Goalkeeper facts and trivia | Goalkeepers are Different
All those little oddities, snippets of trivia and quirky facts about goalkeepers that you were just dying to know about
Goalkeeper Awards, Gongs & Other Achievements
International honours
England, Wales and Northern Ireland's most capped players are all goalkeepers, namely Peter Shilton (125), Neville Southall (91) and Pat Jennings (119). Scotland's most capped player is Kenny Dalglish, who picked up 102 caps during his International career.
Italy's Walter Zenga holds the record of longest unbeaten run in World Cup history. He played 517 minutes (Almost 6 games) without letting in a goal in the 1990 tournament, beating the previous record held by England's Peter Shilton. Claudio Caniggia of Argentina eventually ended Zenga's run in the semifinals.
Peter Shilton does hold the record for the number of clean sheets in the World Cup finals, however, a record he shares with France's Fabien Barthez. Both keepers kept ten clean sheets in the final stages
New Zealand keeper Richard Wilson went 921 minutes without conceding a goal during New Zealand's successful World Cup qualifying campaign in 1982.
At the other end of the scale, Mexico's Antonia Carbajal and Mohamed Al-Deayea have the unfortunate honour of conceding the most goals in the final stages - 25 apiece.
However, Carbajal also holds the honour of becoming the first player to compete in five successive World Cup finals, from 1950-1966, although Mexico never got beyond the first round on all five occasions.
Spare a thought for Nicky Salapu of American Samoa. This fine figure of a goalie entered the record books in April, 2001 after conceeding 31 goals in a World Cup Qualifying game against Australia.
The record for most goals conceded in one tournament is the 16 that went past South Korea's Hong Duk-Yung in 1954. To make matters worse, he only played two games.
El Salvador's Luis Guevara Mora conceded 10 against Hungary in 1982.
Switzerland's Pascal Zuberbühler didn't conceded a single goal in 2006. The Swiss were eventually knocked out on penalties by Ukraine.
USA's Tim Howard set a new record for the number of saves during his side's second round game against Belgium during the 2014 World Cup, making 16 in total.
Netherlands' Tim Krul became the first goalkeeper to be brought on specifically for a penalty shoot-out when he entered the field of play during his side's quarter-final game against Costa Rica in the last minute in 2014.
Oscar Cordoba kept a clean sheet in every game during Colombia's victorious run in the 2001 Copa America tournament.
Speaking of penalties, Poland's Jan Tomaszewski (1974) and the United States' Brad Friedel (2002) share the record for most penalty saves in open play, both saving twice from the spot in their respective tournaments.
The first player to be replaced in a World Cup finals due to injury was French goalkeeper Alex Thepot, who sustained a jaw injury after being kicked in the face by one of his Mexican opponents in the opening match of the 1930 World Cup. He was replaced by midfielder Augustin Chantrel.
The first goalkeeper to be sent-off was Gianluca Pagliuca of Italy in a match against Norway during the opening round of the 1994 World Cup.
Only three goalkeepers have ever captained a World Cup winning side. What's more, the first two were both Italian. Giampiero Combi led Italy to their first title way back in 1934 and he was followed forty-eight years later by Dino Zoff, who skippered the Italians to victory in Spain in 1982. They were joined by Spain's Iker Casillas, who lifted the trophy in 2010.
Giampiero Combi and Czechoslovakia's František Plánička led their countries in the 1934 World Cup Final, the only time both goalkeeepers have captained their sides in the final.
The first Fourth Division player to win a full international cap was also a goalkeeper - Crystal Palace's Vic Rouse, who was selected to play for Wales in a game against Northern Ireland in 1959.
American goalkeeper James Douglas recorded the first-ever clean-sheet in the finals of the World Cup when the United States played Belgium in a group game in 1930. The USA won the match 3-0.
On 10 October 2009, West Ham United goalkeeper Rob Green became the first ever England goalkeeper to be sent off during a match against Ukraine for a professional foul on Artem Milevskiy.
Spanish goalkeeper Andrés Palop was part of Spain's victorious Euro 2008 championship winning side and duly picked up a winners' medal, despite the fact he is yet to make his debut at international level.
Colombia's Faryd Mondragón is believed to be the only footballer ever to compete in six consecutive World Cup qualifying tournaments.
And finally, Saudi Arabia's Mohamed Al-Deayea holds the record for most international appearances, winning 181 caps in total.
Steaua Bucharest's Helmuth Duckadam became the first person to save four consecutive penalties when the Romanian side beat Barcelona in the 1986 European Cup Final. José Ram&#243n Alexanko, Ángel Pedraza, Pichi Alonso and Marcos were all denied by Duckadam during the shoot-out after the match ended 0-0.
Brazil's Gilmar is only goalkeeper to win back-to-back World Cups, doing so in 1958 and 1962.
In 1982, Jimmy Rimmer became the second player after Italy's Saul Malatrasi to win a European Cup winners' medal with two different clubs, despite only ever playing nine minutes in the actual final. He was a non-playing substitute when Manchester United triumphed in 1968 and was in goal when Aston Villa triumphed in 1982, but was replaced by Nigel Spink after picking up an injury in the opening stages against Bayern Munich.
West Germany's Bodo Illgner became the first goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet in a World Cup final when he kept Argentina at bay in 1990 as the Germans ran out 1-0 winners.
Ukraine's Olexandr Shovkovskiy became the first keeper to keep a clean sheet in a World Cup finals penalty shoot-out when he kept Switzerland out in 2006.
In Juy 2016, United States' Hope Solo became the first goalkeeper in history to achieve 100 clean sheets in international competition when she kept South Africa out at Soldier Field. The match was Solo's 150th career win and 197th cap, with the USA winning 1-0.
Players of the year
Winners of the Football Writers' Association Award for the Footballer of the Year include Bert Trautmann (Manchester City, 1955-56), Gordon Banks (Stoke City, 1971-72), Pat Jennings (Tottenham Hotspur, 1972-73) and Neville Southall (Everton, 1984-85).
Goalkeepers have fared slightly better North of the Border. Ronnie Simpson (Celtic, 1967), Alan Rough (Partick Thistle, 1981), Hamish McAlpine (Dundee United, 1985), Andy Goram (Rangers, 1993) and Craig Gordon (Hearts, 2006) have all won the Scottish Football Writers' Association Player of the Year title.
Only two Goalkeepers have won the PFA Player of the Year Award: Pat Jennings (Tottenham Hotspur, 1976) and Peter Shilton (Nottingham Forest, 1978).
Likewise, only two keepers have won the Scottish PFA award - Dutchman Theo Snelders (Aberdeen, 1989) and Andy Goram (Rangers, 1993).
Only one goalkeeper has ever won the PFA Young Player of the Year - Mervyn Day of West Ham United Football Club, who won the award back in 1975.
Moscow Dynamo's Lev Yashin is the only goalkeeper to win the European Footballer of the Year Award, doing so in 1963. He's also the only football player ever to win the Order of Lenin.
Cameroon goalkeeper Thomas Nkono was twice voted African Footballer of the Year, in 1979 and 1982.
Peter Enckelman's father, Göran, did the double in 1975, winning both the Finnish FA and Sports Writers' Player of the Year awards.
Leif Nielsen, who spent most of his career with BK Frem before spells with Houston Stars and Greenock Morton, was the first goalkeeper to win the Danish Player of the Year award, doing so in 1966.
Esbjerg and Denmark goalkeepr Ole Kjær won the Danish Player of the Year title in 1978.
Peter Schmeichel won the same award three times during his career - in 1990, 1993 and finally in 1999.
Arguably Sweden's greatest goalkeeper, Ronnie Hellström won Player of the Year twice in his homeland, in 1971 and 1978.
