Neville Southall

Neville Southall (born 16 September 1958) is a Welsh former international footballer.

He joined Bury from Winsford United for a £6,000 fee in 1980, and turned professional in his early 20s after a number of years as a semi-professional and amateur player.

During his teenage years he worked as a binman, waiter and hod carrier.

The club won the Cheshire Senior Cup in 1980, and Southall was voted the club's Player of the Year.

Southall's performances attracted the attention of Bury and Wigan Athletic, and he was convinced to sign with Bury after he was personally approached by manager Dave Connor.

Bury paid Winsford £6,000 and would later pay another £25,000 after he was sold on.

However, he never played for Connor as he was replaced by Jim Iley before the start of the 1980–81 season; despite this managerial change he was still seen as the future replacement to club stalwart John Forrest.

He received specialist goalkeeping coaching from Wilf McGuinness.

He made his first team debut against Wigan Athletic on 20 September, in a 2–1 victory.

The "Shakers" had an indifferent league campaign in the Fourth Division, though they managed to reach the Third Round of the FA Cup and beat Newcastle United in the League Cup.

Southall kept 15 clean sheets after conceding 50 goals in his 44 domestic appearances, and was named as Bury's Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year.

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.

Southall was bought by Everton manager Howard Kendall for £150,000 in the summer of 1981.

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, and 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 described as one of the best goalkeepers of his generation and won the FWA Footballer of the Year award in 1985.

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.

In the 1996 Birthday Honours, he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his services to football.

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 set up his own educational consultancy.

Southall is also known for his political activism.

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.

He has been named as one of the 100 'Greatest Players of the 20th Century' by World Soccer magazine.

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.

Born and raised in Llandudno to Fred and Rose Southall, he was the middle child of three boys.

Southall played youth football for his school team and the Llandudno Swifts, where he played alongside Joey Jones.

He was educated at Ysgol John Bright, though left without any qualifications at age 16.

At age 14 he toured Germany with the Llandudno Swifts and was offered a chance to play for the youth team of Bundesliga club Fortuna Düsseldorf, but decided against the move to Germany.

The Swifts were a poor side that were regularly beaten heavily, though the near constant barrage of shots he faced enabled Southall to improve on his shot-stopping skills.

As a teenager, Southall had unsuccessful trials at Wrexham, Crewe Alexandra and Bolton Wanderers.

He aspired to be a postman, and never believed that he would make a living playing football.

He then worked as a binman, waiter and hod carrier and therefore entered the game relatively late.

He played for Llandudno Town at age 15, before joining Northern Premier League side Bangor City on £10 a week as a semi-professional the following year.

Bangor manager Dave Elliott regularly selected veteran goalkeeper Peter Eales ahead of Southall.

Everton asked Elliot permission to take Southall on trial, but Elliot left the club shortly after and no trial took place.

With Bangor in financial trouble the paid playing staff began to leave the club, and Southall left Bangor and went on to accept an offer of £3 a week to play for Conwy United.

He moved on to Cheshire County League club Winsford United at the age of 20.