.  All I can say is that he has trained well, but Mr. Catterick would not commit himself further than giving Bingham a fifty-fifty chance.  The team will not be announced until after training has been completed today.  I understand that although it is the same knee which Collins has damaged, it is not the same injury which kept him out of the side earlier in the season.  Then the trouble was strained ligaments.  Now it appears to be a knock on the knee.  When I asked how long Collins was likely to be kept out of action, Mr. Catterick replied; “It is hard to say, but he will certainly not be fit for Saturday.  Mr. Catterick returned from Scotland yesterday, where he had been follow up reports of his scouts and he also took in the inter-league game.  It would be wrong to expect any immediate developments to follow his visit, which Mr. Catterick described as “interesting.”

ROY VERNON GIVES HIS VIEWS ON-
Friday, November 3, 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
ALEX YOUNG OF ST.JOHN –WHO IS THE BETTER CENTRE?
There was general disappointment at Goodison Park yesterday when it became known that Scotland had decided that they could manage without Evertonians for their match with Wales next week.  We had been very confident that both Alex Parker and Alex Young, at least would have thrust their way into the side.  Actually, of course, as a Welshman I should be glad they have been omitted for in my humble opinion I cannot see that Scotland have two better players than these available.  I realize that by saying this I am running the risk of drawing a hornets’ nest of irate Liverpool supporters about my head, because I am saying that Young is a better man than Ian St. John, and that is almost enough to start a war.  Right from the outset I admit that St. John is a grand player, and a most able leader of any line.  I have seen enough of him to realize that with such a man at centre forward it is almost impossible for an attack not to be active.  He is almost inciting them all the time to be on their toes, for he is such a quick mover and he reads immediately to a situation.  My main criticism of St. John would be that he reacts just that shade too quickly on occasion and that it might be better if he held the ball more at times.  I know he will say that is his natural game and if players respond to it the results must follow.  He can go further and say “Look what Liverpool have done in the scoring line this season,” and claim that as the best possible answer.  He could be right of course, I am only stating an opinion.  Naturally, I have a better knowledge of Alex Young’s play, having been alongside him so often.  Now Young is every bit as clever as St. John with the ball at his feet.  In fact, I should say he can beat players more readily and is capable of upsetting the tightest defence.  I am prepared to admit that there is probably so little between the two that it is a question of personal preference.  If I played alongside St. John instead of Young, I might be arguing the other way round not from prejudice but because closer acquaintance of his play might reveal St. John to be stronger in some respects than at present I give him credit for.  Both are first-class craftsmen and I think Everton and Liverpool are fortunate to have two such outstanding players.  Each obtains results from the scientific approach to the game, in contrast to the bull-of-a-gate methods which some people prefer.
SELECTORS RIGHT
Give me the scientific player, I admit there are occasions when a little hit of robust play, is very welcome.  It has the effect of unsettling defences but in the long run the fast brainy player achieves more consistent results and achieves them in a way that brings delight to the crowds.  Liverpool should be very happy at this show of confidence in one of their most popular players for is shows that the selectors do not admit of any gulf in playing standards between the top two divisions.  And I think the selectors are right to take the view that if a player is good in Division 2 he will be equally good in Division 1.  I have played in both and I know that Division 2 can be terribly tough especially for leading clubs and I would not argue with the theory that it might even be harder to play quality football down below.  To return to Alex Parker.  For me, he is the outstanding right back I have seen in current football anywhere.  With some full backs a chase and a tackle often from the side or behind, is fraught with danger of free kicks being awarded because the dividing line between a fair tackle and a trip can be so very narrow.  How many times is Parker penalized in these situations?  Very seldom.  It is a sheer joy to see him make his tackles.  They are timed to perfection and when he swoops none times out of ten I would say it is to take the ball off his opponent’s toes.
ACCEPTED ADVICE
I don’t think defensively he has ever been better than this season.  He has accepted advice which has tightened his play and his drives into the attack are well known.  Can you name a more fearless and accomplished attacking full back than Parker?  We all have our poor games and I can only think that it was Alex’s misfortune to be a shade below par when a super performance was wanted.  Parker can probably remember the poor games he has because they are so few and if the selectors could have seen him in action oftener then I think he must have been restored to Scotland’s side.  Left out in the cold though Everton are I think the boys are pleased on one account.  They are convinced that the recent attention paid to the affairs of the Everton club show that they are very definitely in the running for honours.  This in itself must be an inducement for them to maintain peak efficiency for there are other Scottish games to come and other Scottish teams to be chosen. 

BINGHAM IS BACK FOR EVERTON 
Liverpool Echo - Friday 03 November 1961
Wignall to Lead Attack 
SPURS DOUBT 
With skipper Bobby Collins injured, Everton will have Frank Wignall at centre forward, moving Alex Young to inside right, for the game against Tottenham at Goodison Park to-morrow (writes Michael Charters).  Billy Bingham passed a fitness test thismorning and returns to the right wing after missing two games through injuring his thigh in an international match for Ireland.  Goalkeeper Albert Dunlop, who was also hurt at Chelsea last week, is fit.  Spurs goalkeeper, Bill  Brown,  Scotland's choice  against Wales next Wednesday,  bruised a thigh in  Wednesday's European Cup  tie against Feyenoord and is  replaced by John Hollowbread  who has deputised once before  this season—at Bolton on  October 9.  SAUL PLAYS 
Dave Mackay, who missed the European Cup tie because of a poisoned arm, was in the party that left for Liverpool.  Manager Bill Nicholson will not decide until to-morrow whether he returns or Tony Marchi continues at left half.  Frank Saul, two goal man on Wednesday, again keeps out England centre forward Bobby Smith.  Everton; Dunlop; Parker, Thomson; Gabriel, Labone, Harris; Bingham, Young, Wignall, Vernon, Fell.  Tottenham; Hollowbread; Baker, Henry; Blanchflower, Norman, Marchi or Mackay; Jones, White, Saul, Clayton, Dyson.

SPURS’ CROWD SLIPS-BUT HOW CHALLENGING REMAINS THE ANGLE
Saturday, November 4, 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
By Horace Yates
Begging Burnley’s pardon.  Tottenham Hotspur, visitors to Goodison Park today, still remain the most attractive opposition in the country, and though their double crown may have slipped somewhat this season, it is still at no more than a challenging angle.  Everton take up that challenge gladly, if maybe somewhat less confidently than they might have been had Bobby Collins been able to play.  Everton in my view at least, lose much of their glitter, glamour and effectiveness when the little Scot is inactive, as he has been all too often this season, and though he may not have struck peak from form in any of his games this term, even a below par Collins does something to Everton that substitutes cannot equal, I hope I am proved wrong today.  Some hold the theory that it is inadvisable to disturb two positions in order to fill one vacancy and that is what Everton have done by moving the successfully Young from centre forward to inside right, and introducing Wignall as leader of the attack.  Yet I would hesitate to criticize manager Harry Catterick for the solution he has produced to his problem.  Young may be the best centre forward on the Everton register, and indeed there is little doubt in my view but at the same time I am willing to agree that he is also the best inside right available in the absence of Collins and that there is less lost on balance by the present arrangement than by any other alternative. 
BINGHAM BACK
The return of Bingham after two games lost through injury must bring power to the side, especially in the paper-thin strength there is in reserve for the wing positions.  The European Cup, with all its dazzling possibilities may still prove a mixed blessing to the progressive Spurs, for although their mid-week triumph in Holland hardly called for any top pressure play, the cumulative effect of these extra games have a nasty habit of imposing a strain, just when it can hurt most.  Whether Tottenham have reached that stage or not, it is hard to say, but they did come in for criticism for making heavy weather of what should have been an easy passage. It is likely that the sort of challenge Everton will throw down-speedy, direct and clever-will be just the thing to pull out the best in Spurs, and if that is so, what a football treat this match will be! While Everton congratulate themselves that Dunlop, an ever-present this season and last, who has not missed a match since February 20, 1960, is fit enough to play, Spurs have to substitute Hollowbread in goal for the injured Brown.  Last night manager Bill Nicholson could not state whether or not Dave Mackay, in my opinion as important in the Tottenham scheme of things, with his unflagging energy, always skillfully directed as is Collins to Everton, will be able to play.  He has a damaged elbow and Marchi may be called on to play at left half. 
NO RUNAWAY
At this stage last season Tottenham were already showing signs of running away with the championship, which deservedly dropped into their lap, for they had a clear lead of four points and boasted an away record of eight wins from as many games.  Now they are three points inferior to Burnley, a point and a game better off than Everton, in third place, but that away record has lost much of its impressiveness with nine points dropped out of fourteen.  For all that, this will be a match every bit as difficult for Everton as was that against Sheffield Wednesday, with the important difference that we hardly expect another Everton display like that.  It took a London club (Chelsea) to put the first draw in Everton’s record since last April and it may be that another London club will keep the draw sequence going today.  Everton; Dunlop; Parker, Thomson; Gabriel, Labone, Harris; Bingham, Young, Wignall, Vernon, Fell.  Tottenham Hotspur; Hollowbread; Baker, Henry; Blanchflower, Norman, Mackay (or Marchi) Jones, White, Saul, Clayton, Dyson. 

HANDICAPPED EVERTON BEAT THE CHAMPIONS
Liverpool Echo and Evening Express, November 4, 1961
REMARKABLE GOALS BY BINGHAM AND YOUNG
EVERTON 3, TOTTENHAM 0
By Michael Charters
Everton; Dunlop; Parker, Thomson; Gabriel, Labone, Harris; Bingham, Young, Wignall, Vernon, Fell.  Tottenham; Hollowbread; Baker, Henry; Blanchflower, Norman, Mackay; Jones, White, Saul, Clayton, Dyson.  Referee; Mr. J. K. Taylor (Wolverhampton). 
Tottenham, just ahead of the feet of Everton in the League table, centre had Mackay at left half in place of Marchi. Mackay had a bandage on his left elbow.  Everton had a let-off in the opening minutes when a long throw from Mackay beat the home defence on the bounce and also eluded Jones, who must have had a simple chance had he been quick enough to take it.  Spurs had started with great skill and pace and an intricate passing move among the forwards saw White deliver a cracking shot from 20 yards which Dunlop saved superbly at full stretch.  Dunlop was in action again a moment later when Jones beat Thomson and took the ball 30 yards before delivering a dangerous centre which Dunlop cut off almost from the head of Saul. 
FIRST THREAT
The first Everton threat came from Vernon, who evaded a couple of tackles in midfield and went on to try a shot from well outside the area, which he put yards past the far post.  Then Young tried another long-range shot as Wignall headed the ball back, but again put it wide.  Hollowbread swept into action with a first-rate save to clutch the ball from Young’s volleyed shot, taken on the turn, which might well have beaten a lesser goalkeeper.  Saul missed a sitter for Spurs after Harris had lost possession of the ball to Jones.  The winger’s cross landed at the feet of the unmarked centre forward but he looked slow and Labone was able to step in and clear. 
FORTHRIGHT TACKLING 
There was a good deal of forthright tackling by both sides but very little escape Referee Taylor. In another Spurs attack—and most of the danger inevitably came from Jones—the winger's centre was headed by Clayton towards the far post Dunlop, playing superbly, quick to get across to it.  Labone and Parker w  playing particularly well  defensively and Everton made  a good opening from one  Labone's clearances as Vernon  slipped the ball through to Young, who tried a ground  shot from 20 yards, but  straight at Hollowbread.  The game was fast and entertaining in every phase and there was nothing better than Young's superb through pass to Wignall, who collected it just inside the penalty area as Hollowbread came out to meet him. The ball rebounded from the goalkeeper's foot for a corner.  Everton were in full flow now and a great pass from Harris down the centre to Vernon saw the Welshman clip it first time but again straight at the goalkeeper.  Within a minute Vernon was chasing through again from another Harris pass with Hollowbread getting the ball away for a corner, from which Wignall headed just wide.  Mr. Taylor was handling an extremely hard fought game very well and he spoke to both Fell and Dyson to prevent incidents flaring up into anything worse.  After 36 minutes Parker injured his right thigh and was carried off by the two trainers.  No-one saw him injured, but he must have over-reached himself in an earlier incident.  Parker came back after a couple of minutes holding the back of his right thigh and stayed on the right wing with Young and Gabriel dropping back a position.  Parker was limping badly and the reorganisation of the side was a .great pity in view of the way the game had been so full of interest with both sides playing some great football and well matched.  Three minutes before half-time Wignall put Everton in the lead with a goal that sent the big crowd almost delirious with excitement.  The move stemmed from  good work by Harris who  flicked the ball through to  Bingham, who was now  playing a roving role in the  forward line, and Bingham's  centre from the left  eluded Norman and bounced  free to Wignall who pounced  on it quickly and hit a great  shot past the diving  Hollowbread.  Parker went off after this goal. And Everton were in  danger twice—first from a  free kick after Vernon had  brought down Dyson, and then  when Baker ran up to chip  across a centre which beat  Dunlop, only for Gabriel to  head off the line.  Half-time.—Everton 1, Tottenham  Hotspur nil.  A fine drizzle began during  the half time and when the  players came out Parker, with  a strapping on his right thigh moved to the right wing with  Vernon at right half and  Gabriel right back.  From the kick-off Everton worked the ball through with Vernon pushing it on for Young to try a shot which flew straight at Hollowbread. 
TEN MEN 
It was soon obvious that Parker could make little effective contribution, so that in effect Everton were playing with ten men.  Everton were playing with a great deal of fire despite their handicap, although Spurs cultured football was lovely to watch.  Little Dyson was booed for some minutes by the crowd after he had fouled Young, but Mr. Taylor continued to have expert control.  Bingham scored the most remarkable goal after 54 minutes to increase Everton’s lead. It was a triumph for his endeavour in chasing what appeared to be a lost cause.  Fell pushed the ball through to him to the left of the goal and Bingham, in evading the out coming Hollowbread pushed the ball right to the by-line but contrived in some miraculous way to turn the ball over the line from the most acute angle possible.  Bingham landed head first among the photographers and was the only man on the field not to see his remarkable shot count.  The game was hotting up in every direction and Thomson was guilty of a most blatant body check on Jones as the winger went flying through.  Three minutes later Everton went three up. Fell pushed the ball over to the right for Young to collect and Young made such an accurate centre close to the goal line that Hollowbread, no doubt disconcerted by the attentions of Wignall, allowed the ball to pass behind him into the net.  It seemed at though Wignall had headed the ball, but from the manner in which the Everton players rushed to congratulate Young it was apparent that the ball had gone direct into goal.
GREAT SPIRIT 
Harris seemed to be in the thick of everything, one minute starting an attack and the next back on his own line heading away. He typified the great spirit of Everton, who were fighting hard for the ball and really shaking the composure of Spurs.  Hollowbread was clearly rattled by Everton's two-goal burst and he missed a hard hit centre from Fell, the ball running almost along the goal line out to Young, but the resultant centre was cleared by Norman.  One would not have recognized this Everton team from  last week's display against Chelsea arid one could not  admire them too much for the  way they had shaken the great  Tottenham although playing  with ten men for so long.  Everton's defence was playing superbly and Vernon had made a first class emergency wing half with Gabriel just as effective at full back, although it was Labone who was the outstanding man in this half with Dunlop also playing faultlessly.  Wignall and Young both sent rocket shots just wide of the posts and altogether this Everton display was delighting the crowd.  Everton were impudently interpassing in defence in the closing minutes and the crowd reveled in it.  This had indeed been a famous victory and Everton went off to a standing ovation from their delighted fans.  Final; Everton 3, Tottenham nil

EVERTON A V ROCHDALE A
Liverpool Echo and Evening Express, November 4, 1961
Rochdale dictated the early play, and White was unfortunate with a drive that hit the Everton bar.  Shortly afterwards Brian Hardman, trying to find the corner of the Everton net, went wide with an oblique shot across the ground.  Half-time; Everton A nil, Rochdale A nil
EVERTON B V ROCHDALE B
Everton went ahead from the kick-off with a goal by Williamson and five minutes later Wright added a second.  After 25 minutes Fowles reduced the Rochdale arrears when he headed in a Myserscough free kick.  Half a minute later Connor equalized.  Half-time; Everton B 2, Rochdale B 2.

THE LONDON “BOGEY” HIT US AGAIN
Liverpool Echo - Saturday 04 November 1961
ALEX PARKER REVIEWS EVERTON DOWN SOUTH
It is a common saying in football that a draw away and a win at home is championship form, which means that our result at Chelsea last week was quite acceptable. But we would only be kidding ourselves if we believed that, for, quite frankly, we put up our worst show for a number of weeks.  I read in Wednesday's  Echo that Alex Young's  theory for our display was  the lack of atmosphere at  Stamford Bridge due to the  crowd being so far away  from the pitch, but I don't  altogether agree.  On the way back to Liverpool some of the players were talking about what is fast becoming our “London bogey."  In the three years I have been playing for Everton, we have only once won in London. That was at Fulham last season. We have drawn at West Ham and Chelsea (twice).  But those draws at Chelsea have been a little costly, too. Last season Tommy Ring broke a leg, and on Saturday Bobby Collins suffered a knee knock which kept him out of to-day's game against Spurs.  Why this bogey should be, I do not know. Neither do any of the other players, but there is no denying it certainly exists.  Somebody suggested that it might be the amount of travelling involved, but it was pointed out that Burnley usually do well down there. They have to travel even further than we do. 
BAD OLD DAYS 
Here's hoping that we have recaptured our form to-day although we have been playing another London side.  Talk of Bobby Collins's injury reminds me that Goodison this week had an unfortunate resemblance to the Goodison of not so very long ago.  Just when we thought our injury crisis was behind us for good, we have had Billy Bingham, Roy Vernon, Albert Dunlop and Bobby all under treatment trying to get fit for to-day.  I'm sure all Merseyside  fans must have been  delighted that Ian St. John  was again picked by Scotland  for next Wednesday's  match against Wales and  that Ron Yeats and Alex  Young are in the  Shadow XI. 
THE POST-BAG 
The letters have been rolling in lately, and as usual they are from all over the world.  I have received one from Montreal written by an Evertonian we met during our close season tour. He is Harry Bleasdale, waiter in the Empress of Britain.  Strange thing about Harry. He hopes we DON’T win the Cup.  He tells me he was born in 1906 when Everton first won it, and got married in 1933 when they won it again. Now he is afraid that his luck might not hold for a third win and fears something bad might happen to him.  Well, Harry, grateful as  we are for the wonderful  time you and your pals  gave us a few months ago  in Canada, I'm afraid you  will just have to trust your  luck. If it's possible to win that Cup, we'll be there.  That should please Lyn Williams, of the R.A.F., Little Sai Wan, Hong Kong, for he tells me his ambition is to see Everton winning at Wembley. Lyn says he will be home next February, and as we hope to be right in the middle of the Cup competition his promised support will be very welcome. 
MAKE IT MERRY 
From the Far East to Germany, and a letter from another Service man, Gnr.  Phil Moy of the Royal Artillery. He says he is hoping to see us over Christmas when he will be home on leave. We'll do our best to make it a merry one for him.  From much nearer home  —Edinburgh Road, Kensington,  Liverpool 7, to be  exact—Mr. H. Gibbons  comments on the piece I  wrote recently about Ron  Yeats.  He mentions a number of  Scottish centre halves who  have played for Everton  and Liverpool and says: " I  am 76 and have been an  Evertonian all my life, but  I am sure all unbiased  spectators old enough to  remember will agree that  the greatest centre half  was Liverpool's Scottish  international, Alex Raisbeck."  Well, obviously I can't enter into that discussion, but it should certainly start some arguments among the older soccer fans in the city.
LOST BALL 
Apparently Mr. Sharratt, of Stalmine Road, Liverpool 9, has been taking notice of my recent article about the number of golf balls we players lost on our visit to the West Derby club.  He sent me a ball, enclosing a note which reads: “I found this in Rice Lane and wondered if it was one hit by you.  From West Derby to Rice Lane is not bad for an amateur, particularly as you missed the pylons at Goodison Park.  "If you can knock this in a hole, or lose it, I’ll make you a present of a set of new ones as a reward."  I think I should add that what Mr. Sharratt found was a billiard ball full size.
THE BEST 
I also heard of an argument that has been raging in the Children's Convalescent Hospital, Southport, involving yours truly.  Apparently 10-years-old John Lawless, of 164 Irlam Road, Bootle, is a strong Evertonian, and while in the hospital has met a Blackpool fan.  Now these two youngsters have been discussing who the best right back in Britain is. The Blackpool  boy, naturally, has nominated  Jimmy Armfield and  John has put forward my  claims, although how he  justifies them I can't  imagine.  I V have also heard that  the Blackpool boy has had  a letter from Jimmy, so I  feel it is only right for me  to send one to John. Can’t afford to have the two boys falling out.  However, just between ourselves, I agree with the Blackpool boy.

BLACKBURN RES V EVERTON RES
Liverpool Echo and Evening Express-November 4, 1961
Blackburn Rovers; Reeves; Wells, Sims; Slater, England, Holden; Ratcliffe, Thomas, Pickering, Byrom, Haverty.  Everton Res; Rankin; Parnell, Green; Gannon, Gorrie, Sharples; Lill, Jarvis, Webber, Temple, McKenzie.  Referee; Mr. J.C. Pope (Skelmerdale).  Rovers held the whip hand at the start and Rankin brilliantly kept out, with a spectacular dive, Thomas’s 20-yard shot.  Everton hit back with a swift thrust along the right which ended with Lill forcing Reeves to a good save.  Rovers went ahead in the 20th minute through Byrom, who ran on to a deflected Ratcliffe shot to give Rankin no chance.  Pcikering added a second for Rovers a few minutes later from Sims’s through pass.  Rankin made three brilliant saves from Pickering, Ratcliffe and Wells as Rovers kept up their fire-cracker approach.  With Rovers’ half-backs dominating, Everton made few attacking opportunities.  But Webber went close with a powerful drive from McKenzie’s pass. Half-time; Blackburn Rovers Res 2, Everton res nil. 

Thanks to Opertation Goodison (@Efcmordecai) Mark.

