David Speedie
David Speedie was born in Scotland, but raised in Yorkshire, he signed for Barnsley at the age of 15 in 1975, before turning professional in 1977. After making 21 appearances for the Tykes, Speedie moved to Darlington in 1980 before hitting the big time when signing for Chelsea in 1982. In a 5 year spell at Stamford Bridge, Speedie formed an impressive strike partnership with Kerry Dixon where his goal scoring and character, endeared him to the Stamford Bridge faithfull. One of his biggest honours in West London came in 1986, when he became the first player since Geoff Hurst in 1966 to score a hat-trick at Wembley, with Chelsea beating Manchester City 5–4 in the Full Members Cup final.
Speedie eventually scored 64 goals in 205 appearances Chelsea before joining Coventry City for £750,000 in July 1987. He played as both a striker and a midfielder during his 4 year spell at Highfield Road and is regarded as a Sky Blues legend. A big move followed to Liverpool in 1991, where he was Kenny Dalglish’s last signing, he scored on his debut at Old Trafford, but his Anfield career was cut short by the arrival of new Manager Graeme Souness. Speedie was quickly re-united with Dalglish when he signed him for Blackburn Rovers, where he scored 23 goals in helping them to get promoted to the Premier League.
Injury forced Speedie to retire from the professional game in 1995. His career spanning over 16 years Speedo amassed more than 500 appearances, scoring over 150 goals.
Speedie is a now a regular football pundit and co-commentator for Setanta Sports and NewsTalk Radio amongst others, and is great entertainment on the After Dinner Circuit.
Teams played for
Barnsley
Darlington
Chelsea
Coventry
Liverpool
Blackburn
Southampton
Birmingham (loan)
WBA (loan)
West Ham (loan)
Leicester
Honours
10 Full Scotland Appearances
Full Members Cup Winner 1986
Charity Shield Runner Up 1987
Wembley Play Off Final Winner 1992,1994
Second Division Runner Up 1993
Gary Shaw
Gary Shaw was the only Birmingham-born player in Villa’s title-winning side of 1981. In the same year, he won the PFA Young Player of the Year award. Shaw hit 18 league goals as Villa lifted the title, including a crucial strike against Middlesbrough that as good as clinched the title. The following season, he scored 14 goals, nine in the league and a memorable strike against Dynamo Kiev in the quarter-finals of the European Cup.
Seventeen league goals arrived in 1982/83 in a season which saw him net 24 in all competitions. After 18 appearances and six goals in 1983/84 he was injured. Six knee operations in four years could not save his Villa career, before joining KFC Copenhagen in 1988. A move to Klagenfurt in Austria followed before heading back to England where he played for Walsall and Shrewsbury Town.
Nicky Summerbee
Hailing from a family of football legends, it is no surprise that Nicky became a professional footballer. His father, Mike; Grandfather, George; and Great Uncle, Gordon, all played professional football and Nicky followed in their footsteps when making his debut for Swindon Town at the age of 18.
Following 112 appearances for Swindon between 1989 and 1994, Summerbee joined Manchester City where he played over 130 games for The Blues.
After his spell at Maine Road, Summerbee moved to Sunderland where he helped the club gain promotion to the Premier League in his first season, where the stats proved he was a better crosser of the ball than David Beckham with an accuracy of 36% compared to Beck’s 27%! Summerbee remained at the Stadium of Light until 2001 before going on to play for Bolton, Nottingham Forest, Leicester City and Bradford before retiring in 2006.
Since finishing on the pitch, Nicky has undertaken various work in the media, including Sky Sports News and presenting Masters Football on Sky Sports 1. Also commentating and interviewing for Talk Sport and Five Live, Nicky is a well recognised and respected former professional. He has also appeared in a ‘celebrity cook-off’ the Five Star Scanner Appeal evening at Panacea restaurant in Alderley Edge and make a great guest at just about any occasion.
To enquire about Nicky’s availability and booking him, please contact us.
Cyrille Regis
Cyrille Regis is without doubt, both a football legend and role model to many. Spotted playing Sunday League football on Regent’s Park, London, in 1975 by amateur side, Moseley where he scored 25 goals in just one season before moving to Hayes FC in 1976. It was during his time at Hayes that he came to attention of former West Bromwich Albion centre-forward, Ronnie Allen, who was a scout but about to become West Brom manager. When Allen took over at the Hawthornes, he paid the £5,000 transfer fee for Regis out of his own pocket and his faith in Regis was soon repaid.
By 1977, Regis had made the amazing leap from non-league football to the English First Division and scored a number of great goals during his first season in the top flight. He was voted PFA Young Player of the Year in 1978 and when Ron Atkinson replaced Allen as West Brom boss, Regis – alongside team mates, Laurie Cunningham and Brendon Batson, were clumsily nicknamed ‘The Three Degrees’ – as they were the first three black British footballers playing in England’s top division.
