Description: As the manager of Sheffield Wednesday and Everton, Harry Catterick amassed more top flight points in the 1960s than all his rivals, finishing outside the top 6 on only one occasion. Yet, unfairly, he stands in the shadows of contemporaries such as Bill Shankly, Don Revie and Brian Clough in the public consciousness. Following extensive research, including being given unique access to the Catterick family's documents and photographs, Rob Sawyer has recounted the life of this football great for the very first time. It is a story taking in a working class childhood in County Durham, adolescence in Stockport, a playing career stymied by misfortune, the struggles of a lower league managerial apprenticeship, heady times of top-flight success, managerial downfall and ill-health, contentment in semi-retirement and an untimely early passing - fittingly in the place he is most closely associated with.
Brief description:
Rob Sawyer was born in 1970 with Everton the cusp of clinching the league title for a second time under Harry Catterick's guiding hand. Regaled from a young age with stories of Dean, Lawton, Creswell, Collins, Kendall, Harvey and Ball -- becoming anything other than the 4th generation of Evertonian in the family was never an option.
A columnist for the Toffeeweb independent Everton website, Rob is also a member of the EFC Heritage Society. He lives in Cheshire with his family, still making pilgrimages to Goodison Park and following the trials and tribulations of his local team Stockport County.
Review Quotes: "This well written and long overdue book should allow the Catt's achievements to be recognised by a whole new generation of Evertonians and you would hope the wider public." -- When Skies Are Grey