MERSEYSIDE DAZZLES THE FOOTBALL WORLD
Monday, November 6, 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
EVERTON ARE NOW READY TO TAKE OVER FROM SPURS
EVERTON 3, TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 0
By Horace Yates
Remember, remember the fourth of November the day on which Everton served notice on the mighty Spurs that they are ready, willing and able to take over the mantle of greatness gathered about them by the Londoners last season.  This was not only Everton at their best, but it was Everton in their bravest, most spirited mood, so much so that the loss of an effective Parker for most of the game hardly caused them to reduce their stride.  That the feat was achieved also without Bobbie Collins, the acknowledged master mind of the side was even greater reason why the elated Evertonians should start weaving fanciful dreams of accomplishment and greatness.  I never expected to see the mighty Spurs capitulate so utterly and completely to a ten-man team and yet the plain, unvarnished truth is that the greatly heralded half-back line simply disintegrated before the persistent and progressive Everton attack.  If you had not known who was wearing the No 4 jersey, I doubt very much indeed if you would have taken the trouble to discover it was Blanchflower and while Mackay struggled to give the line some measure of majesty, I think his spirit broke when he was the last in a chain of defensive errors that helped Wignall to smash home that first goal in forty-two minutes. 
TINGLING EXCITEMENT
Before this Tottenham had given every bit as good as they had received in a half that was tingling with excitement and rich flare.  It was the sort of game that should have been recorded on film and shown at regular intervals to the croakers who say that football has lost its magic as a medium of entertainment.  We saw the craft, the guile, the speed of Jones the darting danger of White and the spirit and drive of a militant Dyson and it all looked so good, but was it one scrap better than the near genius of some of Roy Vernon’s early play, the control, poise and perfection of Young’s work the wandering elusiveness, of Bingham and a Wignall who gave the towering Norman no rest?  Spurs clearly needed encouragement and were crest-fallen when it failed to arrive, but that they contributed to their own failure was proved when Jones missed a gift offering from Mackay’s long throw in two minutes and Saul appeared to be working under the handicap of a ball and chain as he struggled so sluggishly to make scoring contact with the defence down.  Still the resilience of this Tottenham attack helped Dunlop to emerge completely from the cloud of uncertainty that has enveloped much of his play.  Parker retired after 35 minutes but returned in time to see Wignall open the scoring and then off he went again with a torn thigh muscle.  Right on the interval we found Gabriel heading Baker’s shot off the line and never was a break more opportune for spectators whose excitement required a cooler.  Parker was back with his colleagues, but at outside right he was obviously there purely for nuisance value and what a nuisance he might have been, for only narrowly did his courage fail to produce two goals.  The shuffle of Gabriel to right back and Vernon to right half proved an inspired way out of the difficulties and in 54 minutes Everton success was guaranteed. Fell, who responded to the short-handed challenge magnificently pushed the ball into the clear for Bingham to swoop on it, and tap the ball to the side of the out coming Hollowbread a worthy deputy for the injured Brown, and when it seemed that Bingham could not regain possession before the ball passed out of play, he stabbed it from a ridiculously impossible angle, and yet there was the ball in the net, with the sort of shot that almost called for the accuracy of a billiards cue.  Three minutes later Fell looking for work most assiduously and finding it quite often crossed the ball to Young, whose skill enabled him to win a position from which to drop the ball most precisely to the head of Wignall.  The centre forward was too smart for Hollowbread and with precision placing recorded goal No.3.
WHAT OF WIGNALL?
When we had finished gloating and basking in the sunshine of such a performance how easily we find we have glossed over the problem, what of Wignall?  Manager Harry Catterick has told me more than once that I have never seen what Wignall can do, for the simple reason that he apparently played all his best games in America.  Saturday provided a new Wignall peak so far as I am concerned.  The problem? How can he be given the extended run he so obviously merits once Collins is back?  How relieved Saul must be that there is not a Labone to oppose him every week!  The advance of the centre half has been one of the most striking features in the Everton revival and dancing as he is on the fringe of the highest honours, he must go the whole way very soon.  Everton; Dunlop; Parker, Thomson; Gabriel, Labone, Harris; Bingham, Young, Wignall, Vernon, Fell.  Tottenham; Hollowbread; Baker, Henry; Blanchflower, Norman, Mackay; Jones, White, Saul, Clayton, Dyson.  Referee; Mr. J. K. Taylor (Wolverhampton). 
Attendance 54,254.

BLACKBURN RES 2, EVERTON RES 2
Monday, November 6, 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
Everton Reserves grabbed a point in this Central League game at Blackburn with only minutes to spare.  Rovers had threatened to pile up a bigger lead than the two quick goals they scored in the first half.  But brilliant saves by Rankin kept Rovers out.  Fifteen minutes from the end Webber scored Everton’s first goal.  It was made by outside right Lill, Everton’s best forward, who got the equalizer in the 85th minute.  Pickering and Byrom scored Blackburn’s goals. 

TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS 0; TOTTENMAN EVERTON 3!
Liverpool Echo and Evening Express, Monday, November 6, 1961
By Leslie Edwards
There were two eruptions at Goodison Park. First when that little man in a hurry, Bingham, put the ball in the net from an impossible " angle;  second when the game ended and the majority of  54,000 people could tell their team (with Parker   a passenger for all but 37 minutes) what they thought of their gallant, stubborn, successful  battle in beating Spurs by three goals to nil.  Normally a crowd drifts away long before the end when their side is 3-0 in the lead. Here everyone seemed to want to savour, to the final blast of the whistle. Everton's surprising command of the team which last season won Cup and League and which Everton Manager, Harry Catterick, tipped not long ago as champions again this term. It was a warm ovation. And the handshakes between teams at the finish really meant something. The battleraged incessantly. There was wonderful football:  exceptional goalkeeping; no lack of effort from either side,  even if it was clear Tottenham may have tired near the end from the result of Everton's hammering and of their travel and travail in the mid-week match in Holland. If Everton had been at full strength all through we should have hailed their performance as the best of the season. With Parker almost completely out of the game for two thirds of the journey and Gabriel pressed into service at full-back and Vernon at half-back the victory was unforgettable. They'll be talking about it for a long as football is played in Liverpool.  Everton made their opponents fight for every ball.  Wingers lent their aid when crises came, defensively.  Only in this way were Everton able to survive the first twenty minutes in which Spurs, with strong man MacKay back in the half-back line, looked, and were, the better side,without being able to pierce the defence. Then when Wignall seized a half-chance provided by a blunder by Norman, Everton snatched the lead and the initiative and held it, tenaciously and bravely to the end when the score read Tottenham Hotspur 0, Tottenman Everton 3! 
FEARS RESOLVED
A few minutes before this most important goal Parker damaged a thigh and had left the field a couple of minutes for running repairs. He was back on field in time to see Wignall pivot quickly and slam a shot past Hollowbread, but as a force he was lost to his side from that moment. He spent the rest of the time at outside-right, where he scarcely touched the ball. Ironically, on the two occasions when he did connect (with head and foot) he was all but a scorer. Everton must have spent the interval anxious whether their one-goal lead would be rubbed out. Their fears were soon resolved. Fell twisted his way through, slipped the ball to Bingham who had taken up a position at inside-left  and the Irishman took the ball on to round Hollowbread  before finding himself on the goal-line, four yards outside the upright and thus so " angled " a goal direct was 100 to 1 against. Only Bingham knows how he slipped the ball inside and caused it to cross the line at the far post by mere inches. The crowd exploded with joy at such a spectacular score.  Three minutes later Young on the right beat Dyson, who had come back into defence, and weighing the distance between himself and Wignall, laid on a pass so accurate Wignall had only' to let the ball brush his forehead to make the conversion. So that was 3- 0 and Everton's only task was to turn back the tide of Tottenham effort which built up time and again from backs to half-backs to fail when rather casual forward play broke on the stubborn resistance  of Vernon, Thomson, Labone, Gabriel and Harris. Tottenham frequently looked like getting a goal, but never did. Their play was often smoother and more cultured than Everton's, but Everton had all the drive, the grit (and the gravy) of this splendid match. And wearily as they walked off field Tottenham, too, seemed to appreciate it. 
FAULTLESS DUNLOP
The issue in great games of this kind often turn on an incident. I think Dunlop's great save from White in early moments was salutary. He not only produced this, half-a-dozen other pieces of excellent goalkeeping. Indeed he was faultless on the very occasion on which it was most necessary. And where Blanchflower, with his deceptively  casual style, frequently misplaced his passes Harris scarcely put a foot wrong and was magnificent defensively;  so was Labone and so, in the second half was Vernon, whose  very nature makes him well suited to the business of harrying and chivvying forward out of possession.  Young is not so good at inside-forward as he is in the centre, but he made some superb contributions. His through pass from which Wignall all but scored in the first half was a gem. His volley, hit while he was turning, off a headed pass by Vernon brought one of Hollowbread's best saves. If Everton had not inadvertently shot almost straight to the goalkeeper's hands so often they would have Tottenham's defence cracked once Norman made the mistake which let Everton in for the first time. Neither Mackay nor Blanchflower were left undisturbed to work their havoc. It was all-out effort by Everton in every department-in short sheer team spirit and will-to-win which got them home in circumstances in which they could well have been beaten unluckily through being short of Parker for so long. Tottenham played as well as they were allowed. There were no searing runs by Cliff Jones; little Dyson got himself into the crowd's bad books for trying a little too hard to undo his side's failings.  A fine exhibition of refereeing by Mr. Taylor of  Wolverhampton matched the importance of the occasion.  He was commanding, not to be over-ruled by linesmen and a disciple of the advantage rule. Both clubs, I imagine, would give him the top marks he deserved. 

PARKER OUT FOR WEEKS
Liverpool Echo and Evening Express, November 6, 1961
THIGH INJURY DEEP-SEATED
By Leslie Edwards
Everton are likely to be without Alex Parker, their right back, for two or three matches. He pulled a thigh muscle in the first half of the match against Tottenham on Saturday and spent the remainder of the game as a right wing passenger.  Everton manager, Harry Catterick said today; “This is a big blow to us, especially as Bobby Collins is not likely to be fit to play against Blackburn on Saturday.  “Only twice this season have we been able to field our strongest side.  Parker’s trouble is deep-seated and I am afraid we shall be without him for more than a fortnight. 

PARKER OUT FOR TWO WEEKS
Tuesday, November 7, 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
Everton’s right back Alex Parker, who pulled a thigh muscle to the game against Tottenham on Saturday, will be out of action for at least two weeks.  Bobby Collins also on the injured list, is unlikely to be fit for Saturday’s game at Blackpool.  Manager Harry Catterick said yesterday.  “Only twice this season have we been able to field our strongest side.”

FROM THE MANAGERIAL CHAIR
Wednesday, November 8, 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
MARGATE F.C. COULD GAINT-KILLERS THIS SEASON
By Harry Catterick
Just one round to go and the First and Second Division clubs can start making their plans for the trail that ends at Wembley in May.  The Cup can be a shot in the arm for clubs that have not enjoyed the best of luck in the League and a Cup run can spark off enthusiasm and get the gates soaring upwards.  There is no doubt that the “sudden death” aspect of Cup warfare has always captured the public’s imagination.  The favour will be taken out of their hiding place, and dusted off, and rattles will reappear as if by magic. The outstanding achievement last Saturday was I think that of Margate, the Southern League club, who drove along the coast to thrash Bournemouth by 3-0.  As Bournemouth were the Third Division leaders and had been going great guns in league warfare, with an unbeaten home record to boast about Margate’s victory is all the more praiseworthy.  Maybe the Kent seaside club is going to be this season’s giant-killers.  It will be interesting to see how they fare in the next round.
STREAK OF SENTIMENT
The British public, of course, have always had a streak of sentiment for the underdog.  There is still in us all, an inner feeling that gurgles with delight when a David slays a Goliath.  We are always sympathetic to the little fellow.  But some of these Cup little fellows can do very well off their own bat.  Colchester and Yeovil are but two names that come readily to mind when we think of post-war cup exploits.  It has been said that the Cup is a great leveler.  And that truth is proved time and time again.  No manager before a Cup draw would state which club he would like to meet.  They are liable to be so different on the day.  Whenever I am asked that question around Cup-time I always answer, “Anybody at home.  There are no easy matches in the Cup.” Last year when I was with Sheffield Wednesday, we drew Burnley at home.  My lads played superbly that day.  But so did an athletic young goalkeeper named Adam Blacklaw.  Two of his saves were breathtaking in their audacity.  It was largely due to his efforts that Burnley forced a replay.  For I humbly submit we were the better team on the day, but in the replay at Turf Moor, we were certainly second best.  Over a season in League games these things sort themselves out on almost a fifty-fifty basis, but have a bad day in the Cup and there is no recovery.  That is why, to any football manager the winning of the League is a far greater achievement.  But there is no doubt that the fans get a greater kick out of having a day at Wembley. 
GREAT EFFORTS
It is extremely doubtful if any team this year, or next year either, will emulate the great effort of Tottenham Hotspur to win both Cup and League last season.  In modern times, that is a truly stupendous achievement.  I would not, attempt at this stage to even hazard a guess as to whose name will go on the trophy next May.  Suffice to say that the Cup competition will produce its usual thrills, its giant-killing moments and plenty of excitement for the enthusiastic fans.  One point I would like to make.  The fans often feel that clubs treat the Cup with a little more importance than they do the League programme.  Presumably the fact that several clubs go special training just before a Cup-tie has lent credence to those suggestions.  That happens of course, is that by the time the Cup comes round we’ve all had a long stint of League matches and the players are in mid-season.  We sometimes give them a break at that time purely as a spot of relaxation and to gear them up for the worst of winter’s weather.  The fact that the Cup starts at that time is mere coincidence.

HOW GOOD ARE EVERTON?
Wednesday, November 8, 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
KIEV DYNAMO IS TOTTENHAM-SIZED TEST
By Horace Yates
How good are Everton? Coming so soon after theirs triumph of thrumphs over Tottenham Hotspurs, that almost seems to equality for the title of “Today’s silliest question,” but it is prompted by the observation of manager Harry Catterick that we shall really know after next Wednesday’s match with the Dynamo team for Kiev.  “I was in Russia two years ago with Sheffield Wednesday, “said Mr. Catterick, “and there is not the slightest doubt these lads take their football very seriously indeed.  “I actually saw the Dynamo side and was most impressed.  They are strong and powerful, always seeking to raise their standards and the way in which they covered mistakes was most illuminating.  “Our lads know that while this is a friendly match, it could be as tough for them as the Tottenham game.  If we can beat that Russians there will be no doubt in anybody’s mind that Everton standards are really high.”  Before we reach that game however, there is the match at Blackpool on Saturday, and while the Everton team will not be selected until Friday manager Catterick is reconciled to having to name eleven players without mentioning Parker or Collins. 
PARNELL’S CHANCE?
The absence of Collins will cause less worry after Saturday’s showing and with the same forward line fir for duty no changes are expected there but filing the Parker gap is another proposition.  Obvious first choice might have been Tommy Jones , but he is nursing an injured knee and can almost certainly be regarded as a non-starter. After his triumph in emergency it might be said that Gabriel could wear the No.2 jersey, but it is a position of which he has no experience (Saturday apart) and I cannot see Mr. Catterick risking breaking up his admirable half back line even though Meagan might be regarded as a readymade substitute for Gabriel.  If Mr. Catterick thinks along those lines he could fall back on the idle of giving youth its chance in the shape of Roy Parnell.  He made his debut last January at Wolverhampton and also played at Fulham early this season.  Even though he may not have done himself justice in the Fulham game, I would hardly think this will be held against him and he might be the boy for the job which would give him the curious distinction of having played his first three League game away from home.  I hope Everton supporters will not be too disappointed to learn that there is no prospect of Alan Hopkinson or Denis Stevens leaving Bolton for Everton.  Not only did Mr.Catterick confirm yesterday that Everton are not interested in either player, but he went further and said; “I have never made an offer for any player on the Bolton register.” 

ALEX YOUNG EXPALINS
Liverpool Echo - Wednesday 08 November 1961
WHY EVERTON PASSED TIME AWAY 
In the closing stages of our game against  Tottenham, when Jimmy Gabriel, Roy Vernon, Albert  Dunlop and myself were passing the ball around  between us in an attempt to prevent Spurs breaking  away and launching late attacks, Dave Mackay ran up  to Jimmy and said: " You'll get nowhere doing that."  There's a long way to go until the end of April, but by then I hope the First Division table will show Dave that he has never been more wrong.  There has been some criticism this season of teams who pass the ball about among themselves in the closing stages of a match, so preventing the opposition from gaining possession, but I think the tactics are perfectly fair and fully justified. After all, it's far more attractive and effective than the old fashioned method of booting the ball into touch for the last 10 minutes or so.  You will remember Sheffield  Wednesday had us running  around in the later stages of  the game when they were here  earlier in the season, and I  am sure Tottenham have used  these tactics themselves when  they have been on top.  Another point is that we had been playing for the best part of an hour with 10 fit men, so naturally everyone was feeling a little tired.  Tired footballers often make mistakes under pressure,so by keeping possession of the ball and slowing the game down you avoid this risk.  It is amazing how a team  playing under a handicap  often manages to pull out  something extra, and Saturday's  match revived memories  for me of our New York  Tournament game against  Montreal Concordia, a very  useful side, which we won 1-0  after playing for 80 minutes  with only 10 men. 
TEAM SPIRIT 
I told you a short time ago that the team spirit at Everton was the finest I have ever seen. Now you have seen it for yourselves, don’t you agree?  Players and officials of the Italian League, who play the Football League this evening, were at Goodison on Saturday and I hope they left with a good impression of football in this country. I am sure they learned a thing or two from our defence, anyway.  They have only conceded two goals in the last six matches and now have the best record in the First Division.  After Alex Parker's unfortunate injury I moved to right half for the remainder of the first half, but during the interval Mr. Catterick suggested that Roy Vernon was better equipped for the job. How right he was, for Roy showed that he must be the finest emergency wing half in the country. 
WORTH NOTING 
Although Roy tells me he has only played in this position once before, for Blackburn when someone was injured in a match against Preston, I think the Welsh selectors would do well to note his performance.  Jimmy Gabriel also turned up trumps as an emergency right back, but here I am sure the Scottish selectors need no reminder about whom the Everton players think is Scotland’s number one for this position.  Congratulations this week  to " Big Frank " Wignall on  his fine display and two goals  against Spurs and also to my  rival from across the Park,  Ian St. John, who leads the  Scotland attack against  Wales at Hampden Park this  evening.  I was naturally pleased to see my name in the Scotland shadow XI, but it amazes me that none of my Everton colleagues was chosen. I naturally  don't want to cross  swords with the selectors, but  some of the players in the  Shadow XI must have made  a tremendous improvement  since I left Scottish football  just on 12 months ago! 
CATCH QUESTION 
While on the subject of St. John, here is a question which may catch you out.  How many times have Ian and I played on opposing sides this year?  No, the answer is not twice. It's three times. In addition to the Everton- Liverpool matches in May and last month, we were also in opposition last February when the Army played the Scotland Under 23 team at Motherwell.  I played inside right for the Army, while Ian was centre forward, for Scotland who, incidentally won 3-2.  The Army centre half on that occasion was Ron Yeats. 
TRAINING PROGRAMME
I have had an inquiry from the Sports Officer of a local F.A unit asking for a short, simple training programme for amateur teams.  Unfortunately he does not say what training time is available during the week so I have drawn up a rough schedule which he and any other amateur team interested can adapt to their needs.  On Monday take things easy doing mainly loosening up exercises and a little ball work.  Tuesday should be devoted to stamina training.  A number of sustained runs of about 200 yards plus some form of circuit training should suffice.  A full practice match could be staged on Wednesday, but if this is not possible five-side football might be arranged indoor.  Thursday’s session should be devoted to running, shooting practice and ball control.  Friday is almost similar to Monday-loosening up, followed by a little sprinting.  David Hughes of Trotivillie Road, Anfield is a goalkeeper who has written to ask my advice about taking goal-kicks.  I see you are having difficulties lifting the ball, David.  Lean back slightly when you kick the ball and hit it with your instep, letting your leg follow through in a straight swing.  The follow through is most important.  You will probably find your kicking improves with those new boots you tell me you are buying.  I do recommend the Continental type having always found them very good.  At the time of writing Michael Davies of Netherton Way, Bootle, tells me that his team have played 11 matches and won them all.  David is concerned however, because he feels tired after a match and also suffers from cramp in his legs.  Congratulations on your successes, Michael and don’t think you need worry unduly about the tiredness of the cramp.  They both show that you are putting 100 per cent effort into your game and you will probably find that the fitter you become the less likely you are troubled by them. 

ROY VERNON SAYS..
Friday, November 10, 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
IT’S STILL A THRILL TO BEAT MIGHTY SPURS
When the Everton players trooped off the field at Goodison on Saturday there was a feeling of elation such as I imagine the lucky eleven experience as they make their way to the Royal Box at wembley after winning a Cup final.  This was the thrill of a lifetime, made possible by the wonderful reaction of the crowd.  It may be a fact last season had advanced as far as March 22 before Tottenham lost their fifth match, a number they have already equaled at this stage with November only just beginning, but it is still a thrill to topple the mighty men from White Hart Lane.  People can tell me that Spurs are past their peak as often as they wish, but they have a great collection of players and are still a fine side.  It is not just the beating of Spurs that leaves one with a feeling of the greatest satisfaction; to match football with football and come out on top in a deal with them is just about as big a tribute as is possible in modern soccer.  I can tell you that when we retired at half-time a goal up, it was with heavy hearts that we learned that Alex Parker could take no effective part in the remainder of the game.  It may be true to say that the Spurs match was won in the dressing room. 
ON TOP FORM
It our instructions had been to fall back on defence and hold on to that lead, I think almost certainly we would have been beaten, but it did my heart good to hear that the ascent must be on attack, on football.  When we saw Billy Bingham’s shot go in we knew there was nothing Tottenham could do to avoid defeat.  This was our day.  Every man hit form and kept on hitting it right through the match.  I will defy you to name anybody who did not rise to the heights.  If only we could repeat that form to order what a season this would be for Evertonians, but it is not often that everybody clicks at the same time. I refer not only to Everton but to any team.  Playing with my colleagues day in and day out it was obvious we could promise a show of this nature and what better day for proving it than against Spurs. When I was instructed to play right half, with Jimmy Gabriel at right back, I knew that my experience of half back could be wrapped up in a half hour spell against Preston when I was with Blackburn Rovers, and I can hardly boast there was anything about my display to cause me to remember it!  Against Spurs it was easier, I had the man of experience behind me telling me to go here or there, do this or do that and it was simply a question of following Jimmy Gabriel’s instructions. 
DO THEMSELVES PROUD
It reminded me of the time I used to take golf lessons.  When the professional was there telling me how to hit the ball I used to hit it hard and true.  As soon as he retired and I was left alone I was back to normal.  Fortunately for me, Jimmy stayed on to advise me to the end.  On Saturday it was very obvious that Everton have three of the current best native souls for Brian Labone, Albert Dunlop and Brian Harris did themselves and their city proud.  If there are many more like these around we outsiders will have to look to our laurels.  Some people have told me they thought the one fly in the ointment against Spurs was the way in which we made fun of them by our interpassing when we knew the game was safe.  Let me correct the error right away.  We made no effort to make a show of them.  We certainly were not taking the mickey out of them.  Surely it was good tactics for a side three goals up and a man short to rest their overworked forwards who had put them in a position of safely.  By keeping the ball among ourselves we know there was no danger.  Without the ball Spurs could do nothing and anyone who had watched them very often must realizes that these are tactics which Tottenham have employed themselves over and over again.  Part of our training throughout the season has been snap-shooing.  With balls rolled back to us from all possible angles at varying heights and varying speeds, we have been encouraged to react with all instantaneous shot without in any way reducing the speed of the ball.  Now I am convinced it is beginning to pay off.  When you see us blaze the ball nearer the corner flag than the goal do not worry too much.  That is bound to happen with this type of snap-shooting for the opportunity is there for only a split second and you either take it or lose it.  If only one in ten go into goal, it could be worthwhile and you saw Frank Wignall hit just a shot for the first goal.  He had no time to steady himself.  It was just a question of BANG-and the ball was in the net.  I hope those who cheered loudest when this shot scored will not lead the ironical cheers if, perhaps another shot is not quite so perfectly steered.  Here’s to more goals like that!

