If he’d have operated in another era then Gordon Lee might now be revered as a successful Everton manager but this fine football man instead found his legacy measured against others on both sides of Stanley Park.
Evertonians are currently trying to digest the traumatic events from Monday night’s debacle at Tottenham Hotspur where they capitulated to a 5-0 defeat.
Now the morning after the night before also brings the sad news that their former boss Lee, 87, passed away yesterday evening.
During his four-and-a-half year tenure in the Goodison Park dugout, the man from Cannock in Staffordshire had one of the least-enviable tasks in football as he tried to revive Everton’s fortunes at a time when neighbours Liverpool – who secured their first European Cup just five months after his arrival – were going from strength to strength.
Like predecessor Billy Bingham, who had come close to steering the Blues to the title in 1975 before a dramatic collapse in the run-in, Lee struggled to emerge from the shadows of their upwardly mobile local rivals.
His achievements are also put into context by the fact that his successor Howard Kendall survived a difficult start to his own tenure to emerge as the most-successful manager in Everton’s history and finally challenge the Reds’ stranglehold on domestic dominance.
A solid if unspectacular right-back with Aston Villa for the majority of his playing career, Lee’s organisational skills ensured he was able to carve out a more notable reputation as a manager.
Starting out at Port Vale, their stalwart player Roy Sproson, a one-club man who played 842 appearances over two decades, recalled his gaffer’s orthodox approach, stating: "Lee was a great person to work for. He was as straight as a die but, if anything, rather cautious and predictable. If he took over a team in North Vietnam, I would know the way they play.”
Lee steered Port Vale to promotion from the Fourth Division in 1970 and also took Blackburn Rovers up as Third Division champions in 1975.
The following year as Newcastle United manager he lost the League Cup final 2-1 to Manchester City and it was his status as a ‘nearly-man’ that would come to define his Blues reign.
Everton were already in the League Cup semi-finals when he arrived in 1977 having drawn 1-1 at home to Bolton Wanderers in the first leg under caretaker boss Steve Burtenshaw, who died last month.
Lee oversaw a 1-0 victory at Burden Park in the return match and his side had an early trip to Wembley to look forwards to.
The final against Villa, where Lee of course had spent the bulk of his playing career ended goalless and the two sides drew again 1-1 in a Hillsborough replay four days later.
For the only time in the competition’s history the final went to a third game – over a month after the initial meeting – and while the pair could not be separated again after 90 minutes with the score at 2-2, Brian Little struck two minutes from the end of extra time to break Blue hearts.
To make matters worse, just 10 days later, Everton suffered an even crueller blow when they were denied what looked to be a perfectly-good late winning goal by Bryan Hamilton against Liverpool in their FA Cup semi-final at Maine Road through an infamous and inexplicable piece of refereeing from maverick official Clive Thomas.
The game finished 2-2 but the Blues had missed their big opportunity against Bob Paisley’s side and were blown away 3-0 in the replay.
Lee was able to bounce back from these major setbacks to enjoy a couple of impressive First Division campaigns over the following two years though.
Everton’s third place finish in 1977/78 remains one of the most fondly-remembered campaigns among fans of a certain vintage and including Bob Latchford’s final day hat-trick in a 6-0 win over Chelsea to secure the Daily Express’ £10,000 prize.
The following year the Blues finished fourth but often hamstrung in the transfer market and unable to obtain the targets he wanted while clashing with his existing stars, Lee then fell into a downward spiral with finishes of 19th in 1980 and 15th in 1981.
Despite being a man of principles and old-fashioned decency, he seemed to struggle with individual expression on a football pitch.
He decried such entertainers as “Flash Harrys” and “Coffee-house ball-jugglers” and was known for lecturing one such maverick Duncan McKenzie how a team of 11 Mick Lyons would beat 11 individuals such as himself.
Football in the 1970s was made a much more colourful place by the likes of Goodison fan favourite McKenzie – a player whose off-the-field tricks including jumping over Minis and throwing golf balls huge distances – but referencing an iconic fashion of the era, Lee stated: “People keep on about stars and flair. As far as I'm concerned you find stars in the sky and flair at the bottom of your trousers.”
As stated earlier, Lee might have been considered something of a success at Everton had he been in charge at a different time and there are certain similarities between himself and David Moyes both in terms of their approach and achievements at the club.
If anything though, he was perhaps guilty of being too in awe of the Blues’ great rivals but he was still able to sum up the Merseyside football dynamic perfectly.
After Andy King’s goal gave Everton a 1-0 win over Liverpool in October 1978 for what was their first derby success for almost seven years, Lee said: “It’s very hard really to explain how I feel apart from the fact that I might have a drink tonight, that might be the right thing!
“It’s delightful in every way. The supporters have enjoyed it, the players played magnificently.
“Liverpool are a great side, they’re well-run. They’ve won things, they’ve won the European Cup, they’ve won the championship, they’re a great side so I’m delighted to have beaten them.
“I came to the game today and I saw a fella walking to the match with two young boys.
“One had a blue scarf on and one had a red scarf. For me that is what life is all about.
“It’s great, I wouldn’t swap it for anything in the world and I’m sure Bob Paisley feels the same.”
