Moments like this is what makes Everton the true 'People's Club'. A moment neither myself or my cousin have ever forgot (can you imagine this type of thing happening nowadays?) Heard this sad news whilst driving home from work this evening, and before I knew it tears were streaming down my face.Īs a 54-year-old Born Bluenose, Â’KingyÂ’ gave me one of the most joyous occasions as a 17-year-old, when I was able to go home following a very rare derby match win, and savour the moment with my older brother a season ticket holder with the Redshite.Ī few years later, I had the pleasure of meeting Â’KingyÂ’ in Â’ShanksÂ’ nightclub in Liverpool where, after he joined me and my family for the evening, and subsequently invited me and my younger cousin over to Bellefield to spend the day meeting the players and then manager (Howard Kendall) and to watch the training session. Some players arrive, play and leave and thatÂ’s fine, but occasionally a player is bitten by.whatever it is that bit us all.Īndy King played for Everton and became an Evertonian.īasically, he became was one of us - one of us who got to score a winner in a derby AND.snot Emlyn Hughes. I think the most important thing to remember about Andy King is that he became an Evertonian. In spectacular style, he ended 7 years of gloating from those horrible twats and gave us a night weÂ’ll never forget (I canÂ’t tell you what colour socks IÂ’ve got on right now, but I can tell you who I was with, everything we did and everywhere we went that night). Today weÂ’ll all remember his goal against them in 1978 and quite right too. When he was on blob, he could be very good and it was obvious he definitely didnÂ’t like losing (I understand nobody likes losing, but I love a player who truly hates losing). I was a fan from day one, King was cocky and relaxed and seemed genuinely happy to have joined us and as it was something new/different I embraced it/him (so I was basically the complete opposite of how I am these days).Īs a player he could be inconsistent and appeared to be a player who enjoyed Â’a good timeÂ’, however you have to remember players back then werenÂ’t on much more than the average feller so he was hardly living like Beckham. I remember my (late) dad initially wasnÂ’t too impressed with the signing, but changed his mind very quickly based on AKÂ’s personality more than his play ('IÂ’d have Andy King over some miserable Yorkshire get any day'). So signing And King was quite exotic, just for the fact that he spoke with that accent.

Southerners, according to the received Â’wisdomÂ’ of the times, were Â’fancy DansÂ’ and seen as (ie: northern stuff - grit, honesty, rickets etc). Northern teams generally featured a few lads from the immediate city/town, a couple of tough Scots, a Welsh and/or Irish lad and a few players from the surrounding areas. Not many northern teams seemed to sign them (I remember when Utd signed Gordon Hill, some treated his arrival as though they had signed E.T). ItÂ’s an odd thought now, but a northern side having a southerner in the team back then was quite unusual.

King scores the winner against Liverpool in 1978 His most recent managerial role was as caretaker manager at Northampton Town in 2013-14 and he had been working as MK Dons' chief scout up to his untimely passing. He played two more seasons for Everton before eventually retiring in 1989 and moving into management at Mansfield Town, Swindon Town and Grays Athletic. He left Everton in 1980 for spells with QPR and West Bromwich Albion but declared he would “crawl over broken glass” to play for Everton again and got his wish in 1982 when Howard Kendall re-signed him. A southerner turned adopted Scouser after joining the club in 1976, he also scored twice at Anfield in his time at Goodison Park. His most famous was that imperious right-foot drive from outside the area that ended a seven-year drought of victories for Everton over Liverpool. Everton's iconic midfielder, Andy King, who scored a classic winner in the Goodison derby of 1978 has died from a heart attack aged just 58.Įvertonians have been stunned by the news of the former midfielder's sudden passing, six years after he recovered from another heart attack, and tributes are pouring in for a beloved figure who scored 67 goals in 248 appearances scoring 67 goals in two separate spells for the Blues.

Andy king dead