Everton favourite Tony Hibbert set for emotional return to city
Former Everton player Tony Hibbert to be honoured with tribute night at Liverpool city centre hotel as Ronny Goodlass continues to raise funds for his charity Health Through Sport after returning from his walk across the Netherlands
Everton icon Tony Hibbert is to make an emotional return to Liverpool later this month for a tribute night in his honour. One-club man Hibbert was a home-grown hero, making 329 appearances for the Blues between 2001-2016.
Now 41, Hibbert lives in France, where he has resided since buying a 33-acre carp fishery on the outskirts of Reims. Although he is known for shunning the limelight, Hibbert made the headlines earlier this season when over five years after he retired from professional football, he started turning out for his local amateur club ES Louzy.
Former Everton winger Ronny Goodlass, who coached Hibbert as a youngster at the Blues, has organised a tribute night for him at the Hilton Hotel in Liverpool city centre on Friday May 20. Goodlass told the ECHO: “We all know Tony is a quiet and humble lad but once you get to know him he’s great. We’re raising funds for my charity Health Through Sport and he told me: ‘I’d love to do it, Ronny.’
“It’s great for him to come home for a night like this, his family are coming too and there will be friends he hasn’t seen for a while. He’s certainly looking forward to it and hopefully we can get some of his former team-mates from the FA Youth Cup-winning side back together as well.”
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Goodlass has only just returned to Merseyside last week from his latest fundraising venture, a four-day walk across the Netherlands.
Bookending his trip by watching his two former Dutch clubs ADO Den Haag and NAC Breda play home games, the 68-year-old pounded the pavements for 128km between the two cities.
He said: “I’d picked up a bit of an injury about three weeks before the walk and feared I might not be able to do it but I went up to Finch Farm and they sorted me out with a massage and some treatment. It absolutely poured down with rain on the first day – it was like being in Manchester!
“It was a bit touch and go but the physio in the Hague helped me as well and I bumped into a few people along the way who stuck the pictures up online to prove I was actually over there and not just walking around Stanley Park. I’d like to thanks the three clubs, Everton, ADO Den Haag and NAC Breda for all the assistance they gave me.
“The next three days were really sunny and I had to get some cream for my face because people would be thinking I’ve been to Marbella when I got back. I had green tracksuit bottoms from Den Haag and a yellow shirt from Breda so I ended up looking like a traffic light.
“It’s great how everyone has come together though because we didn’t have anything like this for a couple of years with the pandemic. The Hot Wok have done a spot the ball which has raised £160 which they’ll raise to £200 and we’re leaving it open to try and reach our target as it gives people time after the Bank Holiday weekend and getting paid because any appreciation, whether it’s a pound or a euro is really appreciated and it’s fantastic how people have supported us.”
- A Tribute To Tony Hibbert starts at 7:45pm on Friday May 20 at the Hilton Hotel. There will be a three-course meal, special guest comedian, raffle and auction. The cost is £60 per ticket, £550 for a table of 10 or £650 for a table of 12. To purchase tickets, go to healththroughsport.co.uk, call Ronny on 07833 754 465 or the Hilton on 0151 708 4200.
- If you’d like to make a donation to Ronny Goodlass’ Fundraising Walk Challenge, go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/healththroughsportcharity