Today as I continue my break down of the ten best Everton players since the end of WW2, I’m focusing my selection on the fifth and sixth players.
My fifth choice is a player who sometimes gets forgotten a little and yet he was a crucial component in the Everton defence during the eighties; Kevin Ratcliffe.
‘Ratters’ was a pillar at the back for the Blues throughout the decade and a virtual ever-present as Everton embarked on the most successful spell in the club’s long history from 1984-87.
Defenders often get a little ignored when people are talking about key players in any team that is enjoying a period of such success.
But of course they are the rock on which any successful team is built. This was as true of the Toffees team during this decade as any other.
Ratcliffe is another of those young players bought to Goodison Park in the late seventies and early eighties when the Blues were struggling to compete in the First Division.
The Welshman came to Goodison Park as a teenager in 1978 when Gordon Lee was manager and had already secured a place in the team by the following season.
Originally he was a left-back and played there for a while before he moved into his eventual position in central defence. This happened because of an injury to the then Blues captain and first-choice centre-back Mark Higgins.
Higgins was a fine, but very unlucky player who had a series of injury problems that kept him out of the Everton team for long periods in the early eighties and prevented him playing any part in the side’s success later on in the decade.
But as so often in football, one players misfortune is another’s opportunity. So it was for Ratcliffe who was moved inside by Howard Kendall and flourished in central defence.
Despite his relative lack of height, Racliffe proved a very capable centre-back with surprising ability in the air, while his electric pace made him an excellent man-marker.
Playing alongside a taller, more orthodox stopper like Derek Mountfield or Dave Watson, Ratcliffe was a consistent and reliable player who was usually very calm and composed under pressure.
As Everton entered the golden period of success in 1983-84, Ratcliffe was made the team captain at the then relatively young age of 23.
While the Toffees won cups and league titles over the next few seasons, Ratcliffe was an ever-present player at the back. In the 1986-87 season Everton finished as the league’s top scorers but also had the best defensive record too, a reflection of Ratcliffe and his partners’ ability.
He was first capped by his country in 1980 and was pretty much an automatic selection for many years afterwards alongside his club mate Neville Southall although unluckily he never played in a World Cup or European Championship.