The tale of legendary Everton manager Harry Catterick:

[Bluebonic]

Great tactician, great eye for a player. But his unwillingness / inability to engage with the media ensured he (and us) were largely ignored by the media. He supposedly used to give them phoney ‘scoops’ that they would publish, look like berks when it turned out to be cobblers then hold a grudge against the club. His teams were peerless in terms of football, but his ability to alienate the media, affected us so badly it still resonates today.

 

[Joey66]

@Joey66
the floor awaits

I posted a clip video of him & his teams on the old Photo thread - Joe Royle claimed he was like a School headmaster - signing in with the only pen available tied to a clipboard for training - at Bellfield - fined if one minute late -

His argument to any player was you have had till the game ended on Saturday to arrive on time - I don't want to hear any excuses you are fined - end of - on an occasion John Hurst & Westy used to share a car from Blackpool got stuck in a traffic jam accident on the M6 pleaded innocence - The Catt was not interested - you have had 1 & 1/2 days to get here tough luck - fined ....

 

[roy vernon]

They really should have won a lot more between 67 and 70. That team, when it eventually won the league, was actually on the way down. They had hit their peak in the 2 preceding seasons and anyone who watched them at the time would still be hard pressed to answer why they didn't win more. Having said that, what a time to be a blue,the football was absolutely great to watch. It was a privilege to have seen them play. The finest Everton team I have seen, an utter pleasure to watch.

 

[Joey66]

They really should have won a lot more between 67 and 70. That team, when it eventually won the league, was actually on the way down. They had hit their peak in the 2 preceding seasons and anyone who watched them at the time would still be hard pressed to answer why they didn't win more. Having said that, what a time to be a blue,the football was absolutely great to watch. It was a privilege to have seen them play. The finest Everton team I have seen, an utter pleasure to watch.

The only time I saw home fans clapping our team off at half-time - Ipswich we were 3-0 up - a Young Bobby Robson stated the midfield it was like chasing shadows - He urged Alf Ramsey to put the Holly trinity straight in the England team there & then .....

I stood in the Kop away & a Liverpool fan stated you will win the league easy with a midfield like that they are top class - played us off the park today - that team was up there with Manchester City today - but TBF there was harder competition about in the top six - but the team was pure football - even Colin Harvey stated we were better in 1967/68 yet won nothing than when we won the title in 1969/70 ...

 

[T LEAFE]

Should have at least made the European Cup Final in 1971.

As it was we lost to Greece’s Panathinaikos in the quarter final when everyone thought we would have beaten them.

If we had have beaten them it was Red Star Belgrade in the semis.

Then a final in which our Holy Trinity would have pitted their wits against the Ajax of Cruyff and Neeskens.

But alas, as with everything with EFC, promise was unfulfilled and Harry’s last great team broke up shortly afterwards.

He should have aso won another F.A.Cup versus Baggies in 1968.

Should is a word that is difficult to quantify

 

[T LEAFE]

Question for Evertonians of a certain vintage,should he have won more during his tenure?

"Should"
Horrible word

 

[Joey66]

….i always thought it was some achievement to build two seperate title winning teams in ‘63 and ‘70. The ‘70 was arguably the greatest I’ve seen but I thought he felt he then had to almost start again after falling short in 1971.

Selling Alan Ball a prime example thinking it was great business selling him for lots more than we paid but he still had so much to offer. More a disciplinarian than a ‘man manager’, he only put a tracksuit on when the cameras were about and rarely left his office.

Without doubt a great manager but I felt it could have been so much better.

Joe Royle admitted Shankly was a better phycologist of a Manager - & when he had a back injury asked Shankly for advice as he was approachable when Shankly retired & visited the club every day - Joe loved The Catt as he realised the firm advice he gave him as a youngster staying back extra hours to work on any weak points of his game & TBH Joe became a top class no 9 - England international - it was The Catt who converted him from a wing half as a kid into a superb hard-working classy no 9 - no protection from referees back then either..... a different era compared with today with now bowling green pitches too....

 

[Aberblue]

At the time I thought he was great, but his skill in the transfer market seemed to desert him after he signed Howard Kendall in 1967. Also, he apparently wasn't really interested in European achievements, and his hostility to the press and media generally harmed us, with the effects lasting to this day. Looking back, it's a shame he didn't retire after we won the league in 1970.

Having said that, his teams in the late 1960s were a joy to watch.