Great on the pitch but abused by racist cowards in the crowds, Regis Cunningham and Batson made a huge positive impact on British football and fast became role models for young black footballers.
Career
Total Professional Appearances: 608 – 159 goals
Teams Played for: West Brom, Coventry, Aston Villa, Wolves, Wycombe Wanderers, Chester City
England Caps: 5
Trophies: FA Cup winner, 1987
After retiring from the game as a player, Regis coached at West Brom before becoming an agent and continues to do a great deal of charity work. He received an MBE in 2008.
If you’re interested in enquiring about Cyrille’s availability to appear at your event, please contact us.
Frank Stapleton
Dublin born Frank Stapleton was a centre forward best known for his especially good ability to head the ball. He started his career with Arsenal in 1972 as an apprentice, after being turned down by Manchester United. He made his first team debut in 1975 against Stoke City where he would go on to form a potent striking partnership with Malcolm Macdonald at the Gunners; the two scored 46 goals between them in 1976-77. He was Arsenal’s top scorer for the three following seasons, and helped the Gunners reach a trio of FA Cup finals and scored 108 goals in 300 appearances in total during his time at Highbury. Frank moved to Manchester United in 1981 for £900,000 (a fee set by tribunal after the two clubs could not agree) and would help United win the 1983 and 1985 FA Cups.
Frank left United in 1987, after scoring 78 goals in 365 matches for the Old Trafford club. He went on to play for Ajax Amsterdam, before returning to England with Derby County and later Blackburn Rovers. Frank became player-manager of Bradford City, where he spent three seasons, and later went to the United States to coach Major League Soccer side New England Revolution. Internationally, he won 71 caps for the Republic of Ireland, scoring a then record 20 goals.
To enquire about Frank Stapleton’s availability please contact us
Lee Dixon
Lee Dixon is one of the greatest defenders in Arsenals history, playing over 600 games in a 14 year spell. The legendary right back won every domestic honour in the English game in the course of his 20-year footballing career.
Lee began his career at Burnley before spells at Chester, Bury and Stoke. His big break was being signed in January 1988 by George Graham, who paid £400,000 to take him to Highbury. Here he was to become part of the legendary Arsenal back four alongside Tony Adams, Steve Bould and Nigel Winterburn who, for over a decade, provided the backbone that led the Gunners to a number of successes. In over 14 years at the club he won two Football League Championship and two Premiership winners’ medals – the latter won as part of the 1998 and 2002 Double years.
International Career
Lee made his England international debut in April 1990 in a World Cup warm-up game against Czechoslovakia. He went on to win another 21 caps for his country.
Current
Lee joined the BBC in 2004 as a pundit on Match of the Day, Football Focus and Match Of The Day 2 and is now one of the most respected former players in the media.
To enquire about booking Lee, please contact us
Dean Saunders
Dean Saunders is a former professional football player with a wealth of stories about his lengthy and varied career which saw him play for many clubs. During his football career, Dean started out at Swansea City, before joining Cardiff City on loan before a permanent move to Brighton. He later joined Oxford United, Derby County, Liverpool, Galatasary, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United, Benfica and Bradford City. He is currently Wrexham Manager as well as assistant manager to Wales’s manager John Toshack and is appearing regularly on TV and radio as a match summariser.
Dean played in over 700 games and scored a total of 254 goals. He was capped by Wales on 75 occasions, scoring 22 goals for his country. After retiring from football in 2001 he became a coach and then moved on to Newcastle United in 2004 initially as strikers coach, and then first team coach under old boss Graeme Souness. He left Newcastle in 2006 and took his coaching badges and was appointed assistant manger of Wales in June 2007.
He was one of the Welsh national side’s most prolific scorers. Made his debut as a 21 year old against Ireland in 1986, no Welsh fan will ever forget his goal which secured a famous 1-0 win over Brazil in Cardiff in 1991. He won the last of his caps against Ukraine in 2001 just a few months short of his 37th birthday.
Dean is building a very good reputation as an after dinner speaker, he comes very highly rated and above all enjoys doing the events.
Enquire about booking Dean to appear at your event
Andy Sinton
Andy Sinton was only 16 when he made his Football League debut for Cambridge.
He was signed by Brentford in 1985 for just £25,000, but they netted £350,000 for him when he moved to QPR four years later.
Andy went on to play 160 league games and score 22 goals at the London club before moving to Sheffield Wednesday for a then-club record £2.75m in August 1993.
He spent two and a half years at Hillsborough but returned to London early in 1996 to link up with former Rangers boss Gerry Francis at Tottenham Hotspur.
