Dixie Dean

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Lore & Background

Dean's greatest point of note is that he is still the only player in English football to score 60 league goals in one season (1927–28). At that season's end he was 21 years old. In Everton's league championship-winning season of 1927–28, Dean scored a record 60 league goals (out of the team's 102), having played in 39 of Everton's 42 games. That season, he also made his debut for England: he went on to score eighteen goals in sixteen appearances for his country. (Note: Dean actually made his England debut on 12 February 1927 against Wales, during the 1926–27 season.) A motorcycling accident at Holywell in north Wales in summer 1926 left Dean with a fractured skull and jaw, and doctors were unsure whether he would be able to play again. In his next game for Everton, he scored using his head, leading Evertonians to joke that the doctor left a metal plate in Dean's head. Dean's 310 First Division goals for Everton are an incredible tally, though not the record for most goals for a single club in English football's top tier — Jimmy Greaves, for example, scored 220 First Division goals for Tottenham Hotspur.

In Their Own Story

Dean signed for Everton in March 1925 for £3,000, then a record fee received for any Third Division player, any 18-year old, and any Tranmere Rovers player. He made his debut away to Arsenal, and scored his first Everton goal later that month, at home to Aston Villa. He scored 32 goals in his first full season, 1925–26, benefiting from a change to the offside law. In December 1933, Dean issued a public appeal to have stolen goods returned to him: "Dixie Dean, the Everton and England forward appeals to the thief who robbed him of an international cap and presentation clock to return them." By then, Dean was captain of the side. However, the harsh physical demands of the game took their toll and he was dropped from the first team in 1937.

Reader's Guide

This chapter covers Dean's peak years at Everton, specifically the late 1920s and early 1930s. It is defined by his record-breaking goal-scoring feats that propelled the club to League Championship titles in 1927–28 and 1931–32, followed by the FA Cup in 1933 (in which he scored in the final) – a sequence unmatched since. When Everton were relegated to the Second Division in 1930, Dean stayed with them. The club went on to immediately win the Second Division in 1931, followed by the First Division again in 1932. For modern fans, understanding this era provides context to the club's legacy: Dean's 310 First Division goals for Everton remain the record for most goals for a single club in English football's top tier.

Did You Know?

• A motorcycling accident in summer 1926 left Dean with a fractured skull and jaw; in his next game for Everton, he scored using his head, leading fans to joke the doctor left a metal plate in his head.
• Dean scored 60 league goals in the 1927–28 season, still the only player in English football to achieve that in a single top-flight season.
• Dean's 310 First Division goals for Everton are an incredible tally, though not the record for most goals for a single club in English football's top tier — Jimmy Greaves scored 220 First Division goals for Tottenham Hot
• Dean signed for Everton in March 1925 for a fee of £3,000 plus a player exchange, which was a record fee for a Third Division player at the time.