William Ralph "Dixie" Dean (22 January 1907 – 1 March 1980) was an English
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...
who played as a centre forward. He is regarded as one of the greatest centre-forwards of all time and was inducted into the
English Football Hall of Fame
The English Football Hall of Fame is housed at the National Football Museum in Manchester, England. The Hall aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of the all-time top English footballing talents, as well as non-English players and man ...
in 2002.
Born in
Birkenhead
Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...
, he began his career at his hometown club
Tranmere Rovers before moving on to
Everton, the club he had supported as a child. A prolific goalscorer, he was particularly known for having a penchant for scoring goals with his head, courtesy of his elevation and athleticism, as well as his powerful and accurate heading ability, which has led pundits to describe him as one of the greatest aerial specialists of all time.
Dean played the majority of his career at Everton before injuries caught up with him and he moved on to new challenges at
Notts County, and eventually
Sligo Rovers
Sligo Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí Shligigh) is an Irish professional football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland.
The club was founded in 1928 ...
. He is best known for his exploits during the 1927–28 season, which saw him score a record 60 league goals. He also scored 18 goals in 16 appearances for England.
A statue of Dean was unveiled outside
Goodison Park
Goodison Park is a football stadium in the Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area 2 miles (3 km) north of Liverpool ...
in May 2001. A year later, he became one of 22 players inducted into the inaugural
English Football Hall of Fame
The English Football Hall of Fame is housed at the National Football Museum in Manchester, England. The Hall aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of the all-time top English footballing talents, as well as non-English players and man ...
. In the
1933 FA Cup Final
The 1933 FA Cup Final was a football match between Everton and Manchester City on 29 April 1933 at Wembley Stadium in London. The deciding match of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (better known ...
against Manchester City, Dean became the first ever footballer to wear the number 9 shirt.
Early years
Dean was born at 313 Laird Street in
Birkenhead
Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...
,
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
, across the
River Mersey
The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed part ...
from
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
. Dean's family on both sides hailed from
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
. He was the grandson of Ralph Brett, a train driver who drove the royal train during the reign of
George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936.
Born duri ...
. Dean grew up as a supporter of
Everton thanks to the efforts of his father, William Sr., who took him to a match during the 1914–1915 title-winning season.
Dean's childhood coincided with the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, and between the ages of 7 and 11 he delivered cow's milk to local families as part of the war effort: "Well, it was war time you see, so you were grafting all the time. I used to take milk out. I'd be up at half-past four in the morning and go down and get the ponies and the milk floats, then I'd come out to this place in Upton, between
Upton
Upton may refer to:
Places United Kingdom England
* Upton, Slough, Berkshire (in Buckinghamshire until 1974)
* Upton, Buckinghamshire, a hamlet near Aylesbury
* Upton, Cambridgeshire, Peterborough
* Upton, Huntingdonshire, a location in Cambridge ...
and
Arrowe Park
Arrowe Park is an area to the west of Birkenhead, within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is situated on the Wirral Peninsula, adjacent to the Woodchurch housing estate and to the south of the large village of Upto ...
, and Burgess' Farm was there. We used to collect the milk in the big urns and take it out to people's houses, serving it out of the ladle. And not only that, you had an allotment, and that was in school time. And there was no such thing as pinching and stealing and all that bloody caper. In those days, you were growing all that stuff and you needed it for the war time."
Dean attended Laird Street School, but felt he received no formal education: "My only lesson was football ... I used to give the pens out on Friday afternoons ... the ink, and the chalks. That was the only job I had in school ... I never had any lessons."
When he turned 11 he attended Albert (Memorial) Industrial School, a
borstal
A Borstal was a type of youth detention centre in the United Kingdom, several member states of the Commonwealth and the Republic of Ireland. In India, such a detention centre is known as a Borstal school.
Borstals were run by HM Prison Service ...
school in Birkenhead, because of the football facilities on offer. The Dean family home had little room for him due to the family's size; Dean was happy with the arrangement, since he could play on the school's football team. Dean falsely told fellow pupils he had been caught stealing, since he wanted to be "one of the boys".
He left school at 14 and worked for
Wirral Railway as an apprentice fitter; his father also worked there, and had been working since he was 11 years old
for
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
. The elder Dean later became a train driver before moving to Birkenhead to work for Wirral Railway, to be closer to his future wife (and William Jr.'s mother) Sarah. Dean's father would later retire with the company.
