You wont see mild-mannered defender Dave Watson crop up on many hardest footballers lists, but he was the kind of solid centre-half who didnt need to shout his mouth off or provoke the opposition to prove how tough he was. A servant for the club for 25 years, the former Blues skipper once shrugged off the flu to face Wimbledon and played most of the match with a bloody eye following a collision with John Fashanus elbow in the opening minutes. Now thats what you call hard. Watson captained Everton to silverware in 1995 when they won the FA Cup and served as the clubs interim manager for the remainder of the 1996-97 season after Joe Royle resigned in March. An unsuccessful spell as Tranmere Rovers gaffer followed before Watson took up the post of youth coach at Newcastle United.
