 Southall pictured in July 2007 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Neville Southall[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 16 September 1958 | ||
| Place of birth | Llandudno, Wales | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1970–1973 | Llandudno Swifts | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1973–1974 | Llandudno Town | ||
| 1974–1976 | Bangor City | ||
| 1976–1979 | Conwy United | ||
| 1979–1980 | Winsford United | ||
| 1980–1981 | Bury | 39 | (0) |
| 1981–1998 | Everton | 578 | (0) |
| 1983 | → Port Vale (loan) | 9 | (0) |
| 1997–1998 | → Southend United (loan) | 9 | (0) |
| 1998 | → Stoke City (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 1998 | Stoke City | 9 | (0) |
| 1998 | Doncaster Rovers | 9 | (0) |
| 1998–2000 | Torquay United | 53 | (0) |
| 2000 | Bradford City | 1 | (0) |
| 2001 | York City | 0 | (0) |
| 2001 | Rhyl | 3 | (0) |
| 2001 | Shrewsbury Town | 0 | (0) |
| 2001 | Dover Athletic | 0 | (0) |
| 2001–2002 | Shrewsbury Town | 0 | (0) |
| 2002 | Dagenham & Redbridge | 0 | (0) |
| Total | 710 | (0) | |
| International career | |||
| 1982–1997 | Wales[3] | 92 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1999 | Wales (caretaker) | ||
| 2001–2002 | Dover Athletic | ||
| 2004–2005 | Hastings United | ||
| 2009 | Margate (caretaker)[4] | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Neville Southall MBE (born 16 September 1958) is a Welsh football manager and former international footballer. He has been described as one of the best goalkeepers of his generation and won the FWA Footballer of the Year award in 1985.[5]
He joined Bury from Winsford United for a £6,000 fee in 1980. He turned professional in his early 20s after several years as a semi-professional and amateur player. During his teenage years, he worked as a binman, waiter and hod carrier. He moved on to Everton for £150,000 in 1981 and established himself as the club's first-choice goalkeeper by the 1983–84 season. He went on to make a club record 578 appearances in the English Football League and Premier League (750 in all competitions); his honours with the club consist of a European Cup Winners' Cup medal in 1985, a First Division championship medal in 1984–85 and 1986–87, an FA Cup winners medal in 1984 and 1995, and an FA Charity Shield winners medal in 1984, 1985, and 1995. He also played in the 1985 and 1989 FA Cup finals, the League Cup final in 1984, and helped Everton to a second place in the league in 1985–86. After leaving Everton in 1998, he became Torquay United's regular goalkeeper for two years. He also made a handful of appearances for numerous other clubs.
Southall played internationally for Wales, winning 92 caps between 1982 and 1998, though he did not feature in any major international competitions. As an individual, he was named on the PFA Team of the Year four consecutive times. He was listed as one of the world's top ten goalkeepers by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics on four occasions. He is a member of the Gwladys Street's Hall of Fame. He has been named as one of the 100 'Greatest Players of the 20th Century' by World Soccer magazine. In the 1996 Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his services to football.[6]
Since his retirement as a player, Southall has briefly managed Dover Athletic, Hastings United and Margate, and has coached at numerous clubs as well as the Welsh national youth teams. He has also worked extensively with disadvantaged children and established his own educational consultancy. In addition, Southall is also known for his political activism; he is an international officer for his branch of the UNISON trade union, endorsed Jeremy Corbyn for the 2017 UK general election, endorses LGBT rights, and has spoken at multiple events advocating for Welsh independence.
- ^ "Neville Southall". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
- ^ Rollin, Jack, ed. (1980). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1980–81. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 162. ISBN 0362020175.
- ^ Alpuin, Luis Fernando Passo (20 February 2009). "Wales – Record International Players". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
- ^ "Neville Southall – Manager". MargateFootballClubHistory.com. Margate. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
BBC Waleswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "No. 54427". The London Gazette (Supplement). 14 June 1996. p. 23.