News that the Blues are to offer Tony Hibbert a new contract takes him closer to an Everton rarity.
After 319 appearances over a 13-year period, Hibbert is in line to become a one-club man at Goodison Park.
Here is the low-down Everton’s three famous one-club men, while one of Hibbert’s current team-mates is also in contention. Sort of.
The one-club men
Ted Sagar (1929-1952, 497 appearances)
Ted Sagar should not have been a goalkeeper. He was of slight build in an era when the strikers were powerful and comprised of bone, flesh and mortar. He should have been reduced to rubble.
But he survived with fantastic technique and wonderfully athleticism. In fact, he did more than that – no player has served an English club longer than Sagar in a career which spanned four decades.
It began in January 1930 with a 4-0 win over Derby County, but that is as good as it got for a few years for the Yorkshireman. Everton were relegated that season and a first-choice goalkeeper, Billy Coggins, was signed.
Yet after bouncing straight back up the following season, Sagar was chosen as number one, and would play all-but-one game as the Blues won the first division title.
He would win the FA Cup in 1933 against Manchester City, and then picking up a second league title in 1939, before his career was interrupted by the Second World War.
Until fellow goalkeeper Neville Southall’s incredible career, Sagar held the appearance record for the Toffees.
Capped four times by England, he also gained the distinction of playing for another country when he turned out for Northern Ireland during the War because he was stationed in Portadown.
Sagar’s last appearance came at Goodison Park against Tranmere Rovers in May 1953, in the final of the Liverpool Senior Cup.
Everton’s FA Cup winning team: (back row, l-r) Cliff Britton, Warney Cresswell, Ted Sagar, Billy Cook, Tom White, Jock Thomson; (front row, l-r) Albert Geldard, Jimmy Dunn, Bill ‘Dixie’ Dean, Tom Johnson, Jimmy Stein, Ted Critchley
Tommy (TE) Jones (1950-1962, 411 appearances)
Tommy Edwin Jones had some big boots to fill at Goodison Park. His namesake, Tommy George Jones, had been a wonderful player for the Blues, attracting attention from Roma in 1948 – although the deal would fall through.
When TG Jones left, TE Jones was his replacement, moving central after starting as a full-back. This produced a contrast between the two. TG Jones’ play was permeated by finesse and intelligence, while TE Jones was a far more physical player.
He made his debut against Arsenal in September 1950, but suffered relegation that same season.
Everton would spend three seasons in the second-tier but would eventually win promotion in April 1954, with the much-improved TE Jones scoring his first goal for the club in the game that ultimately clinched it.
His improvement eventually earned him the Everton captaincy in 1957, but it was during his stewardship that Everton suffered some of their most chastening losses.
They lost 10-4 against Tottenham in October 1958 and 8-2 against Newcastle in November 1959, with TE Jones struggling.
With Brian Labone’s emergence, Jones moved to left-back as Everton prepared for the next decade, but was usurped by George Thomson.
TE Jones would shatter a kneecap in a reserve fixture against Barnsley in the 1961/62 season.
It was the injury to end his career.
TE Jones of Everton
Brian Labone (1958-1971, 534 appearances)
In a dilemma that is not consistent with the rest of his career, Brian Labone wondered whether Everton was right for him.
But fortunately for the Blues, the 17-year-old Labone decided against going to university, and instead went on to become one of the club’s most loved players.
After impressing against Dave Hickson in a trial game – and moving straight into the reserves – he eventually made his debut in 1958.
Labone took over the centre-half role from Tommy Jones, and within five years of his debut would win a championship medal, making 40 out of 42 league appearances.
He was made captain in 1963, and then led Everton to the FA Cup in 1966 with a 3-2 win over Sheffield Wednesday in the final.
Alf Ramsey – a big admirer of his abilities – wanted him in his World Cup squad, which Labone declined because he was to be married that summer. He would get his World Cup chance four years later, partnering Bobby Moore in Mexico.
It was then that Brian Glanville, football writer and author, described him as: “[a] heavily built centre-half who is, however, unusually mobile for his size, and as strong in the tackle as you would expect.”
After considering retirement in 1968 following an FA Cup final defeat to West Bromwich Albion, he stayed on for a further three years.
How thankful the Toffees were. He would lift the league championship as captain in 1970, before a serious injury to his Achilles tendon saw him retire in 1971.
