When Skies Were Gray! A Celebration of Everton FC's 1984/85 season

It paid off handsomely.

Gray's bravery defied belief.

It was his head which had already sealed the capture of Everton's first silverware for 14 years at Wembley in May 1984. And it was his unshakeable self confidence which transmitted throughout the rest of the squad.

Exuding confidence, he replaced tension with self belief.

He personally mentored promising young strike partner Graeme Sharp into a centre-forward who became the second highest goalscorer in the club's history.

And he became a self appointed social secretary of a squad which proved it could party as hard off the pitch as it could play on it.

Gray's battle cry before the Blues took to the field at Sheffield Wednesday late in the campaign is still talked about by his team-mates today. That Wednesday side was notoriously physical, led by the unashamed route one advocate, Howard Wilkinson - and there was revenge in the air, too.

Peter Reid's X-rated reaction to the season-ending injury his mate, Adrian Heath, had sustained in the first clash at Goodison back in December was vividly remembered by the Wednesday fans and players. But Gray growled: "Right lads. We're not leaving here today without something. Let's get out there!"

Everton won 1-0 - Gray himself scored with one of his least convincing connections of the season - and the Blues effectively had one hand on the Championship trophy.

Gray's contribution throughout that season - after replacing Heath - was monumental. But as team-mate John Bailey recalled, the former British record transfer and PFA Player and Young Player of the Year winner was an instantly recognisable figure worldwide.

"We were a good travelling team. They were just fantastic trips away together," said Bailey. "There was some buzz about the coach on the way down. You used to stand up and look at them, Peter Reid, Andy Gray, Trevor Steven, Gary Stevens, Big Nev. You'd look at them and think 'How are they going to beat us? Look at us all.'

"Andy never used to train. The 'Ice man' we called him because he always had ice on his knees.

"I don't know how he passed a medical, but he was our leader, with Reidy.

"I remember a trip to Bangkok with Andy. We'd decided to go through the shanty town on a boat trip to where they live on the river.

"I can see it now, huts sticking up out of this dirty, smelly river. I think we went with a couple of people from the British Embassy. They invited us.

"Instead of going to all the bars all the time, or sunbathing, we thought we'd have a look at how these people live.

"We got the boat packed with a few beers, a few dozen, and we drifted down this shanty town to see these people.

"There were people washing in this water in which they used to urinate and do their toiletries in and these kids saw us coming down. I'll never forget this until I die.

"We pulled up at this shop in the middle of a sea village, a little hut where people were selling little bits of things.

"I can remember pulling up in the boat sitting outside and Andy was there and we were just finishing the last dregs of beer and someone had gone off to get the beer in the shop and these kids just appeared from nowhere and they all had Shoot and Match magazines and I couldn't believe it.

"Next thing you know they're all pointing at the boat 'Gray! Gray! Andy Gray!

"I'm sharing a boat with a guy in the middle of Bangkok and these kids, who've got no bloody clothes on, no boots, no shoes or socks on, and a little bust ball under their arm. But they knew Andy Gray!

"I was just a little disappointed because they never recognised me."

Andy Gray wasn't the only recognisable figure at Goodison in 1985, or course, nor the only leader.

Coach Terry Darracott had his own ideas on who ruled the roost at Goodison.

"People look at Peter Reid as a player and say 'He couldn't particularly head the ball, he didn't particularly score a lot of goals, he wasn't quick,' - and yet he was a great player," said Darracott.

"He was a great player because the bottle the lad has got is unbelievable. He set an example at Everton to the young players. He never stopped running, never stopped tackling."

With characters like Gray and Reid, together with a clutch of prodigiously talented emerging youngsters like Graeme Sharp, Trevor Steven, Gary Stevens and Adrian Heath, coaches inside Bellefield could sense something stirring.

First team coach Colin Harvey said: "Starting that season you could sense that the players believed.

"We went on a pre-season tour to Greece and played at the Olympic Stadium. I think it was Olympiakos and we beat them 3-1. We played some fantastic stuff and you felt 'Aye, aye. something's going to happen here.'

"Then the season started and we lost the first two games. But the stuff we played, you thought: 'It's good enough to win the Championship' and that's what we went on to do."

TOMORROW: The Echo's Top 10 goals of 1984/85

Tell us your Everton FC stories from 1984/85

ALL this week we're celebrating the 25th anniversary of the most successful season in the history of Everton Football Club.

And we want you to get involved, by writing or e-mailing your memories from the 1984/85 season.

What was your favourite goal? Your best match? The most influential player?

Were you in Rotterdam on May 15? Are you the fan who airplanes his way round Graeme Sharp at Anfield? Or did you travel to Dublin to watch UCD?

E-mail to sport@liverpool.com or post to Everton Memories, Sportsdesk, Liverpool Echo, Old Hall Street, Liverpool L69 3EB.