Above - Local Toffee Tony HibbertAfter looking around my favourite Everton forum (Grandoldteam.com) I have noticed the sheer amount of criticism of our ‘Right Back’ Tony Hibbert and ‘Midfielder’ Leon Osman, criticism that is not warranted in my eyes.
Both players have come through the great Everton youth-system, the same youth-system that had produced England and Manchester United star Wayne Rooney. Both players grew up in the Liverpool area and have Everton running through their veins, both players have sat in Goodison Park to watch their heroes play week in week out, through thick and thin.
As an Everton fan I have always prided myself on the attitude and devotion of the fans through the dark ages of our footballing history, around the time that Tony Hibbert and Leon Osman would have been sitting in the stands cheering the blue boys on. They’ve dreamt about wearing the blue jersey, coming out onto the green grass of the Goodison playing field whilst ‘Z-Cars’ rips through the atmosphere. Haven’t we all? The desperation to play on the same field your heroes did, whether it be Andreas Limpar or Andy Gray. Out of most of the Everton starting line-up these are the players that still give the team the ‘Grand Old’ feel.
Sure the players aren’t the greatest players in the world, perhaps they are the weakest players in the team, and sure you can’t expect flick-ons, step-overs or amazing free kicks from the lads but there is one thing that you can defiantly expect, and that is heart for the club, a 110% effort every time they play. That is something you can’t expect from players from Spain, South Africa, Nigeria or even Manchester!
Do you really want to see an Everton squad with no local boys?
I feel football clubs have gotten so segregated from their communities in the recent years, lets not turn into a ‘bog-standard team’.
We’re The Peoples Club, we’re Everton FC.
Both players have come through the great Everton youth-system, the same youth-system that had produced England and Manchester United star Wayne Rooney. Both players grew up in the Liverpool area and have Everton running through their veins, both players have sat in Goodison Park to watch their heroes play week in week out, through thick and thin.
As an Everton fan I have always prided myself on the attitude and devotion of the fans through the dark ages of our footballing history, around the time that Tony Hibbert and Leon Osman would have been sitting in the stands cheering the blue boys on. They’ve dreamt about wearing the blue jersey, coming out onto the green grass of the Goodison playing field whilst ‘Z-Cars’ rips through the atmosphere. Haven’t we all? The desperation to play on the same field your heroes did, whether it be Andreas Limpar or Andy Gray. Out of most of the Everton starting line-up these are the players that still give the team the ‘Grand Old’ feel.
Sure the players aren’t the greatest players in the world, perhaps they are the weakest players in the team, and sure you can’t expect flick-ons, step-overs or amazing free kicks from the lads but there is one thing that you can defiantly expect, and that is heart for the club, a 110% effort every time they play. That is something you can’t expect from players from Spain, South Africa, Nigeria or even Manchester!
Do you really want to see an Everton squad with no local boys?
I feel football clubs have gotten so segregated from their communities in the recent years, lets not turn into a ‘bog-standard team’.
We’re The Peoples Club, we’re Everton FC.