He made his last Premiership appearance for Tottenham in 1999 before spending three years with Wolverhampton Wanderers and then signing for non-league Burton Albion in August 2002.
Andy was appointed manager of Hampshire side Fleet Town in 2005, having spent the previous season as the club’s football development officer. In May 2010, Andy was appointed manager of Bluesquare North side, AFC Telford United.
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Clubs
Cambridge United
Brentford
QPR
Sheffield Wednesday
Tottenham Hotspu
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Honours
Worthington Cup Winner with Tottenham
Over 750 career appearances
Over 100 career goals
International Honours
England Schoolboy
England B
Full England International gaining 12 Caps
Member of the 1992 European Championship Squad in Swede
Lee Sharpe
Lee started his career at Torquay United, and after just 16 first team games he was snapped up by Manchester United for a fee of £2000,00, which was a record at the time for a YTS player.
He played a vital role in his first season at Old Trafford in the 1990- 1991 season, helping United to success in the European Cup Winners Cup, and scored a memorable hat-trick away at Arsenal in the League Cup. During eight year at Old Trafford, he scored nearly 40 goals in 265 matches.
Lee was transferred to Leeds United for a fee of 4.5 million prior to the 1996/97 season, making him their record signing, but unfortunately injury restricted him to very few appearances. He had a loan spell at Sampdoria, then followed a permanent move to Bradford City, where he initially helped them to promotion to the Premier League, and the following season they preserved their status in the top flight. A loan spell then followed to Portsmouth, followed by brief spells at Grimsby Town, Exeter City and Grindavik in Iceland, but he then had to curtail his career due to injury at the early age of just 32.
Since his retirement, Lee has developed a career within television, and has appeared on Score, Football Focus and Match of the Day 2 both as a live studio guest and as a features reporter. He was a celebrity contestant on Dancing on Ice, Celebrity Love Island and Celebrity Wrestling, was a co-host for Junior Gladiators and a reporter on Footballers Wives. He also appeared in Ant & Dec’s Saturday night takeaway as part of Team Dec. In 2008 he appeared on Channel 5′s Superstars as a member of Sir Steven Redgraves winning team
Lee has quickly established a reputation as a very good after dinner speaker. He brings his fun outlook on life to the after dinner circuit with numerous stories from the world of football and television, about the characters and personalities he has worked with.
Enquire about booking Lee Sharpe
Dwight Yorke
Nicknamed ‘The Smiling Assassin’ Dwight was born on November 3, 1971 in Canaan, Trinidad and Tobago, and went on to become one of the Premier Leagues great characters. He famously won the 1999 Champions League and three successive Premiership titles in a four-year spell at Manchester United.
Dwight was first selected to play for the Trinidad and Tobago national side in 1989, and was captain of the team in the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany, in total he gained around 70 caps scoring over 20 goals.
His professional career began with Aston Villa in 1989 and he was a part of the team that clinched the League Cup in 1994 and 1996. During his 9 year tenure with the Villa, he made 231 appearances and scored 97 goals. He played a crucial role as a striker for Aston Villa and emerged as the club’s top-scorer (1994-95, 1995-96, and 1996-97). He also won the Player of the Year award for the 1996-97 season.
Dwight then signed for Manchester United for a fee of £12.6 million in August 1998. He played a pivotal role and emerged as the top league goal scorer for the 1998-1999 season. During his time at Old Trafford as well as winning the consecutive Premier League titles and Champions League, he also lifted the FA Cup, the Intercontinental Cup and was a UEFA Super Cup runner-up title in 1999.
He moved onto Blackburn Rovers in 2002 for a fee of £2 million and was the top-scorer for the season, before switching to Birmingham City in 2004, where scoring on his debut made him an instant favourite among the club’s fans. He was then signed by Sydney FC in 2005 where he was made captain. He led the team to victory in the inaugural A-League Grand Final match versus Central Coast Mariners in March 2006 with a Man of The Match performance. Dwight’s image and name were used by the Football Federations Australia (FFA) to promote the A-League’s second season.
In August 2006, Dwight signed for Sunderland for £200,000, and was part of the side that lifted the Football League Championship in the 2006-07 season.
Dwight Yorke has many awards and recognitions to his credit including, the Trinidad & Tobago Footballer of the Year (2005, 2006), the Tobago House of Assembly Chief Secretary’s Award (2005), the Trinidad & Tobago Olympic Committee Sports Personality of the Year (1998) and Humming Bird Medal Silver (1993). He also won the English Premier League Golden Boot Award for scoring 18 goals in the 1998-99 season.
The Dwight Yorke Stadium in Bacolet, Tobago, was named in his honour, and he was made a Sports Ambassador for his country owing to his great display in the 2006 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup. Apart from playing football, Dwight has a great passion for cricket.