Mart Poom won the Estonian Footballer of the Year award six times - 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2003.
Manchester United's Tim Howard won a number of awards in his native USA, including Aquafina Goalkeeper of the Year,  Nickelodeon GAS Player of the Year and - bizarrely for a goalkeeper - New York Life's Humanitarian of the Year!
Both Sepp Maier and Oliver Kahn have been voted German Footballer of the Year in successive seasons. Maier picked up the award in 1977 and '78 (to add to the title he won in 1975) while Kahn was victorious in 2000 and 2001. Harald Schmumacher has also won the award twice but was prevented from claiming a unique hattrick of wins when Hans-Peter Briegel pipped him to the title in 1985. The only other goalkeeper to ever win the award was Andres Köpke, who won it in 1993.
On the other side of the wall, Jürgen Croy won the East German Footballer of the Year award three times - in 1972, '76 and '78.
Stipe Pletikosa won the Croatia Footballer of the Year title in 2002 during his first spell with Hajduk Split.
Zoran Simovic, who also played for Hajduk Split, was named Yugoslav Footballer of the Year in 1983.
In 1977 Ubaldo Fillol became the first goalkeeper to be awarded the Footballer of the Year title in  Argentina.
Boca Juniors's Hugo Gatti was also voted Argentina's Footballer of the Year back in 1982.
Spain's Luis Arconada won the Zamora Trophy in Spain for the lowest goals-to-game ratio three years on the spin between 1980-82. Barcelona legend Antoni Ramallets holds the record for most wins with five.
Hope Solo won U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year in 2009.
Kasey Keller was named U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year three times (1997, 1999 & 2005). Tim Howard won the award in 2008 & 2014 while Brad Friedal triumphed in 2002.
Aleksandrs Kolinko became the first goalkeeper to win Latvia's Player of the Year award in 2006.
Fan Chun Yip was elected Hong Kong's Footballer of the Year in 2004 during his spell with Happy Valley.
Peter Cech has won Footballer of the Year in the Czech Republic an incredible eight times, including six in succession between 2008 and 2013. The only other keeper to win the award was Sparta Prague's Petr Kouba back in 1993.
Vincent Chileshe was crowned Zambian Player of the Year in 1977 at the tender age of 20, the first goalkeeper to achieve that feat.
Spartak Moscow's Rinat Dasayev won the Soviet Union's Football of the Year award in 1982.
In 2008 Khazar Lankaran goalkeeper Kamran Aghayev was named Azerbaijani Footballer of the Year.
Enver Marić of Velež and Hajduk Split's Zoran Simović were the only goalkeepers to win the Yugoslav Footballer of the Year, doing so ten years apart, in 1974 and 1983 respectively.
Clean sheets and other club honours
After going a World Record 1,275 minutes without conceding a goal in a single season, Athletico Madrid's Abel Resno was finally beaten by Enrique of Sporting Gijon on 19 March, 1991.
Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Saar narrowly missed out on the European record during the 2008/09 season. The Dutch international went 1,311 minutes before an error allowed Newcastle United's Peter Løvenkrands to score, breaking former Rangers keeper Chris Woods' British record of 1,196 minutes set during the 1986/87 season.
The World Record for clean sheets belongs to Brazilian Matos Filho Mazarópi, who went 1816 minutes without conceding a goal for Vasco da Gama between May 1977 and September 1978.
The European Record is held by Belgian Dany Verlinden of Club Brügge who kept a clean sheet for 1390 minutes in 1990.
Oliver Kahn holds the record for the longest unbeaten run in the Bundesliga. In 2002/03, he went 737 minutes without conceding a goal.
In February 2014, Celtic keeper Fraser Forster broke Bobby Clark's Scottish League record of 1155 minutes without conceding a goal in a league match. Forster's clean sheet run ended on 1,256 minutes when he was finally beaten by Aberdeen's Jonny Hayes.
The record for most consecutive clean sheets in a row in England is held by Dagenham & Redbridge's Paul Gothard, who kept 12 shut-outs during the 1998/99 season.
Former Italian international Stefano Tacconi is the only goalkeeper to have won all five international club competitions - the European Cup, the UEFA Cup, the Cup Winners Cup, the Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup. He won all five trophies while with Juventus.
Stoke City's Asmir Begovic scored after just 12 seconds during the Potters' Premier League clash against Southampton in November, 2013. It is believed to be the quickest goal ever scored by a goalkeeper.
Former Welsh international keeper Leigh Richmond Roose won a posthumous Military Medal for bravery during the First World War. He died on the Somme in 1916.
In 1986/87, Tranmere goalkeeper Eric Nixon became the first player to play in all four divisions of the Football League in the same season. Although registered with Manchester City, he played 44 games while on loan at Wolves, Southampton, Bradford City and Carlisle United.
The most penalties saved in a single season by a goalkeeper is 8 (out of 10) by Paul Cooper of Ipswich Town in 1979-80.
Walter Scott of Grimsby Town was the first goalkeeper to save three penalties in asingle game; he performed this heroic feat in 1909 against Burnley.
Other goalkeepers to achieve this feat include Manchester United F.C.'s Gary Bailey, who saved three penalties against Ipswich Town at Portman Road in 1980 but still conceded six goals from open play, and Huddersfield Town's Matt Glennon, who saved three spot-kicks in a League game against Crewe Alexandra in 2007.
In September 2016 Dundee United's Cammy Bell went one better in a Scottish Championship game against Dunfermline, saving three penalties in quick succession in the first half. The score was 0-0 when Bell palmed away Gavin Reilly's first attempt after just nine minutes before he blocked Nicky Clark's effort in the 27th minute. Five minutes later he completed his "hattrick" but stopping Paul McMullan spotkick. United won 3-1.
The first goalkeeper to save a spot-kick during a penalty shoot-out was Hull City's Ian McKechnie, who kept out Denis Law's effort after The Tigers 1970 Watney Cup semi-final against Manchester United ended in a draw. McKechnie was also the first keeper to concede a penalty in a shoot-out when he failed to stop George Best's opener and became the first goalkeeper to take a spot-kick when he stepped up to take Hull's fifth penalty. Unfortunately for McKechnie he put the ball wide and thus became the first player to miss the deciding kick!
Former Coventry City stalwart Steve Ogrizovic holds the club record for the highest number of consecutive League appearances: 209 from August 1984 to September 1989.
Pat Jennings became the first player in English football to make 1,000 senior appearances when he turned out for Arsenal against West Bromwich Albion in February, 1983. He marked the occasion by keeping a clean sheet.
Sheffield Wednesday keeper Kevin Pressman has the somewhat dubious distinction of holding the record for the fastest ever red card in English football. He was sent off after just 13 seconds on the opening day of the 2000/01 season against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Colorado Rapids keeper Joe Nasco holds the record for the fastest sending off in the MLS, a distinction he achieved in February 2014 when he denied LA Galaxy's Alan Gordon with a clear goalscoring opportunity after just 34 seconds.
Botswana goalkeeper and captain Modiri Marumo became the first - and so far only - goalkeeper to be sent off during a penalty shoot-out in May 2003. Marumo was dimissed for punching his opposite number, Philip Nyasulu, during a Castle Cup tie between Botswana and Malawi, after Nyasulu gave him a sporting pat on the shoulder. Malawi won 4-1 to reach the semi-finals of the competition.
If you think that was quick, Real Betis goalie Joaquin Valerio went one better and was sent off 40 minutes BEFORE his team's Spanish Second Division game with Albacete had even kicked off. Valerios insulted the referee Fidel Valle Gil in the tunnel and the offical had no hesitation in producing a red card.
