Yes Donny, the understanding between Alex and the very underrated Roy Vernon was wonderful to see. I was privileged to see them both throughout their Everton careers. Happy birthday Alex!
What a player. Alex Young was the Greek God Of Football.
It was lovely to see your recognition to Roysten who was a tireless, and very skillful, foil for our very own Magician.
I appreciate everybody has their favoured players, and I have had my own particular heroes since I began attending during 1954, but I can honestly state that I never ever heard anybody criticise Alex.
The fact is, that if Alex ever mis-controlled a ball, which was seldom, the player who passed it to him would come in for criticism from the crowd for giving him such a poor pass.
Much has been said over the years of the wee mans ability to glide over the ground, ( Let's face it, pitches in those days were not like the carpets of today), but Alex could run through a puddle and not make a splash.
His prowess in the air was mystical as he could 'hover' for a seeming age, and so rarely ever seemed to mis-time his leap. How such a small man could leap higher than his markers was unbelievable. And we are talking about an age in the game when any player who fell feigning injury would be hammered by the opposition, and referees had NO sympathy for the wimp who cried wolf. So Alex was a hard man too, don't let anybody fool you into thinking otherwise.
Apart from consistency, this man had the lot. But he, like every other truly gifted person, plays by instinct and confidence, and not like so many of these manufactured footballers.
One instance which sets Alex aside from any other player I could name, was the fact he was also really liked by the the shower from across the park, When he began to become more of a fringe player, his name was chanted from the kop as a desperate act of trying to get them to buy him. Harry Catterick would have none of it, however, after the diatribe he received from Shankly when he bought Johnny Morrissey.
To conclude this War And Peace type tome, I have had many heroes over the years. Is my favourite Alex Young? Well no actually, that accolade goes to Alan Ball for the simple reason that he HATED TRS, and they hated him. Reason enough I think, but that does not take anything away from these two fine Evertonians.
Thank you though, Alex Young, it was a privilege to have seen you play. Especially privileged as you played for our wonderful Blue Boys. Or Bonnie Blue Boys as they were sometimes know then.