GREE PLAYS FOR EVERTON
Friday, November 10, 1961 The Liverpool Echo and Evening Express
By Leslie Edwards
Reserve left back Green, a Wrexham boy makes his first appearance in the Everton senior team this season tomorrow-at right back.  He takes the place of Parker, injured against Tottenham and likely to be out of action for a further week or so.  Everton; Dunlop; Green, Thomson; Gabriel, Labone, Harris; Bingham, Young, Wignall, Vernon, Fell. 

THE BIG QUERY
Liverpool Echo - Friday 10 November 1961
By Leslie Edwards
Everton manager Harry Catterick has delayed selection of his side until late to-day, and thus has kept Goodison supporters waiting for the answer to the question: "Who plays right back in place of the injured Alex Parker?" The rest of the side picks itself with Bobby Collins still unfit, so that the attack led so well by Frank Wignall against Tottenham, with Alex Young at inside right, goes in again at Blackpool to-morrow.  Blackpool has fond memories for Everton for it was these, early last winter, that they won their first away game for more than a season. Everton played with such spirit and drive under handicap last week that they should prove too good for Blackpool, who have recovered after a  shaky start to a mid-way position. Centre forward Ray Charnley is having his best season and his 18 goals makes him the leading scorer in the division, but I can't see him having the upper hand over a top-form Brian Labone.  Everton will have plenty of support at Bloomfield Road and three of their travelling fans came into this office this week with an oddity. They had written to Blackpool  for stand tickets for the game and were puzzled when they  received them to find that one half of the ticket gave the  kick-off time as 3 p.m; the other tear-off half said 7 p.m.  It is 3 p.m., of course, but the tickets must have been a legacy of that ill-fated venture last season with Saturday night football for television purposes. Thank goodness that lasted just one match.

ACCOMPLISHED LABONE
Saturday, November 11, 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
By Horace Yates
With Brian Labone touching new heights of accomplishment at centre half and seemingly groomed ready to step up into full international class, Dunlop’s protectors are a sturdy lot.  If only one could be sure that the forwards could reproduce their ‘Spurs’ form, again without Collins, forecasting would be easy.  A defence penetrated 28 times already could hardly hope to live against forwards who outshone the Spurs scoring matches.  Wignall is a centre forward transformed, making progress all the time, and if his admires who claim that he only needs an extended run in the positions to establish his claims are right what a problem Mr. Harry Catterick will have to sort out.  There had been precious little bloom about Bloomfield Road from an Everton point of view before their 4-1 victory last season, for they had won only one of the previous six games there.  Blackpool are hopeful that Charnley scorer of 14 of their 25 goals will be fit to lead the attack.  I expect Everton to play their part in a second successive double for the Merseyside teams.  Everton; Dunlop; Green, Thomson; Gabriel, Labone, Harris; Bingham, Young, Wignall, Vernon, Fell. 

FELL EQUALISER WIPES OUT FIRST HALF GOAL BY DURIE
Liverpool Echo and Evening Express, November 11, 1961
BLACKPOOL 1, EVERTON 1
By Jack Rowe
Blackpool; Waiters; Thompson, Martin; Crawford, Gratrix, Durie; Hill, Peterson, Armfield, Parry, Horne.  Everton; Dunlop; Green, Thomson; Gabriel, Labone, Harris; Bingham, Young, Wignall, Vernon (captain), Fell.  Referee; Mr. J.W. Bellough (Bolton).
Blackpool's sensational switching of England right back Jimmy Armfield to centre forward was only one of the features of Everton’s match at Bloomfield Road to-day. Another was the first league appearance this season of young Colin Green who was at right back for the injured Parker.  Vernon captained Everton and won the toss so that Blackpool made the first move, a long ball from Parry down the middle but when Thomson cleverly slipped it aside young Green, with equal calmness, swept it through to Young and from his pass Vernon drove hard outside.
DANGER ON RIGHT 
Green came in from a word from the referee after the tackle on Armfield, and as Blackpool kept up the attack there was danger on the right but Labone, with a cool interceptionand d clearance, stopped Hill.  Blackpool were producing plenty of enthusiasm and also some dangerous looking football, although a lively ball was not helpful. It  tended to swirl, and it was  probably this which made  Green mistime an attempted  header so that there was real  menace when Horn put the  ball back into the middle  where Peterson headed just  outside.  Wignall's perseverance enabled him to break clear on the left, and put the ball across, but Bingham mishit his shot completely.  Mr. Bullough, clearly determined to keep firm control, admonished Martin after a tackle on Wignall.  Peterson was limping after a knock, but it was still Blackpool who were doing the pressing.
ONE DOWN 
Everton were not finding a sustained attacking poise and in the 21st minute they were a goal down with Durie the scorer.  The ball was taken down the left and when Horn flicked it inside Durie, moving up cleverly, brought it under control and from just inside the area beat Dunlop with a fine low shot to the bottom corner of the net.  Fell was brought down on the edge of the penalty area when he looked to have a chance of bursting clear, but the free kick was headed out by Thompson and back went Blackpool, only for Armfield to be caught offside.  The match had plenty of strong tackling and Horn did not get away with one charge on Green. The free kick led to a strong Everton attack with Fell lofting the ball over so that Bingham was able to turn it back to Young, who cracked in a glorious first timer which Waiters turned over the bar.
CLEARED OFF LINE 
Everton began to show up much better with their wingers moving well, and when Brian Harris hooked the ball to the far side from Fell’s pass, Wignall beat Waiters only to see Durie clear off the line.  First Green was hurt and then Gabriel and Parry had to have attention after a heading duel, but both soon recovered. By now Peterson had gone to centerforward withArm field inside right, a move dictated by the fact that Peterson was still limping slightly.  This was a hard fast match with Everton certainly much more in it than they had been earlier and for some minutes Blackpool as an attacking’ force had not been seen.  Suddenly, however, Blackpool swooped back due entirely to Armfield’s fine pass to Hill and from the centre Parry’s flying header was caught under the bar by Dunlop.  The tally of free kicks for fouls went well into the ‘teens when Horn brought down Green, and with Everton nowturning on the pressure Gabriel went down to smash a volleyed shot over.  Half-time. Blackpool 1,  Everton nil.  Labone was having a good match, but almost as soon as the second half started, he and Harris were mixed up so that Horn was left in the clear and it was well for Everton Dunlop promptly narrowed the angle and beat the shot away.  There was a succession of  thrills at the Blackpool end  when first Bingham put a low  ball over and Young appeared  to miss such an easy chance  that the Everton crowd  groaned, but fortunately for  the Scot's peace of mind the  whistle had gone for offside.  Then Wignall dashed down the left and when Bingham headed his centre back across goal it struck Crawford and bounced outside with Waiters nowhere.  Blackpool's half back line  was strong and relentless,  with Crawford doing particularly  well and they were  tackling so well that Everton  were not getting a lot of time  to develop their attacks. Once Parry put a header inches outside and Horn saw his shot deflected by Labone a similar distance just outside the other upright.  Everton got on terms in this pulsating match in 57 minutes through Fell.  It started with a free kick  awarded for a trip on  Young and when Bingham  headed Thomson's kick into  the centre, Gabriel also  headed it on over to the  left and Fell came in to hit  such a shot from an angle  that although Waiters got  his hands to it he could not  stay its progress into the  net.  A minute later Young produced a superb dribble which took at least three men, ending with a left foot shot which Waiters saved magnificently.  At this point Everton were playing some superb football and it was the turn of the Blackpool defence to know anxiety and Vernon was a little unlucky when his powerful drive struck Young, who could not get out of the way, in flight.  Blackpool were handicapped by Peterson's injury, but the match never slackened in interest or incident, with Young continually showing what a fine player he is.  Another dribble by him opened the way for Fell, but the winger lost the chance of making use of the pass by overelaboration.  Peterson finally went to outside left and his limitations were clearly seen when Hill put over a long ball for Green was not extended to get possession. 
DUNLOP'S CATCH 
Armfield had not had much chance against Labone and most of Blackpool's danger was coming from the right, where Hill got in one shot which Dunlop flung himself out to catch.  Blackpool were fighting tremendously hard under their forward handicap with the defence holding on grimly.  Everton got three corners on the run and from the third Green hit a tremendous shot which Waiters saved superbly.  There were Everton appeals for a penalty but the referee was unsighted, and quite rightly said no when Fell’s centre appeared to be handled by Thompson.  Vernon tried a first time volley which sailed outside and a long lob from Green was headed away by Durie as Everton maintained the attack.  Final:  Blackpool 1, Everton 1. Attendance: 23,026. 

I WAS A SPECTATOR-ON THE PITCH
Liverpool Evening Express, November 11, 1961
SAYS ALEX PARKER
In last week's article, I mentioned our old bogey of the ever-growing injury list, but little did I realise then that I would soon be joining it myself, at the same time becoming little more than a spectator in what was undoubtedly our best show of the season.  While that 6-0 win over  Nottingham Forest looks a  better performance than last  Saturday's win, it doesn't  bear comparison when one  remembers that Spurs won  the double last season, are  doing well this time despite  many people saying they are  "past it", and are also  England's hopes in the  European Cup. And we beat them with 10 men.  George has settled down really well and his “off“games are very few and far between, but last week I thought he excelled himself.  I bet it's a long time since so little has been seen of the Welsh wing star.  Albert Dunlop must also have been very pleased with his day's work. As Alex Young pointed out in his article on Wednesday, Albert has now conceded only two goals in six League games.  I have been reasonably lucky with injuries in my career, and this is the first time I have ever suffered a pulled muscle. It all happened so unexpectedly.  I stretched with my right leg to get to a ball before Dyson, the Totten hamoutside left, and felt something creak at the back of my thigh.  I thought no more about it until I tried to pass the ball a few minutes later and promptly fell over. In the trainer’s dug-out, I told them it was probably cramp, and hobbled on to the right wing just in time to see FrankWignall score.  I only kicked the ball about twice after that and just stayed on as "nuisance” value as Irealized I could not be of much use otherwise. 
A SPECTATOR 
I was only a glorified spectator really. I have been asked during the week if it’s better to watch a match from the pitch or from the stand. I would go on the pitch every time.  With the rest of the team fighting so hard and playing so well, it was great just to be part of the atmosphere, even if I couldn’t do anything to help.  It is an old football saying that “it was a team victory,” but this time it is certainly true.  Yet while I would not like to embarrass George Thompson by saying he played better than anything else, he did a great job in subduing Cliff Jones.  Jones is one of the fastest men in the game and in the opinion of many is the best winger in Europe, but one would hardly have thought so last week.  Since joining Everton, George has settled down really well and his “off” games are very few and far between, but last week I thought he excelled himself.  I bet it’s a long time since so little has been seen of the Welsh wing star.  Albert Dunlop must also have been very pleased with his day’s work.  As Alex Young pointed out in his article on Wednesday, Albert has now conceded only two goals in six League games.
BLANK SHEET 
During this spell he has done a hat-trick.  . .  kept a blank sheet in three successive games. We beat Forest 6-0, Wolves 3-0 and Sheffield United 1-0.  I believe that in ice hockey if a player gets a hat-trick they talk of giving him a bowler. I was going to suggest a similar award for Albert, but on second thoughts I just can't see him in a bowler.  One advantage of having to stand round on the wing was that it gave me more chance than usual to study the reactions of the crowd, and they certainly gave the team wonderful support.  When our manager, Mr.  Catterick, came into the dressing rooms afterwards he gave as much praise to the fans as he did to the team. That is probably because they proved his point.  Many times this season he has told us before a game: "Go out there and do your stuff. If you do that this crowd will give you all the support any team need.” He obviously believes we have the best supporters in the country, and from personal experience I don’t think any of the players will disagree.
PRESENTATION
Last Wednesday night the Everton Supporters Federation made their presentation to our youth team for reaching the F.A Youth Cup Final last season. E ach player received a travelling kit containing a razor, mirror, scissors, nail file and bottle opener.  Trainer Frank Blundell was given a clock, and coach les Shannon received a travelling clock in the shape of a football.  This was a wonderful gesture and was naturally the main topic of conversation at the ground on Thursday.  The youngsters were very excited but not as much as Frank and Les.  I believe that long after many other of their triumphs have bene forgotten, they will still remember their presentations from the Everton supporters for the success of their youth team.  Next Wednesday Russian team, Kiev, are at Goodison.  Along with everybody else at the club I have bene looking forward very much to this match, but at the moment it doesn’t look as if I will be fit in time.  Kiev are not as well known here as some Russia sides but our manager, who saw then when he was on tour with Sheffield Wednesday, said they are a very good side.  So it’s obviously going to be no walk-over. 

EVERTON RES V BLACKBURN RES
Liverpool Echo and Evening Express, November 11 1961
Everton Res; Rankin; Parnell, Gannon; Sharples, Gorrie, Meagan; Lill, Jarvis, Webber, Temple, Ring.  Blackpool Res; West; Singleton, Curthbert; Hawser, James, Cranston; Napier, Lea, Cheung, Green, Perry.  Referee; Mr. H. Ashton (St. Helens).  Everton took the initiative straight form the kick-off and in the first few minutes West saved twice from Jarvis and once from Temple.  In the same period first time efforts by Webber and Jarvis also went wide.  When Blackpool eventually broke away there was no one in the middle to take Napier’s centre and Meagan was able to make a constructive clearance to start another spell of Everton pressure.  In the 17th minute the Seasiders surprisingly took the lead when the Everton defence got into a tangle and Lea nipped in to give Rankin no chance.  Everton’s pressure was rewarded when Lill found Ring with a long pass and the left wing centre was hammered in by Webber for the equalizer in the 34th minute.  Blackpool, however, fought back strongly for Rankin to make a point-blank save from Cheung, while a terrific drive by Green grazed the Everton crossbar.  Half-time; Everton Res 1, Blackpool Res 1.

BRIAN LABONE READY TO STEP UP INTO ENGLAND’S TEAM
Monday, November 13, 1961 Liverpool Daily Post
By Peter Price
Current gossip along the football corridors is that when England come to announce their team the Irish at Wembley on November 22 there will be quite a shake-up and finding a place in the reconstructed X1 will be Everton’s Brian Labone, whose merit this season has been shrieking his claims on every field.  If expectations are realized Brian’s inclusion could be the start of a long international career, taking in the World Cup games in Chile next year.  First and foremost the modern centre half must be a stopper.  Labone is all of that, but has the rare gift of being able to combine this with the ability to convert defence into attack with a judicious use of the ball, a gift not shared by many current wearers of the No.5 jersey. 
LAST ENGLAND CAP
With more than half of Everton’s normal first team (Parker, Gabriel, Bingham, Collin’s Young and Vernon) already internationals, it is remarkable that there has not been an English international in the side, much less a son of Liverpool, for many years.  How good is your memory?  Can you name the last Everton player to represent England in a full home championship international match?  You will have to go back to 1946 when Tommy Lawton, was the sort of centre forward for whom England are now crying out in vain.  Good luck, Brian, it is time that long stretch was brought to an end. 

EVERTON WILL NOT DROP MANY AWAY POINTS
Monday, November 13, 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
BLACKPOOL 1, EVERTON 1
By Jack Rowe
Everton’s performance in beating ‘Spurs with ten fit players was received with lashing of praise.  Blackpool’s holding of Everton at Bloomfield Road with inside right Peterson hobbling on the wing for most of the second half, deserves equal commendation.  That they did so is a tribute to their fighting spirit and if Everton fans were disappointed that two points did not come, they in turn could be satisfied with the points which came from a cracking match.  Now that Everton are one of the top team they can expect hard games like this when opposing defenders do all they can to nullify the undoubted football ability in the Goodison Park forward line.  This was Blackpool’s aim from the start.  Their half back line and what a good one it is-of Crawford, Gratrix and Durie went into the tackle with strength and determination and with Everton happy at times to answer power with power, the ingredients were there for an explosive encounter.  The game did not get out of hand, Referee J.W Bullough (Bolton) saw to that by letting everyone know early on by taking the names of Everton’s young full back Green and Blackpool full back Martin that his control would be firm and even more punishing if necessary. 
DRAW DESERVED
The result was a match, always hard which never lacked incident, provided abundant entertainment and flashes of good football, ending with Blackpool holding out grimly and deserving their draw.  Everton are not going to play every week as well as they did against the Spurs, but if they were indecisive early on they came back strongly enough to indicate that they are not going to drop many away points.  And Blackpool’s improvement in recent weeks is another reason why Everton can be quite happy with this draw, because Ron Stuart’s men are playing hard and fast and their spirit could not be questioned as they faced a surging Everton in the second half with a depleted attack.  For half a hour Blackpool looked likely to win.  They were making progress while Everton were lacking accuracy and drive up front.  When Durie shot them into the lead in the 21st minute with a beautifully taken goal after bringing a centre from Horne under control, it was warranted.  But then Peterson was hurt –he seemed to twist an ankle while turning-and gradually Everton swung the course of the match.  The Blackpool attack-the experiment of playing Armfield at centre forward was a failure against Labone- lost its penetration and gradually Young was able to bring the full force of his ball-playing genius to bear.  And it was in the face of this that Blackpool’s defence kept its head and poise.  There was no panic and if their goal had escapes in the later stages, courage deserved the breaks.  Probably the crux of the game came in the first two minutes of the second half, Harris and Labone did not clear a ball and left Horne clear and angled.  Somehow Dunlop blocked the shot and dived out to collect the rebound and from then on it was all Everton.  They attacked repeatedly and in fifty-six minutes Gabriel nodded on Bingham’s headed pass to Fell, who drove in so strongly that waiters could only help the ball into the net.  But if Waiters could not keep this one out he saved at least three other stupendous shots, two from Young, who on the second occasion, dribbled and swerved past three men before letting go a drive which the goalkeeper somehow reached.  If this had gone in it would have been the goal of the season and it illustrated how brilliant Young’s ball control and his ability to beat a man can be.  Then as Everton swarmed around the Blackpool goal in the final few minutes, Gabriel swooped on to a half clearance and from 20 yards out struck a shot which was hurtling into the top corner until Waiters-and how his height helped him- managed to get his fingertips to the ball and turn it outside.  Even taking into account the ball brilliance of Young I made Durie the man of the match.  Apart from his goal, at one time or another, he was in every defensive position, even to the point of saving on the line when Wignall’s first half header had beaten Waiters.  Every Everton player did good work on different occasions with Labone always to secure in the middle and Gabriel and Harris showing that the asset of forceful fair tackling is not always going to be with the other side.  Blackpool; Waiters; Thompson, Martin; Crawford, Gratrix, Durie; Hill, Peterson, Armfield, Parry, Horne.  Everton; Dunlop; Green, Thomson; Gabriel, Labone, Harris; Bingham, Young, Wignall, Vernon (captain), Fell.  Referee; Mr. J.W. Bellough (Bolton). Attendance 23,026. 

EVERTON RES 4 BLACKPOOL RES 3
Monday, November 13 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
Everton Reserves were surprised by a late Blackpool Reserves rally which produced two goals in their Central League game at Goodison Park.  Justice however, was done for Everton’s more enterprising attack had given them a big territorial advantage.  Blackpool withstood Everton’s early onslaught to go ahead through Lea after 17 minutes.  Another 17 minutes elapsed before Webber’s equalizer to which Jarvis and Lill added early in the second half.  When Lea scored again Lill quickly restored Everton’s lead and Cheung completed the scoring nine minutes from the finish.  Everton’s best forward Lill received good support from Webber, while Ring showed a welcome increase in confidence. 