Dean took a night job so that he could concentrate on his first love, football: "The other two apprentice fitters, they didn't like the night job because there were too many bloody rats around there, coming out of the Anglo-Oil company and the Vacuum Oil Company ... rats as big as whippets. So I took their night job, and of course, I could always have a game of football then."
Dean would kick the trespassing rats against the wall.
The sons of Dean's manager at Wirral Railway were directors of
New Brighton A.F.C.
New Brighton Association Football Club is the name of two football clubs from the seaside resort of New Brighton, in Wallasey, Merseyside in England. The original club founded in 1921 were members of the Football League from 1923 until 1951, ...
, and they were interested in signing Dean. However, Dean told the club he was not interested in signing and instead played for local team Pensby United in
Pensby
Pensby () is a large village on the Wirral Peninsula, in Merseyside, England. It is located to the north of the town of Heswall and approximately to the south west of Thingwall. Historically within Cheshire, the area is part of the Pensby an ...
. It was at Pensby United where Dean attracted the attention of a Tranmere Rovers scout.
"Dixie" nickname
Some said that Dean and his family disliked his nickname, and preferred people to call him "Bill" or "Billy". The popular theory regarding how Dean acquired his nickname is that he did so in his youth, perhaps due to his dark complexion and hair (which bore a resemblance to people from the
Southern United States
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
). In Dean's obituary in ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'',
Geoffrey Green
Geoffrey Green OBE (12 May 1911 – 9 May 1990) was an English football writer. Geoffrey Green was educated at Shrewsbury School, where he played football. He started writing about football for The Times in the 1930s. He is considered to be t ...
suggested that the nickname was taken from a "Dixie" song that was popular during Dean's childhood; there was "something of the
Uncle Tom
Uncle Tom is the title character of Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 novel, ''Uncle Tom's Cabin''. The character was seen by many readers as a ground-breaking humanistic portrayal of a slave, one who uses nonresistance and gives his life to protect ...
about his features".
Alternatively, Tranmere Rovers club historian Gilbert Upton uncovered evidence, verified by Dean's Godmother, that the name "Dixie" was a corruption of his childhood nickname, Digsy (acquired from his approach to the children's game of tag, where Dean would dig his fist into a girl's back— hence "Digsy").
Club career
Tranmere Rovers
He played football for Laird Street School, Moreton Bible Class, Heswall and Pensby United. He then joined the pro ranks with his local club,
Tranmere Rovers in November 1923. He was 16 at the time.
Whilst at Tranmere, he was on the receiving end of a tough challenge which resulted in him losing a
testicle
A testicle or testis (plural testes) is the male reproductive gland or gonad in all bilaterians, including humans. It is homologous to the female ovary. The functions of the testes are to produce both sperm and androgens, primarily testostero ...
in a reserve game against
Altrincham
Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...
. Immediately following the challenge, a teammate rubbed the area to ease the pain. Dean shouted "Don't rub 'em, count 'em!"
In his 16 months at Tranmere spanning seasons 1923/24 and 1924/25 he scored 27 goals in 30 league appearances. All 27 were in the second of those two seasons in which he averaged exactly a goal per game. His exploits attracted the interest of many clubs across England, including
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
and
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
.
Upon leaving Tranmere Rovers, secretary
Bert Cooke
Herbert Michael Cooke was a football manager. He managed Tranmere Rovers from 1912–1935, the longest spell of any manager at the club. He oversaw their first Football League match in 1921.
Management career
Born in Birkenhead in 1882, Co ...
reneged on an agreement to pay 10 percent of the transfer fee to Dean. Dean was paid one percent of the fee, which he gave to his parents (who donated it to
Birkenhead General Hospital).
Everton
His father had taken him to a league game at
Goodison Park
Goodison Park is a football stadium in the Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area 2 miles (3 km) north of Liverpool ...
when he was eight years old. It was a dream come true for Dean when Everton secretary
Thomas H. McIntosh arranged to meet him at the Woodside Hotel in 1925. Dean was so excited that he ran the distance from his home in north Birkenhead to the riverside to meet him.
He signed for Everton in March 1925 having just turned 18.
