Tony Cottee was the Premier League’s record signing when he moved to Everton from West Ham in 1988 and it’s a tag he admits he struggled to deal with
Ex-Everton ace Tony Cottee has opened up about the pressures of being English football’s most expensive player, a title he earned after joining the Toffees from West Ham in 1988. Cottee was a prolific goalscorer at Upton Park, with an average of around 23 goals per season during his six years with the Hammers, prompting Everton to shell out £2.2million to bring him to Goodison Park.
But despite his goals, Cottee never felt like the best player in the country, and didn’t want a price tag that suggested he was. “I didn’t like being a record signing. It wasn’t something I was comfortable with,” he told BetSelect.
“I was a decent player. I was a very good goal scorer on my day and all that stuff, but Gazza [Paul Gascoigne] had gone a month before from Newcastle to Tottenham, and he was the best player, I wasn’t the best player.”
Cottee also spoke about the challenges of adapting to life away from east London for the first time, recalling the stark introduction to his new surroundings: “It was literally, they’d say this is your hotel and the training ground’s down the road. This is where you have to go. And that was it,” he said, reflecting on his early days on Merseyside.
“There was no real help as such. It was get on with it. Bear in mind, I’m very much an East End, Essex boy, and you’re going up to Merseyside, it’s still five hours in a car and 250 miles away. So I found it tough.”
What also didn’t help was Everton’s poor form during his time there. They had been crowned champions in 1985 and 1987, but his debut season ended in eighth place. By that time, his ‘most expensive player’ tag had been taken by Ian Rush, who had re-signed for Liverpool from Juventus, but that did little to improve his or Everton’s fortunes.
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Cottee eventually returned to West Ham five years later. This move helped him shed his reputation as a record signing, which he admits had hindered him throughout his career at Goodison Park.
“There were some great players, the likes of Alan Shearer, and Roy Keane, who possibly loved being the record signing. They probably thought ‘that’s great. I’m the top boy.’ [But] it wasn’t for me,” he said. “I wasn’t happy with being the record signing. I think sometimes the fans don’t always appreciate the off-field side of the game.”
Cottee drew parallels with Jack Grealish and his £100m transfer to Manchester City, discussing the challenges that come with costly moves to new clubs. “Even Jack Grealish going from Birmingham to Manchester. It’s a different way of life. It’s a different area. You’ve got to factor in girlfriends, wives, children, schools, where you live, and what the people are like,” he said.
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“There’s so much that comes into it. And of course, if you’ve got off-field problems, it could be something as simple as the wife doesn’t settle, if your wife is unhappy, you can have on-field problems. So it’s not quite as simple as saying, Jack Grealish is a great footballer, he’ll be fine. There’s a lot that comes into play.”
“I’m pleased to say that there is a lot more help with the signing part these days. There’s a lot more care and consideration going into it. And quite rightly so, because you’re talking a lot of money.”
In his younger years, Cottee aimed for 200 career goals but surpassed it with a tally of 309, with around a third being scored for Everton. He remains to this day one of the club’s highest-ever scorers, but his spell was often overshadowed by the team’s on-field struggles and the high expectations placed upon him as a record-breaking signing.
Following a return to West Ham, Cottee played for Leicester, Birmingham, Norwich, Barnet, Millwall and Malaysian team Selangor before retiring in 2001. He later transitioned into broadcasting, spending nearly two decades with Sky Sports.
In the 37 years since his transfer to Everton, the record transfer fee for English clubs has skyrocketed to an astounding £115m. Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo currently holds the title of the country’s most expensive player. However, it appears that the Ecuadorian is handling the pressure better than Cottee ever did.
