Everton Football Club is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of 1969/70 League Championship winner Jimmy Husband.
Jimmy, 76, died peacefully on Saturday following a short illness.
Jimmy joined Everton in 1963, when the Blues were the reigning League Champions, and would score 55 goals in 199 first-team appearances.
He was born in Newcastle on 15 October 1947 and was a much sought-after young footballer as he progressed through his teens. He played for England Schoolboys and had a choice of over a dozen clubs, including Aston Villa, Leeds United, Sunderland, Newcastle United, Middlesbrough, Burnley and Everton when he decided to turn professional. He picked Everton and made his debut away at Fulham on Easter Monday in April 1965.
Legends like Gordon West, Brian Labone, Jimmy Gabriel and Johnny Morrisey were among his team-mates, while George Cohen, Bobby Robson, Rodney Marsh and Johnny Haynes were in the Fulham side.
During his formative years at the club, Jimmy lived in digs in Tuebrook and at the end of the 1964/65 season he was part of the Everton team that won the FA Youth Cup for the very first time, defeating Arsenal in the two-legged final.
His first senior goal came at Goodison Park in January 1967 when he netted in a 4-1 victory against Sheffield United.
Two months later he made his England Under-23 debut at Hull City’s Boothferry Park, replacing Ian Storey-Moore in a 3-0 win against Austria. Jimmy started the next Under-23 international away to Greece and would eventually gain five caps at that level. Sir Alf Ramsey’s reluctance to use wingers almost certainly cost him a full cap.
In 1968, Jimmy played in every round as Everton reached the FA Cup final, scoring twice in the quarter-final victory away at Leicester City, but a bad miss at Wembley would haunt him for many years – especially as West Brom won the game 1-0.
Two years later he was a regular in Harry Catterick’s team as they stormed to another First Division crown but an injury in the spring denied Jimmy the chance to play in the run-in.
Jimmy was also injured in the European Cup quarter-final 1st leg against Panathinaikos the following season. He was only on the pitch for seven minutes but came in for some brutal treatment and his absence from the remaining 83 minutes and the subsequent 2nd leg undoubtedly contributed to Everton’s elimination.
The 1970 Championship squad soon started to break up and Jimmy left Goodison to join Luton Town in 1973.
His last appearance for Everton came in a Goodison defeat to Norwich City in the League Cup when David Cross scored the only goal after just 15 seconds.
He helped the Hatters to promotion into the First Division in 1973/74 when they finished runners-up to Middlesbrough and Jimmy was afforded a terrific reception from the Evertonians when he played for Luton at Goodison the following season.
It was while he was at Kenilworth Road that Everton manager Billy Bingham picked his brains about a young kid called Andy King.
After 162 games and 48 goals for Luton Town, Jimmy crossed the Atlantic to sign for Memphis Rogues who were managed by former Chelsea defender Eddie McCreadie. Jimmy would often train at Bellefield during the USA off-season, joining in with the youth team managed by his former team-mate Colin Harvey.
In 1981, Jimmy joined the Cleveland Force indoor soccer team and then wound up his playing days with a spell at Oklahoma City Slickers, managed by Brian Harvey, brother of Colin.
Like a lot of former professional footballers of the era, Jimmy ran a pub after hanging up his boots and settled in Bedfordshire, where he spent the rest of his days.
He was a regular at the Everton Former Players Foundation Christmas Lunch, where he would thoroughly enjoy the company of his old pals, and he was a special guest at Goodison in 2020 when John Hurst was presented with the Dixie Dean Award.
The thoughts of everyone associated with the Club are with Jimmy's family at this sad time.