DRAW WAS FAIR RESULT INENTERTAINING RACKPOOL GAME
Liverpool Echo - Monday 13 November 1961
By Jack Rowe
Early in the first half of Everton's match against Blackpool at Bloomfield Road on Saturday I thought that they would do well to get a point, but in the end it was Blackpool who did well to get a point from the 1-1 draw.  From the start it was a terrific all-action match with hard, strong tackling from both sides and a referee in Mr. J.W. Bollough, of Bolton who made sure that it did not get beyond that.  He clamped down on tackles which were beyond the tough label and twice during the match had his notebook out.  Players on both sides came in for his strictures-one of them Green, making his first appearance of the season for Everton at right back-but it had it effects and the result was that the crowd were treated to an exhibition of thrills, incident and, especially when Young got the ball, to class play.  In the light of Blackpool’s handicap due to an injury to Peterson in the first half and Everton’s come-back after being a goal down, the result was a just one because both teams played so hard and so well that it would have been a pity if either had finished  with unrewarded.  Blackpool were definitely the more assertive in the opening phase. They moved quickly, whereas Everton were inclined to be a little tentative in the use of the ball. But later they got down to things and when the match entered its final moments, Blackpool were hanging on desperately to preserve a draw. 
HALF BACK SCORES 
Durie, playing at left half  these days, scored Blackpool's  goal at 21 minutes from a fine shot from the fringe of the  penalty area and from then on  he was one of the strong men  of a Blackpool defence which  never stopped fighting, even  when Everton's pressure in  the second half threatened to  overwhelm them.  Inevitably a game of this nature where play is fast and  the ball moving quickly, there  were escapes at both ends, for  even when Peterson was  hobbling on the wing in the  second half Blackpool contrived  to make threatening  moves and there was certainly  a crucial point for Everton  soon after the interval when  Horn, following indecision by Labone and Harris, was left  open only for Dunlop to block  his shot from a matter of yards  range.  Another goal then and Everton would have been on the collar. As it was they  came away and in 57 minutes Fell got the equaliser, a stunning drive which carried  so much force that even  Waiters, who on other  occasions made some excellent  saves, could not keep it out.  Afterwards it was mainly a question of whether Everton could get a leading goal in a match which pulsated right to its conclusion.  Blackpool escaped notably when Dune saved on the line and again when Waiters somehow got to a shot from Young, who brilliantly made his own chance with a dribble and body swerve which was by far and away the best piece of footballing of the afternoon. 
HELD ON 
But Blackpool held on, often  grimly, and if Everton failed  to get the winner, at least  they did the next best thing  with a point which showed  them as a good strong eleven  and one quite capable of  taking the First Division  championship.  Green's incoming at right back was helped by the injury Peterson because his task I was eased. He did many good things but the experience of Parker is something Everton cannot do without, although the youngster shaped quite creditably.  After a rather diffident opening, Everton settled down to a point where each player was fighting and playing hard.  Labone, as usual, was very strong in the middle, while the tackling of Gabriel and Harris is a most potent factor in Everton's set up.  Wignall never stops trying but the forward star was Young. The way he strokes a ball is wonderful to watch and his dribbles and passes make it seem amazing that Scotland so far this season have not found a place for him.  Blackpool's experiment of playing Jimmy Armfield, the England right back at centre forward was a flop. He did not look the part, and rarely if ever, was he able to beat Labone.

POLICE ARE CALLED TO EVERTON SUPPORTERS’ TRAIN
Liverpool Echo and Evening Express
LUGGAGE RACKS BROKEN, SEATS SHLASHED, BULBS SMASHED
A call from St. Annes railway station to St. Annes squad cars and seven policemen rushing to Lytham station to intercept the 8.30 p.m train taking Everton supporters home from Blackpool to Liverpool on Saturday night.  The supporters had been throwing fireworks and wrecking carriages, and the police stood on Lytham station until they had quietened down. 
NO ARRESTS
The train was again stopped for a short time at Preston.  No arrests were made.  When the train reached Liverpool railwaymen found electric light bulbs broken, luggage racks damaged and seats torn.  The 5.37 p.m train was stopped at Blackpool South station while police investigated further reports of unruly behavior, but again no arrests were made. 
DELAYED START
The Blackpool-Liverpool Exchange train, which should have left at 5.30 p.m started a few minutes late after a communication cord had been pulled while the train was still at the station.  A British Railways spokesman said last night; “The incident were no worse than usual.”

NOTES ON KIEV
Liverpool Echo - Tuesday 14 November 1961
By Leslie Edwards
Alex Parker’s champion is Tommy Fields, the entertainer.  He says he is a friend of Parker’s but does not write only on that account.  “I feel I must write you about the injustice to Alex,” he continues “He is a credit to the game as a player and person and is not only the best right-back of Scottish birth, but the best right back in Britain.  And I’m not taking as a non-footballer, I played several games for Everton “: A” just prior to the War.
Here are some notes on the Kiev Dynamo team Everton face in a friendly to-morrow (7.30) at Goodison Park:-Football began to develop in the Ukraine at the end of last century. Ukrainian footballers achieved their first successes in 1924 when Kharkov sportsmen won the country’s championship title.  In 1935 a Kiev selected team played successfully in a  four-city match (Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev, Kharkov), When the U.S.S.R. championship in 1936 were changed  from matches between picked city teams to matches  between teams from sports clubs, Kiev Dynamos were  among the seven best.  Since then the best Ukrainian side, they have invariably been contestants for the U.S.S.R. championship title and the U.S.S.R. Cup competitions. In 1936, 1952 and 1960 they won the silver medals, gaining second place in the championships. In 1954 they won' the U.S.S.R. Cup.  In their annals Kiev Dynamos can count meetings with teams from more than fifteen countries. They have defeated such teams as the selected of Turkey (9-1), selected Bulgaria XI (1-0), Brazilian Vasco da Gama (3-1).  In August they played three matches in Italy, against Florentine (2-1), Bologna (1-1) and International (0-4). The Kiev team is likely to be.-Mararov; Anufrienko, Schhegolkov; Suchkov, Turjanevik, Voinov; Brazilevich,  serebryanikov, Kanevsky, Troyanovsky, Lobanovsky. Parker and Collins, both still on the injured list, will not be available for selection by Everton.
Letterbox points 
C. Carroll, of 68 Beech Lane, Liverpool 18 sends me cuttings of reports of a recent Everton match in London and adds: " I have admired your forthright remarks about power’ play. I have never read three articles which fitted in so well with your earlier remarks. I am an ex- Rangers fan When I came to Liverpool I thought Everton nearest approach to that famous Scottish club. That was in the early 'thirties, the days of Creswell, Dean and, later, Lawton. I think Everton's cultured side of those days would have beaten Brazil at their best. You are often accused of being a blue-eye, but your article must squash that completely, so do please continue to fight for football and not footman. Football is an art and should be treated as such as the Continental sides are proving to us. Abroad to-day they call our game fight' football. One day I will write you about the psychic dustman who told me all about Everton's future plans fifteen years ago!”

CAN EVERTON MASTER THE 4-2-4 MENACE OF KIEV DYNAMO?
Wednesday, November 15, 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
The name of Kiev Dynamo conveys little or nothing to followers of soccer on Merseyside, but that does not mean that the Russian side are not a very accomplished blend of footballers.  Their record suggest they are manager Harry Catterick has no doubt at all that this will be the sort of test that will help Everton supporters to decide whether or not their team is in the super class.  They will be all the better for having had one game in England, even though they were defeated by Aston Villa, but I understand that if there had been real justice they would have shared the spoils in that game.  Their football is fast and clever.  They believe in keeping the ball moving all the time and the emphasis throughout will be on construction as against destruction, so that this could easily produce a match to remember.  Although Everton have still not announced their team I don’t expect it to vary very much, if at all from that which earned a point at Blackpool, I should say, with Collins and Parker, still not available for selection, that the only point at issue is whether or not Collin Green will continue as Parker’s deputy.
COLLINS PROGRESSES
I understand that Bobby Collins is making really splendid progress and it might well be that even though he will be an onlooker this evening he will be a serious contender for a place this week-end.  Everton, in my opinion rank among the three or four top football sides in the country, and when I say football that is what I mean.  There may have been stiffening in their defensive strength this term, but all the time they play with the emphasis on movement and spectacle.  This, at last will enable Kiev to pit their science against a team playing along similar lines, and if the Russians can beat Everton at their own game, good luck to them!  They will then be able to return home with the knowledge that they can match Britain’s best, while continental sides have a habit of looking faster and more mobile than our own, this could be one of the occasions on which they will meet their match and more.  It is well to remember that Czechoslovakia’s Dukla team deprived Everton of the New York Cup with an exhibition of 4-2-4 football, the type of game on which Kiev will certainly rely.  Can Everton cope with this form of assault?  When West Ham tried it at Goodison about a year ago they came an awful cropper but whether West Ham were able to exploit it as successfully as these foreign teams, to whom it is second nature, we shall know better tonight.  Yesterday, the Russians went up to Bellefield, the Everton practice ground, and enjoyed themselves thoroughly.  The players of both sides will be entertained to lunch by the club today, but I expect they will get to know each other far better during a ninety minutes meeting a little later on. 

FROM THE MANAGERIAL CHAIR
Wednesday , November 15, 1961
HIGH TRASFER FEES AFFECT EVERY CLUB IN COUNTRY
By Harry Catterick
If Tottenham Hotspur pay nearly £100,000 for Jimmy Greaves it is a question which affects every football club in the country, for you probably have noticed how the latest big-money transfer deal automatically pushes up the prices all-round in big soccer.  This business all started fifty-six years ago when a player named Alf Common was transferred for a sum of £1,000 from Sunderland to Middlesbrough.  I have no doubt whatever that soccer fans of those days were horrified at this wanton regard for money on behalf of the Middlesbrough Club, but today £50,000 is tossed around as though it was no more than that original four figure transfer fee.  It was the late Herbert Chapman, of course, who really made the soccer public transfer-fee conscious.  The Arsenal, in the pre-war days, became known as the Bank of England team.  He brought Alec James from Preston North End for £9,000 and followed this with David Jack from Bolton Wanderers for £10,000. 
WELL FOUNDED
Arsenal went from success to success but when they paid £14,000 for Bryne Jones almost exactly a year before the outbreak of the Second World War the public were astounded.  They wonderful just where all this was going to end.  Their fears have been well founded.  For today we find ourselves in the era of the £100,000 player.  No English club as yet has dared to pay out that sort of money.  But our Italian friends backed by big industry have certainly spread money around our soccer scene.  But, as I stated earlier it is something which affects every club in the country.  Chelsea with the money they received for Greaves are the best placed club to but him back.  Chelsea like Manchester City, who sold Denis Law to Italy are automatically asked inflated prices for any player for whom they inquire.  This is simply because the selling clubs realizes they have money to spend and, to satisfy the public, have to buy to replace the departed star.  This sort of thing inevitably sets up a vicious circle in which we all find ourselves.  Now too, with the maximum wage abolished in English football the star player demands high wages.  Expenditure goes up and clubs have to ensure that income doesn’t fall below certain fixed standards. 
A READY WAY
It may be that the transfer market affords a ready way to preserve the balance of incoming and outgoing.  Therefore the club cannot be blamed if it takes advantage of this fact.  One aspect that the sensational rise in transfer fees has had for the good of the game generally is that the player today is not so much concerned about his fee as was his predecessor.  Only a short while ago a £20,000 price tag often affected a player’s game for a while until he got the whole matter out of his system.  But big fees are now handled about to such an extent that this has become more commonplace.  When Denis Law joined Manchester City from Huddersfield Town for English soccer’s record transfer fee of £53,000 we all wondered just how much, if at all the player would be affected by the carrying of this burden.  But the new-pin bright, energetic Scottish international simply took it in his stride.  In the same inimitable way he has settled down in Italy as has Gerry Hitchens, apparently without a thought of how many lire changed hands in the respective deals.  I, too, shared in a record-fee deal when as manager of Sheffield Wednesday I sold Albert Quixall to Manchester United for £45,000.  Here again “Quickie” took the whole thing in his stride and settled down very quickly.  Believe me, it’s a considerable relief to a manager when this happens.  He is just as much concerned as the buying club that the big money player should settle easily.  Having been players ourselves it is easy to understand a player’s thoughts in such circumstances.  It’s said that familiarity breeds contempt…but how contemptuous is £100,000 to any soccer club no matter what their wealth. 

TONIGHT’S GAME IS MY FIRST AGAINST RUSSIAN TEAM
Liverpool Echo - Wednesday 15 November 1961
Says Alex Young
As a Scotland, Everton and Hearts player I have been lucky enough to play against Americans, Australian, Canadaians, South American and Continental teams, but tonight’s friendly against Kiev Dynamo at Goodison Park will be my first taste of Russian football.  I have been told a few things about Russian soccer, however, and I don’t think we will find many individualists in the Dynamo team, rather 11-possibly more, knowing the flair these foreign sides have for producing substitutes-superbly fit players who put the emphasis on teamwork.  We forwards will probably find that the Dynamo defence gives nothing away, but by the time you read this our Manager and Coach will no doubt have given us one or two tips on how to get through to goal.  Both Mr. Catterick and Tom Egglestone are well up in the latest Russian football tactics, having toured that country while with Sheffield Wednesday.  As you will have realized after Monday’s close match against Aston Villa, these Russians do not treat friendly games in foreign countries as social occasions and following that reserve they will be trying doubly hard to win. 
PRESTIGE
I can assure you that British prestige means as much to us at Goodison as Everton’s does, so we naturally will be doing all we can to stop them.  It is a match, I have been looking forward to very much, let’s hope it is an entertaining one for you to watch.  Last Saturday’s point at Blackpool may prove to be a very valuable one, although we were disappointed at not gaining two.  When we heard that Burnley had lost at Nottingham Forest, however, it soothed the blow a little.  I have no wish to pass the can, I know we missed chances, but one of the reasons we did not chalk up a victory as Bloomfield Road, I think, was the fine display by Blackpool’s goalkeeper, Tony Waiters.  Tony, a native of Southport and nearly 6 feet 3 inches tall, made a number of saves from shots which I feel would have beaten a smaller man.  One, from a fiery well placed drive by Jimmy Gabriel in the second half was exceptional.  You have doubtless read elsewhere that Blackpool’s surprise experiment in playing England right back.  Jimmy Armfield, as leader of the attack was not a success.  However I though the way Jimmy kept smiling throughout what must have been a most unhappy 90 minutes for him, was an example which young players might keep in mind and try to copy.
GREAT CLUBMAN 
Saturday's display perhaps  did not enhance Jimmy's  reputation as a prospective centre forward, but it did  emphasize one thing he's a  great clubman,  Speaking of Jimmy  reminds me that last Wednesday  evening I settled down  to watch the Football League-  Italian League match which  was televised from Manchester,  but things did not  quite work out as I had  planned.  The programme had only just started when something went amiss in the fuse-box and the house was plunged into darkness. By the time  things had been put right and  I could settle down in my  armchair again the Italians  had scored twice and the  match was in its closing  stages.  If have been told since that I did not miss much, but that was a point I did not appreciate while groping around in the dark.
SCOTLAND MATCH 
There was compensation later, however, when I was able to sit back and watch my fellow countrymen give a first-class display against Wales.  Judging by the half hour  telefilm, John White was the  best player on the field and  I couldn't help thinking how  fortunate we were that he had  not produced the same form  when Tottenham were at  Goodison on the previous  Saturday.  May 1 add my congratulations here to that rival of mine from across the Park, Ian St. John, whom, I thought, took his two goals extremely well.  Blackburn will be most welcome visitors to Goodison Park on Saturday, for it was against Roy Vernon's former colleagues at Easter that we were able to collect three points from two games and end something of a lean spell.  If we can keep Bryan Douglas quiet, then I am confident we will add another two points to our tally against Rovers this time.  And don't forget we have  an old " score " to settle with  Blackburn's goalkeeper, Fred  Else, who kept a clean sheet  on the two occasions we  played his former club,  Preston North End, last  season.  Both Bobby Collins and Alex Parker have assured me they are doing their dandiest to get fit for the Blackburn game.
CLOCK WATCHERS! 
I suppose you get clock-watchers in most jobs, and it seems as if the catering staff of the R.M.S Newfoundland are trying to find out whether there are any in football.  They have written asking me  three questions :  (1) Do you watch the clock  to pace a game, and if so are  you affected on grounds  where there is no clock; (2)  Are there any signals to  watch for from the trainers'  box during a game; (3) Do  players ever wear a watch ?  Well, the only time I look at the clock is during the closing stages of a tight game.  If you are a goal up and the  opposition is pressing, or if  the scores are level and you  are piling on the pressure  and hoping to get the winner,  then it is only natural you  should want to know how  much time is left.  There are quite a few signals from the trainers' box during the course of a match, although I suppose most spectators do not realise this.

EVERTON ARE UNCHANGED
Liverpool Echo - Wednesday 15 November 1961
Everton will be unchanged for their game against Kiev Dynamo at Goodison Park tonight (7-30).  Both Collins and Parker are still unfit.  Everton; Dunlop; Green, Thomson; Gabriel, Labone, Harris; Bingham, Young, Wignall, Vernon, Fell. 

MR. KELLY PUTS HIS FOOT DOWN HARD-AND WELL
Liverpool Echo and Evening Express, Thursday, November 15 1961 Echo
By Michael Charters
The Russians can come back to Goodison Park any time they like and so can Referee Jack Kelly of Eccstone.  Well as Kiev Dynamo played against Everton in their friendly last night, the man of the match for me was Mr. Kelly, who not only controlled the game superbly but also provided a highlight of a most entertaining match by ordering off the Russian substitute ten minutes from the end much to the delight of the crowd (26,507). 
The Russian team hadnot been guilty of the pettyincidents which so often mar the play of Continental sides when they visit this country.  In fact the only time they  slipped from what could be  normal league standards was  when a character with  number 12 on his dark blue  jersey came on shortly after  Everton had scored their  second goal in their 2-nil  victory. Number 3, Schegoljkov, the centre half, trotted  off into the trainer's box but  when Mr. Kelly had his attention  drawn to the mysterious  appearance of No. 12, he  marched him off the pitch and ordered No. 3, unhurt from what one could see to  return to the game for the  closing minutes.  This was refereeing of the highest order and one could not praise Mr. Kelly too highly for his firm action and his general control all through.  I thought Everton werea little fortunate to win by such a clear margin because the Kiev side played some beautifully patterned football, moving the ball from man to man most skillfully and accurately and Everton's defence had to play at top pressure to keep them goalless. 
LOST ART
Kiev showed the Everton fans the lost art of making a corner kick a real attacking gambit.  Their left winger, the tall Lobanovsky, produced near panic in the Everton ranks with a series of swinging corner kicks which had the Everton defenders clearing desperately off the line on several occasions.  They allied their clever ball work with some good shooting so the general result was a first class match of pace and character of the highlight being some wonderful goalkeeping by Dunlop and Pazinski.  Everton won this game with two magnificent goals worthy of the occasion.  The first after 36 minutes, following a delightful move between Vernon and Harris.  Vernon passed to Harris in midfield and then raced through the middle to take a perfect through ball which came to his feet to the inch and Vernon hit a great shot which even the agile Pazinski could not reach.  This goal was against the run of play for the Russians had extended Everton fully up to that stage and only great work by Dunlop, backed by excellent play from his co-defenders kept these players out.
A SURPRISE
The second goal, 11 minutes from the end was a surprise packet because it came from the one Everton player who had looked out of it up this point.  This was Fell who found the Kiev right back Sherbalov, a rugged character against whom he could make little or no headway but Fell made his memorable impact on this match when he cut inside the Russian full back superably and hit a wonderful left foot shot on the run, past the startled Pazinsky.  Everton’s forwards general were the most disappointment section of the side for only Vernon made a really sustained effort all through playing one of the finest ever games although I also give full marks to Wignall for his 100 per cent effort in disturbing a brilliant and compact Russian defence, who provided a blanket cover for their goalkeeper.  It was in defence that Everton shone most. Apart from the brilliant Dunlop, Labone, and Harris both had great matches with Green and Thomson just as good as their counter parts un the Russian side.  The Young Green had a bit of a terror to face in the Russian left winger but stuck to his task very well.  We have never seen Russians teams on Merseyside before but this Dynamo side deserved the applause they received from the Everton players and the crowd as they left the pitch at the end. 

THE RUSSIANS COULD HOLD THEIR OWN IN OUR FIRST DIVISION
Thursday, November 16, 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
EVERTON 2, KIEV DYNAMO 0
By Horace Yates
One felt much easier about the overthrow of the Russian side as Everton made their superiority tell in the closing stages, for up to then the single goal scored by Vernon in the first half looked likely to give Everton a victory which could hardly be said to have been deserved, and if Kiev were to claim they were still a trifle unfortunate not to have achieved equality, I would be inclined to agree with them.  Everton went in at half time a very lucky side to be leading for their goal had undergone hairsbreadth escapes in face of a fast moving and eager attack, and yet it was to their credit that they produced the finest movement of the match-a goal effort between Brian Harris and Vernon to create the goal.  It was brilliantly conceived and no less magnificently completed.  If Everton become England’s champions as well they may, Kiev Dynamo will always be able to look back on their showing last night when the Ukrainian champions extended them to such an extent that one felt if they were to be opposed to English First Division clubs regularly they would probably beat more sides than would beat them.  They are an attractive set of players and it was not lack of determination which prevented them from hitting Everton hard.  This Kiev side has been criticized as having insufficient bite and inferior finishing power.  I would not subscribe to either, and I doubt if the Everton players would.  Far from lack of bite, there were occasions when their enthusiasm exceeded bounds, but Everton were able to look after themselves.  I should say the numerous acrobatic saves accomplished by Dunlop were in themselves sufficient refutation of a lack of finish, for had not the goalkeeper been at the height of his form, some of those searing shots would certainly have biased a way into goal.  Even Dunlop could claim no share of credit for denying the Russians a goal when Basilevich beat him completely with a fast header which struck the underside of the bar and came out again for the Russian to head low towards the corner of the net.  Dunlop was helpless, but Thomson had positioned himself perfectly to kick off the line.  Basilevich it seemed, was determined to score and he popped up again with that workmanlike head of his and this time it as Gabriel who spared Dunlop a load of worry by heading clear. 
MISS OF MATCH
We saw Dunlop in action again with a magnificent clearance from Kanevskij and it was just as well that this one did not register for the Russians had taken the throw in and play had continued, although the flag clearly indicated an Everton ball.  Possibly the greatest miss of the game was debited to Vernon, for when Wignall and goalkeeper Pazinski sent each other sprawling on the turf, Vernon was left with a clear crack at goal.  He hit the ball hard and low, but just a trifle wide.  Pazinski brought on himself the displeasure of the crowd when he danced about inside his area, apparently seeking a colleague to whom to kick.  “Get it kicked” roared the crowd and sensing rather than understanding what was being said, Pazinski sent the ball hurtling 60 or 70 yards with a prodigious punt.  Whether it was the Continental 4-2-4 formation that was worrying Everton I do not know, but it is true that for all their football flashes, it took them an uncommonly long time to settle to their normal game, and indeed they seldom combined with the precision we have come to expect of them.  Still, the second half showed them in a better light, and Gabriel tried very hard with two headers in rapid succession to put the game out of Kiev’s reach, and then forced Pazinski to make one of the saves of the match as he fisted the ball over the bar.  It was hard to understand why the Everton players showed such faith in Jimmy Fell, for until the last eleven minutes this certainly was not his game, and yet so much of Everton’s efforts appeared to be concentrated down the left.  The match was drawing to its close and a spirit of desperation had entered into Dynamo’s play when Fell took the ball right up to Suchkov, whose domination over him had been complete, produced a body swerve first one way and then the order, without touching the ball and sent the Ukranian the wrong way, leaving a completely exposed route to goal. 
TRANSFORMATION GOAL
Fell took it and on the run unleashed a remarkably fine shot which streaked past Pazinski for a goal which turned a night or near failure into one of triumph for this winger.  From then on he could do no wrong.  He was a man inspired and he might easily have been the means of enabling first Bingham and then Wignall to head the ball into goal.  Just as a time when a little testiness was making itself evident, there came the touch of humour to restore calm,  with only seven minutes left for play everybody rubbed their eyes in surprise as a substitute ran on the field, and eventually Schegoljkhov (No.3) ran off.  It was then that last year’s Cup Final referee, Mr. Jack Kelly, caught up with events.  He could be seen ordering the No 12 off the field and because of the language difficulty, he walked over to the trainer’s box and produced No. 3, the man who had originally retired, and ordered him back into play again.  Kiev complete their programme next week with a third game against Arsenal having previously been beaten by Aston Villa and no matter how that game goes they can return home knowing that there will be a healthy respect in England for Ukranian football as a result of their showing.  Nether Vernon nor Young were allowed to dominate the match, although their ability was evident almost every time they touched the ball and it seemed that Everton relied to a great extent on the incisive play of Vernon, who was captain in the absence of Collins and Parker. 
GREEN’S ADVANCE
Kiev might have fared better had they been opposed by a less efficient half back line than Gabriel, Labone and Harris and one of the most satisfactory features I should think, was the proof given by Colin Green that his advance toward maturity is coming along by leaps and bounds.  A lad who can be relied on in emergency for either right or left back position is obviously of great service to his club and Green is now very close to that stage. Everton; Dunlop; Green, Thomson; Gabriel, Labone, Harris; Bingham, Young, Wignall, Vernon (captain), Fell. Kiev Dynamo; Pazinski; Sheybakov, Schegolkov; Suchkov, Turianchik, Volnov, Baslierich, Serebrjanikov, Kanevski, Bilon, Lobaborsky.  Referee Mr. J. Kelly (Eccleston), Attendance 26,507

