Pat Van Den Hauwe

by Pat Van Den Hauwe

  I can’t even recall where I was the day UEFA placed an indefinite ban on all English clubs in European competitions, with a proposition that Liverpool had to serve an extra three years once the ban was lifted. I was shell-shocked. What had we done wrong? What had the other clubs who had qualified for Europe done wrong? We were being denied the right to compete against the best sides in Europe, while Manchester United lost their place in the European Cup Winners’ Cup and Tottenham Hotspur, Southampton and Norwich City were forced out of the UEFA Cup.

  We were given some hope when all five clubs, including Everton, suggested they would appeal against the blanket ban on English clubs, feeling that only Liverpool should be penalised as it was their fans who’d rioted at Heysel. That was spot on, yes – ban Liverpool, despite them blaming everyone bar themselves for the trouble, but let the rest of us who had done no wrong compete in competitions as we had earned the right to.

  The appeals, not surprisingly, fell on deaf ears and, having been so ecstatic at the end of the season and looking forward to the new one with such excitement, before we had even gone on holiday we had been dumped on from a great height. UEFA and Mrs Thatcher’s knee-jerking Government wanted scapegoats, Everton were therefore denied the chance to push on for bigger and better honours. Nobody, no matter how hard they try, will ever convince me that the FA, UEFA or the British Government made the right decision banning us, a decision that affected Everton Football Club more than any other club. I’m told Liverpool fans say Everton are bitter towards them because of it; I believe they have every right to be, and if that pisses them off, then so be it.

  As well as the supporters, it hurt us, the players, immensely. All the lads were looking forward to playing in the European Cup following our success in the Cup Winners’ Cup the previous season. Why ban Everton? Of course, we had our fair share of problematic fans, every club did, but in Rotterdam they were fantastic and a credit to Everton Football Club, Merseyside and indeed to British football. Evertonians deserved to be treated better by the so-called governing body of our great game. We were let down badly by those people who took an easy option. Many people say Everton never recovered from it and I myself take that view. Maybe we would have been knocked out in the first round, but not to be given the chance to compete, through no fault of our own, was a bitter pill to swallow.

  Deep down, although Howard stayed on for two more seasons after Heysel, I think his reasons for leaving were generally because of the European ban. Remember, when we regained the title in 1987, once again we were denied the right to compete against Europe’s finest.

  So after the end-of-season celebrations, the dreadful scenes at Heysel and the usual, crazy close-season tour, we were back at Bellfield for a tough pre-season. We were greeted by a new face as, on 1 August, Everton signed 24-year-old Leicester City and England striker Gary Lineker for a club record fee of £900,000. Gary was brought in to replace Andy Gray whom Howard had controversially sold to Aston Villa during the close season. I was sorry to see Andy go, he was a great player and superb in the dressing room, but I think by signing Lineker, Howard was setting his stall out. He was letting the other top clubs know that we were not sitting on our past glory and were looking to push on. Nobody saw it coming and it was a shame Andy never had his chance to say goodbye to the lads and the fans as he did as much as anybody to turn the fortunes of the club around. Along with Peter Reid, he was regarded as one of the two signings who saved Howard from being sacked when things were not going well for him.

  We began the season back at Wembley where we beat Manchester United in the Charity Shield. I was not a lover of the fixture; OK, it was at Wembley, but I always viewed it as another game in which to get match fit before the real business began. We beat them 2–0 but the most important thing was the return of Adrian Heath who came on as a sub and scored.

  Inchy had missed all the glory in May when we were lifting the cups but, without his goals early on in the season, we may not have won anything. Although he’d missed out, it was great to see him back playing, as some thought the injury he suffered may have ended his career.

  The fixture computer set up an opening game with a twist – Leicester away for Lineker’s début – and we duly got slammed 3–1. Knowing Andy Gray as well as I do, I bet he pissed himself laughing when that score came through. We soon settled, Links started finding the net and we were up to second in the league before we visited QPR, the scene of my sending-off the previous year. For the second time in a few weeks, we were hammered, this time 3–0. It was the worst defeat I had suffered since joining Everton and already people were questioning Howard’s decision to sell Gray as our style of play had changed quite a bit.

