Mercurial McNeil Was an Unsung Hero of Everton's Darkest Days
A few players had outsized roles in preserving Everton’s long-standing top-flight status between 2022 and 2024. Dwight McNeil, who had a night for the ages in Brighton three years ago but leaves this week for Palace, was one of them.
There’s no question that every player who donned a Royal Blue jersey — or a white one, a pink one, or a yellow one! — during the nerve-shredding period between 2022 and 2024 played at least some part in preserving Everton Football Club’s long-standing top-flight status.
Some played outsized roles, however. Jordan Pickford, perhaps more than anybody else, will go down in the annals of Blues history for his heroic exploits; Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored priceless goals to earn crucial points; while the indefatigable Abdoulaye Doucouré was a vital source of energy, running and pressing behind the striker.
One more name to add to the list is Dwight McNeil, who joined Everton in the wake of the first of the more recent great escapes from relegation in 2022 when he was signed by Frank Lampard and then-sporting director, Kevin Thelwell, and had a huge influence on what ended up being another Great Escape.
Still just 21 when he arrived, McNeil had demonstrated his keen eye for goal in the 2020/21 Covid season when he lashed home a stunner from 25 yards for Burnley as the Clarets beat Carlo Ancelotti’s Everton 2–1 at Goodison Park. The Toffees drafted him in from Turf Moor for an initial £15m.
The early months of his career on Merseyside were inauspicious but by the end of the traumatic 2022/23 campaign, he had emerged as one of the most effective members of the team and top scorer for the season with seven goals. His first two — a winner at Southampton and the third goal in a 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace — came in two of Lampard’s only three victories before the Londoner was sacked by Farhad Moshiri in January 2023.
The appointment of Sean Dyche as the replacement manager reunited McNeil with the man who had blooded him at Burnley as a raw teenager and had eventually embedded him in the Clarets’ senior team. In all, McNeil played in 36 of Everton’s 38 Premier League games that season and was virtually ever-present after Dyche took over.
And, after bagging the winner against Brentford in March, a lovely, crisp left-footed drive across the goalkeeper, and bagging twice more in worrying defeats to Fulham and Newcastle, Dwight had a night for the ages in the early May 2023 as the Toffees pulled off a Monday Night Miracle on the south coast when they thrashed Europe-chasing Brighton 5-1 at the American Express Stadium to take a giant step towards safety.
It was McNeil’s chip towards the back post after driving forward from inside his own half that Doucouré unerringly volleyed home to put Everton 2-0 up inside half an hour. And it was his low cross from the byline that deflected in off goalkeeper, Jason Steele, to make it 3-0 seven minutes later.
In the second half, the visitors continued their rout, McNeil collecting Alex Iwobi’s threaded pass in behind the defence and leaving Steele on his backside with a feint inside before shuffling the ball over the line all with his left foot.
Who else but McNeil rounded off the scoring to kill off any minuscule hopes of a late comeback by the Seagulls, surging away onto Amadou Onana’s ball before hammering emphatically inside the near post from just inside the penalty area.
That performance illustrated what he was capable of when at this very best but the Rochdale-born winger’s career has been riddled with inconsistency. Once he had recovered from ankle injury at the start of the campaign, Dwight played in every league game of the following season, weighing in with goals in home and away victories over Nottingham Forest but his output was lower in 2023/24.
But his 2024/25 season, one which saw Dyche depart midway through, was wrecked by a serious knee injury and he has battled to gain a foothold in the first team ever since under David Moyes.
Though blessed with that wonderful left foot, which makes him a threat from set-pieces and striking from distance, and possessing the kind of vision that prompted Dyche to experiment with him in the No 10 role, McNeil is painfully one-footed, lacking in pace and frustratingly inconsistent.
By the time Jack Grealish and Tyler Dibling had arrived at Bramley-Moore Dock last year, it looked as though McNeil had fallen to sixth or seventh in the pecking order for wide players at Everton and it felt like only a matter of time before he moved on.
That time has, of course, now come and he has made a switch to Crystal Palace just months after the same club broke his heart by pulling out of a £20m deal to sign him before the transfer deadline. A move to Selhurst Park had not only offered him the chance at a new challenge but also the promise of European football. Unfortunately, a last-second change of heart by the South London club left him in limbo before they returned this week with a fresh approach.
An unusual straight swap deal has seen McNeil join the Eagles while Brennan Johnson, a player equally out of favour at Selhurst Park, comes the other way. Both players are desperately in need of a fresh start; as such, the arrangement very much suits all parties.
Although quiet and unassuming, Dwight always conducted himself well and he played a hugely important role in ensuring that Everton remained a Premier League outfit in 2023, while also helping the club climb away from danger in 2024 after the dual points deductions had plunged the club back into a relegation fight that season.
He surely leaves Everton with best wishes and the thanks of all Blues supporters for his contribution during some harrowing times.