EVERTON’S FAMOUS CREST CONTAINS A ‘COOLER’
Liverpool Echo and Evening Express, Thursday, November 16 1961 Echo
By Leslie Edwards
The crest on the badge of Everton footballers (which give below) has caused Mr. E. J. Scholefield of Chester to inquire: "Does the small building in the centre represent the old Everton lock-up in the gardens of Browside, Everton? If so, why was an old gaol chosen to represent Everton? Or did the club always suffer from troublesome train-wreckers?  I apologize for writing at length, but at least I may have provided you with material which I do not recall being discussed in your column and which may be of enteral interest. In conclusion may I say that I have thing but praise for the quality and fairness of your porting. I agree whole-heartedly with what you have written regarding some of the recent examples of foul play -as distinct from robust recovering—following a player being dispossessed. Carry on with the good work.  Passing the peculiar-looking little round house (which must have been close to Everton's old St. Domingo ground and which certainly was opposite Old Mother Noblett’s toffee shop) quite frequently I always had the impression that it was a kiln used in the manufacture of toffee! I have heard that the place was a guard-house used by sentries dating from the time of Prince Rupert's siege of the city, but this is not so.  The truth, as I discovered  through the kind help of  the Liverpool Record Office,  is that the round house was  indeed a lock-up, a cooler, a  bridewell, where wrong-doers  could be incarcerated until such time as they were taken  to court. Some phrases in Mr. Robert Sayers' History of Everton, written about 1830, sound all too topical when related to events of 1961. He said of the tower, built in  1787:  " A diminutive building, and, as regards its interior,  a dark, damp stronghold for the temporary reception and  incarceration of the unruly, the vicious, the criminal  . . .  that is until a magistrate's order consigned such unfortunate  human beings to a more fitting and congenial place of confinement.  This apology for a bridewell ought to be taken down—it is a disgrace to the community. ‘I wonder what the same gentleman would say if it were possible to let him know that the tower not only stands to this day, but has been incorporated in the badge of the oldest Football league club in this city.  Apparently there is another similar tower near Wavertree Clock Tower.  A High Constable of the Hundred of West Derby (as distinct from a Petty Constable of a township, who might be unpaid) was the man with authority to confine anyone to lock-up. 

RUSSIAN TEAM LEAVES EARLY
Liverpool Echo - Thursday 16 November 1961
VISIT TO TOWN HALL CANCELLED
By Leslie Edwards
The Russian footballers of Kiev Dynamo who played against Everton at Goodison Park last night missed their appointment this morning with the Lord Mayor (Alderman Peter McKernan) in his Town Hall parlour.  They were to have been  received, along with Liverpool  schoolboy students, who  are learning Russian, at 11  a.m., but at the last minute  their travelling arrangements  were altered and they left  Lime Street for London  (where they complete their  tour with a match against  Arsenal) 24 hours in advance.  News of their inability to visit the Town Hall was received there soon after nine o'clock this morning.  Bobby Collins is unlikely to play against Blackburn Rovers at Goodison Park on Saturday.  He has had a set-back in training after expecting to be sit.  Blackburn are unchanged.  Blackburn; Else; Taylor, Newton; Clayton, Woods, McGrath; Douglas, Lawther, Pickering, Byrom, Ratcliffe. 

ROY VERNON SAYS
Friday, November 17, 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
SUPER LEAGUE MIGHT KILL OFF SMALLER CLUBS
Oh! To be at Goodison Park, now that winter’s here! It is a great source of comfort to players to belong to a club which can almost guarantee crowds so long as the football is good.  I should think the most worrying feature of present day soccer is the disappearance of the crowds from the terraces.  The big question is-do they ever come back?  Of course they will come back, if their clubs can hit peak form or have the luck to have a good run in the Cup.  The snag is that while the Cup raises hopes for some, it crashes others to the ground.  One team’s triumph is another club’s despair.  It is already evident that some of the most famous football names in the land will show a depressing balance sheet at the season’s end unless something exceptional happens shortly.  The club cry is that the young footballers of quality are not there to be had.  No longer is it possible to go out into the junior fields and pick up tomorrow’s stars.  We hear of managers like Mr. Joe Mercer of Aston Villa, with an Italian cheque for Hitchens burning a hole in his pocket, sighting that he would be only too willing to spend it if he could find somebody to spend it on. 
PASSINBG PHASE?
This is an example, not an exception and no one can deny that while it may be a good thing from the point of view of the little knot of footballers sitting at or near the top of the tree, it is a dreadful thought for the future of English football.  Is this a passing phase, or will the creeping paralysis keeps on creeping?  We can only hope that just as every cloud is said to have a silver lining this black patch will similarly pass.  Sometimes I wonder if there is not too much emphasis being placed on this decline of standards.  We find many people willing to sigh for the good old days, but were they really so good?  Is it not a case of memory playing tricks and providing the halo?  I guarantee that in twenty years from now you will hear soccer supporters linking present-day names with old heroes and claiming that there is no one to touch them.  I know my career has not stretched over many years but in my opinion the standard of football has not fallen.  I cannot remember teams capable of playing better or cleverer football than are Everton, Tottenham and Burnley today.  You may say that there were more of them capable of hitting such standards years ago, while now there is just a handful.  Again I don’t agree I believe there is stiffening up in the fight-back, that clubs are improving and very shortly it will be terribly difficult to be sure of collecting points.  No I think the truth is that in these days it is so easy to find something else to do instead of watching soccer. 
MORE GOLFERS
Try and gain membership of a golf club for miles around Merseyside and see what your fate will be.  Once upon time golf was a rich man’s game, but now more are finding it possible to take it up.  Saturday afternoon provides them with the ideal opportunity of getting in a game.  More people have cars than ever before and while a lot use them to go to football, unfortunately quite a few more use them to get away from it.  People are not so easily pleased now that there are more attractions to bid for their favour and because we cannot have F.A Cup competitions running all the time, some other novelty will probably have to be found to appeal to the masses.  Does the solution lie in the formation of a Super League?  We have heard talk of this for quite a time now.  Now it is becoming a must in some people’s minds.  What is meant by a Super League?  There are any number of ways in which it might develop.  Can we form a Super League within our own country? If we can, how big will it be and which teams will it embrace?  There are no easy answers.  If we are to go outside our own country and take in the top European clubs and lump them together in one competition look at the difficulties involved.  Obviously, only one or two clubs from each country might be called on.  What or the rest?  Are they to muddle on in just another League, with the cream taken away? 
AN INDUSTRY
Football is an industry.  Not only does it employ a good many skilled craftsmen, but it is the safely value for a nation’s sporting emotions. Many there are who may not be using it just now, but those who are not always present on the terraces or in the stands nowadays would be among the first to protest if suddenly the opportunity to see football were to be taken away from them.  Any scheme of revision which eventually takes place must have the welfare of the majority of the clubs in view.  Whether there are too many clubs in this country and whether it might not be better if there were to be a weeding out is a view expounded in some quarters.  I confess I never like to hear of a club putting up the shutters.  Sooner or later there is always the danger that the malady gets out of control.  Let’s be cheerful.  We may already have reached or passed the worst, and that from now on there may only be improvement, especially if we all put in that little bit extra to bring that about. 

FELL NOW DOUBTFUL
Friday, November 17, 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
Wednesday night’s friendly game with Kiev Dynamo may cause another Everton team change to be made for tomorrow’s match with Blackburn Rovers at Goodison Park, for Jimmy Fell received an ankle injury and yesterday I was told.  He must be considered doubtful.” If Fell cannot play, who will the deputy be? The obvious answer is Mickey Lill but then the obvious answer is not always necessarily the correct one.  In September it will be recalled manager Harry Catterick went up to Doncaster and paid £10,000 for the transfer of outside left Ray Veall.  Veall has spent the time since then getting acquainted with the Everton scheme of things (and recovering from a pulled muscle), but on Saturday he travelled to Blackpool with the seniors as twelfth man and it could be that he will be considered very seriously if Fell has to drop out.  It would be an ideal opportunity to introduce the newcomer, for it is a home game and Blackburn are hardly the force they used to be.  I was told that Everton still have nine full time professionals’ players receiving treatment for injuries and that it can be assumed beyond doubt that neither Collins nor Parker will be ready for tomorrow.  In that event it is most probable that Roy Vernon will have the satisfaction of leading his present club against his old team mates. 

SELECTORS KEEP BRIAN LAABONE WAITING FOR ENGLAND CAP
Friday, November 17, 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
Have England a better centre half available than Everton’s Brian Labone?  The selectors answer Yes, by renewing their confidence in Sheffield Wednesday’s Swan, for the match against Ireland at Wembley, but possibly because Merseysiders have had more opportunity of rejoicing at the consistency and constructive ability of the Everton player.  I think there will be wholesale disappointment that the door has remained barred in Labone’s face.  That he will force it open, I am confident but for him to be able to put a tick against his name for the World Cup games in Chile, it would have been desirable for him to have received his international baptism next week. In my view Labone has rocketed into the top class this season, for he has suddenly found that extra defensive bite that was not always in evidence in his play.  Constructively he is without peer among centre halves. 

AGAIN NO COLLINS
Liverpool Echo - Friday 17 November 1961
By Leslie Edwards
Bobby Collins of Everton had hoped to make his return in the match to-morrow against Blackburn Rovers, at Goodison Park, but unfortunately he has had a set-back to complete recovery. Thus Everton remain as they were “up front," with Wignall leading the line.  Blackburn, who are the first team to have won at Nottingham Forest this season (they confirmed their League superiority there with another win in the League Cup during the week) bring with them such stars as Ronnie Clayton, still an England-class half-back, Matt Woods, once himself an Everton pivot, and that busy little man, winger Douglas, capable of going far, off his own bat, to win any match.  Everton have gone so long without defeat in the League the prospect of them slipping against Blackburn is fairly remote. But this is something of a “Derby “match and any game which comes remotely in that category is inevitably a tricky one.  Blackburn.—EIse; Taylor, Newton; Clayton, Woods, McGrath; Douglas, Lawther, Pickering, Byrom, Ratcliffe.

FELL FIT FOR EVERTON V. BLACKBURN
Liverpool Echo - Friday 17 November 1961
TEAM IS UNCHAGED
By Leslie Edwards
Jimmy Fell Everton’s left winger who suffered a slight knock against Kiev Dynamo on Wednesday and who had been rated as doubtful against Blackburn Rovers tomorrow will play afterall.  The Everton team remains unchanged and there is no need for the introduction to Fell’s place of young Veall, Harry Catterick’s signing from Doncaster.  Everton; Dunlop; Green, Thomson; Gabriel, Labone, Harris; Bingham, Young, Wignall, Vernon, Fell. 

EVERTON AND SPURS GATE FIGURES GIVE CLUE TO FALLING CROWDS
Saturday, November 18, 1961. The Liverpool Echo and Evening Express
By Horace Yates
When the Football League begin gathering their data on the disappearance from English football grounds of the “missing millions,” I wonder if anybody will look back to last Wednesday evening in search of a clue.  You will remember that on that night Everton and Tottenham Hotspur, two of the best supported clubs in the country, were playing at home.  At White Hart Lane the crowd numbered 61,957 while at Goodison there were 26,507.  Spurs were opposed by Feynoored (Rotherham) and Everton by Kiev Dynamo.  Was the difference in gate figures accounted for by the fact that the Dutch team have such a superior reputation to that of the Russians? Not at all, Kiev were a most attractive side.  The vital difference of course, lay in the fact that Tottenham were able to label their match-European Cup, first round, second leg, Everton could term theirs-a friendly.  Obviously them, it is the competitive spice that attracts the public.  Without competition almost any game fails flat.  Have we not seen the competitive element vindicated over and over again in the F.A Cup competition.  The task then, is to devise some means where competition can be maintained at peak interest.  Whether that will call for reduced numbers in the Leagues, with vacant dates filled in with de luze European Leaguers, is something to be considered, but exhibition matches are not the answer.  They are even less magnetic in their appeal than some of the bread and butter League games, unless the name of the opponents happen to be Real Madrid, Barcelona, Benfica or something of that sort, teams whose reputation are sufficient guarantee of competitive spice with or without a Cup label. 
POINTS AT STAKE
Just imagine for a moment that Everton could have announced their Kiev game as a Cup battle of one sort or another.  Instead of being unable to sell tickets, as they were, they could probably have made it an all-ticket match and sold out.  The sporting public these days know what they want and unless they get it they will turn elsewhere for their entertainment.  It is as simple as that.  With Blackburn Rovers at Goodison Park, no one can dub this one of the top attractions of the day, despite any element of “derby” atmosphere that may be produced but it is a League match, with two points at stake, points which will help Everton to keep breathing down the necks of Burnley and that being so it seems a fairly safe assumption that Wednesday’s gate will be easily exceeded.  Jimmy Fell despite earlier fitness doubts is able to play, and the team is unchanged.  This means that Colin Green is again at right back and I see no reason why this should be the match to mar his record of never having been on a losing side in a League fixture.  Last season was Everton’s best against Blackburn since the Rovers regained First Division status, for they took three points winning at Blackburn.  They are building up an imposing immunity from defeat.  The total is now seven games since they went down to Burnley and in this period no opponents have scored more than a single goal.  Blackburn are so close to real trouble near the foot of the table that they must battle desperately for any point they can grab, but point hunting at Goodison these days is hardly anybody’s idea of an afternoon outing.  The Rovers have not prevailed away from home since September 9-at Nottingham –and this, incidentally, is their only League victory before opposing supporters.  Even without Collins, I expect Everton’s football craft, and finish to add a further touch of gravity to Blackburn’s position, and a player as likely as any to cause them concern is the man they sold to Everton-Roy Vernon, the acting skipper of the side.  Everton; Dunlop; Green, Thomson; Gabriel, Labone, Harris; Bingham, Young, Wignall, Vernon, Fell.  Blackburn Rovers; Else; Taylor, Newton; Clayton, Woods, McGrath; Douglas, Lawther, Pickering, Byrom, Ratcliffe. 

YOUNG’S ARTISTRY WAS HIGHLIGHT AT GOODISON
Liverpool Echo and Evening Express, November 18, 1961
GOAL CHANCES GALORE BUT FEW TAKERS
EVERTON 1, BLACKBURN R 0
By Michael Charters
Everton; Dunlop; Green, Thomson; Gabriel, Labone, Harris; Bingham, Young, Wignall, Vernon (captain), Fell.  Blackburn Rovers; Else; Taylor, Newton; Clayton, Woods (captain), McGrath; Douglas, Lawther, Pickering, Byrom, Ratcliffe.  Referee Mr. A.W Luty (Leeds). 
Roy Vernon captained Everton against his old side today, before a crowd of little more than 25,000 and Blackburn were led by former Evertonian Matt Woods.  Young was the first to make headway for Everton but his right wing centre was headed away by Woods which set up a Blackburn attack with Lawther firing wide of the far post.
CLOSE MARKING
There was too much close marking and spoiling by both sides for there to be any continuity of movement.  The game so far had not either warned up the chilled spectators.  A flash of brilliance by Douglas in slipping neatly between Harris and Vernon enlivened the scene as did equally clever work by Thomson a moment later in working the ball out of danger for Everton.  Everton were not playing well and with more than 20 minutes gone Else had no trouble at all in the Blackburn goal.  Douglas was always a danger and he came inside to swerve his way through a packed Everton defence before slipping the ball through to Byrom who could only shoot straight at Dunlop.  Nearest Everton came to scoring following a centre by Fell but Young and Vernon seemed to impede each other after Bingham shot had been blocked by Newton.  Finally the ball bounced out to Wignall, whose angled shot went wide.  There were only occasional flashes of excitement to liven up the crowd, and one of them was a fine 30-yard run by Gabriel from his own half of the field which ended with him shooting straight at the goalkeeper.  Gabriel in the next minute was concerned in an incident with Lawther in the Everton penalty area, and Labone was very quick to step in between them before the referee stopped play and had a word withboth players.  Thomson, whom I made Everton’s best player, came through with great interception afterBlackburn looked as though they had opened the way for an easy chance by Lawther. 
SAVE AND A GOAL 
Dunlop produced another brilliant save when Clayton shot through a crowd of players.  Young, who was behind most Everton attacks, almost got Bingham away with a perfect ball down the centre, but the winger was crowded out and then—after 39 minutes Young did at last get one to work, and Vernon scored from it.  Young's long floating pass  down the centre, went over the  heads of the Blackburn  defenders and Vernon collected  it very well to step past  the out coming Else and side-footed  the ball into the empty  net to evade the late challenge  of Clayton.  Half - time.—Everton 1,  Blackburn Rovers nil.  The crowd applauded Young as he left the pitch at half-time, for his brilliance had made Everton really click in the last 10 minutes,where they had been struggling before.  Thomson deserved the  applause he received for  another neat piece of defensive work early in the second half, but Blackburn had restarted with a good deal of vigour and drive and kept  Everton on defence. 
DELIGHTFUL MOVE 
Everton's wingers were not having a good day, and with Wignall well held by Woods, the major threat came from Vernon and Young. Vernon was covering a tremendous amount of ground and doing exceptionally well.  The crowd shouted in anticipation every time Young got the ball and he rarely failed them with some magnificent passing and clever ball work of every description.  He intercepted a pass  aimed for Clayton, and went through before passing out to  Bingham and then back heeled the return pass towards  Vernon only for Newton to put his foot out and deflect the ball away—a  delightful move which failed  only by inches.  From a right wing corner Young put the ball on a plate for young Green to try a shot at goal, the ball skidding across the goalmouth and missing everyone before going out beyond the far post. 
GREAT CHANCE MISSED 
The first mistake Harris  had made gave Lawther a  wonderful shooting chance,  but he cracked the ball  straight at Dunlop when an  equaliser looked " on"  Douglas was still pegging away for Blackburn, trying  to spur them on to an  equalizer and he made one  which only earned his side a  corner.
BINGHAM'S MISS 
Whenthe kick was cleared by Gabriel, Fell pushed the ball up the middle where Taylor fell in trying to collect it and gave Bingham a clear run to goal.  The winger took it straight up to Else, but in flicking it past the goalkeeper, sent it just wide so that it struck the outside of the, upright and out it went for a goal kick.  Blackburn were making a few openings, mainly due to Douglas’s work, but their finishing was poor, otherwise Everton would not still have been holding their slender lead.  Thomson and Vernon both went close with great shots, but Blackburn continued to fight hard and the game was not Everton's yet.  Final; Everton 1, Blackburn Rovers nil. 

THE DAY GILLICK COUNTED 12 RUSSIANS
Liverpool Echo and Evening Express, November 18 1961
By Alex Parker
It never ceases to baffle me why teams try to work the substitute switch after the stipulated time for doing so. It happened in our match against Kiev on Wednesday and was even more mystifying in view of the fact that there were less than ten minutes left to play.  The Continentals and I include the Russians and British teams often have differences of opinion over the rules. This is understandable and is just a matter of interpreting them differently, but unless it is otherwise agreed the substitute rule is quite clear. A goalkeeper can be changed at any time and any other player up to the 44th minute.  Foreign languages are not my strong point but I cannot understand how anybody could possibly confuse that issue.  Apparently this is not peculiar to Kiev Dynamo.  Some of you may remember that in 1946 the more famous Moscow Dynamo toured Britain and drew 2-2 with Rangers at Ibrox.  I was only a schoolboy but remember a story about Tory Gillick, the old Everton winger who was playing for Rangers.  During the match, Torry imagined that he was playing against 12 men. I know how he feels, for I have often felt like that myself.  But it was different this time and he decided to do an on-the-spot check. So he counted them and sure enough, there WERE 12 Russians on the pitch.  Torry told the referee who promptly told the extra man to leave.  We first met Kiev for lunch at the Adelphi Hotel. 
AT THE MEAL 
The Everton party consisted of directors, manager, and the team that played in the match and Mickey Lill, Mick Meagan, Andy Rankin, Bobby Collins and myself.  We sat down with the Russians for the meal and they provided an interpreter. One of the things that struck me was how young they were.  None of them looked over 24.  Incidentally, Joe Mercer was with them. Kiev played Villa last Monday and the Midlands club manager is acting as guide for their tour.  We were told Kiev were a good side and they certainly played some good football. Bobby Collins and I sat together in the stand with some of the Liverpool players and you can certainly see the moves better.  For instance, we had a wonderful view of the pass Brian Harris put through for Roy Vernon to score the first goal.  Although Jimmy Fell’s goal-in-a-thousand made it 2-0 for us things might have been so different.  George Thomson cleared from in front of goal three times when it seemed certain Kiev would score, and Jimmy Gabriel saved us with a header.  However, I think that by trying to play too much football, the Russians fell down on their marking of Everton’s forwards, which was not at tight as we expected.
THAT PUNCHING 
However, the thing that impressed me most was "the terrific punching of their goalkeeper He seemed to find no difficulty in thumping the ball to thehalf-way line with one fist.  It is obvious that this  must be a very useful asset  as it turns a dangerous  move from in front of your  own goalmouth into an  attack by your own forwards  in, literally, the  shake of a fist.  The 'keeper was no slouch when it came to kicking either and could punt the ball further than most.  Our trainer, Gordon Watson, was talking to Albert Dunlop about this long punching but, as I pointed out, the Russian goalkeeper let two goals in, Albert didn't.  All the players gathered together in the board room afterwards to round off what was quite an interesting day.  Since I came home from Cyprus three years ago, we have played Blackpool at Bloomfield Road four times in League matches and once in the Lancashire Cup—and have not lost any. Last week's draw was a fair result because although Everton were on top in the last half hour, they made a slow start.  After the game a chap came up to me and said:  "Do you remember me?"  I could hardly be expected to forget him really.  He is a cook in the Empress of Britain on which we had such a wonderful time in Montreal. It was good to see him again and revived some happy memories.  For to-day's match against Blackburn, I had arranged to take my seat again with my stand companion, Bobby Collins.  We're getting quite regular fans these days. In addition to last Wednesday's match. We sat together at Blackpool last week.  Still, I'll certainly be fit for next Saturday's important match at West Ham and it looks very much as if Bobby will be fit by then too.

