“A True Everton Great”: The Extraordinary Life & Battle of Mike Lyons

Author Simon Hart and Francesca Lyons join Chris Beesley for a special edition of the Royal Blue podcast to discuss the former’s new book on the latter’s father. The Man Who Bled Blue tells the triumphs and tragedy of Mike Lyons. 

ORDER A COPY OF THE BOOK - The Man Who Bled Blue: The Triumphs and Tragedy of Mike Lyons: https://tinyurl.com/TheManWhoBledBlue

Hart, whose previous publications include Here We Go: Everton in the 1980s and World in Motion: The Inside Story of Italia ‘90 the tournament that changed football, has produced what the Daily Mail’s Ian Herbert describes as: “A beautifully written and meticulously researched portrait of an extraordinary football life.” 

Lifelong Evertonian Lyons, born in Mill Lane Maternity Hospital in Everton and raised at 5 Malpas Road, Croxteth, had a season ticket in the Bullens Road Paddock before making his first team debut when Harry Catterick’s Blues were reigning League Champions. However, despite only five other players topping his 473 appearances for Everton, silverware eluded him in over 11 years in the first team at Goodison Park. 

Going on to turn out for Sheffield Wednesday, Grimsby Town and the Nova Scotia Clippers in Canada, Lyons later returned to the Blues as a member of the coaching staff while holding a variety of managerial positions across the globe, including a stint in charge of the Brunei national team. Now based in Australia, he is living with Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia with the diagnosis citing ‘multiple impacts’ from the repeated heading of a football, such was Lyons’ noted bravery and commitment to the cause while playing the game he loved. 
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices