WHEN David Speedie casts his mind back over his playing career he has one major regret – leaving Blackburn Rovers when they were on the verge of greatness.

Not that his decision to depart Ewood Park after one brief but brilliant season was entirely of his own making.

The firebrand striker, with 26 goals in 43 games, was still basking in the glory of firing Rovers into the top flight when he was told he was wanted by Southampton in the summer of 1992.

Having done more than most to ensure Kenny Dalglish’s side took their place in the inaugural Premier League, Speedie thought the Saints’ approach would be swiftly rejected.

But there was a hitch.

Southampton boss Ian Branfoot had made it clear to his counterpart Dalglish that the only way Rovers would be able to sign Alan Shearer for a British record transfer record fee was if Speedie was sent in the opposite direction.

“I was gutted,” said Speedie, now 55 and living in Ireland.

“I didn’t want to go. Kenny in the end said, ‘we don’t want you to go, it’s just business’. And when he said that, I said, ‘okay, pay my contract up’, and that’s what they did. So I went for money.

“Jack Walker paid my contract up and then I got a very good contract at Southampton. It set me up for life, at the end of the day.

“But I’d sooner have stayed at Blackburn. I’d have sacrificed all that to stay at Blackburn for two more years at least.”

Shearer went on to become an even bigger hero than Speedie – and any other player in modern times – at Rovers.

He scored an incredible 130 goals in 171 games as Rovers were crowned champions of England just three years after winning the Second Division play-off final.

In contrast Speedie, the star of the 1991-92 promotion winning campaign, had a wretched time at Southampton.

After being paired up with his former Chelsea strike-partner Kerry Dixon, the former Scotland international made just seven appearances for the Saints before going on to win promotion to the Premier League, again, with West Ham United and then Leicester City.

“I still had two years left on my contract with a promise of a new deal once we were in the Premier League, but obviously things changed and Southampton wanted me as part of the deal for Shearer,” said Speedie, who is pundit for RTE, Ireland’s national television and radio broadcaster.

“So I was forced into it and I went for all the wrong reasons.

“As I say, it was a good move for me financially, but career-wise, it was disastrous.

“Rovers didn’t want me to go but Branfoot wouldn’t let Shearer go to Blackburn if I didn’t go the other way as part of the deal to join back up with Kerry Dixon.

“It’s a massive regret. I regret every minute of being down in Southampton. Not that I’ve got anything against the club, it’s just the type of players who were there were not my cup of tea.

“And I let that be known – I’m not one to bite my lip!”

The snarling Speedie took no prisoners on the pitch either and he believes his fighting spirit, as much as his ability with the ball, is why he will forever remain revered by Rovers fans.

“I still get letters from supporters, and not just Blackburn, saying that they enjoyed what I did,” said Speedie, who also played for Barnsley, Darlington, Coventry City, Birmingham City and West Brom during his professional career.

“And what I did was give 100 per cent in every game I played. Supporters can identify with that and that’s what I did throughout my career.

“Football supporters aren’t stupid. They know when somebody is trying and when somebody is tossing it off. And I never tossed it off. I always gave it everything whoever I was playing for.

“It gets other people going. If you’re running around, getting stuck in, it triggers off other people to do the same. That’s how I felt. Because there should be no hiding place.

“If you see somebody running around like a lunatic, which sometimes I was like, you can’t just stand there and not do anything. It triggers other people off. They can’t just stand there otherwise it makes them look stupid and lazy.

“So in that respect it’s good for the team having somebody run around throwing tackles in, whether that be a forward, a midfield player or a full-back. If somebody is doing what I used to do, it triggers other people to do the same.”

When the 2015-16 campaign kicks off, it will be the fourth season running Rovers have started in the Championship.

That is the longest period they have spent outside of the Premier League since Speedie and Co ended the club’s 26-year exile from the top flight back in 1992.

“It’s such a tough league to get out of, anybody can beat anybody,” said Speedie.

“I never in a million years thought Norwich would beat Middlesbrough so easily in the play-off final.

“Norwich got in amongst them, stopped them from playing, and they got their rewards in the first half, and there was no way back for Middlesbrough.

“Blackburn look like they have stabilised but now they’ve got to try and push on.”

Rovers’ hopes of doing that could be hampered if star striker Jordan Rhodes leaves.

Rhodes – like Speedie, a Scotland international – has scored more goals than any other player in the Championship since his club record £8m move from Huddersfield Town in August 2012.

He saw a move to the Premier League blocked last season when Rovers rejected a £10m-plus bid from Hull City.

Rhodes has since been linked with a string of top-flight outfits including Crystal Palace, Swansea City, Everton and West Ham.

“I think he’s good enough for the Premier League, his goalscoring record is proof of that, he just needs a chance,” said Speedie.

“It’s always tough to keep hold of your best players, especially goalscorers. Somebody will always be willing to take a punt, especially with the money that is in the game these days.

“And I think he’d be worth every penny.”