BARNSLEY RES V EVERTON RES
Liverpool Echo and Evening Express, November 18 1961
Barnsley Res; Ogley; Green, Lawton; Smith, Winstanley, Rose; Bailey, Kerr, Cartwright, Wood, Harvey.  Everton Res; Rankin; Parnell, Gannon; Sharples, Jones, Meagan; Lill, Morton, Webber, Temple, Veall.  Referee; Mr. J. Rouse (Leeds).  Everton’s early pressure led to Veall and Lill having shots scrambled off the line.  At the other end Cartwright threatened with a centre, but Meagan was on hand to clear.  Them Rankin was called upon to make three smart saves, two from Bailey and the other from Kerr, but he had no chance with Barnsley’s first goal, a header from Cartwright after 17 minutes.  Everton hit back and after 22 minutes scored through Webber who gave Ogley no chance.  After 30 minutes Jones was carried off the field on a stretcher with a left leg injury and taken to hospital.  He fell heavily after a collision with Cartwright.  Despite their handicap Everton were still lively, Temple made a good run through the Barnsley defence only to shoot straight at Ogley while Veall shot inches over the bar.  Half-time-Barnsley Res 1, Everton res 1.  Webber 75 minutes, for Everton Reserves. 

YOUNG, DOUGLAS SUPPLIED THE TRUE CLASS
Monday, November 20, 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
EVERTON 1, BLACKBURN ROVERS 0
By Jack Rowe
Everton, with the victory, narrowed the gap between themselves and Burnley at the top of the First Division, to a couple of points.  So champion hopes become more and more promising and even if this latest offering at Goodison Park was not one of particular brilliance it served to show that Everton are not going to be easily shaken off the run which has taken them eight League matches without defeat.  They were well worth the win, and the unfortunate thing is that the score does not indicate the proper difference between the sides.  It is hardly conceivable that Wignall and Bingham will miss such easy chances again, or that Young’s work will have such little reward.  Blackburn’s chief claim to recognition is that for just over half an hour they kept Everton from developing their full flow, and contrived shots from Clayton, Pickering and Lawther, which gave Dunlop the chance to proclaim that he is back among the top flight of goalkeepers.  Indeed, Blackburn had more of the play than Everton in this period.  Douglas with the ball, was always’s danger.  If Pickering and Lawther did not hit their shots accurately when Douglas laid on openings, they were never as clear as those carved out by the brilliant Young, and for me there seemed little prospect of Blackburn pulling back the goal scored by Vernon, in the thirty-eight minute.  If this game is remembered it will be because of its hardness of tackle, all of it usually fair, when one excepts the two occasions when Gabriel was over indulgent in the use of the elbow, and when Green found his inexperience causing him to pull his man down when he could not get the ball.  When Young and Douglas had the ball we had the real class, but the general picture was one of interesting patches and much endeavour without a genuine sparkle.  Everton won it the hard way, for their attack never really clicked, Wignall always keen in his challenge to Woods, and never once laying himself open to an accusation of not trying, had a day when most things went wrong.  Bingham also suffered in this respect and Fell did not rise to any notable occasion until the last half hour.  Therefore we are left with Young and Vernon, the two who maintained what one has come to regard as the Everton standard, Vernon was perhaps the more consistent with his grafting his goal and a second half drive which had it been six inches the other way must have scored.  Young, however, has that stamp of genius which makes it easy to overlook the spells when he is not in the game.  His pass to Wignall, which the centre forward drove at Else when wide open was a gem and so was his provision of an in front of goal ball which neither Fell nor Wignall could turn to account.  The Scot has that gift of balance and control which takes him past a man when it seems impossible and his body over ball posture makes him most difficult to dispossess.  It was certainly in character when he took over from Thomson and after moving forward, delivered a pass of pin-point accuracy over fully forty yards, which found Vernon in the clear and enabled the Welshman to withstand two challenges, dribble round Else, and slot the ball calmly into the net as Clayton tried to cut him off.  This should not have been the only goal, for Bingham could not score from eight yards, and there was another occasion when Green’s angled shot, again from Young’s pass, skidded through a crowded goalmouth and outside.  Whatever the forward failings, Everton defence was superb, Green cannot keep out a fit Parker, but he made his contribution while Thomson had a fine match.  So did Gabriel, Labone and Harris and it is half back strength which is going to count in Everton’s fortunes.  Gabriel (2), Harris, Thomson and Green hit more shots at goal than the forwards combined in the second half and that Blackburn did not score illustrates how well the rearguard played.  Blackburn had good service from Woods and Newton, Clayton has lost power and until the forwards can make better use of the Douglas service, they are going to struggle.  Everton; Dunlop; Green, Thomson; Gabriel, Labone, Harris; Bingham, Young, Wignall, Vernon (captain), Fell.  Blackburn Rovers; Else; Taylor, Newton; Clayton, Woods, McGrath; Douglas, Lawther, Pickering, Byrom, Ratcliffe.  Referee Mr. A.W Luty (Leeds).  Attendance 40,359. 

JONES HAS KNEECAP FRACTURE
Monday, November 20, 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
BARNSLEY RES 1, EVERTON RES 2
Despite having to play for all but half an hour without their skipper and centre half Tommy Jones, Everton fought all the way and thoroughly earned both points.  Barnsley were first to score through centre forward Cartwright but with Everton’s wing halves Sharples and Meagan taking full control.  Barnsley only held the lead for five minutes.  The equalizer came from centre forward Webber, whose brilliant long range shot found the corner of the net.  Webber scored the decider in the 75th minute after the Barnsley goal had experienced several near misses.  Jones was carried off the field after a collision with Cartwright and has a fractured left kneecap. 

HARD LUCK TOMMY!
Monday, November 20, 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
By Peter Price
I know I speak for all Merseyside sportsmen and probably for every soccer supporter who has ever seen Tommy Jones of Everton play, when I say “Get better quickly, Tommy.  The game at whatever level, is the poorer for your absence.  Jones suffered a fractured kneecap while playing for the reserves against Barnsley reserves on Saturday.  He underwent an operation over the week-end and among his first visitors was the Football League president, Mr. Joe Richards who took him a basket of fruit and wished him well.  This is typical of the sporting Joe Richards we know.  It is a long time since Jones first appeared on our senior soccer scene-September 6, 1950 at Highbury to be precise-so that he has enjoyed a long and honorable innings.  It is unlikely that he will play again this season, but here’s hoping.
FRACTURED FINGER
Everton’s Billy Bingham suffered a slight thigh injury against Blackburn Rovers, but it is nothing to worry over and for Billy it will be a case of business as usual as he takes his place in the Irish team against England on Wednesday.  Bingham is the man Ireland have never been able to drop.  Somewhat more serious is the injury which Willie Mailey, a reserve goalkeeper on the Goodison Park staff, suffered last week, for he has fractured a finger and the official estimate is that he will not play again for three weeks. 

TOM RING TRANSFERRED TO BARNSLEY
Monday, November 20, 1961 The Liverpool Evening Express
WISH TO STAY IN LEAGUE
Nominal Fee
By Leslie Edwards
Tom Ring Everton and former Scottish international outside left was transferred to Barnsley at a nominal fee.  Ring broke a leg playing for Everton at Stamford Bridge last season and has made no first team appearances this season.  His signing from Clyde two seasons ago of a fee of about £10,000 sparked Everton’s revival.  He was playing brilliantly when the match at Chelsea checked his first class career.  He was twelfth man for the Everton Central League side at Barnsley on Saturday, Everton were contacted on Saturday about the possibility of him joining the Third Division club.  Negotiations were completed late this afternoon.  Ring had visited Tom Jones in hospital at Barnsley following an operation on Jones’s fractured knee-cap after injury in the game on Saturday.  Ring is the first player transferred by Mr. Harry Catterick.  The player had been sharing the reserve outside left position with the Everton manager’s only major signing to date, Veall formerly of Doncaster.  Ring had wished to stay in league football and Everton were anxious that he should have a chance elsewhere. 

SAD IF TOM JONES ENDS AS HE STARTED
Liverpool Echo - Monday 20 November 1961
By Leslie Edwards
How sad for the club and for the player if Tom Jones's career ends, as it started, with a badly damaged knee. Everton captain for so long, Tom is one of the few players who have graced the game, on-field and off.I saw him make his debut at Highbury as a young man. He was playing magnificently when his infamous swivel knee-cap was so damaged he had to be carried off.  The crowd gave him an ovation.  Now, Barnsley on Saturday, coming back after absence due to a thigh injury, he damaged a knee so badly only operation at a Barnsley hospital could put the trouble right.  His career must thus be jeopardized in the same waythat of Tom Ring who broke a leg at Stamford Bridge last season and has not since figured in the senior side.  Jones, always a great club man and sportsman,would have been a useful chap to have around with the Cup-ties and Christmas holiday programme looming. Everton may seem to have a lengthy list of injured, but the same is true of many other clubs in an age when the tempo of the game has increased. Although some pessimism was manifest in official quarters about the calibre of the reserve side at the outset of the season, such players as the club have needed to introduce to the first team have done well: otherwise how could the team have risen (as it has) from fifth or sixth from the bottom of the League table to second place, just two points behind Burnley? And how could it have gone (as it has) 10 matches undefeated, in spite of being without such great players as Parker and Collins, but two who have been absent occasionally? The latest victory, by a goal over Blackburn Rovers, was not, perhaps, as convincing and satisfying as many of the others, but results are the things that matter and no Division I club has done better than Everton in the past two months. It cannot be long odds against them winning the championship.
Taken by surprise
I would be prepared to bet, too, that Blackburn will rise, as dramatically, once their forward line ceases to indulge itself in reverse passes when penetration is needed.  They were every bit as good a side as Everton on Saturday until they reached the stage where the crucial, effective through pass was required. They reversed the development of so many attacks that when, at last, someone shoved the ball through it took everyone else by surprise! Everton had faults-I never saw Wignall function so sluggishly or Fell contributes less at outside left-but they did know how to move forward. Vernon, with one truly astoundingly well-taken chance and one or two other near misses, demonstrated that, and so did Gabriel, whose shooting I prefer to his all-too-frequent propensity for giving away free-kicks.  Blackburn looked a much better side than their record indicated; their defence, at least, compared favourably with Everton’s.  Their attack, as a line moved better than Everton's up to a certain point. Then they showed they were almost completely lacking tactically. Even the extra- ordinarily clever Douglas, who moves past defenders as though they don't exist, failed to appreciate that you can't beat eleven men on your own. By that time Blackburn must have sensed that they had little chance of breaking down an Everton defence in which Labone, quietly, unobtrusively, was literally and figuratively the tower of strength. He had splendid help from Dunlop, who is at the peak of his game, and from Thompson, who is best when going on the offensive and slipping the ball to the wing with the expertise of a Mannion.
Two cylinders missing
The Everton line was sparking on only three cylinders, despite the wonderful service of the ball from both Gabriel and Harris. Even bouncing Billy Bingham did not hit his true game, but Vernon, all through, and Young, in spells, had the crowd enthralled. It was Young, with two sixpenny-piece dribbles (and greater strength on the ball than he has evershownbefore)whohad the crowd half crazed with two goal-line runs, either of which could have produced a goal. He weaved himself into such a position in the first he couldn't have known just where the target layand his shot struck the side net. In the other instance it was not his fault two beautifully-contrived chances were not taken. Vernon'sgoalbroughtdownYoung, with a gloriouspass flicked overhead as he turned, opened the way.  But there was to be done scorer. He beat Clayton: he went on and rounded that excellent goalkeeper, Else, and then, with Clayton almost on the line, he beat the half back again-this time with the scoring shot. Vernon could give lessons to Blackburn on decisive He all but got a second close on the finish. Matt Woods and company, who played gallantly and expertly, hardly deserved to be on the losing side, but with forwards who used the ball so badly as the business-end of attacks how could it be otherwise?   It was a hard game, well refereed by Mr. Luty, and one in which the defences nearly always came out on top.  Fell will do better when he varies his methods. His slavish holding of the ball on every occasion gives a back a ready- made advantage. Blackburn's Taylor was not slow to profit by it. 

EVERTON DIRECTOR RESIGNS
Liverpool Echo and Evening Express, November 21, 1961
MR. ARTHUR JOYNSON
By Leslie Edwards
Mr. Arthur Joynson a director of Everton Football Club for the past three and a half years has resigned from the board.  He wrote to the club last week advising them that he wished to do this because of business commitments made it difficult for him to undertake certain of his responsivities as the director of the club.  The Board considered the letter at their meeting last night and today issued the following statement; - “It is announced by the Everton board that Mr. Arthur Joynson has resigned his directorship.  Mr. Joynson feels that the demands on his time involved by his position on the Everton board are such that his business commitments will not permit of his continuing as a director.  “In the circumstances the Everton board has felt bound to respect Mr. Joynson’s wishes and have accepted his resignation.” 
NO DISAGREEMENT
Mr.Joynson told me today “I have taken this decision absolutely off my own bat.  There has been no disagreement –on the contrary I have felt the struggle to keep pace with my football commitment for some time.” The last Everton resignation was made by the late Mr. Harold Williams some eight years ago, but in his case all decision was arrived at because he disagreed with club policy.  Mr. Joynson was a founder of the South Liverpool club in 1935.  He hopes to be able to continue to see Everton play and thinks the team has a great future.  He is well known in insurances circles in the city. 

FROM THE MANAGERIAL CHAIR
Wednesday, November 22, 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
CROWD-PULLING PERSONALITIES ARE SCARE
By Harry Catterick
So soccer is to join the business houses and political parties by using the modern nation-wide poll to discover why it is losing appeal with the general public.  I feel the League are being sensible in co-opting the services of these modern pollsters and analyzing their replies before taking any definite steps towards reorganization.  The League, of course, already have their own ideas as to the cause and correction of thee trend which has been away from football in recent years.  Certainly these public opinion polls have been remarkably successful in forecasting the trends in General Elections.  There is no doubt that the system has reached the acme of perfection and I for one, will be interested to see what they uncover in their inquiries. I have no doubt either that they will not overlook the example at Stoke.  In the Potteries the return of Stanley Matthews meant a gate of over 30,000.  This contrasted greatly with the meager 8,000 spectators who went to the Victoria Ground before he returned. 
ADVANCE BOOKINGS
The second home gate showed a drop of only six thousand from that figure and I understand advance bookings suggest that the Potteries club can anticipate nothing less than 20,000 from here on.  It is a truly remarkable transformation even more, so by virtue of the fact it has been achieved by one man, now forty-six years of age.  It is, at the same time, a tribute to his remarkable fitness and quite obviously the strict discipline which he has imposed upon himself.  His great following resolves itself around the power-pulling magnet of personality I feel, that it is to a great extent the absence of real personalities in the game that has had some effect on attendances.  Maybe we are just in an era when the type of crowd-pulling personalities are not abounding, but whatever the cause, the fact that it is with us it a matter of some concern.  When one observes the crowd reaction to the dynamic shooting of Bobby Charlton for instance this fact is brought home quite forcibly.  For no matter if Bobby’s shot goes nearer the corner flag than the goal the Manchester United crowd howl with glee.  Simply that the crowd see him as a personality.  We are all aware that there are some players who can do no wrong in the spectators’ eyes.  Others have only to make one bad pass to get the fans moaning.  Nobody can effectively explain it.  It is just one of those things. 
HAS QUALITIES
This afternoon at Wembley the England team will present two newcomers to international football, one of whom I feel has the qualities to become a personality player.  He is Johnny Bryne, the first Third Division player to be capped since Reg Matthews kept goal for England when his club was Coventry City Byrne, in fact, almost made history last season.  It must have been a near thing for him getting his cap last season.  Byrne was then playing in the Fourth Division.  A pity he was not capped at that time.  For I feel, he would have been the only Fourth Division player ever to be capped.  It is unlikely that a player of his caliber would be found in the Fourth again.  There must have been many attempts by clubs to buy him.  But Crystal Palace is one of the best clubs in the country and one that has ambitions far beyond its present station.  Make no mistake Bryne is an exceptionally-gifted young footballer and I wish him well on his international debut.  I am sure a whole stack of caps await this talented youngster.  Similarly do I wish England’s new leader Ray Crawford well.  He has been prominent in his club’s success this season and he has an opportunity to put pen into his country’s attack and, at the same time, mark himself “Present” for Chile next summer. 

CHAMPIONSHIP TEST CAN COME IN NEXT FOUR GAMES
Liverpool Echo - Wednesday 22 November 1961
Says Everton’s Alex Young
Although I was naturally pleased to see the gap between Burnley and ourselves at the top of the First Division table narrowest to two points, I feel that the next four Saturday’s could prove very important ones in our championship bid. 
Three of our next four matches are away from home, and as Burnley play two games at home and two away, we will need to pick up at least six points to maintain our challenging position.  Our fixtures are West Ham (away), Manchester United (home), Cardiff (away) and Aston Villa (away) Burnley have home games against Sheffield United and Arsenal and away matches with Manchester United and Chelsea.  I am told Everton have not done well on visits to London in recent seasons, so we will go to West Ham on Saturday with a double mission-to bring back two points, and also try and score sufficient goals to bury that London “bogey” well and truly.  But, bogey or no bogey, I 'm  looking forward to our  Upton Park visit and a chat with two old pals of mine,  goalkeeper Lawrie Leslie and  right winger Ian Crawford. 
SPECTACULAR 'KEEPER 
Lawrie and I played together for about 12 months in Scottish junior football and I consider him one of the most spectacular goalkeepers in the game today.  Young Ian, whom I played alongside in the Hearts attack, is a winger with a great shot in either foot or a danger to any defence.  We are lucky, however, that the man marking him is George Thomson, who saw enough of Ian’s methods while at Hearts to know just how to stop him.  Incidentally, it will be exactly 12 months tomorrow since George and I signed for Everton.  Time flies, doesn’t it?  Our West Ham visit is a tough assignment, but I am optimistic about the result.  Every game seems like a Cup-tie just now though and last Saturday’s match against Blackburn was one of our hardest this season.  The latest victory seems to have looked a little easier to the spectators than it actually was, for believe me;the Blackburn boys never stopped fighting for the ball during the whole 90 minutes.
JONES'S INJURY 
I am sure all Merseyside fans, whether they support Everton, Liverpool or Tranmere, will join with me in wishing Tommy Jones a speedy recovery from his injury.  When I came, to Everton it did not take me long to realise that Tommy, who unfortunately fractured a knee cap during the Central League side's game at Barnsley on Saturday, occupied a special place in theaffections of local supporters.  A gentleman on and off the field, he sets an example which young players would do well to follow.  Incidentally I am told that Barnsley’s goalkeeper in this match was 15-years-old Barry Ogley, whom many will remember for the brilliant game he played for Barnsley Schoolboys against Liverpool Boys in the English Trophy final earlier this year.  It goes without saying that I was delighted to see my name amongst the Scottish party for the World Cup off against Czechovakia in Brussels next Wednesday. I don't expect  the final Scottish side will  show any change from the  one which beat Wales so well  recently, but if I am lucky  enough to be included I’ll do  in my power to see that  Scotland join England in the  finals in Chile next year.  While on the subject of internationals, may I offer congratulations to Ian St.  John, who is also in the Scottish party, and Billy Bingham, who was playing for Northern Ireland against England at Wembley this afternoon. 
FIVE OUT OF SIX 
After playing six games in the first 18 days of this month, a whole week between matches must be a luxury for our centre half, Brian Labone. Those six matches two representative games, a friendly and three League matches—resulted in five wins and a draw for the teams Brian represented. A fine record,-by any standards.  The, draw, of course, was  when Everton played at  Blackpool, but there Brian  helped to make headlines by  playing Jimmy Armfield,  tried at centre forward as an  experiment, right out of the  game. By the way, congratulations to Brian, also, on his selection again for the England under 23 team.  Brian has not been too busy, however, to answer a query for me from A. F.  Murphy, of Westvale, Kirkby.  Mr. Murphy asks: “Could you enlighten me on the subject of centre half play. I have difficulty in inventing new dribbles and keeping my position. I would be grateful also, for hints on heading the ball."  Don't dribble that is Brian’s sound advice. Always keep on the goal-side of the opposing centre forward and stay in the middle. If you are forced to leave the centre of the field, then make' sure there is someone in a position to cover you. 
EYE ON THE BALL 
On the subject of heading, Brian says: Keep your - eye on the ball all the time, and try to make contact with the ball when you are at the highest point of your jump.  There you are Mr. Murphy, straight from one of the best centre halves playing to-day.  You can't do better than that, canyou?  Fourteen-years-old Graham, Smith, of Rainhill, near Liverpool, has written asking for a few tips on improving his goalkeeping. “Couldyou tell me how to train, acquire safe handling and a good positionalsense?” he asks.  Graham adds: “I hope this is within your limits."  Not quite up my street, Graham, but there is very little Albert Dunlop doesn’t know about goalkeeping, so I asked him to help out.  A goalkeeper's training should be concentrated on exercises for mobility, agility, and quick reaction, says Albert. Leg and wrist exercises will help improve your handling, while squat jumping will strengthen the legs.  Medicine and rubber ball exercises will help to strengthen your arms and wrists thereby improving your handling. 
INSTRUCTOR MAY HELP
Your P.T (sorry I think they call it Physical Education) instructor at school will no doubt draw up a set of suitable exercise for you, Graham if you ask him nicely.  Albert’s advice on positioning is; Stand at the far post for crosses from alternate wings.  Don’t stick to the goalline all the time, move about to narrow the angle.  I see you keep goal and captain your school under 14 team, Graham so you must know quite a lot about positional play and handling already.  Keep at it and perhaps one day your wish to become a professional footballer will be realized.  If you have a query on tactics kit, &c., then write to me. 