Everton’s Brian Labone (left) and Alan Ball (right) toast their Football League Championship victory, as Labone keeps hold of the trophy
Tommy Wright (1964-1973, 374 appearances)
Tommy Wright is widely thought of as Everton’s best-ever right-back, but his one-club career was sadly cut short at the age of just 29.
He had achieved a lot in that time. He had played in two cup finals – one won, one lost – and was also an ever-present during the title-winning campaign of 1969/70.
He was also right-back in England’s game against Brazil at World Cup 1970 in Mexico, helping – along with Brian Labone and Bobby Moore – keep Pele and friends down to just a solitary goal.
Steady, dependable and – at times – impenetrable, Wright was a boyhood Evertonian who played as if he still stood on the Goodison terraces.
That is not to say he was brutish rather than brilliant. He possesses a fine understanding of the game and used his previous experience as a forward to distribute the ball nicely.
He made his debut in October 1964 against Norweigan side Valerengen at the age of 19; by the Christmas of that year, he was first-choice.
The tragedy rests in how many more games he could have played for the Blues.
As Everton started to struggle after the 1970 championship win, so did Wright with injuries. He would eventually be forced to retire after an injury against Wolves in 1973.
Everton celebrate winning the Championship. BACK ROW, l-r Howard Kendall, Colin Harvey, Alan Whittle, Tommy Wright, Sandy Brown, Jimmy Husband, Joe Royle, Johnny Morrissey, Keith Newton. FRONT ROW, l-r Tommy Jackson, Roger Kenyon, Harry Catterick (manager), Sir John Moores (Director), Brian Labone, Frank Darcy, Gordon West, Wilf Dixon (Coach), John Hurst
Tony Hibbert (2001-present, 288 appearances)
If Hibbert scores, we riot.
The proclamation from Evertonians was not just a reflection of Hibbert’s lack of prowess in front of goal – no player has gone longer without scoring for Everton – but also how he is loved at Goodison Park.
The boyhood Blue was part of the successful FA Youth Cup squad of 1998 alongside players like Francis Jeffers and Danny Cadamarteri but waited three years for his first-team bow.
His showing in the 2-0 win against West Ham at Upton Park – reliable, dependable, solid – would set the tone of his career so far.
These qualities has seen him as Everton’s first-choice right-back for almost a decade, with only injury and the emergence of Seamus Coleman recently usurping him,
Hibbert endeavoured to improve his weaknesses to become a well-rounded full-back. His distribution became better with every season; so, too, his positioning.
His longevity and reliability is typified by his distinction of making more appearances in Europe than any other Everton player.
He was named captain the night he broke the record against BATE Borisov, and also started in the FA Cup final defeat against Chelsea.
But of course, it is his testimonial against AEK Athens in August 2012 that exemplifies his relationship with both fans and club.
His second-half free-kick, at the Gladwys Street end, was fired past Dimitris Konstantopoulous in goal.
Did it start a riot? That is to interpretation, as fans streamed onto the pitch.
Regardless of that, Hibbert had his deserved moment in the limelight.
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And the three-club man who really belongs to one
Leon Osman (2004-present, 328 appearances)
Leon Osman must have thought his chance had gone before it had even begun.
Despite being a goalscorer in the first leg of Everton’s FA Youth Cup final against Blackburn in 1998, Osman would have to wait six years for his opportunity – which was partly down to a career-threatening injury.
In that time, six of that squad had played first-team football, including Jamie Milligan, Phil Jevons and Richard Dunne.
Osman, meanwhile, was on loan Carlisle and Derby County, with George Burley wanting to take him to the Rams permanently.
Luckily for the Blues, he stayed loyal, and scored within three minutes of his debut against Wolves in May 2004.
He has been putting in excellent midfield performances ever since with his composure and quality on the ball becoming essential to Everton’s midfield.
His ability reflects on how, in his first full season as a regular fixture, the club finished fourth and qualified for the Champions League.
Now 32, Osman’s career has been both helped and hindered by his versatility. His willingness to play anywhere in midfield meant he did not really get the chance to impose himself in his favoured central position until 2007.
He played in Everton’s FA Cup final defeat to Chelsea in 2009, and is just two behind Hibbert’s record of having the most appearances in European competition.
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