Back in July 2004, the general consensus amongst Evertonians
when it was announced we’d agreed to sign him for £1.5 million (what a bargain
that was by the way) from Championship side Millwall was “Tim who?” Apart from
a bit of coverage after his semi final winning goal against Sunderland, he was
a mystery to most. I knew of him through nothing more than hearing his
name mentioned quite often on Soccer Saturday, so I knew he was a bit of a goalscorer
but no more than that. It was a little bit of a risk signing such an unproven
player but what a pay off David Moyes got during the next 8 years.
Tim’s debut came on August 30th
2004 at Old Trafford. We drew 0-0 and put up our best performance there in a
good while and although he was substituted midway through the second half,
Cahill had instantly won me over with
his performance, he played with no fear despite it being his debut in the Premier League and at such a daunting venue. From what I recall he even forced Tim Howard in goal for United that day into making a decent save. I remember thinking as he went off, applauding the away end,
that I am going to really like him. The next game he played for us, coincidently in
Manchester, he again left the pitch midway through the second half
but for a totally different reason, but it was at this point I knew I was going to love him. Whether it
was because he’d scored a great headed goal that turned out to be the winning goal (I always love seeing a header
hitting the back of the net, thank Duncan Ferguson for that) or the total
injustice of him being sent off by Steve Bennett for the heinous crime of
lifting his shirt above his head, I don’t know, but something about this hard
working, goal scoring Aussie had got me.
The rest of that season was a nothing short of a dream for us Blues as we exceeded all expectations and finished 4th. Cahill
epitomised the team that season as he probably over-exceeded too, he
finished with an impressive total of 12 goals in all competitions and his goal
against Newcastle which clinched the 4th place sent Goodison into
pandemonium, something that hadn’t been seen at the Old Lady in many a year. It
was just his goals that made fans love him; it was Tim’s love of all things
Everton too. Who can forget the Carsley Derby and the pily-on celebration, who
is there on the top of that mound of bodies celebrating, but Cahill. It such an
iconic picture that really summed up what that whole season was about for
Everton, teamwork, togetherness and team spirit. All of this Cahill played such
a pivotal role in and he continued to do that in all his time here. That side
of his game will be missed not just by the fans but by his team-mates too. You
only have to read the Twitter conversations he has with the other players to
see how much he was an integral part of things off the field and I’m sure Neville, Distin
et al will miss his presence around Finch Farm and the dressing room just as
much as Evertonians will miss his presence on the pitch.
Tim’s goals, all 68 of them meant so much to him and us
alike and nothing could beat seeing a corner flag taking a good punching from
him be it at Goodison, Old Trafford, Eastlands or Stamford Bridge. His goals
against Liverpool, particularly in the wins at Goodison will go down in Everton
folklore just on their own. For such a small player, his heading ability was
second to none, he literally towered above many a centre half who had a good
few inches height advantage on him. Defenders at times could just not live with
him and he scored so many classic headers especially at Eastlands, but he
wasn’t all about scoring, he did have other elements to his game, defensively,
his heading ability was such a weapon to us when defending corners and he could
set up the odd goal too, my favourite his perfectly timed through ball to
Steven Pienaar for possibly my favourite goal of recent time at a snowy
Emirates stadium in 2010. In recent time, he became a bit more of squad player
as injuries caught up on him, but he still had an impact at times for us. When
we played Manchester City at Goodison in May 2011, we were lucky to only be one
down at half time, but we slowly started to turn things around and Tim’s
introduction in the 2nd half changed the game in our favour. Within
he seconds of arriving on the pitch he got the ball, won a free kick that
Distin headed home to make it 1-1. He ran around that afternoon like he was 24
again, harassing City’s mega money purchases and dragging the rest of his team
up to his standards and the rest of the game we dominated and deserved the win
we got. Anne-Marie my Manchester City supporting mate text me after the game
and said “I knew we would have no chance once that Cahill came on, he was the
difference, wish he’d have a bad game against us sometimes”Other clubs fans hated him because they knew the impact he could have, but I bet they all wished he was playing for their team! The other thing
that was one of Tim's major attribute's was his never say die attitude, his
determination to keep on going till the last whistle, you only have to look at
the number of late but vital goals he scored – equalisers at Anfield, Ewood
Park and Stamford Bridge as well as at home to Tottenham and who can forget the
late winners against Wigan, Sunderland,
Blackburn, Manchester City and Zenit St Petersburg.
The main thing that every Evertonian respected Tim for though
was how much he genuinely loved the club and the fans. Players nowadays have a
reputation of being prima donnas’, not in touch with reality, money grabbers.