  Although it was just a straight swap, a striker for a striker, we had already started to go a little ‘route one’ as Lineker’s pace gave us that option. We were never told to play that way but, in the past, it was pointless humping the ball over the opposition back four as, unless Andy Gray booked a taxi or Sharpy got on the end of it, the ball would invariably come straight back at us. With Lineker giving chase, it gave you time to regroup and settle. Such was his pace, more often than not he would get to the ball or at the very least force a defender to concede a throw-in or corner. This was all well and good, but the game started by-passing the midfield lads and, at times, you could see them getting frustrated as the ball sailed over their heads. It wasn’t route one Wimbledon, but hardly the Everton who had footballed teams off the park just a season earlier.

  Even at that early stage of the season, it looked like we may struggle to retain the title as Manchester United were on fire and were top of the First Division with a 100 per cent record after 10 games. We beat them 4–2 at Old Trafford although, sadly, it was in a pointless competition called the Screen Sport Super Cup, which was arranged to compensate us for not playing in Europe. It was an absolute joke, a total waste of time and a drain on the fans’ wages.

  Just a few weeks into the season, injuries started to take their toll. Derek Mountfield was struggling and eventually missed about half the season until he regained full fitness and, at the same time, we lost Reidy for over 30 games. Both were top players, Reid was an inspiration and Mountfield, as well as being a decent defender, scored as many goals as most strikers did. To lose them both at the same time was a massive headache for the gaffer.

  Things hit rock bottom when we trudged off the pitch at half-time 3–0 down to Liverpool at a shocked Goodison Park. Ian Marshall had come in for Mountfield and we were torn to pieces by Liverpool in the first half. Howard pulled Marshall at the interval and we went for it in the second half and came so close to getting a draw after Lineker and Sharpy had got it back to 3–2. Despite getting nothing from the game points wise, that second half showing gave us a massive confidence boost. Although we never really hit the form of the previous season, we regrouped and picked up enough points to keep us in touch of United and the other side above us, who sadly came from across the park.

  Howard pulled me to one side in training and asked whether I’d be happy to go into the centre of defence alongside Rats as it had been confirmed that Derek would be out for some considerable time. I was more than happy to oblige; I had always seen that position as my best but told the gaffer that although I was happy to take over from Mountfield in defence, not to expect me to push Lineker for the Golden Boot award. I knew my limitations. I asked Howard who would play left-back as, sadly, Bails was out of favour, and he told me to concentrate on my own job in hand and let him do his.

  The following day Everton signed 21-year-old Neil Pointon with the left-back joining us from Scunthorpe for a bargain £75,000. I never felt threatened by his arrival; I knew if I played well and kept out of trouble I would play more games for Everton than I missed. I managed to achieve one of those requirements reasonably well!

  My positional change got off to a shaky start and we lost two out of the three league games I played there. I missed the next game at home to Arsenal when Pointon came in at le
ft-back; Gary Stevens went alongside Ratcliffe and I was sat in the stands as we humiliated the Gunners 6–1. It was an awesome display and I did think that maybe I would be frozen out, such was the quality on the park that day. Howard put my mind at rest and I was recalled at left-back for an away win at Ipswich. We then went seven games unbeaten with an easy 3–0 win at West Brom, a game in which I scored and joked to Howard that I was only 15 behind Lineker!

  Howard once again pulled me and said that Pointon was going to slot in at left-back and that I would move back across to the centre as he had tried almost every back four formation and he saw that as his strongest. I was just happy to be playing. It was the most open title race for years as United had dropped a few points and the likes of West Ham and Chelsea were on good runs, so with ourselves and Liverpool it was looking like anybody’s title.

  I picked up a knock in a League Cup defeat at home to Chelsea and missed the return game with Leicester at Goodison the following Saturday. Once again, they did us, leaving with a 2–1 win and how those two defeats to a side struggling near the relegation zone would cost us come May.

