Dixie Dean is unarguably Everton’s greatest ever player. When he was at Tranmere, umpteen other teams were interested in signing him, with one even giving him a tour of their stadium. He ultimately decided to join the club he supported since he was 8 years old. But how did he come to join Everton?

The club was first interested in him when he was 16 years old when Alfred Wade and Thomas H McIntosh watched him just six weeks after he signed his first deal with Tranmere. They said that he’s a player Everton should keep an eye on. Harry Makepeace then watched him play for Tranmere’s reserve team against Ashton National in the Cheshire League, saying he was “promising.”

Everton’s interest in Dixie Dean had quietened until scout John Fare was assigned to watch him in 3 games at the start of the 1924/25 season. His first match was Dean’s breakthrough match – Tranmere v Southport on 20th September 1924. Fare was reportedly with representatives from several other clubs who were among the 8,000 spectators at Prenton Park to watch Dean in action. Before the game, Dean had played 4 times for the first team, scoring no goals. Although, he did come close the previous Saturday against Doncaster but as his header was about to creep into the net, goalkeeper Harold Jacklin managed to save it. Everyone was anticipating to see what the 17-year-old was made of. And he didn’t let them down. In the 87th minute, Jimmy Moreton crossed the ball to Dean, he then jinxed past Jack Allen and fired his shot past Billy Halsall to score his first ever Football League goal. Thus commencing an eager pursuit of him from teams all across the country. And Everton were one of them.

After the Southport game, Everton agreed to discuss with Tranmere about the prospect of signing Dixie Dean. But before making an instant decision, the scouting assignment continued. John Fare watched Dean again in Tranmere’s next game against Ashington. But he wasn’t alone. Thomas H McIntosh joined him. But before they watched Dean, another team was interested in him – Newcastle United. Tranmere stayed at Newcastle overnight ahead of the Ashington game. The morning before the game, Tranmere secretary Bert Cooke took Dean to St James’ Park and met the Newcastle chairman and directors to talk about a possible move to the Magpies. He was given a tour of the ground but when asked by Cooke if he wanted to join them, he said no. Cooke then went on to mention that Aston Villa, Arsenal and Bolton were also interested in signing him. But Dean didn’t want to sign for any of them; he wanted to stay at Tranmere for the time being. Tranmere went on to lose to Ashington 1-0, with Dean having a few goalscoring chances but couldn’t find a way past Thomas Newton. Despite the duck, McIntosh liked what he saw and he agreed to talk to a Mr R. Ledsom and try to succeed where Newcastle failed – signing Dixie Dean.

The third and final match of John Fare’s scouting assignment was against Nelson. McIntosh and Fare saw Tranmere beat Nelson 2-0 with Dixie Dean scoring the first goal of the game almost as soon as the second half started. It was a tough goal to score as the ball was surrounded by players but Dean hit it onto the inside of the post and it bounced into the back of the net. Goalkeeper Harry Abbott could have done nothing about it as he could only see the ball go into the goal. However, despite his goal, McIntosh and Fare weren’t as impressed with him as they were before. They both thought Dean had a poor game. But his performance didn’t stop their interest in him and McIntosh said he had his chat with Ledsom and they will keep in touch about the possibility of a transfer.

John Fare’s scouting assignment was a success, but that didn’t stop him from watching him again. Fare watched him three weeks after the Nelson game against Hartlepools United, wherein Dixie Dean scored his first Football League hat-trick. He scored his first goal of the game after just 5 minutes, assisted by Stan Sayer. Hartlepools then came from behind to take the lead but Dean equalised in the 35th minute, heading in a corner from former Manchester United player Bert Cartman. In the second half, both sides scored a goal each and with the score at 3-3, the game was still anyone’s to win. And then along came Dean to score his best of his football career – and possibly his life – up to that point. When he got the ball, he waltzed past three Hartlepools players and deftly hit the ball out of Billy Cowell’s reach and into the back of the net. The game ended Tranmere 4-3 Hartlepools.

It was almost as if Dixie Dean knew Thomas H McIntosh and John Fare were unimpressed with his performance against Nelson and wanted to show them what he was truly made of. Fare unsurprisingly enthused over his performance. Before the Hartlepools game, Thomas H McIntosh requested a price for Dean. However, one would suspect the price tag would have risen significantly since his hat-trick. The following week, McIntosh decided to watch Dean on his own when Tranmere played Rochdale. He broke the deadlock after 15 minutes but missed most of the game after retiring injured in the subsequent 2-1 defeat for Tranmere.