On a similar line, Ljungskile goalkeeper Michal Slawuta became the first goalkeeper to be sent off for receiving two yellow cards for timewasting during an away match against Trelleborg in April 2008. Even more impressive, both cautions came within minutes of each other. With Ljungskile leading 2-1 in the 90th minute, he was booked for taking too over a goal kick. He then went over to the other post to drink water, and was promptly booked for a second time.
In 1999 France's World Cup winning goalkeeper Fabien Barthez topped a poll run by a French Sunday newspaper to find the country's favourite sports person. The chrome-domed keeper beat the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Laurent Blanc, Didier Deschamps and David Ginola to win the award.
The first goalkeeper to concede a goal in the Football League was Aston Villa's Jimmy Warner, who couldn't stop team mate Gershom Cox from putting the ball into his own net on the opening day of the first ever season back in 1888.
The tallest keeper to have played professionally in England is believed to have been Bill Carr, who stood at 6' 8" and kept goal for Bournemouth in 1924.
The game's first black professional footballer was a goalie. Born in Gold Coast (now Ghana), Arthur Wharton picked up his first pay packet in 1889 when he turned out for Rotherham United and later played in Divison One with Sheffield United.
Tottenham keeper Erik Thorstvedt became the first Premiership substitute to enter the field of play when he replaced Ian Walker on the opening day of the season in 1992.
Romania's Rǎducanu Necula had the honour of being the first goalkeeper to be used as a sub in a World Cup game, coming on for his compatriot Stere Adamache during a group match against Brazil in 1970.
The first substitute in international football was Wrexham's Sam Gillam, who came on to replace local amateur Alf Pugh during a game against Scotland twenty minutes into the game. Pugh had started the game after Wales' intended keeper Jim Trainer failed to show up after Preston North End refused to release him.
Scottish side East Stirlingshire have the dubious honour of fielding the most goalkeepers in one game, using four different keepers in a match against Albion Rovers. First choice keeper Chris Todd was replaced early on by Scott Findlay, who was subsequently sent off, as was his replacement Graham McLaren. Shire's fourth and final keeper Kevin McCann saved a penalty as they went down 3-1 to Albion.
In 2004, Manchester United goalkeeper Tim Howard became the first American to win an FA Cup winners' medal when they beat Millwall 3-0 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.
The last goalkeeper to take his place between the sticks without gloves - in English football at least - is reputed to be Bolton Wanderers' Simon Farnworth, when he lined up against Bristol City in the final of the Freight Rover Trophy at Wembley in 1986. His side lost 3-0.
Gianluigi Buffon currently holds the record for the biggest transfer fee paid out for a goalkeeper, costing Juventus a cool £33 million when they signed him from Parma in 2001
The most travelled English goalkeeper is John "Budgie" Burridge, who was attached to thirty three different clubs during the course of his 29-year career. After mkaing his debut with Workington Town in 1968 he then played for (in order) Blackpool, Aston Villa, Southend United (loan), Crystal Palace, Queens Park Rangers, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Derby County (loan), Sheffield United, Southampton, Newcastle United, Hibernian, Newcastle United (second spell), Scarborough, Lincoln City, Enfield, Aberdeen, Newcastle United (third spell), Dumbarton, Dunfermline, Falkirk, Manchester City, Notts County, Witton Albion, Darlington, Grimsby Town, Northampton Town, Queen of the South, Purfleet, Blyth Spartans and Scarborough (second spell) before finishing his career with a return to Blyth Spartans - a total of 771 first class matches in England and Scotland plus a further 121 non-league appearances.
Robert Gardner was the fist goalkeeper to captain an international side, doing so for Scotland against England in football's second international, way back in 1873.
Scottish goalkeeper Joe Crozier, who spent twelve years with Brentford, became a Freeman of the City of London after a successful post-football business career.
Bob Wilson was the first amateur to command a transfer fee when he moved from Wolverhampton Wanderers to Arsenal in 1963 for the princely sum of £7,500.
IFFHS' World's Best Goalkeeper of the Year
Year
 
Sporting Masters
Goalkeepers have proved to be quite adept sportsmen down the years, with several goalies enjoying parallel careers in other sports. Others had to make a choice at an early age while some keepers discovered hidden talents after they had hung up their gloves for good.
Cricket
Former Scottish International Andy Goram also played cricket for Scotland, keeping wicket against Australia in 1989. He won three caps in total and was told to stick to football by Australian bowler Merv Hughes...
Morton 'Monty' Betts played County Cricket for Middlesex and Kent as well as keeping goal for England. He also scored the only goal in the first ever FA Cup while playing up front for Wanderers.
As well as being the heaviest man ever to play football for England, Sheffield United's Willie 'Fatty' Foulke also represented his country playing cricket.
Leslie Gay of the Old Brightonians has the unique distinction of keeping goal for England's national football team as well as keeping wicket for England in a test match.
Coventry City goalkeeper Steve Ogrizovic also used to play cricket in his spare time and once bowled out Viv Richards.
West Ham United keeper Jim Standen played cricket for Worcestershire during the summer months and topped the county bowling averages. He could apparently hurl a football 60-70 yards.
Queens Park and Scotland custodian Archibald Rowan was also a successful cricketer in the late 19th Century.
Former Tranmere, West Brom and Aston Villa goalkeper Jim Cumbes won the cricket county championship with Worcestershire in 1974. He is now Chief Executive of Lancashire Country Cricket Club.
Arthur Jepson, who played for Port Vale, Stoke City and Lincoln during his career, also played County Cricket for Nottinghamshire and became a Test umpire following his retirement from the game.
In August 1920, keeper Jack Durston took five wickets for Middlesex against Surrey in the morning then kept a clean sheet for Brentford in their opening game of the season in the afternoon.
Aston Villa's England international goalkeeper Bill George also played cricket for Warickshire.
Another England goalkeeper who also played cricket was Alexander Morten. Morten played both sports for the original Crystal Palace side of the 1800s.
Scottish goalkeeper Hamish McAlpine regularly turned out for Perthshire cricket club Rossie Priory.
New Zealand test cricketer Don McRae also played in goal for his country - winning one cap in 1936 in a 7-1 defeat to Australia.
Further afield, Charlie Gardiner, of the Unity Club in Belize, also turned out for the club's cricketing counterpart as well as keeping goal in the 1960s.
Blackpool goalkeeper Lewis Edge played cricket for both Morecambe and Cumbria County Cricket Clubs, keeping wicket as a youngster.
After retiring from football, Burnley's Jerry Dawson - who holds the record for most league appearances for The Clarets - became a batsman in the Lancashire League for Burnley Cricket Club.
Another goalkeeper who opted to take up cricket on his retirement was former Swindon Town and Torquay goalkeeper Kenny Allen, who went on to captain his local team, Chudleigh.
Former England test-batsman Phil Mead played one game in goal for Southampton way back in 1907, keeping a clean sheet in the process!
England Test cricketer Abe Waddington could be considered something of an all-rounder in the world of sport. As well as playing for England and enjoying a successful county career with Yorkshire, Waddington also played seven league games for Halifax Town during the 1921-22 season and later took part in the qualifying rounds of The Open golf championship.
George Raikes, who kept goal for England four times in the 1890s, enjoyed a first class county career with Oxford University and Hampshire before twice winning the Minor Counties Championship with Norfolk.
Another goalkeeper to enjoy success in the Minor Counties Championship was Watford goalkeeper Bill Yates, who played for Buckinghamshire and took two five wicket hauls against Hertfordshire and Oxfordshire in the early 1950s.
George Harris, who kept goal for Mansfield Town and Swansea, played one first-class cricket game for Glamorgan against Surrey in 1932 and was dismissed for a duck in his only innings.
