Jordan Pickford in contention with Everton save that left arch Kopite ‘swearing and shaking’
Our ECHO panel pick Everton’s best ever saves – with Jordan Pickford, Neville Southall and Tim Howard all featuring
A week on from Jordan Pickford’s stoppage time heroics for Everton at Bramall Lane with England’s number one making a stunning double stop to earn his side their first point of the season with a 2-2 draw against Sheffield United, members of the ECHO sportsdesk pick out some of their most-memorable saves from Blues goalkeepers.
Given that Jordan Pickford’s double save has inspired this piece, I think it’s only right that I reference not only Everton’s king of keepers but the doyen of the double save himself, Neville Southall. Not only was ‘Big Nev’ a master of acrobatic saves, one big element of his footballing genius was his ability to pull off another one just seconds later.
This agility and speed of thought was honed through hours of drills as part of Southall’s extensive training and pre-match warm-up routines and ensured he was the best at his craft on the planet. Even when his best years were behind him, the Wales international pulled off one such double stop to deny Paul Scholes in the 1995 FA Cup final, palming away the Manchester United player’s first effort and then improvising with the rebound which he kicked to safety to ensure the Blues secured what remains their most-recent major trophy and the by then 36-year-old became the club’s most-decorated player.
Evertonians love to wax lyrical about Southall’s deeds and rightly so but it’s telling that he’s surely the most-praised and respected Blues hero when it comes to their rivals across Stanley Park so let’s take it from Arch Kopite, former Liverpool striker and now ECHO columnist John Aldridge. Ace marksman Aldo plundered over 400 goals in his career and thought he was odds on to add another to his substantial collection in the Reds’ first game back after Hillsborough but Southall’s brilliance ensured the game finished goalless on what was obviously a hugely-emotional night for the city.
Speaking in 2010, Aldridge recalled: “The best save any keeper ever made for me was by Neville in a derby at Goodison Park. He was on the deck after pushing away a Peter Beardsley shot that was going into the bottom corner.
“I had a simple tap-in, or so I thought. When I hit it he spread himself superbly to make the block and I was left swearing and shaking my head.
“At the same time I said: ‘well done’. To this day I still don’t know how he managed it.”
Paul Wheelock – A save that took your breath away
Recency bias means it’s hard to look past Jordan Pickford. From his incredible stops to deny Cesar Azpilicueta in the 2021-22 season, Mohamed Salah last season, to how he somehow managed to prevent a certain Wolves goal following a Pedro Neto just last month, the current Everton No.1 has a highlights reel to be proud of as he continues, week after week, despite what some pundits say, to prove that he is hands-down the best English goalkeeper.
Equally, growing up as a young Blue in the 80s, Neville Southall’s jaw-dropping saves from the likes of Mark Falco, Imre Varadi and many, many more are etched in the memory. So good was Southall that the Blues never really replaced him until the arrival of Nigel Martyn, who will go down as one of the safest pair of hands Goodison Park has ever seen.
Martyn, too, left big gloves to fill, but Tim Howard certainly managed that, and while he probably should have been dislodged as Everton’s No.1 before he did, the American was an excellent keeper and servant to the club who made numerous saves to remember. The best, for me, being his stop to deny Graziano Pelle in a 1-0 win for the Blues over Southampton at Goodison Park in April 2015.
Pelle looked certain to have scored after he flicked on Shane Long’s cross. But somehow the back-pedalling and at-full-stretch Howard managed to palm the ball away from underneath the frame of the goal before it crossed the line. Breathtaking.
