When Gary Speed joined Everton in the summer of 1996, it got a lot of Evertonians very excited, including my 12-year-old self. The Welsh international midfielder had made his name at Leeds United, coming through the youth ranks to win the old Second and First Division titles.

Speed was a versatile player who had been used in numerous positions, including left-back, but his preferred role was as an attacking midfielder on the left-hand side. He was considered a consummate professional, very hardworking and honest.

On the pitch, he had a knack for scoring goals and was particularly good in the air, playing 312 times for Leeds and scoring 57 goals before his £3.5m move to the Toffees.

The boyhood Evertonian scored on his debut at Goodison Park in a 2-0 win over Newcastle, ending the campaign as the club’s joint-top goalscorer across all competitions, alongside Big Dunc, on 11 goals, and was voted Everton Player of the Year. 

However, the Welshman’s best performance of the season, and his most iconic during his brief time with the Toffees, arrived in the midst of the club’s best run of the season, a run that saw Everton go unbeaten for eight league games.

It was the 16th of November and Southampton had made the trip to Goodison Park to face an Everton side that had won three and drawn two of their last five outings in the Premier League. The Saints, led by former Liverpool star Graham Souness, had been on a five-game unbeaten run of their own, which included the famous 6-3 win over Manchester United.

Goals from Graham Stuart and Andrei Kanchelskis put Everton 2-0 up. On the half hour, Speed made it 3-0 after Nick Barmby played him through; he took two touches and fired a left-footed shot from the box edge past Saints keeper Chris Woods.

Just two minutes later, Barmby and Speed combined again, this time the former Leeds winger headed home from close range to make it 4-0 to the Toffees. Kanchelskis added a fifth in the 35th minute and Southampton scored a consolation goal to make the halftime scoreline 5-1.

Barmby got the goal that his performance deserved in the 57th minute, and Speed completed his hat trick in the 72nd minute, a bullet header from an Andy Hinchcliffe corner. Everton won the game 7-1, and Speed scored what would turn out to be the only hat-trick of his professional career.

Southampton would go on to lose their next four league games, and Speed would be made the Everton captain the following season by Howard Kendall. However, the two would have a falling out that led to Speed joining Newcastle in January for £5.5m. Speed scored 18 goals in 65 appearances for the Toffees and surely would have gone on to become a legend with the fans had he remained at the club. The

Welsh international did leave the fans with some fantastic memories, none more so than his hat-trick against Southampton at Goodison Park.

Reader Comments (2)

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Kieran Kinsella
1 Posted 10/10/2025 at 15:48:35
This game cost me a few quid. I went with a mate who was a Soton fan from university. Beforehand, I felt unusually confident and decided to back my optimism by making a bet we'd win 6-0. I don't often gamble but when I do I usually win. Of course on this occasion I didn't as we won 7-1.

I do remember Speed having a great game. But sadly, Dunc came off the bench and thereafter Royle ditched the skillful attack we'd built around Speed, Kanchelskis and Barmby so he could reintegrate Dunc and the long ball. If only Royle had kept things as they were and used Dunc sparingly.

The other thing I remember about this game was being in the back row of the Gwladys Street end. I missed half the goals as when people stood in front, you had to stand and if like me you were in the back row, the second tier hung low so it blocked your view of most of the opposite end of the field.

Dave Abrahams
2 Posted 10/10/2025 at 16:02:08
I thought a lot of Gary Speed but couldn’t have described him any better than the writers “ He was considered a consummate professional, very hard working and honest”. I think that sums him up very well.

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