Leighton Baines, Gary Stevens, John Gidman, Andy Hinchcliffe ...
All classic, buccaneering Everton full-backs.
But not the first.
A player who signed for Everton in December 1969 was an original.
Keith Newton emerged in the early 1960s as a pioneer of the new breed of attacking-full-backs.
Previously, the wearer of the number two or three shirt rarely crossed the half-way line – yet he developed into an athletic, overlapping full-back of international quality, who would not have looked out of place in today’s game.
In club football he starred for Blackburn Rovers, Everton and Burnley.
Winning 27 caps for England, Keith excelled at the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico – along with his clubmates Tommy Wright, Alan Ball and Brian Labone.
In The Keith Newton Story, Everton FC Heritage Society member Rob Sawyer - the biographer of Harry Catterick, T.G. Jones and Roy Vernon – chronicles the Mancunian’s life and times by drawing on contemporary articles and first-hand recollections of his family, teammates and supporters.
The author delves into an ultimately disappointing spell at Goodison Park, which had promised so much.
The assured defender earned a Football League champions medal just 4 months after his arrival on Merseyside, but left in 1972 on a free transfer, with less than 50 Toffees appearances to his name.
He rebuilt his career and reputation over six happy seasons at Turf Moor.
Proceeds from this 60-page biography – which features rarely seen photos - will be donated to East Lancashire Hospice, where Keith was cared for prior to his untimely passing from cancer in 1998.
To order a copy, priced at £8, inclusive of P&P, please message Rob via rsneston@gmail.com or 07779
483713.
