Dixie Dean

At 73 years old, Dixie Dean has this physical status:

William Ralph "Dixie" Dean (22 January 1907 – 1 March 1980) was an English footballer who played as a centre forward. He began his football career with Tranmere Rovers before moving to Everton, whom he had admired as a youth.

He was most well-known for scoring goals with his head.

Dean spent the majority of his career at Everton before injuries caught up with him and he moved to new challenges in Notts County.

He is best known for his exploits during the 1927-28 season, which saw him score a record 60 league goals.

In 16 appearances for England, he has scored 18 goals in 16 appearances. In May 2001, a statue of Dean was unveiled outside Goodison Park.

He was one of 22 players inducted into the inaugural English Football Hall of Fame a year later.

Dean was the first Everton player to wear the number-9 shirt, which would make the team's name synonymous in later years.

Early years

Dean was born in 313 Laird Street in Birkenhead, Cheshire, across the River Mersey from Liverpool. Dean's family from Chester was on both directions hailed. He was the grandson of Ralph Brett, a train driver who sailed the royal train during George V. Dean's reign as a supporter of Everton, thanks to his father's efforts, William Sr., who took him to a match during the 1914-1915 championship championship season.

Dean's childhood coincided with the First World War, and he gave cow's milk to local families between the ages of 7 and 11 as part of the war effort: "Well, it was war time you see," says Dean. I used to drink milk. I'd get up at half-past four in the morning and go downstairs and get the ponies and the milk floats, then I'd come out to this place in Upton, between Upton and Arrowe Park, 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. You had an allotment, not just that, and that was during school hours. And there was no such thing as pinching and stealing, as well as the bloody caper. "You were growing all the 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." On Friday afternoons, I used to give the pens out: the ink and the chalks. That was the only job I had in school... "I never had any lessons." He attended Albert (Memorial) Industrial School, a borstal school in Birkenhead, because of the football facilities on offer. Due to his family's size, Dean was content with the arrangement; he could play on the school's football team. Since he wished to be "one of the boys," Dean inadvertently told classmates he had been caught stealing.

He left school at 14 and worked for Wirral Railway as an apprentice fitter; his father was also employed there, and he had been working for Great Western Railways since he was 11 years old. The elder Dean retired as a train driver before heading 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 leave the firm despite his efforts.

Dean took a night job to focus on his first passion, football: "They didn't like the night job because there were just too many bloody rats around here," says the Anglo-Oil company and the Vacuum Oil Company — rats the size of whippets. So I did have a night job, but I'm sure I'd have a game of football later." Dean would kick the trespassing rats against the wall.

Dean's sons were directors of New Brighton A.F.C., and they were keen to sign Dean. However, Dean told the club that he was not interested in signing and instead played for Pensby United, a local team. Dean drew the attention of a Tranmere Rovers scout at Pensby United.

Dean and his family disapproved of his name, according to others, who called him "Bill" or "Billy." According to the most common explanation of how Dean got his nickname, he did so in his youth, perhaps due to his brown complexion and hair (which resemble people from the Southern United States). Geoffrey Green opined that the name was derived from a "Dixie" song that was popular during Dean's youth; in Dean's obituary, "something of the Uncle Tom" was revealed; "something of the Uncle Tom" was missing from his appearance.

Gilbert Upton, a Tranmere Rovers club historian, found evidence, backed up by Dean's Godmother, that the word "Dixie" was a misappropriation of his childhood nickname Digsy (acquired from his introduction to tag, where Dean would dig his fist into a girl's back, resulting in "Digsy").

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Club career

He played for Laird Street School, Moreton Bible Class, Heswall, and Pensby United. In November 1923, he joined Tranmere Rovers in the pro ranks. He was 16 at the time.

Dean shouted "Don't rub 'em, count 'em!"

He scored 27 goals in 30 league appearances in his 16 months at Tranmere, including seasons 1923-24 and 1924/25. Both 27 players were in the second of those two seasons, in which he only scored once per game. Several clubs in England, including Arsenal and Newcastle United, were attracted the attention of several clubs across the region, including Arsenal and Newcastle United. When leaving Tranmere Rovers, secretary Bert Cooke reneged on an agreement to pay ten percent of the transfer fee to Dean. Dean was paid one-percent of the bill, which he gave to his parents (who donated it to Birkenhead General Hospital).

