BATTLE OF GOODISON
THIS MEANS WAR
Leeds have worn their ‘dirty’ prefix like a badge of honour for almost half a century, but the Whites weren’t even the worst aggressors in 1964’s barbaric Battle of Goodison – the most savage, bone-crunching showdown in English football history
Words Simon Creasey
Nothing, as the famous saying goes, says ‘happy fourth minute’ like a good old-fashioned studs-up challenge to the chest that leaves the cuts to prove it. On November 7, 1964, that’s what Goodison Park bore witness to, when one of the most brutal and bruising fixtures in the history of English football kicked off – a little too literally – in style.
When Everton tussled with newly promoted Leeds in the First Division, that early reducer was returned with a haymaker which earned Toffees left-back Sandy Brown a rare red card of the era. Later, two players were carried off following a blood-curdling challenge that led some fans to believe both were dead as they lay motionless on the ground. This white-hot game, played on a backdrop of unruly unrest on Merseyside, was so ferocious that referee Ken Stokes took the sides off for 10 minutes to cool down – an English league first.
Jack Archer of The People frequently winced throughout a “spine-chilling encounter”, The Observer’s John Arlott lamented an “unhappy day for English football”, while The Guardian’s Brian Crowther lambasted supporters for their “disgusting behaviour”.
So why was the match which birthed ‘Dirty Leeds’ so violent? Was the Battle of Goodison really as terrible as those newspaper reports made out? The answer, of course, is ‘no’: it was much worse…
It all started with Bobby Collins. At just 5ft 3in, Leeds’ skipper may have been diminutive in stature, but the Scot more than made up for it with his snarling midfield marauding. And he had an axe to grind.
The match was his first league game back at Goodison since Everton let him leave two and a half years earlier – an unwanted departure which continued to rankle with him. Collins had been snapped up in the meantime by Don Revie, who was spearheading the revival of a club then languishing in the Second Division.