A piece of impudent brilliance from Goodlass still lingers long in the memory of many Evertonians.

UPTON PARK, April 1977, and Everton are edging away from a relegation battle. The ball is laid back to Goodlass on the halfway line and, spotting Mervyn Day off his line, the left-winger chips the ball over the hapless goalkeeper’s head and into the empty net. It remains one of the most memorable goals in Everton’s history. ‘It is always nice when people bring up the goal from the halfway line,' Goodlass told the Liverpool Echo in 2009. 'People always reminf me I did it before David Beckham. I reply, "David who?"'

IT CAPPED a memorable season for Goodlass, who had made the breakthrough from young hopeful to first-team regular. A local lad, he had graduated through the Everton youth system, making a belated debut, aged 22, in December 1975. He was an old-school winger, stocky and adroit, who relished skipping past tackles. An accurate and potent source of crosses for Bob Latchford, with his hands invariably hidden under long sleeves he cut a distinctive figure on the Everton wing.

But just as quickly as he had established himself in the Everton team, so he faded from view. During summer 1977 Gordon Lee signed Dave Thomas and, after watching most of the start of the 1977/78 season from the sidelines, Goodlass sought a fresh challenge with the Dutch club NAC Breda, who he joined for £100,000 in October. He returned to England two years later, but never again played in the top flight. 

During the mid-1990s, Goodlass briefly returned to Everton, serving as a youth coach under Joe Royle. Still involved in local youth football in his native Merseyside, he has since also established a reputation as an erudite and perceptive match analyst for Radio Merseyside.