PLAYER PROFILES
David Weir

Squad number | 5 |
Position | Centre Back |
Joined | 16 February 1999 |
Joined from | Heart of Midlothian (SCO) |
Signed by | Walter Smith |
Transfer fee | £200,000 |
Debut as sub | v Middlesbrough
(H), 17 February 1999 |
Full debut | v Wimbledon
(H), 27 February 1999 |
Contract duration | 1 year |
Contract expires | June 2007 |
Final� | v
Portsmouth
(A) 26 August 2006 |
Left Everton | to Glasgow Rangers 18 January 2007 |
Born | Falkirk, Scotland |
Date of birth | 10 May 1970 |
Height | 6' 2" |
Nickname(s) | Weir-do |
Honours | Scottish international |
STRENGTHS |
Experience |
Cool head |
Goals at set-pieces |
WEAKNESSES |
Ageing legs |
Soccerbase Datafile
In the winter months of 1999, just when everyone thought Everton's main problem
was scoring goals, Walter Smith demonstrated he knows
best, pulling off a cannie deal to bring Hearts defender David Weir
to Goodison Park.
A highly-rated defender whose career had taken a turn for the better since
signing for Hearts, after a great season he broke into the Scotland team
and was interesting the likes of Rangers, Newcastle and Liverpool.
Weir brought all the essentials of a great defender big, strong, good in the
air and a hard tackler, he had also shown that he was good at
attacking, scoring important goals and taking set pieces.
Many fans feel he was the best defender Scotland had and the best signing Jim
Jefferies made for Hearts. Signed in July 1996 from his home town
side, Falkirk, this tall, slim-built performer had an outstanding
first season which saw him gain International recognition. A product
of Celtic Boys Club he spent almost four years studying in the USA before
returning home in 1992 to sign for Jefferies at Falkirk.
Smith twice tried to sign Weir for Rangers when he was at
Falkirk but the deals fell through. The Edinburgh club accepted
a knockdown fee of £200k from Everton rather than see the player leave for nothing in
the summer when his contract in Scotland ends. Weir says he chose
Everton over Liverpool because of his admiration for Smith.
"Liverpool were definitely interested and I was linked with them, but
Everton have come in and made me this offer and I'm more than happy to
come here," he said. "They were keen and that was good
enough for me. Liverpool is all in the past. I have made my
choice and joining Everton is fine by me."
Weir, who initially signed a 3½-year contract, added: "I'm
very excited, it's a really good move for me coming to the
Premiership. I hope things start getting better for Everton.
They are surely in a false position and I will be able to help them
improve the situation in the league.
"I never had any fears about relegation and Everton. Yes it
crossed my mind, but not for long. It was the management team of Walter
Smith and Archie Knox that convinced me.
"It's a big, massive club and I have known about the manager and
talked to people who have worked with him. That's impressed me and
made the move more attractive and sealed it for me.
"I have been in Scotland all my career and it's a challenge to come
to England and play with different players. I hope that I will be able to
better myself. I had some great times while I was at Hearts but it was
time for me to move on.
The Everton manager said: "We tried to sign David on a pre-contract
agreement for him to come to Everton next season. Like all
clubs, Hearts were faced with a situation where they would have lost the
player for no fee at all unless they came to an arrangement with us, which
has now been done."
1998-99: The verdict on David Weir's first season at Goodison
was generally noncommittal or dismissive, although he likes to get
forward and can come up with some neat touches. But widespread
amazement that Weir is a current first-choice International for Scotland
is indicative of the paucity of their players and the gulf between good
and bad at both club and national level. He is probably okay as a
centre-back but Walter insists on playing him out of position, as
a wing-back or midfielder, where he clearly doesn't cut it.
1999-2000: Smith's persistence with Weir started to make more
sense during the 1999-2000 season, when his calm but solid contribution to
Everton's and Scotland's defence was allocated greater recognition.