Forest Green Rovers goalkeeper Steve Perrin is captain of Wiltshire County Cricket Club in the Minor Counties League, where, unsurprisingly, he plays as wicket keeper.
Newcastle United's Steve Harper played local league cricket when was not warming the bench at St. James' Park!
Veteran Watford goalkeeper Alec Chamberlain once had trials with Middlesex County Cricket Club before being snapped up by Ipswich Town.
Albert Iremonger played cricket for Nottinghamshire as well as keeping goal for Notts County Football Club at the turn of the 20th Century.
The strangely named Mordecai Sherwin also kept goal for Notts County and played cricket for Nottinghamshire, later playing three test matches for England in Australia.
Billy Moon, who once held the distinction of being England's youngest ever goalkeeper, kept wicket for Middlesex in two first-class cricket matches during the 1891 County Championship.
Chesterfield, Stockport County and York City goalkeeper Chris Marples played a string of first class County Cricket matches as wicket-keeper for Derbyshire during the mid-1980s.
One time Norwich City keeper Sandy Kennon played cricket for Norfolk in the 1970 Minor Counties Championship.
Edward Nash, who enjoyed spells between the sticks with Swindon Town, Crystal Palace and Brentford, played Minor Counties for Wiltshire after retiring from football, keeping wicket.
While at Oxford University, Charles Nepean played 10 first class cricket games for the University and Middlesex County Cricket Club. He also won an FA Cup Winners medal after Oxford beat Royal Engineers in the 1874 final. He retired from both sports on graduation to take holy orders.
Another goalkeeper who excelled at both sports was Ron Nicholls, who played first class cricket for Gloucestershire as well as keeping goal for Bristol Rovers, Bristol City and Cardiff City amongst others.
Glan Letheren, who kept goal for Leeds United and Swansea City in the 1970s, enjoyed a minor counties cricker career with the South Wales Cricket Association as a medium pace bowler and middle order batsman.
Scottish goalkeeper Dave Edwards, who enjoyed a varied career with Greenock Morton, Bethlehem Steel in the United States and Cowdenbeath amongst others, became a wicketkeeper/batsman with Cowdenbeath Cricket Club after retiring from football.
Victor Barton enjoyed a successful cricket career with the Army and Hampshire, making one Test appearance for England against South Africa. He was also on the books of Southampton St. Mary's, making an appearace in the semi-final of the Hampshire Senior Cup in 1893.
Len Beel, who played for Shrewsbury Town and Birmingham City in his short career, also made one appearance for Somerset in a Sunday League match against Warwickshire.
The wonderfully named Desire Montgomery Butler made appearances for both the British Virgin Islands' football and cricket teams in a long career, keeping goal and wicket respectively.
Tommy Thorpe, who kept goal for Doncaster Rovers, Barnsley and Northampton Town amongst others, played three first class games for Northamptonshire during the 1913 County Cricket Championship.
Aston Villa's Billy George, who won three caps for England before the First World War, made thirteen first-class cricket matches as a batsman for Warwickshire.
Steve Adlard never quite made it as either a goalkeeper or a cricketer. A reserve keeper for both Nottingham Forest and Lincoln City, he played one first class game of cricket for Lincolnshire against Derbyshire in the Gillette Cup in 1976 before enjoying a career in the Minor Counties.
Scottish goalkeeper Tom Crosskey, who enjoyed spells with Crystal Palace, Hearts and Raith Rovers, played four first class Cricket matches for Scotland betwen 1949 and 1950. A right-handed batsman, he top-scored with 49 during a tour game against the 1948 Australian Invincibles.
England international Nigel Martyn played for Cornwall Schoolboys - keeping wicket, naturally - as well as his local side before pursuing a career in football. Following his retirement, the former Crystal Palace and Leeds United goalkeeper resumed playing cricket, turning out for a team called Old Modernians in the Wetherby League.
Willis Walker enjoyed a successful cricket career that ran alongside his goalkeeping duties with the likes of Doncaster Rovers, Leeds City and South Shields amongst others. He played County Cricket with Nottinghamshire, scoring 18,259 runs before retiring in 1937.
Australian cricketer Ken Grieves, who made 452 first-class appearances for Lancashire and made a county record 555 catches, also pursued a career in football after emigrating to England, turning out for Bury, Bolton Wanderers and Stockport County as a goalkeeper between 1947 and 1958.
Leicester City and Gillingham goalkeeper Jack Beby was something of an all-rounder during his spell with the Grenadier Guards, representing his regiment at cricket and the shot put.
Rebecca Rolls was capped by New Zealand in both football and cricket. The Metro FC goalkeeper won 21 caps for the Football Ferns and made over 100 appearances in One Day Internationals as a wicketkeeper batsman.
George Waller, who kept goal for both Sheffield clubs as well as Middlesbrough before the turn of the 20th Century, also made three first class appearances for Yorkshire Cricket Club taking four wickets and scoring seventeen runs.
David Thomson, one of the founding fathers of Welsh football, was also something of a useful cricketer, regularly turning out for Wynnstay Cricket Club before his unexpected early death in 1876.
Reginald Courtenay Welch, who kept goal for England and played in the first two FA Cup Finals for The Wanderers, represented Harrow School at cricket, playing five matches during the 1871 season. His highest score as a batsman came against the Lords and Commons Cricket Club when he scored 12 while his best bowling figures of 4 for 17 came in a match against the Marylebone Cricket Club.
York City and Darlington goalkeeper Tony Moor captained Scarborough Cricket Club to the Yorkshire League title three times in the 1970s. He was also selected for the National Cricket Association XI gainst the touring Canadian team in 1974, and for the Yorkshire League XI against the West Indies tourists in 1973 and Pakistan in 1974.
Peter Pickering, the South African goalkeeper who played for York City and Chelsea after the Second World War, appeared in one first-class game for Northamptonshire during his time with Northampton Town. He scored 59 runs over the course of two innings.
Great Britain's 1936 Olympic team goalkeeper Haydn Hill, who also had a spell with Sheffield Wednesday, played cricket for Dorset, making 24 appearances in the Minor Counties Cricket Championship between 1948 and 1953
Antipodean goalkeeper Ken Hough played two Tests against England in 1958-59 and 28 first-class matches for Northern Districts and Auckland. A right-arm fast bowler and something of a useful lower-order batsman, he holds the record for taking the most wickets - 6 - without having a batsman caught.
Rugby Union
Clapham Rovers' goalie Reginald Birkett was capped by his country at both football and Rugby Union.
Former Bolton Wanderers and Millwall goalie JW Sutcliffe was the last man to play both Rugby Union and football for England.
French World Cup winning goalie Fabien Barthez was brought up playing rugby and only turned to football when he was 15 years of age. After retiring from football, Barthez took up motor racing.
Another rugby playing goalkeeper was former Wales international Dai Davies, who turned out for West Wales Schools as a teenager.
Another keeper called Dai Davies, who played for Bolton Wanderers before the First World War, had spells playing both codes of Rugby alongside his football career and holds the distinction of being capped at international level by Wales for both football and Rugby League.
German keeper Oliver Kahn also enjoys playing rugby and regularly competes in local tournaments when not playing football.
Luxembourg international goalkeeper Stéphane Gillet, who enjoyed spells with SV Elversberg, Racing FC Luxembourg and Jeunesse Esch, took up up rugby at the end of his career, playing second row for Rugby Club Luxembourg.
Former Manchester United, Arsenal and Aston Villa keeper Jimmy Rimmer played both rugby and football for Lancashire & England Boys
Winter Sports
Former European Footballer of the Year Lev Yashin started life as an Ice Hockey goalie before finding fame with the powerful USSR side of the 1960s.
