h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The unglamorous ex- Everton player David Unsworth, capped once by England, has retired from football after being released by Huddersfield (I can see why that would drive a man to desperate measures).

I always liked Unsworth, even though he was a target for abuse from fans when times were hard. Never a stylish player, Unsworth wouldn't play a risky pass out of defence when a chance was there to hoof it against the roof of the upper tier. But as a defender, he did successfully defend-cleared his lines effectively and stopped the ball getting to his keeper. He was also a fantastic penalty-taker, scoring 34 goals in his career (only 25 fewer than fan favourite striker Duncan Ferguson), almost all penalties and free kicks.

One of his few goals from open play was a speculative typical Unsworth hoof forward, which deflected off two defenders and went in. As https://evertonfc.com/match/report/0203/birmingham-28-08-2002-20-00.html?t=2 describes it, "With 90 minutes on the clock, a Wayne Rooney corner from the right hand side was only partially cleared by Vaesen. The ball fell to Unsworth who swung his trusty left foot at the ball. Somehow it cannoned off two Birmingham defenders, Jeff Kenna and Kenny Cunningham en route to the net to send Goodison wild."

He was also one of three left backs in the 1995 FA Cup winning team. names etched on the memory of every Everton fan of my age: Southall; Jackson, Watson, Unsworth, Ablett; Limpar, Parkinson, Horne, Hinchcliffe; Stuart, Rideout. Subs: Ferguson and Amokachi, unused sub Jason Kearton.

We took the lead after fifteen minutes through paul Rideout, an then solidly defended against the Man Utd onslaught with a central defensive partnership of the aging Dave Watson and 21-year-old left back Unsworth.

He did leave Everton for a season, going to West ham and spending five days at Aston Villa. During his second spell, he was singled out for abuse when things went wrong, much like similarly blameless homegrown players Tony Hibbert and Leon Osman are at Goodison now, but I always admired him and hoped for him to succeed. He played for both Sheffield Utd and Wigan the year Sheff Utd went down, and I think he may have scored the goal that put the Blades down. Maybe when Warnock and McCabe look for scapegoats for their relegation, Warnock's sale of Rhino could be up there with West Ham's signing of Tevez on the most-wanted list.

Since Unsworth left Everton, he has been spotted at several games, not in the executive boxes but in with the fans in the Gwladys Street. I bet they don't boo him when he's sat next to them...

Unsworth was always a pick for my fantasy teams - because of his penalty taking abilities, and whilst not techinically gifted, I admired his passion and heart.

He was also known to share jokes with the crowd, so I'm happy to join in with your praise.

Though when I saw the title my first thought was that it was for the new Stretcher task - "defending the indefensible."

I was at Tottenham for Rhino's debut, which coincidentally was Gary Linekar's last game for Spurs before going to Japan.

Everton played quite a few young players in that game, and I remember Unsworth - obviously very young, but a huge beast of a player. I don't think he ever really fulfilled his potential, and I wonder whether he would have been better playing at centre back where he could 'Rhino charge' forward from, rather than left back where a bit more pace is required.