 

EVERTON STILL WAIT FOR PARKER AND COLLINS
Thursday, November 23, 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
By Horace Yates
In the three seasons following his debut for Everton in September, 1958 Bobby Collins missed a total of four games.  This season he has already been marked absent eleven times, but manager Harry Catterick is hopeful that when he names the team to travel to West Ham, he will be able to include the name of Collins once again.  Both Collins and Alex Parker have stepped up their training this week, without ably ill effect, but Parker has not yet been allowed to take part in fast sprinting, which is one of the surest ways of discovering whether or not a torn muscle has healed.  Unfortunately a trial just a shade too soon might easily undo all the good work produced by a respite from the game, and it is not surprising that Everton want to play safe with Parker.  The position yesterday was not crystal clear regarding either player, but it would appear that if it could be said of either that he had a better chance of playing than the other, then Collins would get the vote.  It might well be that Collins will be left to make the decision for himself. 

ENGLAND’S WORLD CUP TEAM
Friday, November 24, 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
WHOEVER GOES OUT, HAYNES MUST STAY IN
Says Roy Vernon
Time is on the wing and England may not have too much of it on their hands before they formulate their team for the World Cup matches in Chile next year.  Twelve months ago I would have said England looked much nearer to winning the World Cup than they do now, I don’t regard the position as hopeless, but rather as challenging.  It is the failure up front which causes the victory foundations to tremble, and while it is one thing to tear a selected line to pieces.  It may be much more difficult to put it together again to make different pieces of the jig-saw fit more perfectly.  Ray Crawford of Ipswich Town, is getting a lot of goals and there is no doubt that if he is allowed to run on to the long through pass, he is as deadly as nay centre forward in the game, but neither he nor any of his competitors are in the class of Tommy Lawton and Dixie Dean, two former Evertonians.  If not Crawford who is there left?  Bobby Smith looked the part last season, but being dropped from a club side is hardly the sort of recommendation for international selectors to note.  It would require a remarkable return of form for the heavily built Bobby to stage an England come-back. 
HARRIS PREFERRED
Because I think the England leader of today must be able and willing to cover a lot of ground, not in the climate to which we are accustomed but in the blistering temperatures that may be expected for the World Cup, I don’t think there is anyone better fitted than that lean and hungry candidate from Burnley- Ray Pointer.  He is not my ideal of a leader, but he could come closest to meeting requirements.  Bobby Charlton may be back in form in time for Chile, but he is not the present day form selection.  I would prefer Gordon Harris, of Burnley a strong forceful, natural left winger, and goodness knows there are few with such qualifications.  No matter who goes out, Johnny Haynes must stay in.  He is the one more than any other on whom England’s hopes resolve.  Lots of people criticize him, but he is a born leader.  His ability and calmness give courage to his colleagues.  It is just the same with Fulham as with England.  The players look to him for guidance and inspiration.  How many current players are there who could respond suitably?  England’s big worries would be if Johnny, for any reason at all should not be available for the trip, I cannot see a successor.  Freddie Hill of Bolton is full of promise, but to expect a youngster of such little senior experience to measure up to the maestro is like crying for the moon.  What a storm-tossed spell this season has been for Jimmy Greaves.  Fit and in form, England would only waste time looking further afield, so that of Wednesday’s forward line I would keep only Douglas and Haynes. Largely on the grounds of youth and the more likely ability to withstand climate variations, I would substitute Tony Kays (Sheffield Wednesday) for Robson.  Battlers of his courage and energy are invaluable when the chips are down, and I doubt if there are many more consistent halves in the country.  Wednesday’s Swan seems to have a strangle hold on the centre half position.  I don’t think it will be long before Brian Labone breaks that grip.  So rapidly has Brian developed this season that he had simply rocketed into the top flight?  Swan gets in because he is such a good stopper, although anyone who saw Frank Wignall give him the run around at the end of last season would begin to have their doubts.  Another point if the selectors had seen Labone tame Ray Crawford at Goodison Park a few weeks ago, Brian’s stock must have soared just as the centre forward’s must have crashed.  Labone’s is making a habit of taming centre forwards.  Not many leaders will equal the record of Pointer, who scored twice against us.  How many people, I wonder, have noticed that Everton have the best defensive record in Division 1?  We have concerned only 21 goals.  Yet what do we find? Not a single member of that defence is considered good enough for England.  It would be a bit difficult for them to pick Alex Parker, George Thomson or Jimmy Gabriel, but somewhere, sometime, someone will notice this big boy Labone in the middle of it all.  It is hard to see how he keeps on missing the boat.  I think he must be judged on last season’s form when he was still finding his feet, but he is unrecognizable now with that shy, giant-framed lad who took over from Tommy Jones to whom I would like to wish a speedy and complete recovery from his terribly unlucky injury.  It is good-bye in Tommy Ring, a grand player, who might will have been at the top of the tree but for that tragic game at Chelsea just over a year ago.  We shall all, watch his progress with great interest and a load of good will. 

SHOULD EVERTON HAVE MADE EFFORT TO SIGN GREAVES?
Friday, November 24, 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
By Horace Yates
Everton should be least have made an effort to sign Jimmy Greaves, if the opinion of a correspondent Mr. J.R Abbott is to be accepted.  He built up what at first glance appears to be a powerful argument to support his case, but always he presupposes that Everton still have unlimited cash to splash on gigantic enterprises.  He completely overlooks the fact that Everton are still £77,000 in the red, and I know that manager Harry Catterick takes the view that he is always willing to consider whether or not a bid for a player is a practical proposition when he knows what valuation is placed on him by his club.  When it is a case of the sky being the limit, and a player auctioned to the highest bidder, I suggest you can always count Mr. Catterick out.  Here is Mr. Abbott’s letter “When Tottenham signed John White two years ago, I wrote to you to suggest the Everton failure to make any effort to obtain his signature was evidence that the directors did not intend to redeem their oft-repeated promises to secure the players necessary to restore the club’s fortunes.
SPENDING SPRESS
“Shortly after that they embarked on the spending spree that has become history and in so doing resolved all our doubts about their intentions and I should like to pay tribute to their purposefulness at that time.  “Tottenham have now signed Greaves and I am prompted to wonder whether Everton’s failure even to try and sign him indicates a wavering of that determination I recognize that he would have been reluctant to sign for a northern club, but the effort could have been made.  “Football is big business and Everton did not spend the best part of £200,000 simply to improve their League position.  Their intention must surely, have been to gain access to and if possible to win the biggest money-spinning competition of them all-the European Cup.  “I do not think that even the most rabid supporter would suggest that at present Everton would be likely to win the European Cup, and with their lack of reserve strength there must be considerable doubt about their ability to win the League championship, a necessary pre-requisite of their entry into the European Cup competition.  “True they are enjoying a good run at present but even so, after eighteen games, they have gained four points fewer than they had from the same number last season.  “The opportunity to sign one of the comparatively limited number of players likely to effect a substantial improvement in the present Everton team will not often arise, which makes inaction in this instance the more incomprehensible since Greaves is just the type of player needed to capitalize on the brilliance of the present inside forwards. 
SCORER NEEDED
“That Everton need a goal-scorer of his caliber is demonstrated by their failure to total more than ten goals in eight matches played away from home so far this season and their failure to score more than one goal in ten of thee eighteen matches.  “Hardly championship form.  It seems to me that not only will Greaves absence from this forward line make Everton’s task of winning the championship more difficult but so will his presence in the Tottenham line-up.  “Lest I should be accused of being unduly influenced by Tottenham, let me add that Everton last won the F.A Cup in 1933 and the League Championship in 1939, while Tottenham won both in 1961.” Well now, Mr. Abbott should feel much better after getting that little lot off his chest, but as he himself days.  Greaves would have been reluctant to sign for a northern club.  I think he could safely go further and say that so long as a London club was interested northern efforts would just be a waste of time.  The only thing Everton might have accomplished, apart from giving their supporters a thrill, would have been to push up the price which Spurs eventually had to pay.  Greaves would not have cost Spurs so much had Chelsea not been at their elbow all the time, hoisting the price in the hope of regaining their star.  Obviously every team in the country would try to make room for Greaves if there was the slightest chance of a dream coming true.  Meantime Everton are not doing all that badly and their ten-man feat against Tottenham recently suggests that the London club are right to worry about their future!  To avoid clashing with the Grand National on March 31 Everton and Blackpool have agreed to play their Goodison Park League game on the preceding evening, a change which has the League’s approval. 

ON TO NO, ELEVEN?
Liverpool Echo - Friday 24 November 1961
By Leslie Edwards
At West Ham, Everton hope to go to their 11th match without defeat and bridge the gap further against League leaders Burnley. Unhappily, they may again be without Parker and Collins, pillars of the side. Just as well the  club's mascot—Colin Green, who has never finished on the  losing side in his last 11 first team appearances—is able to  continue to deputise for one and that Frank Wignall can be  fitted conveniently into the attack with Young on his right.  Everton's last London trip, to Stamford Bridge, was an unhappy one. Let us hope they show the critics, this time, some of their best “home " form. I still maintain that they have class enough not to be involved in anything which savours of winning at any cost.  My glimpse at the Wembley match in mid-week confirms the view that Bingham is one of the best and most willing wingers in football. Of the play screened he hardly put a foot wrong. I wish I could say the same of England, who may yet send for both Jimmy Melia and Brian Labone in readiness for the trip to Chile.  Another view of the England-Ireland match comes from Mr. Lawrence Mitchell (415 a Smithdown Road). He says:  “Having viewed with alarm the latest example of English international football, it becomes increasingly apparent that in some misguided quarters there exists a phobia for repetitive selection of men who by trial and error consistently fail in the national side. Both the viewing public and those gluttons for punishment at Wembley were agreed—lreland were unfortunate not to win!  “The most apt remark (and I won't disagree with it) was: I've seen more Punch from a Judy.' "

COLLINS IN EVERTON PARTY AT WEST HAM
Liverpool Echo - Friday 24 November 1961
Final choice Tomorrow
PARKER FIT
By Leslie Edwards
Bobby Collins and Alex Parker Everton players whose soundness had been in doubt all week, both passed fitness tests at Goodison Park today.  Parker replaces Wrexham full back Colin Green for the match at West Ham tomorrow.  Collins is among six players from whom the attack will be chosen.  Manager Harry Catterick said of Parker and Collins return; “That is the best news I have had since joining the club.”  It is only the second time this season I have been able to choose my side from a full compliment.  The speed of Parker’s recovery surprised me.  Everton; Dunlop; Parker, Thomson; Gabriel, Labone, Harris; (from) Bingham, Young, Collins, Wignall, Vernon, Fell. 

FULL EMPLOYMENT
Saturday, November 25, 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
By Horace Yates
The return of Collins would enable Everton to field what I consider to be their best forward line, despite those happy memories of the Tottenham match.  I believe that Young has to be kept in full employment for him to be seen at his best, and the men most capable of achieving this end are Collins and Vernon.  Final decision on whether Collins plays will be made this morning.  Only Sheffield Wednesday have won at West Ham this season and as they also prevailed at Goodison Park, it is difficult to take a lead from that.  Moreover since West Ham came back to the top flight four seasons ago, Everton have never won on their ground.  Of course there were quite a lot of grounds on which Everton used to drop points in the not too distant past.  Now that is changed and if it is encouragement they seek, West Ham’s defence is the department to give it.  While the attack takes third place to Tottenham and Ipswich their defence has yielded fifteen goals in nine home matches and in all they have taken the ball out of their own net thirty-eight times.  That is hardly in keeping with a leading side, especially when we consider that nineteen of their rivals can point to better figures.  Can a defence as leaky as that they have been debited with twenty goals in their last seven games keep Everton goalless?  I doubt it and Everton have the best defence in their division to hurl against the scoring West Ham combination.  It look like a titanic battle for with West Ham it is not a case of stopping one forward and breaking the scoring machine.  Dick for example has registered twelve times and Musgrave nine.  This is a match of intriguing possibilities but I have every faith in seeing Everton, with Parker also back return with at least some reward.  West Ham United; Leslie; Kirkup, Bond or Burkett; Hurst, Brown, Moore, Crawford, Woosnam, Tindall, Dick, Musgrove.  Everton; Dunlop; Parker, Thomson; Gabriel, Labone, Harris; (from); Bingham, Collins, Young, Wignall, Vernon, Fell. 

HAMMERS HIT BACK AND END EVERTON’S UNBEATEN RUN
Liverpool Echo - Saturday 25 November 1961
WEST HAM 3, EVERTON 1 
By Horace Yates
West Ham United;  Leslie; Kirkup, Bond; Hurst, Brown,  Moore; Crawford, Woosnam, Tindall, Dick, Musgrove.  Everton; DunIop; Parker, Thomson; Gabriel,  Labone, Harris; Bingham, Collins, Young, Vernon, Fell.  Referee.—Mr. D. H. Howell (Birmingham).  Collins returned after injury to skipper the Everton side and Young moved to centre forward in place of Wignall.  Parker was at right back.  Prompted by Gabriel and Collins, Everton were quickly off the mark and when Kirkup miskicked. Vernon pushed the ball out to Fell, whose first-time shot was charged down.  Five minutes should have seen Everton in the lead, for after dilly-dally tactics by the West Ham defence, Bingham stole the ball and opened up the way for a shot by Collins, who hit the ball just wide of the post.  West Ham were lucky to  escape when Kirkham failed  to smother a pass in front of  the goal, and it was by no  more than half a yard that  Collins failed to get to a ball and give himself a wonderful  scoring opportunity.  Everton, however, were not having matters all their own way and when Crawford took the ball to the corner flag, Parker was glad to head out of play.
NARROWLY OVER 
There was a replica movement from Crawford and this time it was Dick who headed narrowly over and Everton knew beyond a doubt that nothing but their best play would win this game. Thomson showed the cleverest anticipation to intercept a pass from Hurst, and turned the ball inside to Fell. Fell found Young well placed in front of the goal but the centre forward shot over the bar.  Vernon was striving to make an impact on the game and often raced back into his own half for the opportunity to gain possession. Collins served him beautifully and raced into the penalty area after the return pass, but Vernon, spotting the opposition falling away, hit a drive from the edge of the box which just cleared the bar.  Everton's persistence was rewarded in 27 minutes and the man who made it possible was Young, who out jumped Kirkup and sent the ball forward in front of the defence. Like a shot, Vernon swooped on the ball and as Leslie came out, tapped the ball to one side and Everton were deservedly a goal up.  Everton nearly repeated the dose a minute later when Collins and Vernon sparked off another movement which left Young in possession in front of the West Ham goal.  He pulled the ball to the right and hit it just narrowly wide of the post. 
DEFENCE TESTED 
Everton's defensive qualities were put to the test for several minutes as West Ham strove to wipe out their arrears, but Parker, Harris and Labone were superb.  Crawford floated a centre right under the Everton bar with half a dozen heads struggling to reach it and it was a relief to see the fist of Dunlop rising above everybody to clear the threat.  It was something of a novelty to find Everton raiding the home goal for they had been kept in their own quarters for quite a spell and it was Young who encouraged Fell to try a drive from close range, which Leslie saved. 
WOOSNAM HURT 
Almost on the interval Woosnam was injured and after treatment on the field left for the dressing room. The trainer was holding a sponge to the player's ear.  Half-time. West Ham U.  nil. Everton 1.  Only a miraculous save by Leslie prevented West Ham going another goal down.  Vernon collected Fell's corner on the volley and hit a mighty shot at goal. Almost as though by instinct, so fast was the shot, put up his armsand knocked the ball out.  Vernon led the applause.  West Ham resumed with Woosnam back in position, and with Tindall making a spirited header past the post.  Playing in their old gold shirts, Everton had never quite succeeded in getting the Collins, Young, Vernon triangle operating with its usual efficiency, and when Collins sent Vernon racing through, the Welshman was yards offside. 
SCRAMBLED CLEAR 
The Everton goal underwent a lucky escape when Musgrove sent the ball right across the goal and when Crawford tried to shoot through a crowded goalmouth, Tindall helped it on its way and Gabriel scrambled the ball clear at the foot of the post.  Vernon undoubtedly was the danger man of this Everton attack. Not only West Ham realised it, but Vernon’s colleagues also, and he seemed to have been appointed official marksman for the day. He beat three players from the edge of the penalty area but then lost control and allowed Leslie to smother the ball.  Everton's goal fell in 57 minutes when Dick sent Musgrove away and the winger cracked in a fierce drive which Dunlop could only parry. Out went the ball to Dick and he hit it into the back of the net with the minimum of fuss.  This score came like a boltfrom the blue for Everton, who had taken what appeared to be a real grip on the match.  This sort of nourishment had developed a real goal hunger in West Ham, and the cleverest of flicks by Woosnam put Tindall in possession, but the devastating tackling of Labone cut short the opportunity.  West Ham were a team transformed after their goal and attacked with more resolution than at any stage of the game. The Everton goal fell a second time in 62 minutes when Bond went up into the attack, and found Dick, who despite Dunlop's narrowing  of the angle, hit an excellent  shot into the corner of the  net after 62 minutes.  Only a desperate tackle by  Gabriel on Dick prevented the  West Ham forward from unleashing  another shot at the  Everton goal, and it began to  appear that Everton were  attacking with more desperation  than control, and the outlook  for the maintenance of  their long run without defeat  was not rosy.  Labone remained Everton's  sheet anchor at this testing  time and again it was he who  stood between the efforts of  Dick and Tindall to add  another goal to the West Ham  score.  Everton's chance seemingly came and went in 77 minutes when Collins put over a corner-kick to which Gabriel got his head and directed the ball to Fell. The winger could not reach the ball until the angle was so narrow that it was almost inevitable that his shot should finish in the side netting.  Everton went further into arrears in 87 minutes when Crawford raced in from the wing and with the defence holding off awaiting a pass he hit the ball a perfect shot which was a winner all the way.  Final; West Ham United 3, Everton 1. Attendance 27,100

PLAYERS IN THE NEWS AT GOODISON PARK
Liverpool Echo - Saturday 25 November 1961
Blackburn are due for a rise
Says Alex Parker
From my seat in the trainer's dug-out, and also from what I have heard since, it is obvious that many Everton fans were disappointed that we did not beat Blackburn more easily than we did. After winning against Tottenham two weeks before with only 10 men, I suppose that Blackburn, near the bottom of the table, looked a good thing for us.  But it is well to remember that there is no such thing as an easy match in the First Division. And it is not always the best teams who are the hardest to beat.  Often a struggling team, with much less skill, will give more trouble than a side in the top six.  Not that I am saying that Blackburn did not play well. They did, and with better finishing by their forwards could well have given us a shock.  There are two factors which would make them fight harder than usual. We are in the championship race and naturally, like every side we meet these days, the Rovers wanted to topple us.  Their own team is going through a critical stage at the moment. There have  been some team changes  lately and the youngsters  coming in are naturally all  out to hold on to their  places, while the established  players are determined  that they will not be next  to be dropped.  Make no mistake. Blackburn are a much better side than they would appear from their League position and I, for one, shall be surprised if they don’t start rising soon.
VERNON'S DAY 
It was quite a day for Roy Vernon. In addition to being skipper against his old club he also scored the winning goal.  I know that when Roy was at Blackburn he was very friendly with Bryan Douglas, who also had a great game last week.  Next month, Jimmy Gabriel gets married, and I am to be his best man, but against Blackburn it was Jimmy who was best man.  I don't think I have ever seen him play better,  wherever the ball was there  was a Jimmy, tackling, passing,  shooting, heading. In fact, just about the lot. It must have been terrible to have to play against him.  But our delight at winning was soon spoilt when we heard that TommyJones had badly injured his knee in the reserve team game at Barnsley.  This is particularly bad luck on Toni as he was only just returning after another injury. It's a terrific blow to the club as well with the Christmas fixture rush coming up. 
SO POPULAR 
It was a coincidence that Tommy Ring, another of our serious injury victims, should be transferred this week to Barnsley. I know everybody at the club was sorry to see Tommy go, for he was a very popular character at the club.  He has been particularly unlucky in his stay at Everton. Many critics believed he was finished when he left Clyde for Goodison nearly two years ago, but he didn't take long to prove them wrong.  In his very first match with us, on a heavy pitch, he was the star of a 6-1 win over Nottingham Forest. I have particular reason to remember that game for I also scored, and it was a very happy bunch of footballers who trooped off Goodison that day.  Mr. Carey, who was  manager at the time, asked  Bobby Collins and I, as  fellow Scots, to make  Tommy feel at home, but  we didn't have to do that  for long. He very soon settled into the Everton routine and proceeded to play some real “blinders."  It was a tragedy when he broke a leg after being with us only a few months and I am sure everybody will wish him well, and a change of luck, with his new club.
NO PUSH-OVER 
Last week: Matthews devises a new technique for beating the opposing full back, and signs professional forms for Stoke.  Manchester United are our visitors next week, and although they have been having a poor run lately, they have so many personalities in their side that they can never be regarded as a “push-over."  One day they are really going to click and shake some people. We shall have to make sure that it is not us.  United are a little Arsenal in that no matter how badly they may be doing there is always a certain amount of glamour attached to them.  I don’t think I have played in a really bad match with them, and I feel sure next week will be no different.  But here’s hoping we win. 

 

EVERTON B V BOLTON B
Liverpool Echo and Evening express, November 25, 1961
A header from Humphreys put Everton ahead after five minutes.  Harvey added a second after 20 minutes and a third five minutes later.  Just before the interval Moore put Everton further ahead. Half-time; Everton B 4, Bolton Wanderers B nil.  