Sweden's Magnus Hedman also played Ice Hockey as a youngster before being picked for the Swedish U-15 football team and had trials with Stockholm's leading Hockey team.
While competing in ITV's Dancing on Ice, former England and Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman revealed that he used to play ice hockey as a youngster and like Magnus Hedman had trials with several local sides before deciding on a career in football.
Henry Johansen, who played for Vålerenga and was capped by Norway prior to the Second World War, was also a dab hand at Ski Jumping and was awarded the Egebergs Ærespris, a prize awarded to Norwegian athletes who excel in more than one sport, in 1938. He was also a keen Ice Hockey and Bandy player.
American Football
After the 1994 World Cup, USA goalie Tony Meola received a number of offers to play American Football professionally. His NFL career proved short-lived however, and he quickly returned to the game that made in him a household name in the States.
When Former Barcelona keeper Jesus Angoy decided that he needed a career change he didn't hang about weighing up all the possible options in front of him and signed for the Denver Broncos, then one of the hottest sides in the NFL, as a specialist field-goal kicker. The Catalonian custodian is still famous in Barcelona for marrying Johan Cruyff's daughter if nothing else...
Horst Muhlmann was rather more successful when it came to pursuing a career in American Football. The former Schalke 04 keeper played nine NFL seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals and the Philadelphia Eagles having previously played in the NASL with Kansas City Spurs.
Basketball
Former Brentford and Hibernian Icelandic goalkeeper Oli Gottskalksson has represented his country at both football and basketball.
In his youth ex-Leicester City and Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper Tim Flowers used to be something of a mean basketball player and represented the Midlands. He went on to have trials for England before deciding on a career in football.
The much-travelled American goalkeeper Brad Friedel was an All-State basketball player in Ohio and had try outs for UCLA before his goalkeeping career took off.
Everton's Tim Howard is also reputed to be something of a mean basketball player.
Another American goalkeeper with a strong basketball background is Celtic's Dominic Cervi, who picked up several High School awards while growing up in Oklahmoma.
Golf
One-time Asian Goalkeeper of the Year and Malaysian international Chow Chee-keong became a professional golf coach after retiring from football.
Former Scotland and Glasgow Rangers keeper Peter McCloy was something of a keen golfer and represented Scotland at amateur level.
West Ham United F.C. goalkeeper George Kitchen, who played for the Hammers before the start of the First World War, was a professional golf player at the age of 14 and became a club pro after retiring from football.
Scottish goalkeeper John Jackson, who counted Partick Thistle and Chelsea amongst his clubs and was capped by Scotland eight times, became a professional golfer after retiring from football.
Boxing
Another Hibs goalkeeper to excel at a second sport was William Harper, who was a heavyweight boxing champion in the Scots Guards and also played rugby for his regiment
Joe Nicholls, who played for Tottenham Hotspur F.C. and Bristol Rovers between the wars, was the Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the Grenadier Guards during his spell in the army.
Former Everton F.C. & Chelsea F.C. goalkeeper Ben Howard Baker had something of a sporting career that has yet to be surpassed. Not only was he capped by his country at football but he was also an international high jumper of some repute - He held the British record, was AAAs Champion and represented Great Britain at both the 1912 and 1920 Olympics.
Track & Field
Ex-Manchester United and England goalkeeper Ray Wood had the opportunity to become a professional sprinter as a teenager but chose to play football instead.
Germany's Hans Jakob, who played in both the 1934 and 1938 World Cup Finals, also enjoyed a successful Track & Field career, winning several Bavarian Hurdles titles.
Arsenal's Wojciech Szczesny was a promising javelin thrower as a youngster.
Perugia and Reggiana Lamberto Boranga took up athletics after retiring from the professional game and has set Masters World records in both the long jump and triple jump.
Baseball
As a teenager, Bruce Grobbelaar was once offered a baseball scholarship in the United States but decided to stick with football.
Frank Borghi, who played in goal when the USA beat England 1-0 in the 1950 World Cup Finals, began life as a professional baseball player and always preferred to the throw the ball out rather than kick it.
Southampton, Derby County and England goalkeeper Jack Robinson won the British Baseball championship twice in the 1890s with Derby County Baseball Club alongside Steve Bloomer.
Hockey
Malaysian Michael Shepherdson was something of an all-rounder. As well as keeping goal for Selangor he was part of the Malaysia Olympic field hockey team at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and competed in the Asian games in 1958 and 1962, where he won Bronze in Jakarta. He also captained the national cricket team.
Wilfred Skinner represented Singapore at both football and hockey, captaining the national hockey team in the 1962 Asian games, having first appeared in the 1954 games as part of Singapore's football squad.
Aussie Rules
Australian international goalkeeper Joanne Butland switched codes at the suggestion of her sister-in-law and gave up football to become play Australian Rules Football for North Cairns in the AFL Cairns Women's League. She was selected in the All-Australian team three times between 2005 and 2011.
Another Aussie international goalkeeper to ditch football was Brianna Davey, who took up Australian Rules with St Kilda Sharks in the Victorian Women's Football League in the winter of 2015 after missing out on selection for the Women's World Cup. Having played both codes in parallel for two years, Davey hung up her gloves for good and signed professionally for Carlton Football Club in the inaugural AFL Women's competition in 2016.
GAA & Shinty
Former Northern Ireland international Norman Uprichard played Gaelic football as a teenager and won a minor league medal with St. Peter's - however he was banned by the GAA before he could receive his medal because he had signed for Glenavon!
One-time Aston Villa and Leeds United goalkeeper Con Martin also played Gaelic Football, winning the Leinster title with Dublin, before he too was expelled by the GAA after they discovered he was playing a foreign sport with Drumcondra. Like Uprichard, his medal stayed with the GAA until 1971 when they finally lifted their ban.
Hugh Kelly, who carved out a career with Fulham, Southampton and Exeter City during the 1950s, represented County Armagh in Gaelic Handball.
Portsmouth and Ireland goalkeeper Matt "Gunner" Reilly played Gaelic Football before switching codes while serving in the armed forces in Glasgow.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Motherwell keeper Michael Fraser was a talented shinty player, regularly turning out for Glenurquhart Shinty Club, but gave up the sport in 2002 after signing on with Caley Thistle.
Ned Courtney played Gaelic football for Cork during the Second World War, winning the Munster Senior Football Championship, before winning three League of Ireland titles and playing in three successive FAI Cup finals with Cork United and Cork Athletic.
Shane Curran enjoyed a parallel career keeping goal for Athlone Town and Roscommon.
Bowls
Ian Wilkinson, who made a brief appearance for Manchester United in the League Cup back in October 1991, went on to play crown green bowls at County level after injury curtailed his career.
One time Southampton and Fulham goalkeeper Ian Black represented Surrey at bowls following his retirement from football.
Former Bradford City goalkeeper Geoff Smith, who played over 250 games for the Bantams, played bowls for Skipton Vets during his later years.
Handball
Faroe Islands international goalkeeper Kaj Leo Johannesen also played handball at club level, playing 163 matches for Kyndil and scoring 625 goals.
Spain international and former Real Madrid goalkeeper Miguel Ángel was a promising handball player before switching codes.
Saudi keeper Mohamed Al-Deyea could have had a career in handball but was persuaded by his older brother, Abdullah, to stick with football. He went on to make over 180 appearances for Saudi Arabia.
Fritz Herkenrath, who won 21 caps for West Germany in the 1950s, was initially a handball player before switching to football after World War II.
Wrestling
When Thomas Boric's goalkeeping career in the NASL, which included spells with Tampa Bay Rowdies and the Calgary Boomers, came to an end he decided to become a professional wrestler, fighting under the name of Paul Diamond.
