‘Show him your arse alehouse!’
They were five words which I often heard from
someone who stood near me in the Gwladys Street end from the mid to late 1960s.
He wasn’t encouraging Johnny Morrissey in any literal way. In truth he was referring
to the only part of Morrissey’s anatomy that most defenders saw as he sped away
from them.
Johnny Morrissey joined Everton from across Stanley
Park at the start of the Championship winning 1962/63 season. According to the
LFC History Website, he was sold for a ‘giveaway’ £10k without Bill Shankly’s
knowledge or agreement. Shankly threatened to resign as a result! There’s a
thought to ponder –
He went straight into Everton’s first team and
scored in a 2 – 2 Draw against the reds at Goodison in September 1962. He quickly followed this
up with a hat-trick against WBA in a 4 – 2 win. He scored a total of 7 goals as
Everton took the title with a record 61 points.
From 1966 he was a first team regular. He was known
for his pace, crossing and a powerful shot. He was also known as a hard player
– unusual for an outside left. Jackie Charlton had said that he kept a book
where he listed players against whom he wanted to extract revenge.
According to Colin Harvey, Morrissey clattered him
in one match –
“We knew all about the so-called
black book,” laughed Colin. “Johnny absolutely clattered Jackie one afternoon
then went over to pick him up. As he bent over he muttered into his ear ‘you
can put that in your ****ing book now!”
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/mersey-hard-men-johnny-morrissey-3433534
This led to the ‘alehouse’ nickname although he was
universally known as Mogsy. But his toughness was combined with real skill.
Colin Harvey again –
“He was an excellent crosser, with
both feet. He would get up and down and put a good shift in every game. He was
a real team player and when you put those qualities together you had a very
good footballer.
“But he knew how to tackle, too!”
He famously scored the winning
penalty against Leeds in the 1968 FA Cup Semi Final. His only previous penalty had been against Sunderland at the end of the 1966/7 Season when he was on his way to a hat-trick. He had volunteered because Alan Ball was suspended. Sadly, he
was to be on the losing side in the final.
Two years later he got his second
Championship medal, appearing in 41 of 42 games in that memorable season. One
highlight was the coolest of strikes in the 3 – 2 away win at Wolves –
He also scored twice in the 6 – 2
destruction of Stoke City in November 1969.
His fortunes declined after 1970 along
with many of his colleagues. He appeared 314 times for the Blues, scoring 50 goals.
There are may great names associated
with Everton in the 1960s – Ball, Young, Vernon, Harvey, Royle, Kendall. Johnny
Morrissey deserves his place among them as another if not ‘unsung’ then
certainly less-sung hero!
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