Reader Responses
Selected thoughts from readers11/08/2026 15:23:53
A well deserved acknowledgement of Dwight's massive contribution to our survival. He was a player that I thought would be a real 'Moyes Player' when David returned.
Some quality, good workrate and a solid character that never caused any trouble. A bit like Leon Osmsn, perhaps?
If he hadn't been in injured when Moyes returned then maybe that would have happened, but by the time the following season started it was obvious that he was just a squad player now. And he could never just come back into the team and perform, it always took him a while to find his rhythm after a lay-off of any kind.
I always remember that Brighton game, it was just unbelievable and I've watched the highlights on YouTube possibly a hundred times!
Good luck to him in his career and life.
11/08/2026 16:20:44
I watched the Brighton game in a pub in Devon with my son-in-law and his dad, both keen Sheffield Utd fans.
They were amused and bewildered that I could still be on edge with 2 minutes to go and 1-4 up, but Dwight settled my nerves.
A well-deserved piece, Lyndon, about a decent guy who played while living under very testing circumstances. He also has some of the best ball control I’ve ever seen, being able to catch Pickford’s launched passes with nonchalant ease.
11/08/2026 16:44:06
I remember him arriving and being described as lightweight.Under Dyche he proved to be the total opposite.In a struggling team he was inspirational.He always done his job, best suited to the inverted winger role,with some spectacular goals and he could defend as well.Under Moyes he was asked to play too deep and didn't have the pace to get up into his best shooting positions.No wonder he wants away, he does not suit the role Moyes wants him to play.At 26 he will still be able to perform at the highest level and score those great goals that are his trademark.Good Luck.
11/08/2026 17:39:11
Seems like a genuine guy does Dwight, all the best for your next chapter with Palace and thanks for giving everything.
An average premier league player by large, which by today’s standards is a good player just nothing special, but when that left foot is firing it can be a weapon and he does possess decent passing ability with good vision and over a season that can be very useful just doesn’t do quite enough regularly enough and goes completely missing for a run of games, not to mention you need strikers who can finish of crosses which we haven’t got here unfortunately.
11/08/2026 18:52:40
Nice send off to a player who worked hard for us and came up with a few moments of real quality too - especially in a period where the team was seriously lacking in quality.
Still, it's a long time since he's contributed anything of note since (I think) his wife or partner was ill (or something like that) a couple of years ago.
I know Johnson had a dip last season, but (unless he turns out to have some secret crack addiction etc) then we seem to have done much better than Palace out of this deal.
When was the last time we had a right winger who wasn't (a) shit (b) over the hill or (c) broken. Is it that one season Deulofeu looked like a real prospect? Or Mirallas?
11/08/2026 21:59:05
“He surely leaves Everton, with best wishes and the thanks of all Blues supporters for his contribution during some harrowing times.”
Absolutely, Dwight has been a model professional since the day he walked into our club, until the day he left, he had some great moments and was instrumental in keeping us in the league on quite a few occasions, scored and made more goals than what was predicted too.
11/08/2026 22:50:19
Dwight gave us some truly memorable moments in his time with us. His goals output was higher than we might have expected, proving vital in our repeated battles to avoid relegation. The Brighton performance was outstanding while his winning strike at Forest in December 2023 was an important first step in undoing the damage of the first points deduction. At that time we badly needed players with the character to fight for the cause. Dwight was one who responded as we would have wished.
Surely he deserves a round of applause from our fans if he plays in the opening fixture? I really hope he receives one.
11/08/2026 22:53:25
Thanks for your tribute, Lyndon.
Dwight certainly has left a lot of blood & sweats on Goodison Park & other grounds during the most tulmultous time of modern Everton History.
He indeed has scored enough goals and created enough damages against Palace that prompted them to "stop the streak"!
Wishing him nothing but the very best on and off the field.
12/08/2026 04:48:11
Thanks for penning this article, Lyndon. A well deserved expression of appreciation.
It seems only a short while ago that we couldn’t seem to score if Dwight wasn’t in the team.
12/08/2026 05:36:02
Fully deserved tribute Lyndon, in that horrible position of an attacker who had to cover midfield and full back at the same time, he often ran his heart out thanklessly. He played to what the manager asked and often suffered the abuse laid at his door because of it.
I wish him good luck, he goes because we have moved on from the place we were, literally and metaphorically, and have a different manager with a different idea for going forward. I wish him well down south, he deserves to enjoy a team where he can flourish.
On a side note to some, as my mum used to say,"if you can't say anything nice about someone, don't say anything at all"
He was a decent signing who worked his socks off at a really bad time for the club. A "thank you" is all that's required. Good luck.
12/08/2026 10:42:43
Go with the respect of many Toffee supporters. You always gave 100+% to the cause and scored some absolute humdingers. Just don't do it against US, OK?
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11/08/2026 14:43:41
Great article Lyndon, yes Dwight is one of the good guys. I will never forget his salute to the Brighton fans after he popped in the fourth, or was it the fifth? Very funny.