http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Tony-Hibbert-c35447 for his outstanding loyalty towards the Merseyside club, ahead of the latter’s upcoming testimonial game.
The English International, who joined Everton as a boy, made his professional debut for the Toffees way back in March 2001 against West Ham United. Since then, he has gone on to make 309 appearances for the club, but is yet to score his first competitive
goal.
In view of the defender’s lengthy stay at Goodison Park and his unwavering commitment to the club, Everton will play a match against AEK Athens on the 8th of August to commemorate his career.
Nonetheless Neville, an Everton stalwart himself, went on to praise the 31-year old for displaying exemplary loyalty towards the Merseyside outfit, and revealed that he cannot even imagine him wearing another team’s jersey.
While talking to reporters, he said: “If you stay at a club for 10 years and play in the first team for 10 years, a testimonial is just rewards. Loyalty is a massive thing and there are a lot of players in the team now that have been at the club a long time.
Tony's been here 10 years and he's been a stalwart.”
Hibbert is currently the longest serving player in the Everton squad. Apart from his staggering 253 league appearances for the Toffees, he has also represented them in 20 matches in European competitions – a club record.
When asked by the reporters to share his experience of working alongside the defender, Neville responded by saying that he was one of the most fierce and professional competitor that he has ever come across. He also divulged that even though the Toffees
luminary is by nature a quiet person, he springs into life during the derby week and highlights the importance of the http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809 game to all the young and foreign players in the squad.
“He leads from the front and he lets people know, particularly the foreign players, what it means to be an Everton player playing against Liverpool and what it means to the fans,” he added.
Everton’s friendly fixture against the Greek side will be their last pre-season game at home, before they kick off their 2012/13 campaign against Manchester United on the 20th of August.
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