  We had dropped to sixth in the league but the gaffer told us that we had four games in ten days over the festive period which would make or break our season, and we won three of them, including a home victory over leaders United. A draw at Newcastle on New Year’s Day took us up to second and that was the start of a run of about 20 games unbeaten. One of these games saw me make my return to St Andrew’s when we beat my old side 2–0 thanks to a brace from Lineker. Birmingham were really struggling and there were just over 10,000 in the crowd and, with the way they were playing and the lack of support they were getting, it was no real surprise when they were relegated weeks before the season ended.

  For our next league game we welcomed back Peter Reid, who scored our goal in the 1–0 victory over Spurs as we went top for the first time that season. United were dropping points left, right and centre but Liverpool were also taking advantage of the situation and were always within a couple of points of us. The Derby at Anfield was a week away and that gave us a chance to pull clear of them. We did just that after nipping across the park and coming back home happy, having won 2–0. I went home sore from that game after Kevin Ratcliffe had KO’d me when a ball went over the top and Rats thought I was not going to make it and cleaned me out, as well as clearing the danger. I looked like I had been hit by a runaway train.

  As well as a great reader of the game with amazing pace, he was a tough defender and amazed everyone in that game when he scored from about 20 yards with a net-buster past Bruce Grobbelaar. OK, it may not have hit the net as hard as Sharp’s volley the season before, but it crossed the line and, for two years running, we beat the Reds in their own back yard. Howard got the two of us together after the game and congratulated us on the way we played together, once again letting me know that he rated me as a centre-back.

  Despite the win at Anfield, there was little margin for error as it was tight at the top of the league and, although our run-in was reasonable, we had a few tricky away games. One I never fancied was at Luton on that joke of a plastic pitch they were somehow allowed to play on. Before heading to Kenilworth Road, we hosted Chelsea who, alongside Liverpool, were pushing us all the way for the title. They had beaten us at their place 2–1 in a game that saw Neville sent off when he carried the ball out of the area in mid-flight, a ridiculous decision that once again cost us dearly. Chelsea took a point off us at Goodison and we stayed top but, once again, struggled on the plastic surface and were beaten 2–1 by Luton.

  A few days later, Nev broke his ankle playing in a pointless game for Wales and I really began to think that our luck had deserted us and that maybe this was not to be our season. On the plus side, Bobby Mimms, Nev’s deputy, was a great ’keeper and Mountfield and Reid were fit again, although Kevin Sheedy picked up an injury on the plastic pitch that saw him miss the run-in. Mimms did brilliantly and kept a remarkable six clean sheets on the bounce to put us within touching distance of regaining the title as, despite Liverpool leading the table on goal difference from us, we had the all-important game in hand.

  We were not conceding but Lineker’s goals had dried up and, although we beat Newcastle at home, we came away from Old Trafford and Nottingham Forest with a point from each after two uneventful goalless draws. We then travelled to Oxford that mid-week knowing that the points dropped at the City Ground could cost us dearly if we failed to get something at the Manor Ground.

  It was a game from hell. We missed chance after chance and, as so often is the case, despite not being in the game, Oxford stole a late winner. After the game, Links commented that the wrong boots had been packed for the trip and the press made a bit of a thing about it in the papers and tried to apportion the blame on a member of staff. To me that was bollocks – if a certain pair of boots are so precious, you should pack them yourself. Gary was obviously disappointed with the defeat and the chances he missed, but sometimes you have to hold your hands up and admit to having an off day.

  The defeat gave Liverpool the chance to clinch the Championship at Chelsea the following Saturday and, although we thrashed Southampton 6–1 on the same day, they took it, winning 1–0 at Stamford Bridge. Occasionally, we would get a reaction from the crowd that gave us hope that the game at Chelsea was going our way, but they were Chinese whispers. Deep down, everyone knew that we had handed Liverpool the title a few days earlier and that they were not going to give it us back.

