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Neville Southall

I went along to see and hear Neville Southall at Chepstow Drill Hall last Saturday afternoon, 13th October.

As the audience entered Big Nev was sat at a table autographing books and generally wanting to know about his audience. The book-signing and talk was attended by around fifty football fans, mostly Evertonians and a few welsh national fans. The owner of Chepstow Book Shop arranges quite a few of these sort of book talks and obviously likes to see himself as a chat show host with his clipboard, coffee table etc. Very quickly our host found his plans derailed by Nev who preferred a session of questions from the floor and hands were immediately thrown into the air. Nev proved to be humorous, thoughtful, direct and candid in his views.

These are some of the questions and my memory and paraphrased responses! [I hope that my report is accurate!]

Q. What was your greatest save?
A. I don't think like that. It was my job to stop the ball hitting the net.

Q. Who was the best manager you played under?
A. Howard Kendall

Q. Who was the worst manager you played under?
A. At Everton, without doubt, Mike walker, totally out of his depth! For Wales, Mike Smith.

Q. The best player you played with at Everton?
A. Trevor Steven, who was the same on the field as the training ground.

Q. Who was the worst player at Everton?
A. I suppose you could say Brett Angel but at least he was a real trier! There was nobody who was not good enough for lack of trying. The player I was most disappointed with was Duncan Ferguson in terms of him never reaching his real potential. Duncan was very distrustful after his fall-out with the Scottish FA.

Q. Why did the two subsequent management periods of Howard Kendall work out?
A. Nev gesticulates that drink was a real problem, before stating that the players easily lost confidence in his rather laid back approach. One pre-season comprised of ten days at Bellefield in which no set pieces were rehearsed either in attack or defence.

Q. What are your views on goal-line technology?
A. Are you married? On Saturday night you'll have to go home early because you have nothing to argue about! I am dead against it ... what will be next for technology and the game will become more and more sanitised ..... I would be happier if it was for football reasons but it really is about the money men wanting it!

Q. What do you think about academies?
A. There is a danger that they are producing sanitised players plying against other academies, who will then struggle to deal with the "streetwise" side of the game.

After an hour and three-quarters, the questions ran out and Nev stood up and said he was going home to Kent!

Nev spoke at length about working with disaffected kids in places such as Gravesend Pupil Referral Units which interested my Tottenham mate who also works in a PRU. My mate was really made up when Nev came over to him at the end of the event to talk about this aspect of education.

Great event but even greater MAN!

Trevor Powell, Posted 17/10/2012 at

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Reader Comments

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Luke O'Farrell
841 Posted 17/10/2012 at 01:40:54

Good read, Trevor. Agree on his comments about Big Dunc. Overall, he probably could've been twice the player he was.

Rather topical as 31 years ago today, Southall made his debut in a 2-1 win against Ipswich. He also holds the club appearance record by quite a distance (751).

Adam Fenlon
846 Posted 17/10/2012 at 07:41:25

Is there a case for censoring the negative comments about HK’s drinking, Brett Angell etc? I’d have thought Big Nev wouldn’t have been so open if he knew someone was going to publish his answers on the web….

Bobby Thomas
851 Posted 17/10/2012 at 11:23:55

They are hardly state secrets Adam, one point (HK) is common knowledge and the other is (Angell) is widely mentioned as being in the category Southall describes.

I found the 10-day reference most eye opening. The game was changing and an ailing HK was rapidly becoming a man out of his time.

Jamie Barlow
852 Posted 17/10/2012 at 12:08:03

Surely its all in his autobiography anyway.

Neville mentioned Mike Walker on Sky Sports last week. Said all he did was sunbathe.

Danny Broderick
856 Posted 17/10/2012 at 12:27:20

This is the only one of our ex-players who has got any balls. All the others toe the party line - Neville is bang on with a lot of what he says. Particularly about Duncan.

Simon Jones
858 Posted 17/10/2012 at 12:41:39

Does any Blue not know about HK and booze? While I think that it's absolutely none of my business, it has been widely reported before. Anyway it doesn't matter, I chanted "Champions" at my team twice when I was a teenager. Howard was the manger, he doesn't owe me anything.

When I was a kid Big Nev always saved the shots. I hardly saw anyone score against us for about three seasons, well that's how I picture it now.

Spencer Ramsay
862 Posted 17/10/2012 at 13:46:33

If it was to do with present day events, a certain amount of confidentiality should maintain the dignity and respectfulness of the Club, but I see no reason, following the effluxion of time where people have moved on, for Nev to nothing other than brutally honest. As is mentioned above, he's a very straight speaking person, clearly.....and we all knew Brett Angell was shit anyway.......

Tim O'Connell
900 Posted 17/10/2012 at 20:27:18

Big Nev is not only the greatest keeper I have ever seen in my 50 years but also a very special individual - some would call eccentric - he speaks as he sees it which is sometimes left field - but isn't that refreshing - most of us knew about HK and thought the same about Brett Angel but at least Big Nev just said it as is. He is not out for fame and glory he just wants to do what he wants to do - but also be the best at that - very special and always will be,

Andrew Ellams
927 Posted 18/10/2012 at 09:48:25

I saw Nev on that Fantasy Football thing on SKy Sports a few weeks ago and he just did not give a toss. Although he did have to pick a team the greatest team he had played with and he put HK in it.

I wonder if he cycled back from Chepstow to Kent

Eugene Ruane
932 Posted 18/10/2012 at 11:16:54

I think we're now so used to players speaking but saying absolutely nothing, that when someone 'in football' actually speaks without fear, it knocks us back on our heels a bit. Southall is his own man and he obviously thinks 'If I'm here to answer questions, that's what I'll do'. Re Kendall, well Howard is a god to me and responsible for some of the happiest times of my life - I mean genuine peaks of ecstasy in the 80s I've not experienced before or since (nb: remains to be seen if Thatcher falling of her perch will match the sheer joy and relief of Sheedy's equalizer against Luton). But like Bobby Thomas (851) I think his love 'the Don Revie' is hardly a secret (a face like a turkey cock is a bit of a giveaway as is being sacked for being bladdered). It's very sad. He should/could have achieved SO much more in football (certainly for himself and maybe for us). As for big Nev? A genuine one-off and the greatest keeper I've ever seen.

Chad Schofield
934 Posted 18/10/2012 at 11:42:50

Awesome, thanks for posting this... Always a hero who'd probably hate to think of himself as such.

Paul Kelly
846 Posted 07/12/2012 at 12:54:02

Brutally honest, and I love him even more for it (if that's possible).

IMO, The greatest player to pull on a Everton top. Fuck it — the greatest player ever!

Funny how you remember some players performances for 'that game'. Now many of you could recollect thousands of saves from hundreds of terrific performances down the years, mostly from the glory years I bet... but for me the one that stands out is Coventry away '93. A Mark Ward volley won the game but if memory serves me correct (and it so often doesn't) it was Big Nev's heroics between the sticks that won us that game.

The only other vivid memory from that illustrious away day was the 'executive' labelled coach we went on, which was anything but executive believe me. What a heap of shit. (The coach — not Big Nev's performance.)

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