Editing Dixie Dean (section)

==Early years==
Dean was born at 313 Laird Street in [[Birkenhead]], [[Cheshire]], across the [[River Mersey]] from [[Liverpool]]. Dean's family on both sides hailed from [[Chester]]. He was the grandson of Ralph Brett, a train driver who drove the royal train during the reign of [[George V]]. Dean grew up as a supporter of [[Everton F.C.|Everton]] thanks to the efforts of his father, also named William, who took him to a match during the 1914–15 title-winning season.

Dean's childhood coincided with the [[World War I|First World War]], and between the ages of seven and eleven he delivered cow's milk to local families as part of the war effort: "Well, it was war time you see, so you were grafting all the time. I used to take milk out. I'd be up at half-past four in the morning and go down and get the ponies and the milk floats, then I'd come out to this place in [[Upton, Merseyside|Upton]], between Upton and [[Arrowe Park]], and Burgess' Farm was there. We used to collect the milk in the big urns and take it out to people's houses, serving it out of the ladle. And not only that, you had an allotment, and that was in school time. And there was no such thing as pinching and stealing and all that bloody caper. In those days, you were growing all that stuff and you needed it for the war time."<ref name="john-roberts-interview">{{cite web|url=http://www.sportingintelligence.com/2010/03/09/dixie-dean-i-never-had-any-lessons-at-school-no-maths-no-english-nothing-except-football/|title=Interview with John Roberts|last=Roberts|first=John|publisher=SportingIntelligence.com|access-date=9 June 2010}}</ref>

Dean attended Laird Street School{{sfn|Keith|2003|p=10}} but felt he received no formal education: "My only lesson was football&nbsp;... I used to give the pens out on Friday afternoons&nbsp;... the ink, and the chalks. That was the only job I had in school&nbsp;... I never had any lessons."<ref name="john-roberts-interview"/> When he turned eleven, he attended Albert (Memorial) Industrial School, a [[borstal]] school in Birkenhead, because of the football facilities on offer. The Dean family home had little room for him due to the family's size; Dean was happy with the arrangement, since he could play on the school's football team.{{sfn|Keith|2003|p=10}} Dean falsely told fellow pupils he had been caught stealing, since he wanted to be "one of the boys".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-06-07 |title=The Boy from Birkenhead - William Ralph 'Dixie' Dean |url=https://dixiedean-hotel.co.uk/blog/boy-from-birkenhead-william-dixie-dean/ |access-date=2024-11-26 |language=en-GB}}</ref>

He left school at fourteen and worked for [[Wirral Railway]] as an apprentice fitter; his father also worked there and had been working since he was eleven years old<ref name="john-roberts-interview"/> for [[Great Western Railway]]. The elder Dean later became a train driver before moving to Birkenhead to work for Wirral Railway, to be closer to his future wife (and William Jr's mother) Sarah. Dean's father would later retire with the company.{{sfn|Keith|2003|p=10}}

Dean took a night job so that he could concentrate on his first love, football: "The other two apprentice fitters, they didn't like the night job because there were too many bloody rats around there, coming out of the Anglo-Oil company and the Vacuum Oil Company &nbsp;... rats as big as whippets. So I took their night job, and of course, I could always have a game of football then."<ref name="john-roberts-interview"/> Dean would kick the trespassing rats against the wall.

The sons of Dean's manager at Wirral Railway were directors of [[New Brighton A.F.C.|New Brighton]], and they were interested in signing Dean. However, Dean told the club he was not interested in signing and instead played for local team Pensby United in [[Pensby, Merseyside|Pensby]]. It was at Pensby United where Dean attracted the attention of a Tranmere Rovers scout.<ref name="john-roberts-interview"/>

==="Dixie" nickname===
Some said that Dean and his family disliked his nickname, and preferred people to call him "Bill" or "Billy". The popular theory regarding how Dean acquired his nickname is that he did so in his youth, perhaps due to his dark complexion and hair (which bore a resemblance to people from the [[Southern United States]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/everton-fc/everton-dixie-dean/2007/01/23/footballing-world-wakes-up-to-dixie-100252-18518223/2/|title=Footballing world wakes up to Dixie|last=Prentice|first=David|date=23 January 2007|work=Liverpool Echo|access-date=10 June 2010}} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> In Dean's obituary in ''[[The Times]]'', [[Geoffrey Green]] suggested that the nickname was taken from a "Dixie" song that was popular during Dean's childhood; there was "something of the [[Uncle Tom]] about his features".<ref>{{cite news|title=Mr Dixie Dean|last=Green|first=Geoffrey|work=The Times|page=16}}</ref>

Alternatively, [[Tranmere Rovers F.C.|Tranmere Rovers]] club historian Gilbert Upton uncovered evidence, verified by Dean's godmother, that the name "Dixie" was a corruption of his childhood nickname, Digsy (acquired from his approach to the children's game of tag, where Dean would dig his fist into a girl's back, hence "Digsy").{{sfn|Upton|1992}}