OBITUARY

Jimmy Gabriel obituary

Tough-tackling midfielder who shone for Everton in the 1960s and later helped to develop football in America
Jimmy Gabriel poses at Goodison Park in 1964. He used his granite stare to face down the game’s other hard men
Jimmy Gabriel poses at Goodison Park in 1964. He used his granite stare to face down the game’s other hard men
ALAMY

Everton were beating Sheffield Wednesday 3-2 at the end of a pulsating FA Cup final in 1966 when Jimmy Gabriel decided to make the Wembley pitch his personal fiefdom.

The blues had come back from 2-0 down but now they were hanging on. With the final whistle approaching, the Scot received the ball, dribbled past two players (cheekily putting the ball through the legs of one) and headed for the corner flag. With his stockings rolled down to his ankles there were no shin pads in sight, but they were not required because the Sheffield Wednesday defenders could not get near him. Gabriel showed total mastery of the ball in that confined space, twisting and turning away from two defenders. After further feints, he wedged