On This Day In Everton History: April 17th

With a slew of defeats and draws inflicted on Everton on April 17 previously, today we look back at two rare wins on this date and one of the most significant managerial appointments in the club’s history. Let’s go:

1961 - Catterick appointed new Blues manager

Photo by H. V. Drees/Evening Standard/Getty Images

Though Everton would finish in a respectable fifth in the 1960-61 First Division, a major improvement on 15th the previous year, as the campaign drew to a close it became apparent to chairman John Moores that the club needed a winner at the helm.

And so, on April 17, 1961 with just two games of the season left, in came Harry Catterick to replace Johnny Carey, who was sacked in the back of a London taxi by Moores.

Having represented only the Blues and Crewe Alexandra as a player, Catterick had gone on to manage the Alex, Rochdale and Sheffield Wednesday, with the 1958-59 Second Division title with the Owls his only honour. Thankfully, it would prove a masterstroke of an appointment.

Catterick would go on to lead Everton to two First Division titles, two Charity Shields and one FA Cup in his 12 years in charge at Goodison Park. In a era widely synonymous with Don Revie, Matt Busby and Bill Shankly, for instance, Catterick could make a claim for being the most underrated manager of the 1960s.

1999 - Campbell nets a brace in win on Tyneside

Just six days earlier, Kevin Campbell had netted his first Everton goals since his March loan move from Trabzonspor with a brace against Coventry City. So, what better way to follow that up than to repeat that feat in the Blues’ next game away at FA Cup finalists Newcastle?

Campbell wasted no time in adding to his collection. Inside 41 seconds, he had been played through on goal by Don Hutchison, before slotting coolly past Shay Given in goal to give Walter Smith’s men an early lead.

After a goal in the first minute of the first half, Campbell’s second came in the last minute of the first half, meeting Francis Jeffers’ cross with the deftest of touches that was enough to befuddle Shay Given and trickle in.

Alan Shearer would halve the lead late on from the spot, but there was still time for Scott Gemmill to restore Everton’s two-goal advantage with a wonderful volley.

It marked only the second time Everton had won consecutive league games that season, and the first occasion of that since November. Up one place to 15th, those relegation worries just began to look a little more distant.

2010 - Cahill strikes late to see off Blackburn

Everton looked set for a third straight 2-2 draw in the Premier League, only for Tim Cahill to pop up and do what he did best for the Blues in injury time during their trip to Sam Allardyce’s Blackburn on April 17, 2010.

An early Mikel Arteta penalty kept Everton in charge until the 69th minute, when Steven N’Zonzi fired a long-range bullet past Tim Howard, before Jason Roberts matched his strike with another equaliser soon after Yakubu had briefly regained Everton’s lead with his first touch.

Thankfully for David Moyes’ men, that Roberts stunner was not the final chapter. From finisher to provider, Yakubu picked out Tim Cahill unmarked in the penalty area, giving the Australian a tap-in to eventually seal victory for Everton in a frantic encounter.

It stretched their unbeaten run to eight games, as the late-season surge into European contention gathered pace.