 

[mahermi1]

It was before my time but I think the consensus at the time was that they relatively underachieved.

They didn't turn up for the '68 Cup final, and they probably should have won the title after 1970...and got further in the '71 EC. The sale of Ball by Catterick and his own ill health appears to have killed that fantastic team off.

The selling of Ball to Arsenal was a horrendous mistake. Ball was a great player, probably my favourite ever, but he was never a Captain, no player could live up to his expectations. That Everton team should well have won more, at that time there was also a fantastic Leeds United team to contend with. Squads were a lot smaller then and that never helped.

 

[Gerard_Francis]

His last few years were poor.
As defending champions 1970-1971 was a pretty dismal season. Out of the European cup on away goals, FA cup semi- final defeat and finishing 14th.
1971- 1972 , And another bad season, the season we lost Ball and his white boots.
Only happy memory is the thrashing of Southampton 8-0

 

[Joey66]

Whenever they talk about the First Division managers of the sixties he hardly gets a mention
It's all about shankley Nicholson & Busby

The year we won the league the FA made Don Revie Manager of the year a certain William Shankly told then that decision was a disgrace as they had failed in ever competition so why was their Manager getting the best Manager of the year award .....

The pair of them went far back as they both managed Yorkshire teams - in their rise to the top -


Harry Catterick as a player was only signed first as a semi pro player no 9 - evidently he was in a poor team after Tommy Lawton had left along with Joe Mercer & the great TG Jones after the 2nd world war .....

 

[Joey66]

His last few years were poor.
As defending champions 1970-1971 was a pretty dismal season. Out of the European cup on away goals, FA cup semi- final defeat and finishing 14th.
1971- 1972 , And another bad season, the season we lost Ball and his white boots.
Only happy memory is the thrashing of Southampton 8-0

Sir John Moore's chairman stated he should have relived him from his manager's job 4 years earlier after his first heart attack in those days the Manager did not just select a side he was responsible for funds too....

 

[Dario Terracotta]

Reading between the lines on this a failure to build on the 1970 title winners in that summer was costly,the team became stale quickly,the signing of Henry Newton was a poor one,I believe we were in for Archie Gemmill but Cloughie stole him,allied to Harrys deteriorating health,we started to fall apart,his other transfer decisions post 1970 were disastrous in the main even allowing for Ballys exit.

 

[Joey66]

The selling of Ball to Arsenal was a horrendous mistake. Ball was a great player, probably my favourite ever, but he was never a Captain, no player could live up to his expectations. That Everton team should well have won more, at that time there was also a fantastic Leeds United team to contend with. Squads were a lot smaller then and that never helped.

The Catt stated he made a worse mistake than selling Bally - Bobby Collins to Leeds who saved them from relegation into the old division 3 & then helped them to promotion in 1965 to the old division 1 the top league in 1965 Bobby was football player of the year as Leeds lost the title on only goal difference & lost in the final v the other lot over the park in the FA Cup ....

The worse thing was Colins stayed as coach at Leeds when became a thorn in our side for 5 years .
He gave them the will to win - hence Dirty Leeds they could play but were slides,,

 

[Cameron Manning]

Whenever they talk about the First Division managers of the sixties he hardly gets a mention
It's all about shankley Nicholson & Busby

And yet Harry was, at the very least, as good as Shankley and Nicholson. He came from Sheffield Wed. whose team finished runners up to the fabulous Spurs team of that time. He built a very good team which won the title in 1963, got narrowly beat in the European Cup by the eventual winners Inter Milan 1-0 over the two legs. That team stayed around the top teams without winning anything until 1966 when we won the cup, he cemented this team after that cup final by signing Alan Ball and we competed and got better by winning the title again in 1970, Four or five of those players went to the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, they started the following season poorly, I think the World Cup games had taken it’s toll on those players, Ball fell out with his teammates and Catterick, Harry sold him to Arsenal, his health failed and he made some poor signings and Everton fell out of the running after Moore’s health also deteriorated and we stayed like that until Kendall came and after a very poor start with some terrible signings started to get things right after his appointment of Colin Harvey as his assistent and gave us four great seasons but then left for Spain after Liverpool fans got all English teams banned from Euopean competitions for five years. Kenwright joined the board then bought the club and here we are now nearly destitute but on a slow climb back.
Yes Harry should have won more trophies but like those before him and since we never have gone on a really long run of success in any era, strange but true. The Kenwright era is the longest run of non success in the clubs history.