He later revealed that he expected a £300 signing fee to be given to his parents when he transferred to Everton. They received only £30, and Tranmere Rovers manager Bert Cooke told him "that's all the League will allow". Dean appealed to John McKenna, chairman of
the Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...
, but was told "I'm afraid you've signed, and that's it."
Dean signed for Everton for £3,000, then a record fee received for Tranmere Rovers. He made an immediate impact, scoring 32 goals in his first full season. A motorcycling accident at
Holywell
Holywell may refer to:
* Holywell, Flintshire, Wales
* Holywell, Swords, Ireland
* Holywell, Bedfordshire, England
* Holywell, Cambridgeshire, England
* Holywell, Cornwall, England
* Holywell, Dorset, England
* Holywell, Eastbourne, East Susse ...
,
North Wales
, area_land_km2 = 6,172
, postal_code_type = Postcode
, postal_code = LL, CH, SY
, image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg
, map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...
in summer 1926 left Dean with a fractured skull and jaw, and doctors were unsure whether he would be able to play again. In his next game for Everton he scored using his head, leading Evertonians to joke that the doctor left a metal plate in Dean's head.
Dean's greatest point of note is that he is still the only player in English football to score 60 league goals in one season (
1927–28).
At that season's end he was 21 years old. Middlesbrough's
George Camsell, who holds the highest goals-to-games ratio for England, had scored 59 league goals the previous season, although this was in the Second Division.
In that 1927-28 season Everton won the
First Division title. When they were relegated to
Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
in 1930 Dean stayed with them. The club went on to immediately win the Second Division in
1931
Events
January
* January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics.
* January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa.
* January 22 – Sir I ...
, followed by the First Division again in
1932
Events January
* January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel.
* January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...
. They then immediately won the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
in
1933
Events
January
* January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand.
* January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...
(in which he scored in the
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
) – a sequence unmatched since.
In December 1933, Dean issued a public appeal to have stolen goods returned to him. ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' issued a statement: "Dixie Dean, the Everton and England forward appeals to the thief who robbed him of an international cap and presentation clock to return them. His house in Caldy Road, Walton, Liverpool was entered in his absence over Christmas, and the thief left behind gold watches and jewelry (sic)." By then, Dean was captain of the side. However, the harsh physical demands of the game (as it was played then) took their toll and he was dropped from the first team in 1937.
Notts County
Dean went on to play for
Notts County for one season, in which he scored three goals in nine games.
Sligo Rovers
At age 32, Dean signed for Irish team Sligo Rovers in January 1939 to help the club in their
FAI Cup
The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...
campaign. On his arrival, the Railway station in
Sligo
Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the List of urban areas ...
was said to be filled with locals trying to catch a glimpse of him. Dean scored ten goals in seven games for the club, including five in a 7–1 win over
Waterford
"Waterford remains the untaken city"
, mapsize = 220px
, pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe
, pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe
, pushpin_relief = 1
, coordinates ...
(which remains a club record for the most goals scored in a single game). He also played in four Cup matches, scoring once (in the 1–1 final against
Shelbourne, who won the replay 1–0). Dean's runner-up medal was later stolen from his hotel room; on a return trip to Ireland to watch Rovers 39 years later in the 1978
FAI Cup
The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...
final, a package was delivered to his hotel room with the medal inside. He is considered a legend at
The Showgrounds (Sligo) and is featured in the club's outdoor museum.
Hurst
Dean ended his professional playing days with
Hurst (now
Ashton United
Ashton United Football Club is a football club in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England. They are currently members of and play at Hurst Cross.
History
The club was founded in 1878 as Hurst Football Club and the earliest known match ...
) in the
Cheshire County League
The Cheshire County League was a football league founded in the north west of England in 1919, drawing its teams largely from Cheshire, surrounding English counties and North Wales.
Initially the league was dominated by the reserve teams of Footba ...
1939–40 season, managing two games (and one goal) before the outbreak of war truncated his career. He made his debut in a 4–0 loss to
Stalybridge Celtic
Stalybridge Celtic Football Club is an English football club based in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. They are currently members of the and play at Bower Fold. The team traditionally plays in a blue and white strip.
In 1921 Stalybridge Celtic ...
; 5,600 people attended the game, paying sixpence, earning the club gate receipts of £140.