In a similar vein, former Crewe Alexandra and Port Vale goalkeeper Stuart Tomlinson began training as a professional wrestler after hanging up his gloves, earning a development contract with WWE. Fighing under the name Hugo Knox he made his wrestling debut at a WWE NXT event in November, 2014.
Other Sports
Not sure if Ballroom Dancing is still officially classed as a sport, but Peter Schmeichel didn't do too badly on BBC TV's Strictly Come Dancing. Unfortunately the same could not be said of Peter Shilton...
United States international goalkeeper Hope Solo was a contestant on the 13th season of the Dancing with the Stars television series in the USA but was eliminated in the semi-finals.
Former Southampton reserve goalkeeper Eddie Thomas represented Wiltshire at water polo in later life.
Australia international goalkeeper Jack Reilly, who played in all three of the Socceroos' World Cup games in 1974, became a horse trainer and breeder after hanging up his gloves.
Former Team USA coach Bruce Arena also represented his country at Lacrosse, winning the World title in 1974, a year after he won his one and only cap in goal for the States in a 2-0 defeat against Israel.
Cardiff City's Dilwyn John was also a talented snooker player and claimed the Welsh amateur champion title during the 1980s. He was also runner-up at the IBSF World Snooker Championships in 1985.
Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper Peter Enckelman has a keen interest in motor sport and the 2007 British Touring Car Championship season featured a team named after him, Encke Sport.
Ton van Engelen, who kept goal for PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord and Go Ahead Eagles, became a soigneur for a number of Dutch cycling teams after he retired, participating in over twenty Tour de France events.
Goalkeeper Jay Timo represented Tuvalu at the Pacific Games in both football and volleyball.
Quirky Coincidences
On August 28 1993, Ian Rush scored his 200th League goal of his Liverpool career against Leeds United goalkeeper John Lukic. He scored his first goal for the Reds 12 years earlier in a game against Arsenal. The Gunners' keeper that day was a certain John Lukic
He may only have been capped twice, but England goalkeeper Ernie 'Tim' Williamson conceded three goals while on international duty. The strange thing was that Sweden's Harry Dahl scored all three goals in those two games - he grabbed two on May 21 1923 and then added a third four days later when the sides met for a second time. Dahl was the first foreign player to score twice, let alone three times, against England.
In 1963, Denis Law played at Wembley three times - once in the FA Cup Final for Manchester United, once for a Rest of the World select XI and once for Scotland. On each occasion the opposition goalkeeper was none other than Gordon Banks.
Not many goalkeepers can claim to have played in a Cup Final at Wembley. Even fewer could claim to have played in the final of three separate competitions and been on the losing side each time. Former Charlton Athletic and Middlesbrough custodian Ben Roberts can. In 1997 he was in goal for Boro as they lost both the FA and League Cup Finals to Chelsea and Leicester City respectively, then in 1999 he was on the losing side again as Millwall went down 1-0 in the final of the Auto Windscreen Shield.
Speaking of Millwall, when they played in the 2004 FA Cup Final, they ended up facing the same keeper that kept goal against them in the AWS Shield Final in 1999, namely Northern Ireland international Roy Carroll. Carroll kept a clean sheet on both occasions.
Preston North End fielded amateur goalkeepers in their first two appearances in the FA Cup Final. Dr Mills Roberts kept goal in 1889 while James Frederick Mitchell was between the sticks in 1922.
All three goalkeepers in South Korea's 2002 World Cup squad - Lee Woon-Jae, Choi Eun-Sung and Kim Byung-Ji - were born in the month of April!
During the course of the 2004/2005 season, Rangers beat Dundee United 7-1 in the Semi-Final of the Scottish League Cup. Earlier that season, Manchester City beat Barnsley 7-1 in the English League Cup. Nothing strange about that, you might consider, except for one small matter - the same two goalkeepers played in both games. On the receiving end of the seven-goal thrashings on both occasions for Barnsley and Dundee United was Nick Colgan while his opposite number in the Manchester City and Rangers goal was Ronald Waterreus.
Arguably two of Scotland's greatest post-war keepers, Jim Leighton and Andy Goram both made their international debuts in the same month, against the same country and both kept a clean sheet. Leighton made his debut against East Germany in the 2-0 victory in October 1982 while Goram was capped in the corresponding international fixture in October 1985 which ended 0-0.
When Chic Brodie's professional career was ended after a collision with a stray dog while playing for Brentford at Colchester United's Layer Road ground, he became a taxi driver in the capital. While driving through Westminster he had to swerve his cab to avoid hitting another stray dog that had run out into the road and hit another vehicle, driven by former West Ham and England striker Geoff Hurst...
Barrow goalkeeper Alan Coglan had the misfortune to break his leg three times during his career. The strange thing was that on all three occasions he was playing in a reserve team fixture against the same opposition - Sunderland.
There must be something in the water in Barrow - striker Bobby Knox had the distinction of becoming the first substitute to come and score a goal when he netted against Wrexham on the opening day of the 1965/66 season. However, Knox also went on to become the first substitute to come on and save a penalty, after he replaced the injured Ken Mulholland and kept out a Doncaster spot kick.
From 1894 to 1936 Ireland's goalkeeper was named Scott for all but a handful of games. First to keep goal was Tommy Scott of Linfield, who won 13 caps before being replaced by Billy Scott, who made 23 appearances during a career that included spells with Linfield, Everton and Leeds City. After a break of five games either side of the First World War, Billy's brother Elisha of Liverpool became Ireland's first choice keeper and remained between the sticks for 16 years.
Swindon Town achieved something rather unique during the 2015/16 Football League season. On the opening day, debutant goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux, who was on loan from Liverpool Football Club, saved a penalty during a 4-1 victory over Bradford City. On the final day of the season, teenage debutant Will Henry also saved a spot-kick for the Robins.
England goalkeeper Chris Woods eight-year, 43-cap international career began and ended with an away game against the United States. It was the only time the two teams met during this period.
In 1948 goalkeeper Ken Hough made his international debut for Australia against New Zealand. Ten years later, he made his debut for New Zealand against Australia.
Book Keepers
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes novels, was a founder member of Portsmouth FC and also the team's first ever goalkeeper.
After writing his first book about his life as a vet, author Alf Wight couldn't find a suitable pseudonym under which to publish his memoirs until one night he was watching a game of football and was rather taken with the name of Hibernian's goalkeeper - Jim Herriot. The name James Herriot went on to become a household name in the UK thanks to the TV series All Creatures Great and Small.
Alan Simpson, one half of the comedy writing duo Galton & Simpson, who were responsible for such classics as Hancock's Half Hour and Steptoe & Son, was set to sign for Chelsea in 1947 but before he could put pen to paper, he contracted tuberculosis, which brought his goalkeeping career to a premature end.
Martin Waddell, awarded winning children's author of such classics as Little Dracula and the Napper series of football books, was an aspiring footballer as a youngster and kept goal for Fulham's youth team in the late 1950s.
Philosopher, journalist and author Albert Camus' career may have taken a different path had tuberculosis not curtailed his promising football career in 1930. The Frenchman had kept goal for his university side and was reportedly quite taken with the game.
Former French international and Auxerre goalkeeper Joël Bats took up writing poetry while recovering from testicular cancer in 1982 and has had two volumes of his work published.
Slightly off subject, former Arsenal and Scotland goalkeeper Bob Wilson was immortalised in print when he signed for Melchester Rovers in the comic strip Roy of the Rovers in the mid-1980s. Wilson helped Rovers win the Milk Cup and kept a record-breaking successive number of clean sheets during the course of the season. Not a bad achievement considering he hadn't played for ten years...
