On 18th December 1971, Alan Ball played in Everton’s 2-0 defeat to Derby at the Baseball Ground. Little did he know that when the full-time whistle was blown, he had played his last game for Everton. Just four days later, he left the Blues to join Arsenal for a fee of £220,000 – a British record fee at the time. Evertonians were devastated, and so was Ball.
Harry Catterick
Who Wants To Be A Millonario?
Nowadays, footballers leaving clubs for big money is commonplace. However, it was a novelty in the turn of the 1950s. A few Everton players were linked with a move to Colombian team Millonarios, who had future Real Madrid star Alfredo di Stefano scoring goals left, right and centre for them. Most refused, one was on the fence, and the other moved and regretted it.