Early career Speight began his career at
Sheffield United, and was
loaned out to
Conference Premier side
Leigh RMI in March 2005 to gain experience, along with
Colin Marrison. He joined
Scarborough on work experience in August 2005, scoring in both his first two appearances for the club, and impressing
manager Nick Henry. He was allowed to join the "Seadogs" permanently, and therefore never made an appearance for the "Blades". Three months later he switched to
Bury, of
League Two. On 13 January 2006, he scored his first and second
league goals, in a 3–2 victory over
Torquay United. He finished the season with two goals in 17 appearances. He made another 17 appearances for Bury in
2006–07, mostly as a
substitute, and failed to find the net all season. The club released him in June 2007. Following his release from Bury, Speight dropped back into
non-League football, signing for
Northwich Victoria. He joined
Conference North club
Farsley Celtic in the summer of 2008, and then moved to
Droylsden in March 2009. In May 2009, Speight joined
Mansfield Town. He played 33 games, and scored 17 goals, becoming the club's top scorer despite having made most of his appearances as a
substitute.
Bradford City In June 2010,
Bradford City bought Speight for £25,000, offering the player a two-year
contract. "Stags" fans were disappointed at the fee; many had expected it to be much higher. He started his spell with his new club by receiving a jail sentence for assault – without having informed the club beforehand that he had a court case. His
work rate on the
pitch made him popular with supporters, but he found just one goal in twelve appearances. On 29 October 2010 he joined League Two
promotion chasers
Port Vale on a one-month loan. Manager
Micky Adams had looked to sign the player permanently before he went to Bradford. His appearance in a goalless draw at the
Pirelli Stadium with
Burton Albion on 2 November 2010 earned Speight the honour of being the 1,000th player to play for Port Vale in the Football League. After scoring in a 5–0 win over
Stockport County, Speight's loan spell was extended for a second month. He returned to Bradford in the new year.
Wrexham In June 2011, he signed a two-year contract with Conference side
Wrexham for an undisclosed fee. Manager
Dean Saunders hoped he would prove an adequate replacement for outgoing striker
Andy Mangan. After failing to score in his first four games, he opened his goal account for the "Reds" with a
hat-trick over
Alfreton Town in a 4–1 win at
North Street. From 30 November to 18 February he scored in seven out of eight league appearances, and from 10 March to 14 April he hit seven goals in six games. He ended
the season with 21 goals in 38 Conference games to become
Wrexham's top scorer and the sixth most prolific scorer in the Conference. Wrexham picked up 98 points and finished second but failed to win promotion after losing to
Luton Town in the play-offs. His record led to him becoming a target of
Lincoln City manager
David Holdsworth.
Mansfield Town Speight re-joined former club Mansfield Town in July 2012 for an undisclosed fee. He was reported to have requested the
transferred so as to be closer to his
Sheffield home. Though Speight said that claims he handed in a transfer request were "a complete lie". He scored twice in his first game back at
Field Mill, in a 4–3 defeat to
Newport County. Mansfield won promotion into the Football League as Conference champions in
2012–13, though Speight missed the second half of the campaign after damaging
cartilage in his
knee. In October 2013, he joined
Alfreton Town on a one-month loan deal. He scored four goals in five games for the "Reds", and manager
Nicky Law was disappointed when his loan spell at
North Street was cut short by Mansfield the following month. However, he picked up a serious knee injury midway through the
2013–14 season and was ruled out of action until late March. Speight was released by Mansfield manager
Paul Cox at the end of the
2013–14 season.
Non-League In July 2014, Speight dropped down two divisions to the Conference North to join
Harrogate Town in a move that reunited him with the manager
Simon Weaver, his former teammate at Scarborough. He was unable to take part in pre-season training due to injury. On 20 March 2015, Speight re-joined
Alfreton Town on a loan deal keeping him at the club until the end of the
2014–15 season. In August 2015, Speight dropped down a division to the
Southern League to join
Gary Setchell's
King's Lynn Town. Setchell said that Speight would prove to be a "very, very valuable acquisition". He left King's Lynn in October 2015; manager Gary Setchell stated that "he will probably retire now and he is also putting a lot of time into a new business venture". ==Personal life==