Another goalkeeper to appear in a comic strip was former QPR and West Ham goalkeeper Phil Parkes, who featured a storyline of Thunderbolt and Smokey!, which featured in Eagle in 1982. Parkes was called up to provide a coaching session to a schoolboy striker who was forced to play in goal in a cup semi-final after the regular keeper was beaten up by a rival player from the opposition team!
In 2008 David James illustrated the children's book Harry's Magic Pockets: The Circus, written by his friend and Portsmouth's stadium announcer, Steve Pearson.
Goalkeepers Name Checked by Half Man Half Bisuit
Goalkeeper
The Referee's Alphabet
Music To Their Ears
Hamish McAlpine, formerly of Dundee United and Raith Rovers, once had a song written about him - Hamish the Goalie - by Dundonian musician Michael Marra. The song was later covered by Seventies pop star Leo Sayer.
Former United States goalkeeper Kasey Keller was once the subject of song by American indie group Barcelona. The song, Kasey Keller, was a tribute to the keeper's match-winning performance against Brazil in 1998 and appeared on the band's 2000 album, Zero One Infinity.
Former Westlife member Nicky Byrne was a professional goalkeeper before a career in the boyband beckoned. Byrne was part of Leeds United FA Youth Cup winning team of 1997 and also played for Shelbourne, Home Farm and Cobh Ramblers in his native Ireland.
In 2006, British indie pop group Saint Etienne - who took their name from the leading French football club of the 1970s - released an album entitled What Have You Done Today Mervyn Day?, which was the soundtrack to a film the band made about the redevelopment of Lea Valley. The album title was inspired by the former West Ham and Leyton Orient goalkeeper of the same name.
England goalkeeper Gordon Banks' nephew, Nick, is the drummer for the band Pulp.
Speaking of Gordon Banks, in 1970 he was part of the England team that recorded an album that included the number one hit Back Home. The album, titled The World Beaters Sing The World Beaters, saw members of the squad cover a range of popular tunes and Banks' contribution was to take lead vocals on a song called Lovey Dovey, which was described in the cover notes as "your actual reggae music"...
Probably one of the greatest crimes ever committed to vinyl was the duet featuring none other than England's finest, Ray Clemence and Peter Shilton. Recorded in time for the Three Lions' appearance in the 1980 European Championships in Italy, Side By Side failed to make any kind of impact on the UK charts.
Irish country singer Margo O'Donnell, elder sister of Irish singer Daniel, once recorded a track in honour of Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Packie Bonner. The track, unsurprisingly titled Packie Bonner can be found on Margo's greatest hits collection 50 Songs, 50 Years.
In a similar vein, German group Die Prinzen released the single Olli Kahn in 2002 to celebrate the World Cup performances of Oliver Kahn. The track reached number 32 in the German hit parade.
One of the more obscure songs about a goalkeeper was a track recorded by a "supergroup" of Indie pop stars who all happened to be Tottenham Hotspur fans. Called The Lillies, the band comprised of Simon Raymonde from the Cocteau Twins, Miki Berenyi and Chris Acland from Lush and Moose's Kevin McKillop and Russell Yates, but they only ever released one record - a flexi-disc given away free with a Spurs fanzine in September 1991 featuring a song called And David Seaman Will Be Very Disappointed About That... The song commemorated the club's 3-1 victory over arch rivals Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-finals the previous season.
Woking stalwart Laurence Batty, who also had spells with Fulham and Brentford, is the son of songwriter Steve Wolfe, who co-wrote such hits as Beg, Borrow or Steal by the New Seekers and Lost in France by Bonnie Tyler.
Former Barcelona goalkeeper José Manuel Pinto became a music producer after retiring from football, having set up his own record label, Wahin Makinaciones, back in 2000 while with Celta Vigo.
Another former Barca goalkeeper with musical connections is international Victor Valdes, who lists AC/DC as his favourite band. In 2010, the keeper had a song written about him by Spanish soft rocker Joaquin titled Victor Valdés (el numero uno)
Reading and USA international keeper Marcus Hahnemann once performed on stage with Tenacious D at the Reading Festival and in 2012 recorded a track with thrash metallers Malefice called Omega.
South African goalkeeper Sandy Kennon, who made over 200 appearances for Norwich City, had a four-piece band called 'Sandy Kennon and his Blazes'. With Kennon on lead vocals, the band used to perform all over Norfolk during the keeper's spell at Carrow Road.
Lionel Messi's grandfather, Julio Musimessi, who was capped by Argentina in the 1950s, was known as "El Arquero cantor" (the singing goalkeeper) because of his vocal performances on radio.
Yugoslavian goalkeeper Petar Radenković, who played over 200 times for 1860 Munich, released three singles in the mid-1960s, the most famous of which was Bin I Radi - Bin I König.
Former San Jose Earthquakes, Colorado Rapids and USA goalkeeper Joe Cannon's father, Joe Snr, was a Country & Western singer in the early 1970s and released a couple of albums.
Hungary goalkeeper Gábor Király has listened to Bon Jovi's It's My Life before every game he has taken part in since 2000. Such is his devotion to the band than his car is spray painted with the band's name.
Swedish goalkeeper Aron Ekberg, who plays in the lower echelons of Sweden's football pyramid with Byttorps IF, combines his custodian duties with an unlikely career as a rapper, record producer and record label owner. Ekberg, who performs under the stage name of AronChupa, was a founding member of the electro-hip hop group Albatraoz, who spent nineteen weeks on the Swedish hit parade in 2013. However, he found more success as a solo artist and enjoyed a Number One hit in Sweden and Denmark with the single I'm an Albatraoz in August, 2014. It also reach the top ten in Germany, Austria, Norway, Finland, Australia and the Netherlands.
Stars of the Silver Screen
George Marks only played twice for Arsenal, thanks in part to the Second World War, but his second appearance against Brentford proved to a memorable one as the game was recorded and used the film The Arsenal Stadium Mystery, a murder whodunnit from 1939 involving a fictitious amateur side called The Trojans who draw Arsenal in the  FA Cup.
Ipswich Town goalkeepers Paul Cooper and Laurie Sivell both had parts in the 1981 prisoner of war yarn Escape to Victory. Cooper, who was Ipswich's first choice keeper, acted as a stand-in and stunt double for star Sylvester Stallone while Sivell had a more prominent role as the goalkeeper of the German opposition team. World Cup winner Gordon Banks also worked on the film, coaching Stallone for his role between the sticks.
Airdrieonians Football Club goalkeeper John Martin had a small role in the Robert Duvall film, A Shot at Glory.
Former Borussia Mönchengladbach and West Germany goalkeeper Wolfgang Kleff bore such a resemblence to German actor and comedian Otto Waalkes that he was cast in a number of German films, albeit in minor cameo roles, including the 1985 farce Otto - Der Film.
Ex-Tottenham Hotspur and Norway international Erik Thorstvedt appears in the Norwegian film The Liverpool Goalkeeper, a 2010 movie about a hapless 13-year-old goalkeeper and an elusive trading card.
German international Manuel Neuer vocied the character Frank McCay in the German version of the Disney film Monsters University.
England goalkeepers Peter Shilton and David Seaman appeared as themselves in the UK film My Summer With Des.
David Seaman also had a role in the 2004 British comedy The Baby Juice Express, playing a "huge gangster".
Andreas Kontra, who played in the lower leagues of Germany with VfB Hilden and is currently a goalkeeper coach at MSV Duisburg, played Hungarian legend Gyula Grosicz in the 2003 film The Miracle of Bern.
