Challenges The William Ralph "dixie" Dean Challenge

[danovic78]

The William Ralph "Dixie" Dean Challenge

"He belongs to the company of the supremely great, like Beethoven, Shakespeare and Rembrandt", said Bill Shankly.

There are some old Everton supporters who still swear on their mam’s grave that this is true: It happened in the late 1920s, they say, on the morning before a derby game against the dreaded Reds from Anfield. Dixie Dean, pride of Everton and the finest header of the ball that ever lived, was walking down Liverpool’s Victoria Street. On the pavement opposite strolled the incomparable Liverpool goalkeeper, Elisha Scott. Dean nodded to his old foe as they passed - and Scott instinctively dived through a plate-glass shop front!

Dean was still a teenager when he left Tranmere Rovers and signed for Everton in 1925. The transfer fee was £3,000, which equates to £160,000 in today’s money - and the Blues certainly got full value for what was a record fee received by the Wirral club at the time.

During his 12-year stay at Goodison, Dean won the First Division championship twice and the FA Cup (as captain) in 1933, the Blues’ first appearance at Wembley. It was said his presence on the Everton teamsheet could add a further 5,000 to Goodison attendances, earning his club millions in additional gate receipts over the years.

The goals flowed and flowed and flowed. He scored 349 in the league in 399 matches, plus a further 28 in 32 FA Cup ties and 18 in 16 England appearances.

When George Camsell scored 59 Football League goals for Middlesbrough in 1926/27 he must have believed that his record for last for years. It lasted just one season being bettered by William Ralph Dean - Dixie Dean. Not that it was easy, with two matches remaining he needed seven goals to beat the record. Four of them came against Burnley in the penultimate match and on Saturday 5th May 1927 48,715 Everton fans were at Goodison to welcome the newly-crowned League champions and to see Dean get a hat-trick to take the record from Camsell. Arsenal opened the scoring after two minutes - Dean equalised a minute later. In the 6th minute Dean was fouled in the box and converted the penalty. The record equalled and plenty of time to beat it but it wasn't until 8 minutes from the end when Alec Troup sent in a corner for Dean to head home the record-breaking 60th goal.

Can you match these amazing goal-scoring exploits?

Challenge Rules

1. Load up England and any other countries and take charge of any Premier League club (Everton if you want to go authentic) and sign an English striker.

2. You have 12 seasons in which to match and surpass Dean's incredible goal scoring feats

3. You must beat his record of 60 league goals, 37 hat-tricks and 383 club goals.

4. The player must also win at least 2 League Titles, 2 Charity Shield and 1 FA Cup.

5. No unlockables, edited databases, or use of any of the editors

6. Evidence is required, I'd suggest posting a career thread for us to follow.

7. No cheating - Restarting to avoid injuries counts as cheating!!

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