When he was eight years old, his father took him to a league match at Goodison Park. When Everton secretary Thomas H. McIntosh arranged to meet him at the Woodside Hotel in 1925, it was a dream come true for him. Dean was so excited that he ran the 2.5 miles (4.0 km) distance from his home in north Birkenhead to the riverside to visit him. He signed for Everton in March 1925 but he had just turned 18 years old.

When he moved to Everton, he later revealed that he wanted a £300 signing fee to be given to his parents. They only received £30, and Tranmere Rovers boss Bert Cooke told them "that's all the League will allow." Dean pleaded with John McKenna, the Football Association's chairman, but was told, "I'm afraid you've signed, and that's it." Dean borrowed £3,000 from Everton, after a record fee was paid for Tranmere Rovers. In his first full season, he made a huge difference by scoring 32 goals. Dean suffered with a fractured skull and jaw in summer 1926, and doctors were uncertain whether he'd be able to play again. He scored with his head in Everton's next game, sparking Evertonians to chuckle about the fact that the doctor left a metal plate in Dean's head.

Dean's best point of note is that he is now the only English football player to score 60 league goals in a season (1927-28). He was 21 years old at the time of the season. Despite being in the Second Division, Middlesbrough's George Camsell, who has the highest goals-to-games ratio for England, had scored 59 league goals this season.

Everton won the First Division championship in 1927-28 years. Dean stayed with them when they were relegated to the Second Division in 1930. In 1931, the club won the Second Division right away, followed by the First Division in 1932. They then won the FA Cup in 1933 (in which they scored in the final) – a sequence that has been unmatched since.

Dean pleaded guilty to the fact that stolen property was returned to him in December 1933. "Dixie Dean, the Everton and England forward, has appealed to the robber who robbed him of an international cap and return clock to return them," the Times said. In his absence over Christmas, the robbery in Caldy Road, Walton, Liverpool, was discovered, leaving gold watches and jewelry behind. (sic)" By then, Dean was the team's captain. However, the sport's strenuous physical demands (as it was played then) took their toll, and he was suspended from the first squad in 1937.

Dean continued to play for Notts County for one season, in which he scored three goals in nine games.

Dean signed for Sligo Rovers in January 1939 to assist the club in their FAI Cup debut at the age of 32. On his arrival, the Railway station in Sligo was expected to be packed with locals eager to get a glimpse of him. Dean scored ten goals in seven games for the club, including five in a 7–1 victory over Waterford (which is a club record for the most goals scored in a single game). He appeared in four Cup matches, scoring once (in the 1–1 final against Shelbourne, who claimed 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 final, a box with the medal inside was delivered to his hotel room. He is regarded as a hero at The Showgrounds (Sligo) and is on display in the club's outdoor museum.

Dean spent his playing days with Hurst (now Ashton United) in the Cheshire County League 1939-40, winning two games (and one goal) before he was truncated by war. He made his debut in a 4–0 loss to Stalybridge Celtic; 5,600 people attended the game, paying sixpence, resulting in the club's gate receipts of £140.

International career

Dean made his England national football team debut against Wales at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham in February 1927, less than a month after his 20th birthday. England defeated Ireland 1–0 at Blackpool F.C. in October 1932, his last game for the team. Dean was 25 years old on Bloomfield Road in Bloomfield, Alabama.

Dean appeared in the British Home Championship's 1927 and 1929 editions. Dean scored four goals in his two England games and twice against Scotland at Hampden Park during 1927. Despite losing, the Scots triumphed in the overall tournament and applauded Dean (who finished the tournament as the top scorer). In the 1929 version of the game, he scored in his only outing against Ireland at Goodison Park.

The 1928 and 1936 Olympic Games and the inaugural FIFA World Cup, which took place in 1930, were the only international competitions outside of the British Home Championships during Dean's international career; however, neither Great Britain nor England participated. Dean scored 18 goals in nine games (including hat-tricks against Belgium and Luxembourg) while representing England 16 times.

Personal life and post-football career

When playing for Everton and England in 1931, Dean became a Freemason. He was installed in Randle Holme Lodge, No. 1. On February 18, 1931, 3261, in Birkenhead, was born.

He moved to run the Dublin Packet pub in Chester (Everton and the Dublin Packet commemorated this by memorabilia) and work at Littlewoods football pools, where he was remembered as a quiet, unassuming man by coworkers.

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