Dino Zoff had a cameo appearance in the 2015 Italian comedy Basta Poco
Former international goalkeeper Theresa Wiseman, who won 60 caps for England, enjoyed a parallel career as an animator, working on such classics as The Snowman before moving to Los Angeles to work for Disney on programmes such as Phineas and Ferb.
Bert Trautmann and Pat Dunne both appeared in the 1965 film Cup Fever, a British film about a children's team trying to win a local cup competition with a little help from Manchester United manager Matt Busby.
Iceland's Euro 2016 goalkeeper Hannes Þór Halldórsson is a film director in his spare time and has a contract of employment with SagaFilm once his football career comes to an end. His credits include directing video to Iceland's 2012 Eurovision entry!
Juventus and Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon made a cameo appearance in the Italian comedy L'allenatore nel pallone 2 in 2008.
Henry Cele, who played for Aces United in the South African Soccer League in the 1960s, was also something of an accomplished actor, earning rave reviews for his portrayal of the Zulu warrior king Shaka in the miniseries Shaka Zulu. He later appeared alongside Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer in the 1996 film The Ghost and the Darkness.
Ray Clemence played a character called 'Ray Clemence the Younger' in the 1999 TV movie The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything.
Former Brighton & Hove Albion and Watford goalkeeper Perry Digweed appeared alongside Vinny Jones in the 2001 film Mean Machine.
Bob Wilson became better known as an anchorman after hanging up his gloves but in 1995 he appeared in the TV film The Perfect Match alongside Denis Law.
United States goalkeeper Tony Meola had a cameo in the 2001 Jason Priestly vehicle Zigs as a card player. It wasn't the first time Meola had tried his hand at acting, appearing in an off-Broadway show titled Tony and Tina's Wedding in 1995.
Facts You Probably Didn't Want to Know
The only player ever to be capped for England while playing for Stockport County was a goalkeeper. Henry Hardy made his one and only appearance in an England shirt in 1924 in a game against Belgium. He kept a clean sheet too, as the national side ran out 4-0 winners.
How many times have current Rangers and Celtic goalkeepers faced each other in an international fixture that didn't include Scotland? It certainly happened at Lansdowne Road in 1990 when Chris Woods and Pat Bonner were in goal.
Wigan Athletic had the "distinction" of providing both goalkeepers when Serbia met Ghana in the 2010 World Cup finals in the form of Vladimir Stojkovic and Richard Kingson. However, neither goalkeeper was retained by the Latics for the 2010/11 season after the club decided not to extend Stojkovic's loan spell and released Kingson from his contract.
When Wales played Finland at the Millennium Stadium in 2004, both first choice goalkeepers came from the same English club, namely Paul Jones and Antii Niemi of Southampton.
Liverpool provided both goalkeepers when Northern Ireland met Scotland in 1920 - with Elisha Scott keeping goal for the Irish and reserve keeper Kenny Campbell between the sticks at the other end.
Jones also became the first goalkeeper ever to come on as a substitute in the FA Cup Final, replacing the injured Niemi when Southampton faced Arsenal in 2003. The following year, Manchester United's Roy Carroll replaced Tim Howard in their FA Cup Final against Millwall.
In England's first ever international football match, against Scotland in 1872, goalkeeper WJ Maynard changed places with Robert Baker during the second half and played up front. Both keepers kept a clean sheet.
Not to be outdone, Scotland also changed goalkeepers when they played England in 1872. Captain Bob Gardner kept goals in the first half before changing positions with Robert Smith to play outfield in the second. Like their English counterparts, both keepers kept a clean sheet and the game - unsurprisingly - finished 0-0!
Former Leicester City and Millwall Football Club goalkeeper Kasey Keller used to be the proud owner of a gas-powered car that was unable to reverse.
The first West German player to touch the ball in the 1974 World Cup Final was goalkeeper Sepp Maier, who picked the ball out of his net after Holland's Johan Neeskens scored from the penalty spot in the opening minute.
Liverpool Football Club has a proud tradition when it comes to goalkeepers. In 2730 games only six players kept goal: Ray Clemence (656), Bruce Grobbelaar (643), Elisha Scott (467), Tommy Lawrence (387), Arthur Riley (338) and Sam Hardy (239).
Peru's Ramon Quiroga holds the distinction of being the only keeper ever to be booked during the World Cup Finals for a tackle in the opponents half of the field! It happened in 1978 when Peru met Poland.
Three goalkeepers have played against England without being registered to a recognised club. The first was Welshman Bob Mills-Robert who came out of retirement to play against England in 1892. At the time he was listed as being with a club called Llanberis, but Llanberis was simply the place where he lived and had no official team! The other two keepers were both from North America and played against England nearly a century later. In 1985 the USA fielded a team made up of college and Indoor League players but goalie Arnie Mausser, who was setting a new US record of 35 caps, had no club at all. Canadian goalie Paul Dolan found himself in a similar position a year later when he was selected to play against England. Both keepers were victims of the collapse of the NASL.
On October 16 1993, Colchester United became the first League club to have both keepers sent off in a game against Hereford United. John Keeley and Nathan Munson were both dismissed for professional fouls as the U's slumped to a 5-0 defeat.
When England played Malta in 1971, Gordon Banks touched the ball just four times - all from back passes - and didn't have a single save to make. England won 5-0.
Shaka Hislop used to work for NASA.
Towards the end of the 1998/99 season, Millwall conceded three penalties over the course of a few weeks. All three penalties were saved. The strange thing is, on each occasion the Lions had a different goalkeeper between the sticks - Phil Smith, Ben Roberts and veteran Nigel Spink.
Zairean Muampa Kazadi was the first goalkeeper to be replaced for any other reason than injury in World Cup history, when Zaïre were 0-3 down versus Yugoslavia after just 22 minutes in 1974. However, his replacement Dimbi Tubilandu couldn't stop the goalrush and his country eventually lost the game 9-0! The only other time a goalkeeper has been replaced in similar circumstances occurred in USA 1994, when Bulgarian keeper Mihailov was substituted at half time when Sweden lead 4-0. Nikolov came in for him and kept a clean sheet in the second half.
Netherlands keeper Jasper Cillessen became the first goalie to be substituted twice in the World Cup Finals. First he was replaced by Tim Krul in the dying minutes of their quarter-final against Costa Rica in a tactical move as the match was on the verge of going into penalties. Then in the Third Place Play-off game against Brazil he was replaced by Michel Vorm, who was given a sentimental run-out by boss Louis van Gaal to ensure every member of the Dutch squad got a game.
In July 1999, all six races at Wolverhampton race track were named in honour of Mike Stowell, Wolves' long-serving goalie!
During the 1997/8 Second Division Championship season, Watford defender Steve Palmer wore all 14 shirts during the campaign. In the last home game of the season he started in goal and switched with the Hornets' regular keeper Alec Chamberlain after five seconds.
Sheffield Wednesday's Lee Bullen repeated Palmer's feat eight seasons later when he played in every possible outfield position for The Owls during the 2005/06 season, including a spell in goal when regular 'keeper David Lucas was injured during a game against relegation rivals Millwall. Bullen kept a clean sheet as Wednesday ran out 1-0 winners.
In January 2004, Jan Moons of Racing Genk became the first footballer to receive instructions from the bench via an earpiece in a first class professional game. Genk won and the goalkeeper insists he wasn't told which way to dive...
Despite producing some the best goalkeepers the game has ever seen, no keeper from the British Isles has ever topped the International Federation of Football History and Statistics' (IFFHS) goalkeeping rankings ever since they were first introduced way back in 1987. To make matters worse, the last British goalkeeper to even appear in the Top Ten was David Seaman in 1999 until Joe Hart claimed 7th place in 2011.
Brothers John and Charles Sutcliffe hold the record for the longest period between two brothers appearing in an F.A. