LAST week’s footballing pictures caused a stir. We showed a magnificent action picture from Feethams – once the home of Darlington FC – during a local league cup final in the 1950s.

Richard Cowan was able to confirm that the victorious side was Nestfield, as both his father, John, and uncle, Walter Gosling, plus several family friends, all played for the side which seems to have been the all conquering local power during the 1950s.

Another picture showed the LNER (Darlington) Permanent Way team which won the 1937 Darlington and District League. David Wake spotted his grandfather, David Bramley, on the picture. Mr Bramley had started his local football career at St Augustine’s FC before the First World War, and he usually played alongside Arthur Catterick.

And Arthur Catterick’s brother was one of Darlington’s greatest sporting stars: Harry Catterick. The boys’ father seems to have been a top footballer at Chilton Colliery and one of their uncles was trainer for the Quakers.

Harry was born in the town in 1919. He signed for Everton in 1937 when he was 18, but the Second World War got in the way. During the war, he played 71 times for Everton, and scored 55 goals, and he also turned out for Manchester United.

He stayed with Everton until 1951 and then had a couple of seasons playing at Crewe Alexandra before moving into management. He cut his teeth at Crewe and Rochdale, took Sheffield Wednesday to the Division Two title and then was recruited by Everton in 1971.

He won the Division One title (which was then the highest accolade in the game) in 1963 and the FA Cup in 1966, but his team was broken up when one of his signings was jailed for match-fixing.

Catterick rebuilt, with a new midfield of Alan Ball, Colin Harvey and Howard Kendall, which won the title in 1970. However, the following season, Ball was sold to Arsenal, and Catterick’s team struggled.

The stress took its toll on the manager, who had a heart attack in 1972 and stood down.

He had been manager for 12 years. His reign coincided with Matt Busby managing Manchester United and Bill Shankly managing Liverpool. Busby and Shankly are among the most famous names in footballing history, and during the 1960s both won the title twice – as did Catterick, but his name is hardly known.

He remained connected to Everton and in 1985, aged 65, he died after suffering another heart attack at Goodison Park after watching his side draw 2-2 with Ipswich Town.