The plaudits for Dixie Dean left an impression on Everton chairman Will Cuff and he decided to watch him with his own eyes alongside vice-chairman Ernest Green when Tranmere played Darlington a week after the Rochdale game. The possibility of Dean joining Everton was getting closer and closer as if he impressed Cuff and Green, they would submit a bid of £1,500 for him. A tremendous opportunity for Dixie Dean. Unfortunately, he had a bit of a stinker as Tranmere lost 1-0. The injury the previous week presumably affected him as Cuff believed he wasn’t fit enough to play for Everton yet. However, all was not lost as he was still on the club’s radar.

Thomas H McIntosh was due to watch Dean play against Crewe but he was dropped from the team. He then returned to the squad when they played against Wrexham, this time in front of Ernest Green. He assisted Harry Littlehales’ goal in a 2-0 victory for Tranmere and Green was fairly impressed with his performance. If Dean did have a good performance against Darlington, it was possibly likely that Tranmere would have rejected the £1,500 offer as they set a price tag of £2,000 for Dean. As Everton were flirting with submitting a bid for him, other teams reportedly already submitted one. Nottingham Forest and Chelsea were reported to have made bids for the 17-year-old, with Forest offering £1,800 and Chelsea offering an unspecified higher amount. Sunderland also joined the race, with Sheffield United making an inquiry for him. Sheffield United secretary John Nicholson said that the club did watch Dean a couple of times but no offer had been made yet, but they were eager to sign a promising centre-forward. Tranmere reportedly increased his price tag to £3,000 after Dean was continuously scoring goals. At the time of the increase, he had scored 11 goals in 12 league games. But despite all the reports, Tranmere said they hadn’t received a concrete offer from anyone yet.

As the Dixie Dean transfer saga intensified, Everton had gone a bit silent. That was until John Fare watched him play against Barrow in February 1925. And for the second time, Fare watched him score a hat-trick. When Tranmere were already 1-0 up, Dean extended their lead, converting a cross from Bert Cartman. After former Everton player Frank Alford reduced the deficit before half-time, Dean re-extended Tranmere’s lead by two goals in the 60th minute. Before full-time, he got this hat-trick with a little help from former Liverpool player Francis Checkland. Fare was once again impressed with Dean and believed it was the right time to make him become an Everton player.

About a fortnight after the Barrow game, Everton finally submitted a bid for Dixie Dean, offering Tranmere £2,750 for the prodigy. However, Tranmere rejected the offer. Everton submitted another bid for him, this time meeting Tranmere’s reported asking price of £3,000. Despite late interest from Liverpool, Tranmere accepted the second offer. The deal was almost complete and all that was left now was for Thomas H McIntosh to convince Dean to join Everton. A couple of days before their meeting, Dean played – and scored – for Tranmere in their 2-1 defeat to Darlington. That game was to be his last game in a Tranmere shirt.

On 16th March 1925, it was transfer deadline day. Unbeknownst to Dixie Dean, he was involved. Thinking he had nothing to do, he went to a cinema in Birkenhead called The Scala to watch a film called Rupert of Hentzau. When he went back home after the film finished, his mother told him that Thomas H McIntosh was waiting for him at the Woodside Hotel. He ran about two and a half miles as fast as he could to get to the hotel and cement his dream move. Dean had been an Everton supporter since he was 8 years old after his father William took him to a game during their title-winning campaign in 1915. This was the only Everton game he had ever watched. The atmosphere amazed him and he wanted to become an Everton player from that moment. When he met McIntosh, McIntosh told him he wanted him to join Everton, and Dean couldn’t say yes any quicker.

When the move was complete, Tranmere fans were so distraught that they threatened to boycott matches. Dean, however, wasn’t as upset:

I didn’t feel really terribly sad about leaving Tranmere because I did always want to get away and get to the one and only club: Everton. That’s been my club since I was a kid. So that’s it. I’d have played for nothing there. I just knew I’d come off at Everton. It had been there since I was a child. I just seemed to know that I could do something and, of course, it didn’t take me long to prove it.

Dixie Dean talking to John Keith (Dixie Dean: The Inside Story of a Football Icon)

A truckload of teams wanted to sign one of football’s greatest ever prodigies. But in the end, Dixie wanted to join his beloved Everton. They were the only team he had his eyes on. He showed how much he loved the Toffees on the pitch, and the fans loved him as much.