Dixie Dean

William Ralph "Dixie" Dean (22 January 1907 – 1 March 1980) was an English footballer who played as a centre forward.

Dean holds the record for the most goals scored in a single season in top-flight English football, with 60.

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, and between the ages of seven and eleven 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 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. 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 eleven he attended Albert (Memorial) Industrial School, a borstal 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 fourteen and worked for Wirral Railway as an apprentice fitter; his father also worked there, and had been working since he was eleven years old for Great Western Railway.

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, 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.

It was at Pensby United where Dean attracted the attention of a Tranmere Rovers scout.

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).

In Dean's obituary in The Times, Geoffrey Green suggested that the nickname was taken from a "Dixie" song that was popular during Dean's childhood; there was "something of the Uncle Tom 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").

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 sixteen at the time.

Whilst at Tranmere, he was on the receiving end of a tough challenge which resulted in him losing a testicle in a reserve game against Altrincham.

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

He played in 39 of Everton’s 42 games that season.

Everton scored 102 league goals in 1927-28 and won the title with 53 points, two points ahead of Huddersfield with 51.

At that time, it was two points for a win.

With three points for a win, Everton would have got 73 points.

He scored 18 goals in 16 appearances for England.

In the 1933 FA Cup Final against Manchester City, Dean became the first ever footballer to wear the number 9 shirt.

Dean was born at 313 Laird Street in Birkenhead, Cheshire, across the River Mersey from Liverpool.

Dean's family on both sides hailed from Chester.

He was the grandson of Ralph Brett, a train driver who drove the royal train during the reign of George V.

A statue of Dean was unveiled outside Goodison Park in May 2001.

A year later, he became one of 22 players inducted into the inaugural English Football Hall of Fame.

He is regarded as one of the greatest centre-forwards of all time and was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002.

Born in Birkenhead, 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.