Football legend Dixie Dean recalled on stage

May 7 2008 by Alan Weston, Liverpool Daily Post

IT IS an epic story which spans the period from the outbreak of the First World War to the modern age, and has as much drama as a Hollywood blockbuster.

Yet all this was contained in the biography of just one man – Everton’s goal-scoring legend William Ralph “Dixie” Dean.

To mark the 80th anniversary of Dean’s record-breaking season at his beloved Everton, when he scored a still unsurpassed total of 60 League goals, a stage presentation of his life and times was brought to Crosby Civic Hall last night.

The performance was divided into first and second halves like a football match, and starred professional actor Steve Hazlehurst in the leading role.

He was accompanied on stage by narrator John Keith, who is well known to sports fans as a broadcaster and has also written a biography of Dean.

With the story beginning in 1914 and ending with Dean’s death at a derby match between Liverpool and Everton at Goodison in 1980, the show was as much a social history as it was an account of Dean’s amazing footballing career.

It began with Dean as a youngster kicking a ball against a chapel wall in his native Birkenhead, to becoming one of the first celebrity footballers, sought out by visiting stars such as the American baseball legend Babe Ruth.

However, far from today’s pampered Premiership professionals, the highest amount Dean earned when he was both Everton and England’s star player was £8 a week.

He also had to make his own way from his Birkenhead home to Goodison Park on match days by means of ferry and tram, along with the crowds whom he would later thrill with his goal-scoring prowess.

Despite the fame he achieved, Dean never forgot his humble working-class background, where his father was a railway worker and his mother ran a fish-and-chip shop.

And Dean’s career was not just about football. His career was often threatened by serious injuries both on and off the pitch. Nor could he escape the momentous events taking place in the world around him. He refused to make a Nazi salute when, as England captain, he played in Germany during Hitler’s rise to power.

The show was commissioned by the Everton Shareholders Association, who wanted to make sure that Dean was not forgotten during Capital of Culture year, and produced by Gillian Beattie, founder and director of the Aintree-based Arts2u theatre company.

She said: “We wanted to make the show like a docu-drama.

“We needed a versatile actor to play Dean, who had the right build and was able to portray Dean’s footballing skills, as well as his humour.

“The show has got very positive feedback, and has been enjoyed by families who have enjoyed the story, as well as Everton fans who are fascinated with all the facts and figures.”

alanweston@dailypost.co.uk