International career
Dean made his début for the
England national football team
The England national football team has represented England in international Association football, football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in Engl ...
against British rivals Wales at the
Racecourse Ground
The Racecourse Ground ( cy, Y Cae Ras) is a football stadium in Wrexham, Wales. It is the home of Wrexham A.F.C.
It is the world's oldest international football stadium that still hosts international matches, having hosted Wales' first home i ...
in
Wrexham
Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
in February 1927, less than a month after his 20th birthday. His final game for England came in a 1–0 victory over Ireland in October 1932 at
Blackpool F.C.
Blackpool Football Club is a professional association football club based in the seaside town of Blackpool, Lancashire, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1887, th ...
's
Bloomfield Road, when Dean was 25 years old.
Dean was involved in the
1927
Events January
* January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General.
* January 7
* ...
and
1929
This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...
editions of the
British Home Championship
The British Home Championship
* sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp
* gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta
* cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...
. During the 1927 edition, Dean scored four goals in his two games for England and scored twice against Scotland at Hampden Park. Despite the loss, the Scots won the competition overall and applauded Dean (who finished the tournament as top scorer). In the 1929 edition, he scored in his only outing against Ireland at Goodison Park.
The only international competitions outside the British Home Championship during Dean's international career were the 1928 and 1936 Olympic Games and the inaugural
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
, which took place in
1930
Events
January
* January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...
; however, neither
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
nor England participated. Dean represented England 16 times, scoring 18 goals in 9 games (including
hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...
s against Belgium and Luxembourg).
Personal life and post-football career
Dean became a
Freemason
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
in 1931 while playing for Everton and England. He was initiated in Randle Holme Lodge, No. 3261, in Birkenhead on 18 February 1931.
After retiring, he went on to run the Dublin Packet
pub
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
in
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
(Everton and the Dublin Packet commemorate this with memorabilia) and work at
Littlewoods
Littlewoods was a retail and football betting company founded in Liverpool, England, by John Moores in 1923. By the 1980s, it had grown to become the largest private company in Europe, but subsequently declined in the face of increased com ...
football pools
In the United Kingdom, the football pools, often referred to as "the pools", is a betting pool based on predicting the outcome of association football matches taking place in the coming week. The pools are typically cheap to enter, and may encou ...
as a porter at their Walton Hall Avenue offices, where he was remembered by fellow workers as a quiet, unassuming man.
Declining health and death
In January 1972, Dean was admitted to St Catherine's hospital in Birkenhead suffering from the effects of
influenza
Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...
and was released a month later. In November 1976, he had his right leg amputated due to a
blood clot
A thrombus (plural thrombi), colloquially called a blood clot, is the final product of the blood coagulation step in hemostasis. There are two components to a thrombus: aggregated platelets and red blood cells that form a plug, and a mesh of c ...
; his health was declining, and he became increasingly homebound.
Dean died on 1 March 1980 at age 73 after suffering a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
at Everton's home ground
Goodison Park
Goodison Park is a football stadium in the Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area 2 miles (3 km) north of Liverpool ...
whilst watching a match against their closest rivals,
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
. It was the first time that he had visited Goodison Park in several years, due to ill health. "He belongs to the company of the supremely great, like
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
,
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
and
Rembrandt
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...
", said
Bill Shankly
William Shankly (2 September 1913 – 29 September 1981) was a Scottish football player and manager, who is best known for his time as manager of Liverpool. Shankly brought success to Liverpool, gaining promotion to the First Division and winnin ...
. His funeral took place at St James' Church on Laird Street (the street where he was born) in Birkenhead. He was survived by his four children: William, Geoffrey, Ralph and Barbara; he outlived his wife Ethel, who died of a heart attack in 1974 after 43 years of marriage.
Legacy
Dean was an internationally known figure. Military records show that during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, an Italian prisoner of war was captured by British troops in the Western Desert and told his captors "fuck your
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
and fuck your Dixie Dean". One of the soldiers present was Liverpool-born Patrick Connelly, who later went into show business using the pseudonym "
Bill Dean".
Everton arranged a testimonial for Dean on 7 April 1964. Over 34,000 people saw teams from Scotland and England (composed of players from Everton and Liverpool) compete; The "Scots" (with one Englishman and one Welshman) won, 3–1.
