 Dean at Goodison Park while playing for Everton | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Ralph Dean | ||
| Date of birth | 22 January 1907[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Birkenhead, England | ||
| Date of death | 1 March 1980 (aged 73) | ||
| Place of death | Goodison Park, Liverpool, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Centre forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1923–1925 | Tranmere Rovers | 30 | (27) |
| 1925–1937 | Everton | 399 | (349) |
| 1938–1939 | Notts County | 9 | (3) |
| 1939 | Sligo Rovers | 7 | (10) |
| 1940 | Hurst | 2 | (1) |
| Total | 447 | (390) | |
| International career | |||
| 1927–1932 | England | 16 | (18) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
William Ralph "Dixie" Dean (22 January 1907 – 1 March 1980) was an English footballer who played as a centre forward. Dean holds the record for the most goals scored in a single season in top-flight English football, with 60. He is regarded as one of the greatest centre-forwards of all time and was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002.[3]
Born in Birkenhead, he began his career at his hometown club Tranmere Rovers before moving on to Everton, the club he had supported as a child. A prolific goalscorer, he was particularly known for having a penchant for scoring goals with his head, courtesy of his elevation and athleticism, as well as his powerful and accurate heading ability, which has led pundits to describe him as one of the greatest aerial specialists of all time.[3][4][5][6] Dean played the majority of his career at Everton before injuries caught up with him and he moved on to new challenges at Notts County, and eventually Sligo Rovers.
Dean is best known for his exploits during the 1927–28 season, which saw him score a record 60 league goals. He played in 39 of Everton's 42 games that season. Everton scored 102 league goals in 1927-28 and won the title with 53 points, two points ahead of Huddersfield with 51. At that time, it was two points for a win. With three points for a win, Everton would have got 73 points.
He scored eighteen goals in sixteen appearances for England.
A statue of Dean was unveiled outside Goodison Park in May 2001. A year later, he became one of 22 players inducted into the inaugural English Football Hall of Fame.
- ^ "Dixie Dean". The FA. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
- ^ "League clubs and their players for the coming season. Tranmere Rovers". Athletic News. Manchester. 4 August 1924. p. 3.
- ^ a b "Dixie Dean". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
- ^ "The incomparable Dixie Dean - interview: from the archive, 24 November 1977". The Guardian. 24 November 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
- ^ Harmer, Alfie Potts (17 January 2019). "7 Best Headers of a Ball of All Time". HITC. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
- ^ "Goal.com's Top 50 English Players: Dixie Dean (12)". www.goal.com. 6 June 2009. Retrieved 15 May 2021.