Everton: continuing the ten best post war players part 3

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My final selection from the great eighties team is a slightly sentimental one on my part as he was my favourite player from that era; Peter Reid.

Although this might be a controversial decision, I do think that Reid was a much better player than he looked and was key part of that side’s success and so deserves his place in this list.

Reid is a scouser born in Huyton and was signed by Bolton Wanderers as an 18-year-old. He went on to make over 250 appearances for the Lancashire club.

But after a promising start to his career when he was tipped for international honours, he had been stricken with injuries, which prevented him moving to Everton when Gordon Lee bid for him.

Once again it is clear that Evertonians do owe an under appreciated debt to Lee, who either signed or wanted to sign, players who would become key parts of the team’s mid-eighties achievements.

Anyway Howard Kendall was also an admirer and it was he who eventually brought Reid to Goodison Park when he paid Bolton just £60,000 for him in December 1982. This fee was half a million pounds less than Lee had offered just a few months earlier.

The fee was a bargain because buying Reid was a big gamble. He had been battling all those recurrent injuries problems including a broken leg, for several seasons.

At the time the Toffees also had a strong central midfield player, another scouser and boyhood Blue in Steve McMahon, who seemed set to play there for years.

However McMahon wanted to leave as he didn’t think he was going to win honours at Everton, and in the summer of 1983 he got his wish and was sold to Aston Villa.

So Reid got his chance to cement a place in the heart of the Blues midfield. It is slightly ironic that Reid, who had grown up a Liverpudlian, replaced McMahon a lifelong Evertonian in the team.

Kendall’s gamble paid off handsomely as Reid shook off those injury problems and went on to become a crucial member of the Toffees team over the next three or four seasons.

He formed a great central midfield partnership with Paul Bracewell when he arrived from Stoke City in the summer of 1984 as Everton embarked on a sustained run of league and cup success.

Reid was a combative but also constructive midfield player who gave the Blues energy, commitment and quality on the ball. He was also a natural leader on the pitch and often a player who would urge, drive and inspire his team mates when times were tough.

These qualities were symbolic of that Toffees team, which while it could play great football, was also able to dig in and so often found a way to win games that seemed lost.

One example was the ’85 FA Cup semi-final when Luton Town had taken a well-deserved lead and seemed on course to knock Everton out. The Blues though found the reserves of energy and determination to win 2-1 in extra time and kept hopes of a unique treble alive.

Reid was often regarded as primarily a defensive, ball-winning player, but he was a much better player than that and had more to his game than purely destructiveness.

One example of his under-rated passing ability that I remember well, is the brilliant, inch-perfect, 50 yard ball he hit that split the Liverpool centre-backs Alan Hansen and Mark Lawrenson for Gary Lineker to score the Blues goal in the 1986 FA Cup final.

As a reward for his sustained excellence over this period, Reid was finally capped by England in 1985 and was included in the squad for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.

At first though he wasn’t in the team, as England manager Bobby Robson went with his preferred central midfield pairing of Ray Wilkins and Bryan Robson.

But after a disastrous opening game against Morocco in which Wilkins got himself sent off and Robson was injured yet again, Reid got his chance.

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In a re-shaped team, Reid was included in midfield alongside his club mate Trevor Steven, with Tottenham players Steve Hodge and Glenn Hoddle making up the four.

England were dramatically revived by this new-look side and went on to beat Poland and Portugal scoring six goals and conceding none to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Then came that infamous game against Argentina and Diego Maradonna with the brilliant little forward scoring one illegal goal and one sublime one as England were beaten 2-1.

Reid eventually left Goodison for Queens Park Rangers in 1989 and then went to Manchester City, a club he also managed. He finally retired in 1995 before going on to manage several other top flight clubs including Sunderland.

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Everton: Ten best post-war players part 3

By Matt Townsend | Apr 12, 2020

My final selection from the great eighties team is a slightly sentimental one on my part as he was my favourite player from that era; Peter Reid.

More from Prince Rupert's Tower