Derek Mountfield

Club

After turning professional, Wirral-born Mountfield spent a season-and-a-half at local club Tranmere Rovers before moving across the River Mersey to play for Everton. He signed for £30,000 prior to the 1982–83 season. He formed a defensive partnership with Kevin Ratcliffe and helped the club to victory in the 1984 FA Cup Final against Watford and to the Football League title the following season. Everton also reached the FA Cup final that season, and won the European Cup Winners Cup in Rotterdam. He also won another League championship medal in 1987. In league matches, he scored an average of one goal every 5.6 matches and in one season, he scored 14 goals in all competitions. However, his first team chances became limited at Everton following the arrival of Dave Watson in August 1986, and injuries did not help his chances of first team football either. After appearing in just nine out of 40 First Division games for Everton in 1987–88, a £400,000 fee took him to newly promoted Aston Villa in June 1988. He was a regular in the Villa defence for the next three years, helping secure their First Division survival in 1988–89. In 1989–90, it looked as though Mountfield would add another league title medal to the two he won with Everton, as Villa topped the First Division on several occasions, but eventually they finished second behind champions Liverpool. However, the appointment of Ron Atkinson as Villa manager in June 1991 signalled a new era at Villa Park, and…

In 2000, League of Ireland team Cork City appointed former Shelbourne boss Colin Murphy as successor to Dave Barry. Murphy stayed for one Super Cup game before departing to Leicester City. In the lurch, facing a UEFA Cup tie against Lausanne Sports, the club brought in Mountfield. He had a turbulent ride in his first managerial appointment, the team lacking consistency, goals and luck. After relative success in preceding seasons crowds again dwindled as the team struggled and the increasingly unpopular Mountfield was sacked in January, after just six months in charge and a 4–0 defeat at home to St Patrick's Athletic.

Everton

Football League First Division: 1984–85, 1986–87 FA Cup: 1983–84; runner-up: 1984–85, 1985–86 FA Charity Shield: 1984, 1985 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1984–85 Football League Cup runner-up: 1983–84 Carlisle United

Football League Third Division: 1994–95 Football League Trophy runner-up: 1994–95