Between the Sticks

Whilst most boys’ eyes are focused on the goalscorers, mine were often straying to those endeavouring to keep the ball out. Perhaps it was because of Dad’s influence as an ex-‘keeper himself, but I always nurtured a keen appreciation of a fine save, block, punch or catch.

One of my first favourite players was Chelsea’s Peter Bonetti but in the late Sixties I also respected West Brom’s John Osborne. I may have watched him keep a clean sheet in the 1968 FA Cup Final but it was his performances on BBC’s Quiz Ball which I remember most. Like Arsenal centre-half Ian Ure, Osborne gave me an early lesson on how not all footballers are thick as the proverbial doo-doo. Millwall’s Bryan King was another whose place in my memory owes less to his appearance on the pitch and everything to his guest appearance at my junior school summer fete! I probably still have his autograph somewhere.

While much of England was fixated on the brilliance of Gordon Banks, I recall Dad being particularly impressed with Spurs and Northern Ireland ‘keeper, Pat Jennings. It wasn’t difficult to work out why. It wasn’t just about fancy saves; indeed, he seemed to make an inordinate number of stops with his feet. However, he was absolutely brilliant at taking crosses, often with one hand. And he was only six feet tall. Mind you, in those days, that was par for the course. At six foot four, Man City’s Joe Corrigan was considered a freak. In Shoot! his name was inextricably linked to the word ‘giant’.

It all seems rather tame in the twenty-first century when all ‘keepers can touch the bar without fully stretching an arm. Of course, just because the likes of Wayne Hennessey or Thibault Courtois are at least six feet six doesn’t make them a perfect ‘keeper. David de Gea is ‘only’ 6 foot 3 and current England incumbent Jordan Pickford two inches shorter still. Of course everyone is taller now, and goalies no longer need to command the air above the penalty area as they once did. That’s what the centre-backs are for. The ability to catch is becoming a lost art, just as a hefty drop-kick has given way to the need to launch an attack via an accurate pass.

For decades, English ‘keepers were supposed to be the best in the world. From Banks, Shilton and Clemence to Woods, Seaman and Robinson, their qualities were rightly lauded on the international stage. For me, the difference was their priority given to catching in preference to a flailing flap of a punch or cowardly parry back into the fray. It’s a shame, therefore that in the past twenty years, several fine careers have been ruined by a single unfortunate error, from Paul Robinson’s divot nightmare against Croatia and Rob Green’s cock-up against the USA in the 2010 World Cup to David Seaman’s misjudgement of Ronaldinho’s free-kick in the 2002 tournament. In my humble opinion, Nigel Martyn was better than most. Whether at Crystal Palace or Leeds, he was a superb shot-stopper and blocker, yet only won 23 England caps. This was thirty fewer than David ‘Calamity’ James who was notoriously error-prone. I witnessed first-hand a few mind-freaking moments in the only Wembley international I ever attended, against Switzerland in 2008.His agility was second to none, though.

However, for high-profile gaffes, Gary Sprake was notorious. Whether in a Cup final or big Wales international, he always seemed vulnerable to a ball squirming through his legs or under his body. I even remember him once throwing the ball into his own net against Liverpool. Nevertheless, he wouldn’t have been a long-time regular in one of England’s top sides if he wasn’t a decent goalie. Of course, if a striker slices a simple shot wide, it’s quickly forgotten, but when a ‘keeper makes a mistake, it can stay with him forever. Who’d be a goalie? It’s a bit like the drummer in a rock band. Derided, even ignored, but the heartbeat of a tight unit. Also with a reputation for being slightly nuts!

When it comes to eccentricity, my favourites must be John Burridge and Rene Higuita. Burridge was the archetypal journeyman footballer. Not the greatest but always in demand by clubs little and large for almost thirty years, he played League matches for twenty different clubs, including QPR where I saw him in 1980. Fans loved him most of all for his entertaining, acrobatic warm-up routines. Definitely slightly nuts! On the international stage, there have been none zanier than the very hairy Colombian, Rene Higuita. Managers must have despaired at his antics but abiding memory of him was at Wembley in 1995, executing to perfection his ‘scorpion kick’ clearance Had. he missed it, it’s possible an offside decision may have been given. However, full credit to the ref who signalled to play on, making Higuita’s crowd-pleasing ‘save’ a legitimate part of the game.

In the Eighties and Nineties, one of the finest ‘keepers around was undoubtedly Neville Southall. His contribution to Everton’s successes was recognised with a Footballer of the Year award. He, too, was considered – let’s say – somewhat idiosyncratic. Giving the appearance of a council binman hauled out of a local hostelry, squeezed into a scruffy green sweater, and placed between the Goodison Park sticks, Nev was nonetheless a superb player. Indeed he had been a refuse collector before turning pro, and was the antithesis of the celebrity footballer. From a Welshman to an Irishman, Shay Given was also a wonderful goalkeeper, notching an incredible 134 international caps and twelve seasons at Newcastle. Like most of the best, he wasn’t showy but had all the attributes of the perfect number one.

While the foreign goalie once brought the role into disrepute with their comical disdain for the penalty area basics, I have to recognise the qualities many have brought to the English game. John McEnroe aside, I’m no fan of American sports stars but Kasey Keller really caught my eye in the Nineties, in goal for Millwall and Leicester. He was the one who showed that Yanks might after all know something about football. I also loved Bolton’s Jussi Jaskelainen who’d just roll his sleeves up (literally) and make save after save.

The likes of Dino Zoff, Rinat Dasayev, Gigi Buffon and Oliver Kahn have rightly won plaudits on the international stage but in the domestic game, two imports have for me, particularly stood out.  Friedel, De Gea and Courtois have all been dominant but the great Dane, Peter Schmeichel, reigned supreme for Manchester United rewriting the ‘How to Be a Goalie’ guide with his reading of the game, and speed off his line. He was displaced as top dog by Petr Cech, the calm authority at the heart of Chelsea’s title-winning defence, with or without his distinctive headguard.

Nonetheless, the best goalkeeper I’ve ever seen must be Peter Shilton. Like Pat Jennings, he was equally brilliant in black and white and colour and, like Schmeichel, owed much of his excellence to supreme positional sense. When you possess an uncanny knack of being in the right place at the right time, Shilts didn’t need to pull off loads of memorable spectacular saves. Had it not been for Ron Greenwood’s even-handed rotation with Clemence, he would surely have racked up 150+ England caps instead of a ‘mere’ 125, to go with more than 1,000 league appearances. I only saw him live once, representing Southampton at Loftus Road, and he was as calm and capable as ever, albeit not keeping a clean sheet! For me, the Leicester legend is the greatest of them all.