Welcome to the NextGoalWinner Hall of Fame, the most prestigious of all Hall of Fame recognitions. In this section of the website, we will pick out and highlight some of the most incredible players, moments, matches, managers and just about everything in between from the wonderful world of football.

When we say that we will recognise the most incredible, we are talking of course primarily of those players that the young folk refer to by ‘the streets will never forget’. Although our next entrant is still very much doing their thing at a high level, the season we have picked out was simply remarkable, and one many Premier League defenders will still have nightmares about, and that is of course Dimitri Payet’s 2015-2016 season. With remarkable goals, assists and incredible performances, his debut season in England is more than worthy of a place in NextGoalWinner’s Hall of Fame.

 If you want to nominate another entrant for a future Hall of Fame post, please get in touch @NextGoalWinBlog over on Twitter and we will build up our roster in the prestigious category.

Enjoy.

Before…

Born 29th March 1987 in Saint-Pierre, Dimitri Payet began his footballing career in 1995 at his local club Saint-Philippe, on the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. After 3 years, he joined JS Saint-Pierroise. He remained here for 1 year until 1999 at which point he was recruited by Le Havre in France. It wasn’t the best years for Payet, as he was accused of having a poor attitude and returned to Réunion and AS Excelsior where he spent a year in the youth setup before moving to the senior side. In his first professional season, he played a total of 36 games and netted 12 goals, resulting in a move back to France to Ligue 1 side Nantes. The move gave Payet a taste of first team football in France, and he managed 34 appearances and scored 5 goals in his two years at the club. Unfortunately in his first full season with the club, they suffered relegation resulting in Payet making a move to Saint-Étienne.

In his first year at Saint-Étienne, he really struggled with the move, as despite playing in many of the games, he failed to score or assist a single goal in the campaign. Despite this, Saint-Étienne kept the faith in their man, and in 2008-2009 things clicked into place and he netted 7 goals across 42 appearances, including 3 goals from 10 European appearances as the French side enjoyed a run in the UEFA Cup. They finished just one place out of the relegation zone in Ligue 1, however Payet had done enough to earn a 2 year contract extension at the club, in which he made another 75 appearances and scored 18 goals before his next move, after some off-field issues over a failed move to PSG which never materialised (something that has been a feature of his footballing career).

A move did happen however in 2011, when defending league champions Lille paid 9million Euros for the attacker. His 2 seasons at Lille were fruitful, as he played 94 games and scored 19 goals in his two year spell. This time gave him his first taste of Champions League football, and also earnt him a spot in the Ligue 1 team of the season as he ended the 2012-2013 season as joint top assist scorer. This impressive run earnt him another move around the French league, this time to Marseille, where again in his 2 year spell he was massively impressive, playing 83 games and scoring 15 goals, including a player of the season award in 2014-2015 and another spot in the Ligue 1 team of the season. His time at Marseille is largely credited to Marcelo Bielsa who coached the club at this time, however financial need meant that despite the club and players wishes, he made a reported £10.7million move in June 2015 to the Premier League, and to West Ham, where things continued where they left off.

During…

On the 9th of August, he made his Premier League debut and assisted the opener as West Ham won 2-0 over Arsenal. Less than a week later, he netted his first goal, scoring the consolation in a defeat to Leicester City. He then netted twice in a win over Newcastle before injury ruled him out for 3 months. Upon his return, he netted a wonderful freekick and earnt a man of the match performance for his efforts against Bournemouth, earning him a standing ovation from the West Ham supporters. In February, he was rewarded with a new contract to keep him at the club until 2021, and a month later, scored what has been regarded as one of the best freekicks of the Premier League era against Manchester United at Old Trafford in March, followed by being awarded Premier League Player of the Year at the London football awards. He went on to finish the season on a high, winning many more individual accolades, including; West Ham Player of the Year, Shortlist for PFA Players Player of the Year and several other individual accolades. West Ham ended the season in a really impressive 7th, with Payet as the clubs’ top scorer with 12 goals in his 38 appearances in all competitions, and he became a cult icon at West Ham, which is something impressive on it’s own, in such a short space of time.

It was a truly remarkable season where each goal felt like a goal of the season contender, and the skill and technique on show meant defenders were terrified of the Frenchman. Although the stats and records are consistent with what was seen in the French league previously, to continue this in a new club in a new country and a difficult league is incredible, and this season is one that sticks in the mind and it certainly one worthy of the NextGoalWinner Hall of Fame recognition.

After…

What followed is certainly not something the West Ham fans will want to relieve, as the same issues crept back in, with Payet refusing to train and after half the season and the January window rolling around, Marseille were determined to bring back their man, however West Ham refused to go lower than their asking price. With the player wanting out, manager Bilić refused to play him, and the club refused to sell, meaning their reigning player of the year was left out in the cold until the summer when West Ham and Marseille finally came to an agreement of around £25million, which was a club record for the Hammers.

Since returning to Marseille, things have been consistently solid, and despite the club not being league contenders, given the financial strength of PSG, Payet has been involved heavily in everything the club have done, playing a total of 169 appearances and scoring 45 goals. The key moments of his time back in France have been the 2018 Europa League final, where he suffered a hamstring injury inside the opening half an hour, meaning he was brought off as his side went down 3-0 to Atletico Madrid, he was involved in the first use of VAR in France, winning a penalty against Toulouse, and was almost involved in the 2018 World Cup squad for France, however injury ruled him out of contention. Meanwhile, a few non-footballing events have crept up, with him refusing a pay cut despite the club suffering financial difficulties during the pandemic, and in 2021 he was involved in a scuffle with opposition fans after suffered abuse and objects being thrown, he retaliated and this led to the game being abandoned.

Payet is certainly not one to shy away from controversy, however when in form and as seen in the 2015-16 season, he is unplayable. The freekick against Manchester United is still engrained in my head and for that, he is the 3rd entrant into the Hall of Fame. Let’s just have no trouble while you’re in there Dimitri.