The match raised £7,000 for Dean.
Dean's 1933 FA Cup winners medal sold for £18,213 at auction in March 2001. In May 2001 local sculptor Tom Murphy created a statue of Dean, which was erected outside the Park End of Goodison Park at a cost of £75,000 with the inscription "Footballer, Gentleman, Evertonian".
In 2002, Dean was an inaugural inductee to the
English Football Hall of Fame
The English Football Hall of Fame is housed at the National Football Museum in Manchester, England. The Hall aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of the all-time top English footballing talents, as well as non-English players and man ...
. There is an annual Dixie Dean award, which is given to the Merseyside player of the year; it has been won by players from his former clubs (Tranmere and Everton) and Liverpool F.C.
When asked if he thought his record of scoring 60 goals in a season would be broken, Dean said: "People ask me if that 60-goal record will ever be beaten. I think it will. But there's only one man who'll do it. That's the fellow that walks on the water. I think he's about the only one." In total, Dean scored 383 goals for Everton in 433 appearances—an exceptional strike-rate which includes 37 hat-tricks. He was known as a sporting player, never booked or sent off during his career despite rough treatment and provocation from opponents. Only
Arthur Rowley has scored more English-league career goals; however, while Rowley made 619 appearances and scored 433 goals (0.70 goals per game) Dean scored 379 goals in 438 games (0.87 goals per game).
In December 1930 and again in October 1931, Dixie Dean became the first Everton player to score two hat-tricks in one month of competitive play. His record stood for nearly 90 years until September 2020, when it was equalled by
Dominic Calvert-Lewin
Dominic Nathaniel Calvert-Lewin (born 16 March 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Everton and the England national team.
Calvert-Lewin began his career at local team Sheffield United, making his seni ...
.
Dean was mentioned in a series 2 episode of ''
The Thin Blue Line''.
Honours and achievements
Everton
*
Football League First Division
The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...
:
1927–28,
1931–32
*
Second Division Championship:
1930–31
*
FA Charity Shield
The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier Le ...
:
1928
Events January
* January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA.
* January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...
,
1932
Events January
* January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel.
* January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...
*
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
:
1932–33
Sligo Rovers
*
League of Ireland runners-up
1938–39
*
FAI Cup
The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...
runners-up: 1938–39
England
*
British Home Championship
The British Home Championship
* sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp
* gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta
* cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...
:
1926–27 (shared),
1931–32 (shared)
Individual
*England Caps: 16
*England Goals: 18
*Football League Representative appearances: 6
*Football League Representative goals: 9
*''
Sunday Pictorial
The ''Sunday Mirror'' is the Sunday sister paper of the ''Daily Mirror''. It began life in 1915 as the ''Sunday Pictorial'' and was renamed the ''Sunday Mirror'' in 1963. In 2016 it had an average weekly circulation of 620,861, dropping marke ...
'' Trophy (60 league goals in 1927–28)
*Lewis's Medal (Commemorate 200 league goals in 199 appearances)
*Hall of Fame Trophy (1971)
*
Football Writers' Association
The Football Writers' Association (FWA) is an association of football journalists and correspondents writing for English newspapers and agencies. It presents the Footballer of the Year Award, the oldest and most distinguished award given in the d ...
inscribed silver salver (1976)
*
English Football Hall of Fame
The English Football Hall of Fame is housed at the National Football Museum in Manchester, England. The Hall aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of the all-time top English footballing talents, as well as non-English players and man ...
(Inaugural inductee, 2002)
*Most goals in an English top-flight season: 60 (1927–28)
*Seasonwise World Top Scorer: 1927–28 (60 goals)
Seasonwise World Top Scorer
rsssf.com
Career statistics
Club
International goals
:''Scores and results list England's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Dean goal.''
See also
* List of men's footballers with 500 or more goals
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dean, Dixie
English footballers
England international footballers
Association football forwards
Everton F.C. players
Sportspeople from Birkenhead
Notts County F.C. players
Tranmere Rovers F.C. players
Sligo Rovers F.C. players
Ashton United F.C. players
League of Ireland players
York City F.C. wartime guest players
1907 births
1980 deaths
English Football Hall of Fame inductees
English Football League players
First Division/Premier League top scorers
English Football League representative players
FA Cup Final players
English Freemasons