Whilst that is true of some, it’s not like that for all of them and I think Tim
definitely falls into the latter category. He’s understood for many years now
what Everton means to its fans, he has always spoken so highly of all
things Everton and now he’s left, I am sure he will continue to do this. He has
always been so grateful to the club and particularly David Moyes for believing
in him and giving him the opportunity to become a Premier League player and a
very good one at that. The fact his traditional Samoan sleeve tattoo has EFC in
it shows how much respect he has for the club. Tim has said himself that tattoo
only reflects things that are so important to him “it shows the things that are most
important to me in my life, including symbols my grandfather had all over his
body. Each of the other symbols represents things like my two sons, Millwall
Football Club, who obviously started my career and then Everton Football Club
who have made me what I am today” Not many players who aren’t born an
Evertonian, let alone from this country, would do something like that unless they really "got us "and it's safe to say, Tim definitely "got us"
So as you can tell from all the above, Tim was a legend to me, but
I have a personal story that makes him even more legendary in my eyes and will always keep him like that. At Ewood
Park in April 2010, Tim had kept our slim European chances alive by scoring in
the 90th minute in a 3-2 win. At the end of the game, all the
players came to Darwin End of the ground to throw their shirts to the enormous
travelling army that had gone nuts celebrating the win just seconds early. As
always when the players threw the shirts into crowd I am desperate to get one,
but usually have no success (apart from my brother managing to grab McFadden’s
at the Riverside years ago), once again I expected to have no hope as being in
my wheelchair I am far too little to jump and catch anything that is thrown,
but this didn’t stopping barging my way to the front by the advertising
hoardings. Osman’s shirt was thrown over my head as Yakubu’s and several other
players, just as I thought all hope was lost, I saw Tim approaching with his
shirt in his hand, so being a bit cheeky I was shouting asking if I could have,
knowing full well he wouldn’t even be able to hear me as he was that far away.
He continued approaching in a direct line to me, but I still expected he’d
thrown it above me once he got near to me. But he continued walking to me, the
stewards stopped him, but he said something and pointed over to the direction I
was in and the stewards allowed him through the cordon. As there was a young
lad by mean I presumed he was going to get the shirt, but the next thing I knew
Tim Cahill, the Tim Cahill was in front of me!!! I was now less than a couple of feet away
from him, he flashed a beaming smile at me and said “here you go, you have that”
and he gave me his shirt. It was literally one of the best moments I’ve ever
had at the match. I can still remember my Facebook status that I put up while
waiting to get out of the car park at Ewood “Words can’t describe how much I
really love Tim Cahill, not only has he just got us three points, but he gave
me his shirt” He could have easily have thrown that into the crowd but he took
the time to come over and personally give it to me. I would have been pleased
to get any shirt, but to get his and in such a way was amazing. Unbeknown to me
a few days after this a friend emailed me with something she’d seen that had
been posted on Bluekipper about this -"There's still
the remnants of an absurd post knocking around regarding Tim Cahill being over
the hill and needing to be moved on. The lad is the epitome of Everton - a
fighter, determined, brilliant in his particular role, the (non-creative)
fulcrum of the team. When we're down and in need of inspiration he's more often
than not on hand to sort us out and drag the game back in our favour. At full
time today, he came right over and took off his shirt. There was a huge clamour
for it, everyone wanted it. A sign of how we behold him. But no, Tim had other
ideas. He singled out a lady in a wheel chair, gave a massive smile and gave
her the shirt. f****** fantastic....you can stick your prima donnas where the
sun don't shine. As well as making our day with his winner he made that young
lady's day/week/year...the joy on her face was worth the admission fee. Tim - some may rip
you, but I salute you...you're the business."
If this wasn’t amazing
enough, I then got to meet him at Finch Farm. I had decided to be brave and go
down to see if I could get him to sign the shirt, I expected just to wait at
the gates and hope he’d stop for a minute, but a friend of mine who works there
said she would try to make sure he’d stop. Not only did he stop, he got out of
his car, gave me a kiss, asked how I was (not sure I answered as I was in awe
of him), signed the shirt and got some photographs taken with me. All I can
remember saying thank you to him and he said “it is no problem at all”. Again
this is another moment that will leave with me forever. They say don’t meet your
heroes as they may ruin the image you have of them, well, I have two of mine in
Tim and Duncan and they’ve not ruined their image only enhanced it.
After 8 years, Monday 23rd of July 2012, mine and Everton’s
love affair with Tim Cahill sadly came to an end with the announcement of his
move to New York Red Bulls. When I heard the news I was having a meal with my
line managers after day on a training
course in Bath, I felt so devastated when I read the texts of mates that
I wanted to cry, but I held it together, wouldn’t have looked good sobbing in
front of your bosses!! I finally shed a few tears when looking at the video on
the official site and reading the messages from fellow fans paying tribute to
him. I doubt Cahill will ever be able to read all the mentions on his Twitter
timeline as nearly every Evertonian has left him a tweet of thanks and
appreciation for the man who ran his heart out for our club and rescued us so
many times. My one regret is that he never won a trophy with us, if any player
deserved a trophy and would have appreciated it as much as us fans it would
have been Tim.
One day I hope he will
return to Goodison so we can say a proper goodbye to the man who came to us a
relative unknown and left as a hero to so many.