A lot of the good work was undone, however, in a disastrous afternoon at Old
Trafford, when Weir's hesitancy gifted One Gunnar Solskjaer 2 of his 4
goals. Undeterred, the quiet Scot went on to become one of Walter
Smith's first names on the teamsheet, with the solid defender chalking up
more appearances than everyone except Nick Barmby.
2000-01: In the absence of Gough and occasionally Unsworth,
Weir came on in leaps and bounds and wore the famous Number 5 shirt for
the first time. He and Michael Ball built up
quite a partnership before the latter left for Rangers in the summer of
2001. Weir skippered the team for most of the season and was
rewarded with the Everton Supporters Player of the Year award. With
Gough gone, a lot of responsibility was placed upon his shoulders,
but if anyone could handle it, it was David Weir.
2001-02: This was perhaps Davie's best season at Everton (certainly
in terms of goals!) as he became a permanent fixture and and first choice
under both Walter Smith and then David Moyes
2002-03: Weir finally got credited for a nice flick header at
West Brom that set up a goal for Campbell or Hoult.
2003-04: This was one season too far for Davie
Weir. He was off the pace and made to look slightly foolish on too
many occasions. He was also culpable for a number of opposition
goals, which was sad to see for a player who has done so well for
us. After picking up injuries this season, he's struggled to regain
full fitness. Perhaps, with a proper pre-season under his belt in
the summer, he may approach his old standards again.
Or perhaps, at 34, it's downhill all the way...
2004-05: Despite a poor season last time Weir slowly
reestablished himself alongside Alan Stubbs as the defensive pair with no
pace but lots of experience.
2005-06: Weir has been directly responsible for a good number
of the goals our defence has shipped thus far. But Moyes refuses to
contemplate dropping his 'skipper.' Why Weir was given the armband to begin
with Moyes alone knows. He's old, does not necessarily warrant a place in
the team as a first choice centre back. He is good when the ball is in
the air and he can head it out of defence and positions himself well to
receive through balls. But one-on-one with a fast runner, he is far too
slow and will lose out every time.
2006-07: Nevertheless, he was offered and finally accepted yet another year at
Goodison Park, and the honour of being Club Captain, despite the arrival of Joleon Lescott.
The honour was somewhat pyrrhic as Lescott and Yobo kept Stubbs and Weir
on the sidelines, such that an opportunity for Weir to move back to
Scotland in January 2007 proved irresistible.
Everton reluctantly agreed that if David Wanted wanted to go and play regular football then he could leave and continue his career at Rangers under his old friend and mentor, Walter Smith. An excellent if not particularly stellar servant to the club.
By
Last updated January 2007
Everton Career | |||||||
Season |
Squad Number |
League Apps (sub) |
League Goals |
Cup Apps (sub) |
Cup Goals |
Total Apps (sub) |
Total Goals |
1998-99 | 18 |
11 (3) |
0 |
1 (0) |
0 |
12 (3) |
0 |
1999-00 | 14 |
35 (0) |
2 |
7 (0) |
0 |
42 (0) |
2 |
2000-01 | 5 |
37 (0) |
1 |
2 (0) |
0 |
39 (0) |
1 |
2001-02 | 5 |
36 (0) |
4 |
6 (0) |
0 |
42 (0) |
4 |
2002-03 | 5 |
27 (4) |
1 |
3 (0) |
0 |
30 (4) |
1 |
2003-04 | 5 |
9 (1) |
0 |
2 (0) |
0 |
11 (1) |
0 |
2004-05 | 5 |
34 (0) |
1 |
1 (2) |
0 |
35 (2) |
1 |
2005-06 | 5 |
32 (1) |
1 |
8 (1) |
0 |
40 (2) |
1 |
2006-07 | 5 | 2 (3) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 3 (3) | 0 |
Totals | 223 (12) | 10 | 31 (3) | 0 | 254 (15) | 10 |
Prior Club Record | |||||||
Season | Team | Appearances (sub) | Goals | ||||
1992-1996 | Falkirk | 133 & 1 | 8 & 0 | ||||
1996-1999 | Hearts | 74 & 24 | 6 & 4 |