  Everton completed the season and finished runners-up to our greatest rivals with a 3–1 win against West Ham. I was totally deflated; I had played more games than any player at the club that season, trained hard, kept myself fit, free from injury and, more importantly, stayed out of trouble … and ended up with nothing.

  I talk to people now about that heartbreaking season and they still blame the style of play. Although Lineker scored 30 league goals, a superb achievement, they dried up in other areas and maybe that was down to playing it long to Gary. One thing I will not blame it on is the fact that somebody packed the wrong boots for our star striker – in reality, we only had ourselves to blame.

  Quite simply, if you lose twice to Leicester and at the likes of Oxford and Luton, do you really deserve to be crowned champions? I’d say no.

  9

  A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN

  I began pre-season training still on a downer, as losing out on the Double to your local rivals – and I’m being very polite calling them that – as well as being wrongly deprived of competing in Europe the previous season was as bad as it could get. We also said goodbye to our star striker Gary Lineker, who left us after just one season to join Barcelona. I was sorry to see him go as his goals ratio was as good as it gets and that was endorsed when he won the Golden Boot that summer at the World Cup finals in Mexico.

  Personally, I think Lineker owed us another season. Everton had put him in the spotlight; the likes of Barcelona probably would not have gone for him had he still been at Leicester and, although we got good money for Gary, I think he jumped ship a bit quick. There was talk of Howard joining him and we were glad he turned down a couple of approaches and stayed loyal to us. I just hoped Gary remembered to pack his lucky boots before getting on the plane to Barça.

  With money burning a hole in Howard’s pocket, he chose to spend it wisely and, although his signings that season were not headline news, they were all were very clever additions to the squad. He spent the Lineker money on Neil Adams, Wayne Clarke, Kevin Langley, Paul Power, Ian Snodin and Dave Watson, while Warren Aspinall, Kevin Richardson and Paul Wilkinson all made for the exit.

  I was sorry to see Richardson leave for Watford; he was a quality player and a superb squad member at Everton. Had he been playing for nearly any other side at that time, he would have been a first-team regular. He never once let us down when he came in for lads who were suspended or injured, and also scored some vital goals for us. The move to Vicarage Road was seen as a step down, but it was
no surprise when a couple of years later he won another League Championship medal with Arsenal and, knowing Kevin, it was made even more special when they won it at Anfield.

  The signing of Manchester City veteran Paul Power raised a few eyebrows as he was at the wrong end of his career; however, Howard knew that we needed back-up in defence as, apart from a few lads still nursing minor knocks, Derek Mountfield was a long-term casualty and one dickhead – me – was out for months after a stupid fight in a local nightclub.

  The problem began when I borrowed £50 from two well-known local brothers while out in town one night and, for one reason or another, I never gave it them back. What a costly mistake that would turn out to be. I had visited a local Chinese with the squad for a club-organised team meeting and then moved on to a favourite watering hole for a few beers with the usual suspects.

  I can remember having a few words with Steve McMahon in this pub after he had said something unpleasant about Howard Kendall. I could take or leave McMahon; he was a decent player and we had a few tussles on the pitch, but I did not take kindly to him slagging Howard off and told him so. Eventually, things calmed down, Steve left and a few of us stayed on playing pool and chatting to some birds who had tagged along with us.

  Later that night, we moved to The Toad Hall in Ainsdale which was a well-known nightclub at the time. I was laughing and joking with a few of the lads when one of these girls who had tagged on to us said something unpleasant and caused a bit of a scene. I know now that it was a set-up, as the minute I tried to find out what her problem was some bloke came from nowhere and threw the head on me. We ended up brawling over a table so I got him in a headlock and, as quickly as it had started, it was over. We were getting ready to leave when Inchy noticed my leg was pissing with blood so the lads got me into his car and we set off to the nearest hospital. All the way there, he was moaning that there was blood gushing from my leg on to his seats and he kept telling me that I was going to have to pay for it to be cleaned!