The Life of Barrie Rees 

Rob Sawyer

Rhyl-born Barrie Rees followed in the footsteps of South Walian striker Keith Webber by swapping life at Goodison Park for the Goldstone Ground in the 1960s. 

Barrie (often written as Barry) was born on 4 February 1944 and lived on Mayfield Grove, attending Christchurch Junior School and Glyndwr Secondary School. In 1959, as a fifteen-year-old, he attained Welsh Schoolboy football honours as a forward in a Wales v Ireland match played in Bangor. Rhyl FC of the Cheshire League, had him on amateur forms, but on the recommendation of Freddie Bennett, the Toffees’ man in North Wales, he was invited to join the Goodison roster. By the summer of 1960, he was making regular appearances as an amateur in the club’s B team, receiving invitations to play in each match, as was the norm back then. He continued with his plumbing apprenticeship (the Club purchased his tools for him), before turning professional for the Blues in 1961. He would get back home to Rhyl whenever the opportunity arose, often catching the same train along the North Wales coast as fellow Toffees youngster Gerry Humphreys.  

Humphreys and other clubmates, including Colin Harvey, Derek Temple and Colin Green remember Barrie as an extremely versatile player whose greatest gift was his height, athleticism and stamina. Highlighting his ability to do a decent job wherever the manager asked, he was deployed by Everton as a forward, wing-half (midfielder) and right back; a proto-Alan Harper, if you will.

Harvey believes that ultimately, Barrie would have been best suited to a wing-half role in which he could use his formidable engine to get up and down the pitch to great effect. Temple recalls that Barry had a streak of fire in his belly – as evidenced by a two-week suspension handed down for striking a Manchester City opponent during a reserve team match.

With Harvey and Roy Parnell, Barrie was shortlisted to make his Everton debut at San Siro stadium. He stayed over at the Harvey’s house the night before the squad travelled from Manchester Airport to Italy for the European Cup tie. Ultimately, Harry Catterick plumped for Harvey against Inter, but Barry was handed his senior bow a month later, replacing the injured Alex Young at centre-forward against West Ham United at Upton Park. He scrambled the ball home from close range on thirty-two minutes and, according to Michael Charters in the Echo, ‘There was no disguising the youngster’s joy’. Sadly, it was not enough to prevent a 4-2 defeat by the Hammers. According to The People, ‘Besides keeping experienced Ken Brown at full stretch all afternoon, he [Rees] tested Standen at every chance.’

Barrie was back wearing the number nine shirt – and on the scoresheet again – in February 1964, when recalled to the side for a routine home win over Birmingham City (keeping his place for the subsequent fixture). At the end of the season, he was in the Toffees group selected to tour Australia for four weeks. The utility man made a good impression – grabbing a hat-trick against a Queensland XI – but found the extensive travelling and time away from his family draining. He wrote home, ‘I’ll be glad to get home. It’s all travelling here and the food isn’t very good, either.’

Back in Britain, the Welshman was consigned to reserve team duties until November 1964, when drafted in for the out-of-form Alex Parker, with Leeds United the visitors. The match has entered folklore as ‘The Battle of Goodison’ – a brutal encounter that would test even the most seasoned pro.

Injured during the one-nil home defeat, Barrie found himself out of first team favour when fit and available again (although he had a call-up to the Wales Under 23 squad). 

With a deep squad, and limited opportunities for the Welshman on the horizon, in January 1965, Everton were prepared to part company when an offer of £8,000 plus add-on clauses was tendered by Brighton and Hove Albion. The Seagulls had him watched several times and moved quickly to secure his services when made aware of the interest of rival clubs. Harry Catterick told reporters: ‘We felt that Rees would stand a better chance of regular League football if we let him go to Brighton. Our position is that we have many fine youngsters coming through from our youth policy and we did not wish to stand in Rees’ way.’

Although reluctant to uproot himself from North Wales and Merseyside, Barrie headed south to meet manager Archie Macauley and was persuaded to sign on the dotted line. A fairly quiet young man off the pitch, he made an immediate impact on it. In his 12 appearances as a wing-half, it was abundantly clear that Brighton had signed a player with considerable potential. Tall, happy to ‘mix it’ and possessing a natural talent for getting forward, he shone in the Fourth Division. In his memoir, former Albion chairman Dick Knight wrote that Barrie was ‘one of Brighton’s classiest-ever players.’ The club had every expectation of him developing into a mainstay of the team and becoming a full Wales international. He soon received a call-up to the Wales Under 23 squad for a match against Northern Ireland in Cardiff, but had to withdraw due to illness. 

Seagull’s supporter John Clarke recalled in 2023, ‘I remember seeing Barry play right half at Rochdale for Brighton in a fiery promotion clash at Spotland. He was marking Rochdale’s star inside left Big Reg Jenkins. He had a titanic struggle with Reg, but what impressed me was that when the Brighton right back had to go off injured, Barry marked both Reg and the Dale left winger at the same time! He was the best player on the pitch and really impressed me. I thought he was destined for greater things. Thanks for the memories Barry, you were a good ‘un.’

Barrie turned twenty-one a month after his move south, and would use his Austin Mini, purchased from clubmate Bobby Baxter, to make the long journey back to visit family when opportunities arose. Having contributed to a 3-1 defeat of Southport, he drove north through the early hours of 27 March 1965 to celebrate his Uncle Myrddin’s large win on the football pools. Tragically, at around breakfast time, his Mini pulled out into the path of an oncoming lorry on the A5, near Nuneaton. It is possible that he was pulling out to avoid hitting the back of stationary traffic ahead of him. The car suffered an impact with the lorry and a roadside tree and Barrie succumbed to his injuries in nearby Manor Hospital, soon afterwards (the lorry driver was treated for shock and minor injuries). 

In a parallel with Keith Webber (who had moved from Everton to Brighton in 1963), Barrie was found, during the post-mortem examination, to have an enlarged heart. At the inquest into his death, it was stated that this hitherto undiagnosed medical issue may have impacted his chances of survival from the accident. 

It was a tragic end to a life that held so much promise. To add to the poignancy, Barrie’s girlfriend, Barbara, gave birth to their child, a son, seven months later. Although he passed away six decades ago, those who knew Barrie Gwyn Rees, or saw him play football, retain the fond memories of a talented and much-loved young man.

Acknowledgements

Sincere thanks to Barrie’s younger sister, April Rathbone (who remains an avid Evertonian) for use of images and to his brother, Geraint Rees.

Also thanks to Colin Harvey, Gerry Humphreys, Derek Temple, Colin Green, Steve Zocek and Billy Smith.

Various newspaper items were sourced from

Smith, Billy, bluecorrespondent.co.uk – various newspapers

Find My Past

Johnson, Steve evertonresults.com (match statistics)

Liverpool Record Office, evertoncollection.org.uk for EFC board minutes.

Further reading

Outterside, Nic, Wet Socks and Dry Bones (Ghosts of the Goldstone Ground) (2021)