EVERTON RES V BURY RES
Liverpool Echo and Evening Express, November 25 1961
Everton Res; Rankin; Parnell, Green; Gannon, Sharples, Meagan; Lill, Jarvis, Webber, Temple, Veall.  Bury Res; Heath; Gallacher, Eastham; Leech, Wilson, Riggs; Young, May, Jones, Moulden, Bartley.  Referee; Mr. W. S. Castle (Dudley).  Everton started in lively fashion and in the first couple of minutes Temple caused Heath to save brilliantly under the post.  Bury’s first attack also came near to providing a goal when a lovely flick by Moulden off Bartley’s pass was only inches over the bar.  Jones, also had hard lines when he beat three men and looked an almost certain scorer until Green just managed to block his close range drive away for a corner.  At the 15th minute Temple gave Everton the lead when he ran through to hold off two opponents and then slotted the ball home.  Ten minutes later, however, Everton were in arrears, Bartley got the equalizing goal at the 17th minute, and the same player put Bury in front at the 35th minute with a first time drive.  Bury nearly went further ahead when Meagan attempting to pass back to Rankin almost put the ball out of the goalkeeper’s reach.  Bury had bene the better team for some time, but in the closing stages of the first half Everton improved and Heath made a couple of good saves,  Half-time; Everton Res 1, Bury Res 2. 

LABOBE SIZED-UP
Monday, November 27 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
By Peter Price
I am told that among the crowd at Upton Park on Saturday was Mr. Walter Winterbottom, the England team manager.  Now why should Walter go to see this particular match?  My suggestion would be to check up on the report which must by now have come his way that Brian Labone is the best English centre half in the country.  Naturally he did not say whether or not Labone’s display had impressed him, but it is hard to imagine how Brian’s chances could fall to have improved after a most successful exhibition.  Very wisely Labone was not told of Mr. Winterbotton’s presence until after the match Walters is a charming fellow but it is his official designation that starts butterflies fluttering before a match. 
WEDDING BELLS
Wedding bells will be ringing next week, for Everton’s Scottish half-back Jimmy Gabriel who beats his wing half colleague, Brian Harris o the alter by a matter of days.  The bachelor ranks at Goodison are thinning very rapidly these days, for with Gabriel and Harris deleted from the list there will remain only centre half Brian Labone and left back George Thomson. 
MANY HAPPY RETURNS
Everton manager Mr. Harry Catterick who was forty-two yesterday and if you think he spent a miserable birthday because of the Everton defeat at West Ham, I wager you are well off target!  Undoubtedly disappointed, he it was whose cheerfulness shock the lads out of their fleeting depression following the match.  Of course, Harry is an old hand at the football game, despite his comparative youth.  He has now completed twenty-five years in football, and is in his eleventh year as manager.  If he were to be asked how old he was when he saw his first match his reply might be Illuminating, for I am told he was so young he was carried to his early games.  Football is in his blood. 

EVERTON PACK EVERYTHING BUT PUNCH
Monday, November 27, 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
WEST HAM MAKE THREE SHOTS AND NET THREE GOALS
WEST HAM UNUTED 3, EVERTON 1
By Horace Yates
What a travesty of a result! It so happens that with Burnley winning at Old Trafford, victory could not have put Everton at the top of the table, but it was a letdown all the same to find them returning pointless from a match they had dominated, illuminated and decorated for so much of the way, only to be left frustrated in a breathless West Ham rally that commanded the utmost admiration.  For a team to be over-played for as long as West Ham were, to have the courage and resource to flight back to a successful conclusion is as much a triumph of determination as a condemnation of Everton’s slip.  Particularly early in the game the impression was firm that this was a game Everton must win.  Although I have seen their combination more clear cut, more pin-pointed and more devastatingly effective, it was still far too much for West Ham to encounter, or so we thought.  Scoring might have begun in the opening minutes when Collins hitting the ball perhaps a trifle hastily, cleared the post by the narrowest of margins.  It was a miss undoubtedly and yet there was no sense of Everton living to regret it.  Where that appeared others would come or at least that was the pattern projected in most minds. 
FIRST OF SEVERAL?
Even though it took Everton 27 minutes to open the scoring through Vernon, such was their dominance that it appeared likely to be the first of several rather than the one and only.  Young, I thought made it magnificently by rising inches above Kirkup to nod the ball forward and down for Vernon to take in his stride and shoot past an advancing Leslie.  There was a precision and case about the whole operation that boded nothing but ill for West Ham, a team with a reputation for flagging in the second half.  As the game unfolded however, one began to wonder if Everton’s glitter was not hiding a lack of potency and finish in their busy forward line.  More and more Vernon was emerging as the man with the punch, the forward most likely to put the result beyond West Ham’s ability to retrieve.  So it was immediately after half-time, when Vernon met a Fell corner kick on the volley.  The ball flashed towards goal as though fired from some powerful piece of artillery.  It was the sort of shot that might just as easily have knocked down the corner flag, or soared over the roof of the stand.  This was the exception, for it roared straight for goal.  With only split second in which to act, Leslie flung up his arms, whether protectively or from a sense of intuition no one can say, but the ball struck his arm and the finest shot seen in a season’s travel was veering harmlessly off course.  Undoubtedly Leslie deserves a rave rating for his effort, but not only did it save a goal, without any doubt it saved West Ham.  Assured, composed and majestic in its might, the Everton defence was rolling back everything West Ham had to offer.  We knew Tindall was making his debut at centre forward because we had been told, but so firmly was he held in check by Labone, a tireless commanding figure of a man, that he was entirely innocuous.  There was Dick, whose reputation is of the happy goal-snatching charter, wandering round seemingly helpless and ineffective, an impression that was to be revised before the game ended.  The scoring flood which swept Everton out of the match, produced three goals against a defence which had conceded only two in its last seven outings, but even more remarkable was the fact that they were from the only three shots on the target.  A team so remarkably devastating are capable of almost anything, as Everton discovered to their cost.  It is hard to exonerate Dunlop from responsibility for the equalizer in twenty-seven minutes, for he parried Musgrove’s shot out to Dick.  This was just the sort of delicacy for which this opportunist lies in wait, and he made no mistake.  From being a side reconciled to second best, West Ham’s outlook was revolutionized by their unexpected break-through and Dick struck again five minutes later, with a remarkably fine shot.  It was when they tried to fight back for at least a point that I found it easiest to criticize Everton.  Young was getting absolutely nowhere with Brown.  I recall only one shot from him- harmlessly over the bar-nor was he able to weave his usual web of skill and trickery.  Collins was pulling out everything he knew to try to give the side a finishing power he must have known was mysteriously missing, but this was his first game back after injury-and it showed.  Similarly, when the heat was on, Parker was struggling, hardly the consummate defender we know, and so both Collins and Parker looked as though they needed this match to regain their feet.  Even before Crawford, three minutes from the end, hammered home the third goal from at least twenty-five yards range, the impression had grown that two points had slipped away.  Disappointing? Of course! It could easily have been so different, but with several defenders earning a good word, I could not help feeling that the spectacular advance of George Thomson is becoming one of the features of this Everton season.  West Ham; Leslie; Kirkup, Boar; Hurst, Brown, Moore; Crawford, Woosnam, Tindall, Dick, Musgrove.  Everton; Dunlop; Parker, Thomson; Gabriel, Labone, Harris; Bingham, Collins, Young, Vernon, Fell.  Referee; Mr. D.H Howell.  Attendance 25,100

EVERTON RESERVES 2, BURY RESERVES 2
Monday, November 27, 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
Temple gave Everton Reserves the lead during the home side’s spell of early superiority in this Central League game at Goodison Park, but for long periods afterwards Bury Reserves were the more dangerous side, Temple apart, there was no punch with the Everton attack, Lill being reduced to half-speed for much of the game following an early injury.  Sharples tried hard in his new role at centre half, but was not outstanding and Rankin and Parnell were the best of the home defence.  Bartley got two goals in eight minutes mid-way through the first half to put Bury ahead, Webber equalizing at the fifty-second minute with a disputed goal.  The game was marred by petty fouling and unnecessary vigorous tackling in which both sides were equally to blame. 

PRETTY PLAY IS USELESS WITHOUT PUNCH 
Liverpool Echo - Monday 27 November 1961
By Horace Yates
Pretty play, quite a lot of which Everton served up for the entertainment of the West Ham crowd on Saturday, will earn them many compliments, such as those so freely bestowed at Upton Park after the match, that they were the best team to have visited the ground this season, but not always will it produce points, unless accompanied by more punch—punch in the middle where it counts.  If this match had been marked on the lines adopted by boxing referees, the result would have been identical. Everton, way ahead on points, but knocked out in the closing rounds. West  Ham, with more finishing  power than polish, proved  once again what everybody  knows, it is the goals that  count, and though Everton  rightly consider themselves  unfortunate not to have won,  or at the very least to have  shared the points, they must  admit that the West Ham  finish left them gasping.  I agree all the way that West Ham would never have; had the heart to retaliate if a Vernon shot, screaming its way to the net, almost immediately after the resumption, had not been miraculously parried to safety.  Whether it was the season’s super save by Leslie or the biggest fluke for a long time, who can tell? The fact is that Vernon hit a Fell corner kick as it touched the ground.  It was a terrific volley, speeding so quickly, that any reaction to it must have been spontaneous, rather than calculated. Leslie's half raised arm was hit by the ball and up and out it went. 
A REVITALISER 
At this stage West Ham were playing like a beaten side, one goal down scored by Vernon (27 minutes), after Young’s header had opened up  the way, and another goal at  that juncture could only have  seen them reeling.  Leslie's feat was not only  a revitaliser, it was a game-saver,  for until West Ham  broke clear to produce the  equaliser from Dick, there  had been an air of inevitability  about their play,  almost a preparedness to  accept the fact that they  were second best.  What a shot in the armthat goal proved. Not only  did it make us aware of the  fact that Dick was playing,  but it proved that players  of his calibre can be shut  out for most of the match  and yet, given the half  chance, can wreak more  havoc than all the ball-playing  finesse.  There is nothing pretentious about Dick. He is what he is—a snapper up of chances, with the sort of precision shot that tears a side to pieces in minutes.  That is just what he did to Everton. A shot from Musgrove, after a Parker slip, was parried by Dunlop, and Dick pounced to put the ball into the net.  Dunlop did not have a busy day. This was the first direct shot with which he had to contend.  The pity was that he did not smother it, valiantly though he tried, for the goal was the spark to a West Ham fight back, of which they had appeared incapable. 
FIGHTING FURY 
Immediately, they were transformed into a fighting fury, and an Everton defence with the best record in the division, was at full stretch, covering up for each other as danger threatened in one place after another.  Within five minutes the “impossible " had happened.  West Ham were ahead and again it was Dick who was the scorer. What an opportunist he is! When Gabriel went down injured he swung into the clear and with Dunlop narrowing the angle as much as possible, he still contrived to hit the perfect shot into goal.  With 28 minutes left for play, there was still time for Everton to retrieve their fortunes.  Their class was still unmistakable.  Their superiority in a sheer football sense, l undoubted, and much of the remaining attack was theirs, with the home goal under almost constant pressure.  One felt that if any player was to pull this match out of the fire for Everton, it could only be Vernon, or to a lesser extent Bingham.  Young sadly disappointed me. There were the clever touches we take for granted whenever he is around, but we looked in vain for those darting runs, with the centre half frantically trying to keep pace.  Young, in this game, hardly extended Brown at all and there was not the thrust one is entitled to expect as an essential part of the attack of potential champions.  Hard though they tried, both Collins and Parker left the impression that their lay-off through injury had  ' left its mark, and that they will be better for this outing. 
THAT'S FOOTBALL 
It hardly mattered when!  Crawford skipped through for the third goal, three minutes from the end, for by then we had given up hope that the packed West Ham defence would ever yield again.  The only point worth making about the goal was that delivered from 25 to 30 yards, when the defence apparently believed that he could not contribute a worthwhile shot from such a distance while skipping across the face of goal, it still flew into the net, while a shot hit twice as hard by Vernon from less than half the distance had not counted.  That's football' think that if Bingham had gone on rounding Bond  on the outside, he would  run the full back into the ground, but a noticeable flaw  in the Everton make-up was ,  revealed when the ball was  crossed in the air in front of  goal.  Not by any means is it easy, it criticize the half backs, and Labone in particular, was outstandingly efficient in everything he did. Looking on, England team manager. Mr.  Walter Winterbottom could not have failed to appreciate the qualities of this very much in form player, who is assuredly heading for full England honours.  Thomson, with little more than twelve months experience in English football, is a player transformed. Compared with  the willing, but slow-moving  and late-tackling player he  as on the occasion of his  Arsenal debut his deadly  efficient challenges, his  immediate reaction to danger  signs and a courage which  knows no fear, show what an  improvement has been effected.

ENGLAND SIDE LEAVE 
Liverpool Echo - Tuesday 28 November 1961
The England under-23 team, which includes Brian Labone, of Everton, to play Holland under-23 in Rotterdam to-morrow, flew out of London Airport to-day.  The team coach, Billy Wright, said: "I don't know much about the Dutch side but I did see two of them play for Feyenoord against Spurs earlier this month and they looked quite useful. If my boys play as well as they did against Israel at Leeds, I shall be quite satisfied."  The team Thursday.

KING’S LYNN MANAGER LOOKS TO JANUARY 6
Tuesday, November 28, 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
GOODISON PARK WILL NOT OVER-AWE US
Everton, third in Division 1 against King’s Lynn, members of the Southern League, provides the Goliath and David tie of the third round of the F.A. Cup.  But the West Norfolk side are not the least overawed by the prospect of visiting Goodison Park.  “Not a bit of it,” said manager Lea Richley yesterday.  “This is what the team has been playing for.  They will not be overawed.  I don’t think a big gate will make any difference to the team.  They will play football whether in front of 2,000, 20,000 or 50,000.  For skipper Gerry Mackay, the former Irish International it is also a dream draw.  It will take him to the ground nearest his home in Dublin and he is assured of having the backing of about 200 of his fellow-countrymen.  The visit to Goodison Park will bring pleasant memories for Gerry.  He captained a League of Ireland team there and an Ireland team in a youth international and on one of two visits there with Shamrock Rovers was also skipper. 
CLEARED OF DEBT
For little King’s Lynn whose gates have averaged barely 2,000 this season, the draw is just what they wanted.  They began the season £1,500 in the red, but now see themselves being cleared of debt by their good Cup run.  This is their first appearance in the third round in the first round they were at Chelmsford and at Coventry last Saturday in the second round.  Mackey is the star of Lynn’s defence and in attack Bobby Lumley, in his first season with the club, and Bobby Brenan a close season signing from Norwich and another Irish International are the schemers.  All but two of the players have had League experience.  The exceptions are goalkeeper Mick Manning, now in his seventh season with the club, and David Hindle at centre half.  Everton manager Mr. Harry Catterick commented; “We shall take it just as seriously as any other game.”

FROM THE MANAGERIAL CHAIR
Wednesday, November 29, 1961 The Liverpool Daily Post
GOODISON OR ANFIELD WOULD DRAW BIGGER CROWD
By Harry Catterick
Once again England disappointed in the international football field at Wembley last week.  Equally disappointing was the gate-a mere 30,000-which makes a ground of the size of Wembley look something like Mother Hubbard’s cupboard, mighty bare.  This led to a lack of atmosphere and enthusiasm that had a dampening effect on the game.  It is obviously time that these November internationals were allowed to escape from London and come to the provinces.  I am sure that Goodison Park or Anfield would have shown their attendance figures than Wembley and if is a matter which must come up for serious consideration in the near future.  The crowd can do a very great deal to make or mar a game as I had good cause to realize during my playing days.  Players do respond to encouragement and the amazing enthusiasm of crowds abroad when England are the visitors cannot be surpassed in this country.  The English, no offence meant, the British are generally assumed to be a phlegmatic race, but that is no reason for carrying it to extremes.  Wembley was so quiet and the applause so genteel that one could hardly realize that anything other than a practice match was in progress. 
SAME FAULTS
England’s Chile prospects are now decidedly chilly.  The same faults revealed themselves as we had seen in the earlier internationals this season.  The loss to the side of an off-form Bobby Smith (Spurs) and Hitchens and Greaves in Italy has been apparent in the loss of penetrative power in the side.  Now that Greaves has returned we can expect him to resume his place in the England set-up.  But now England are without a game until March and the side is obviously still unsettled.  I feel that the disappearance of the B internationals is no help to team manager Walter Winterbottom.  We have retained instead the Under-23 games.  This automatically excludes a player once he has reached that ripe old age in the football life.  But “B” internationals could have been used for the purpose of keeping together an England shadow team and ensuring that last season’s successful 4-2-4 system could have been retained.  I have always believed in allowing players to play themselves back into form.  If we had one or two “B” internationals games arranged there is no reason why Bobby Smith should not have appeared in them to see if he could re-find his touch that way.  Even players of great ability have their lean times.  In Smith’s case it must be remembered that as a centre forward he would have had a particularly hard season in Tottenham great run.  With internationals League and Cup matches Bobby must have averaged two games a week throughout last season  ...or very nearly.
GREAT STRAIN
That is very great physical and mental strain especially so for a player with such an enthusiastic approach to the games as the Spurs leader.  Now the international scene fades into the background for a while as the turn of the year approaches and the fans eyes get set on the twin towers of Wembley for F.A cup purposes.  This gives the game its mid-winter fillip and, no doubt Cup exploits will enable hitherto overlooked players to push themselves into the cap queue.  I am pleased that young Johnny Byrne upheld the good things, I said about him recently.  He cannot be put down as a failure on his international debut and I am certain that he can make sure that his passport is in order for the World Cup trip next June. I suppose most of the England defence can also be pretty confident of getting an en bloc vote of confidence from the selectors.  All the changes that have been made so far this season have affected the forward line.  We hear much about the difficulties of piercing the blanket type of defence now so popular on the Continent.  But frankly the England forward line will have to move with a great deal more speed to outwit any kind of defensive tactics, blanket or otherwise.  Unfortunately the game seems to be devoid of the fast-raiding wingers of a few years ago.  This is a feature lacking in our football at the present time.  Let’s hope this is a passing phase for fleet-footed wingers are one of the joys of football.  What an opportunity for the youth of today.  I hope they grasp the chance that is before them. 

SPURS, WITH GREAVES IN SIDE COULD BE CUP DANGER
The Liverpool Echo and Evening Express, Wednesday, November 29, 1961
Says Everton’s Alex Young
When we travelled back from London on Saturday  evening after West Ham had fought back to win  a game in which victory could so easily have gone to  us, it seemed as if our luck was out, but by midday  on Monday, when the F.A. Cup draw was made, things  appeared to have changed for the better.  Don't think I am taking this home draw against King’s Lynn too lightly, however, for a side which can win at Coventry has to be watched.  Last season, too, King's Lynn held Bristol City to a draw before losing in a replay, so they are obviously Cup fighters.  King's Lynn come to  Goodison knowing they have  everything to gain and nothing to lose, a situation in  which the favourites always  have to watch their step.  I heard the Cup draw in London, en route for to-day’s World Cup play-off between Scotland and Czechoslovakia in Brussels.  You know by now that I was not lucky enough to gain a place in the Scottish side, but I offer my warmest congratulations to Ian St.  John on being chosen again to lead the attack. 
FLEW TO LONDON 
Ian was my travelling companion  when we flew to  London on Monday morning  to join the rest of the Scottish  party, so I know he was  quite happy when he heard  that Liverpool were drawn at  home also, even though  in their case it is against First  Division opponents.  As we have played Chelsea already this season, it is hardly necessary to tell you what the topic of conversation between Ian and myself was as we continued our journey to Brussels.  I think this could be Everton’s Cup year, if we have reasonable luck in the draw, but even an Evertonian has to admit that on present form Liverpool could go far. However the team I shall keep an eye on is Tottenham Hotspur.  Spurs have a tough task  in the third round at Birmingham,  in addition to the strain  of still being in the European  Cup, but I have a feeling that  as soon as the F.A. and Football  League accept Jimmy  Greaves' registration and he settles down in the team, then  the White Hart Lane boys  could really start going  places again. 
POSSIBILITIES 
That fee of nearly £100,000  which Tottenham are reported  to have paid for Greaves  seems tremendous, but when one weighs up the exciting  possibilities of the Spurs team  with Jimmy in it, then I  think it assumes reasonable  proportions.  What a problem it will be for defences to keep both Greaves and Cliff Jones away from goal, especially when they have men like John White, Dave Mackay, Danny Blanchflower and Tony Marchi creating the openings for them. And don't forget Bobby Smith and Les Allen, both of whom seem to be going through a bad patch at the moment, must surely find their true form again shortly.  In Brussels to-day, playing or Czechoslovakia, are some of the Dukla side which beat us in the final of the New York tournament last summer. In particular, I hope to see young Kecera play, for I consider him a great inside forward, very similar to Greaves in style. We shall no doubt hear a lot more about Kecera, for he is only 19.  By the way, although I am in Brussels to-day, don't be surprised if you should spot me in Liverpool again tomorrow morning. Such are the wonders of modern travel weather permitting, of course that I am hoping to be home and able to report at Goodison with the rest of the boys to-morrow morning.  Laurie Leslie, the goalkeeper  the Scots selectors  wanted to play in to-day's  World Cup match but found  that the Czechs, quite rightly,  would not agree, made the  save of the season in the West  Ham goal just after half time  last Saturday and probably  turned the match against us.  The save was from a shot by Roy Vernon, and if we had scored a second goal then it would probably have won the match.  Two quick goals by John Dick, another Scot, threw us out of our stride and then in the closing minutes Ian Crawford –remember.  I warned you about him last week- cut squarely across field from the right wing before cracking home a wonderful shot from fully 25 yards.  Yes Ian is another Scot, and one I see we will bear quite a lot about in the future.  What a magnificent performance Billy Bingham and his fellow countrymen put up against England at Wembley last week, I must say that the way I saw the game on my TV set, Ireland were most unfortunately not to win.  After the international Billy played in London and trained at Highbury as a guest of Arsenal.  He has been telling me of two things which impressed him, while he was at the London club-an experiment by Manager George Swindin and the form of one of the Gunners wingers. 
NEXT TO TEAM
I know we have heard about various schemes and experiements by football managers before but this time it is something a little out of the ordinary Billy tells me that Mr. Swindon has moved his office down a floor so that now if to situated right next to his teams dressing room.  It is obvious there are advantages and disadvantages in a move like this, but after some consideration I feel that the advantage is for greater.   Anyway it will be interesting to see how things work out at Blackburn both from a playing and managerial point of view.  And the winger? Billy is convinced that Alan Skirton, Arsenal’s tall outside left is a future England player.