Harry Catterick (26 November 1919 – 9 March 1985) was an English
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
player and manager. As a player Catterick played for
Everton and
Crewe Alexandra, in a career that was interrupted by
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. However, he is most notable as a very successful manager. After spells with Crewe, Rochdale and
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system.
Formed in 1867 as an off ...
, with whom he won the
Second Division title, Catterick took over at Everton and won the
First Division twice and the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
with the
Merseyside
Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...
club.
He finished his managerial career at
Preston North End.
Playing career
Catterick's father,
Harry Catterick Sr, was a footballer and coach for
Stockport County. Catterick Jr played at amateur level for Stockport Schoolboys and for Cheadle Heath Nomads before signing part-time for
Everton as an 18-year-old in 1937. He was an apprentice marine engine engineer.
However, his professional career coincided with the Second World War so that his opportunities to play were limited. His wartime record with Everton saw him score 55 goals in 71 games. During the war, he also played for
Manchester United
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
and
Stockport County.
He finally made his league debut in August 1946, aged 26.
Managerial career
Sheffield Wednesday
Replacing
Eric Taylor in 1958, Catterick achieved much success in his three years with
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system.
Formed in 1867 as an off ...
. He led to team to the
Second Division title in 1959 and reached the FA Cup semi-final the following season, losing to
Blackburn Rovers. The following season, Wednesday were league runners-up to
Tottenham Hotspur, who won the
Double
Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to:
Mathematics and computing
* Multiplication by 2
* Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length
* A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1
* A ...
. Catterick left just before the end of the season following an approach from Everton.
Everton
Catterick took over from
Johnny Carey
John Joseph Carey (23 February 1919 – 22 August 1995) was an Irish professional footballer and manager. As a player, Carey spent most of his career at Manchester United, where he was team captain from 1946 until he retired as a player in 195 ...
in April 1961. He soon began to motivate the team and made some astute signings. Under his authoritarian guidance, Everton won the
First Division championship in the 1962–63 season and the
1966 FA Cup Final. Although he narrowly lost the
1968 FA Cup Final, the same young team eventually dominated the 1969–70 season, winning the First Division again, one point short of a record points total. Catterick upheld Everton's tradition of cultured, attacking football.
Many tipped Everton to dominate the 1970s under Catterick. However, a dip in the team's morale saw Everton struggle in the league the following season. The sale of
Alan Ball to
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
in December 1971 came as a surprise to supporters. The struggle by a previously great team seriously affected Catterick's health, and he suffered a severe
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
on 5 January 1972 near Sheffield after watching the League Cup semi-final between West Ham United and Stoke City. He spent 14 days in hospital in Sheffield, being discharged on 19 January, and returned later that season, but later said that he felt it took him twelve months to fully recover.
He was persuaded to accept a non-executive role at the club on 11 April 1973 by chairman John Moores. He held that role until becoming manager of
Preston North End in August 1975. It was a role he remained in up to May 1977. In the Summer of 1977 Catterick wrote to the FA inquiring about the England managerial vacancy but never received a reply.
[Clough and Revie – The Rivals who changed football – Roger Hermiston] After that Catterick worked as a scout for
Southampton
Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
under the management of
Lawrie MacMenemy.
The Shankly rivalry
While the manager of rivals
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
,
Bill Shankly
William Shankly (2 September 1913 – 29 September 1981) was a Scottish association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager who is best known for his time as manager of Liverpool F.C., Liverpool. Shankly brought su ...
, was an extrovert, Catterick was the opposite, an introvert. He disliked that the press gave information about his team out to the public, even simple details such as the formation. He ensured that the players on the teamsheet were only listed in alphabetical order so that rival managers would not know the lineup.
He also disliked televised games as he wanted to keep Everton's playing style out of the public eye. Shankly was the opposite, welcoming televised matches as he felt it frightened opposing teams.
Catterick once gave an "exclusive" story to a journalist that Everton had missed out on the signing of Preston North End's
Howard Kendall and that Kendall had in fact opted to sign for Liverpool. The journalist published the story in the newspaper but hours later Kendall had in fact signed for Everton. It is claimed that Catterick had manipulated the media to score points off the field against Shankly.
Death
Catterick died of a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
shortly after watching Everton draw 2–2 with
Ipswich Town in an
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
Sixth Round match at
Goodison Park
Goodison Park is a Association football, football stadium in Walton, Liverpool, Walton, Liverpool, England, it was the home of Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton from 1892 until 2025. It is now the home of Everton F.C. (women), Everton's ...
on 9 March 1985. He was 65 years old. His death came almost exactly five years after former Everton striker
Dixie Dean had died while watching a game at the ground, also of a heart attack. Everton won the replay 1–0 and the players wore black armbands in Catterick's memory.
He is buried in the graveyard of
St Anne's Church, St Anne's-on-the-Sea, Lancashire, after a funeral held there six days after his death. His gravestone bears the Everton motto, "Nil satis nisi optimum".
In popular culture
Catterick was portrayed by
Colin Welland
Colin Welland (born Colin Edward Williams; 4 July 1934 – 2 November 2015) was an English actor and screenwriter. He won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance as Mr Farthing in '' Kes'' (1969) and the Academy A ...
in the 1997 TV film ''
The Fix'', which featured the events of the
1964 football betting scandal.
Managerial statistics
Honours
Manager
;Sheffield Wednesday
*
Football League Second Division
The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...
:
1958–59
;Everton
*
First Division:
1962–63,
1969–70
*
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
:
1965–66
*
FA Charity Shield
The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier ...
:
1963
Events January
* January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...
,
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...
See also
*
List of English football championship-winning managers
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Catterick, Harry
1919 births
1985 deaths
Footballers from Darlington
English men's footballers
English football managers
English Football Hall of Fame inductees
Men's association football forwards
Manchester United F.C. wartime guest players
Stockport County F.C. wartime guest players
Everton F.C. players
Crewe Alexandra F.C. players
Crewe Alexandra F.C. managers
Rochdale A.F.C. managers
Sheffield Wednesday F.C. managers
Everton F.C. managers
Preston North End F.C. managers
English Football League managers
Cheadle Heath Nomads F.C. players
English Football League players
20th-century English sportsmen