Everton Legends – Neville Southall

It’ll be a tough task finding an Evertonian who will tell you there’s ever been a greater goalkeeper than Neville Southall. The Welshman made an astonishing 751 appearances for the blues between the years 1981 and 1998, a record number by a fair distance from any Everton player. He was a key player during the clubs golden era of the 80s and the relegation threatened 90s. During his 17 years with the club, Southall won 5 major trophies that consisted of 2 league titles, 2 FA Cups and a European Cup Winners Cup. Not bad for a bin man from Llandudno.

Before making it as a professional footballer Southall had jobs as a bin man, waiter and hod carrier during his teenage years. At the age of just 14 he toured Germany with his school team, the Llandudno Swifts, he was offered the chance to play for Fortuna Dusseldorf but turned it down. Southall had to wait for his big break and as a teenager he had unsuccessful trials with Wrexham, Crewe and Bolton before eventually ending up at Winsford United. This is where he was finally noticed when after his first season he was offered a professional contract by Bury. He spent a season with Bury in which he won their player of the season before signing for Everton at the age of 21 in the summer of 1981 for a fee of £150,000.

Source: evertonfc.com

Southall didn’t get off to the best of starts with Everton and in 1983 he was sent out on loan to Port Vale. After a successful half season for the club, Southall returned as Everton’s new first choice keeper, a position he would hold for the best part of the next 15 years. He was influential in helping the toffees to lift the FA Cup in 1984 and also played a key role in League and European glory the following season. His most notable save of the title winning season of 1984/85 was that against Spurs in early April. Everton led the table by 3 points ahead of Tottenham and winning 2-1 at White Hart Lane, a superb bullet header from Marc Falco was astonishingly pushed onto the bar by an even better save from Southall. His heroics that season earned him the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the year award.

His impact was so great that many Evertonians believe that his long absence with an ankle injury during the 1985/86 was key to the blues narrowly missing out the League and FA Cup double. Southall helped the club to another league title in 1987, the last time Everton won the league to date. Unlike many of the Everton stars of the 80s, Southall showed his loyalty and stuck around through the slow decline of the 90s. Despite, struggling at the bottom of the Premier League, Big Nev had one last hurrah as he was part of the side who won the FA Cup against the odds in 1995. After 751 appearances, Southall finally left Everton for Stoke in 1998.

Neville Southall was and still is a hero to many Everton fans of that era. He himself has grown into an Everton fan and is always keen to interact with other fans through social media. He is up there with the very best to have stepped on Goodison’s turf and is arguably the best keeper there ever was.