Tony Kay

Kay was born in Sheffield. A left-sided wing-half, he started his career with hometown club Sheffield Wednesday. He transferred to Everton in December 1962, signed by his former manager Harry Catterick, and soon became the team captain. Everton were a work in progress under the ownership of the Littlewoods owner Sir John Moores and had earned the tag "The Mersey Millionaires". Kay was an important part of Catterick's evolving Everton side and the following May they were crowned league champions for the first time since the 1938–39 season. He also played in the 1963 FA Charity Shield, which Everton won.

Conviction for fraud

In 1964, the Sunday People newspaper broke the story that Kay, along with fellow Sheffield Wednesday players David Layne and Peter Swan, through the instigation of former Everton player Jimmy Gauld, had bet on their side to lose a match in December 1962 against Ipswich Town. The three were convicted of conspiracy to defraud, Kay on the basis of a taped conversation, one of the first times such evidence was admitted in an English court. Kay was fined £150 and sentenced to four months' imprisonment. On his release, after serving ten weeks, he was banned from football for life by the Football Association though the ban was rescinded seven years later. Kay said he was subsequently summoned to London to explain the use of taped evidence to the Kray twins.

Kay was 28 years old when released from prison. He never returned to the professional game, but did play some amateur football. In 1974, he moved to Spain and lived there for 12 years, avoiding arrest for selling a counterfeit diamond. On his return to the UK in 1986, Kay was fined £400 and in later years he worked as a groundsman in south east London. Upon retirement, Kay returned to the North West to settle back on Merseyside in 1999. A few months before the 40th anniversary, since his transfer from Sheffield Wednesday in 1962, he was once again present on the pitch at Goodison Park among a group of 100 Everton Legends, as the club celebrated a record 100 seasons of top flight football at the start of the 2002–03 campaign. He received a standing ovation from the crowd. He was also present on the pitch after Everton's last ever game at Goodison Park in 2025, receiving a warm welcome.