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Brian Labone found dead near home

Former Everton and England defender Brian Labone has died at age 66.

A passer-by found Labone collapsed in the street near his home late Monday night. Paramedics treated the former Toffees captain but he was declared dead on arrival at a hospital.

Labone won 26 England caps and made 534 league appearances for Everton in a 13-year career. He won two league championships and an FA Cup title.

"In the pantheon of Everton greats, Brian Labone is right up there with the very best," club spokesman Ian Ross said. "He was one of the club's favorite sons and a hugely respected figure. He was regarded as a `professional's professional' before that term was ever used."

Labone, a key member of England's 1970 World Cup squad, was booked only twice and scored two goals in his career. He retired at the end of the 1970-1971 season due to an Achilles injury.

"He was a great player and a great leader," said former Everton player and manager Howard Kendall, who was a teammate of Labone for seven years. "He didn't shout his way through the team. He led by example and his performances on the pitch were tremendous. He was an outstanding player and a gentleman."

Steed Malbranque scored to give Fulham a 1-0 victory over Wigan on Monday, moving it up two places to 14th in the English Premier League.

Wigan dominated the match but Malbranque scored against the run of play in first-half injury time at Fulham's Craven Cottage stadium. Jason Roberts, Gary Teale and Lee McCulloch failed to finish chances for the Lactics, who remained in ninth place with 51 points -- nine points more than Fulham.

Fulham manager Chris Coleman wasn't concerned if his side was lucky to win.

"If we were I couldn't give a monkey's," he said. "We're at the point of the season where we need points. We were booed off at halftime and rightly so.

"We didn't deserve to be 1-0 up, we deserved to be 2-0 down but that's how football works."

Wigan manager Paul Jewell attributed the loss to bad luck and poor finishing.

"I don't think we've dominated a game like that all season. The ball was going in the box, there was quality football but we didn't have the instinct to get us a goal," he said.

"I don't know what the stats were, but if it was a boxing match they would have asked for it to be stopped I think."
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