The is the first in a series of posts about some of Everton's heroic players who don't always receive the praise that they deserve.
Mention the words ‘own goal’, to any football fan from the
sixties and they will immediately think – Sandy Brown. Mention the name Sandy
Brown to any football fan from the sixties and they will immediately think ‘own
goal’. It is a remarkable that an entire career can be compressed into one
moment from a poor Everton performance in an otherwise glorious season. For many reasons I don't intend to mention to game, the opposition or the score!
I have written before about my first visit to Goodison.
The experience was unforgettable, unlike the game itself! My
second game was a far more heart stopping experience. On Wednesday 23d November
1966 we were at home to Real Zaragoza in the European Cup Winners Cup. Everton
had lost the first leg in Spain 0 -2 and took a second half lead. There
followed an all-out assault on the Zaragoza goal which failed to produce a
second. Everton single goal was scored by … Sandy Brown. A few weeks earlier he
had scored in a 3 – 1 win against Liverpool, a fact overshadowed by a stunning
brace from Alan Ball. In 251 games for the blues he netted 11 goals. I remember a game against Ipswich in 1969 in
which Everton were struggling after a controversial ‘hand of God’, goal from Crawford
had put Ipswich ahead, and Alan Ball had missed a penalty. A point was rescued
by a 25 yard drive from Brown.
Such was Sandy’s versatility that he became known,
unfortunately as a ‘utility player’, which gave the impression that he was jack
of all trades but a master of none. In fact, he did play in almost all
positions during the Catterick years. He operated very effectively as a
defensive midfielder. Ivan Ponting wrote in his 2014 obituary - ‘Catterick sometimes deployed him as a shield in front of the
back four, typically when facing West Ham, as he was adept at cutting off
passes to Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters’. Bearing in mind the damage that those
two players did to West Germany, this was no mean feat.
When called upon, he took over at the heart of the defence
It is tempting to say he could play
in every position except in goal but this is not correct. He did in fact play
in goal against Newcastle in 1967 after Gordon West was sent off.
And he could also look after
himself. Most memorably he was sent off in the 4th minute of the
infamous 1 – 1 draw against Leeds in December 1964 for punching Johnny Giles.
This was the famous game in which the referee took both teams off the pitch for
10 minutes in what became known as the Battle of Goodison.
It is ironic that the season that
saw him establish himself in the left back position was the League Winning
1969/70 during which he scored that own
goal.
But for me there was far more to
Sandy Brown than one misdirected diving header. He was a tough but talented and
memorably loyal player.
A truly unsung hero.
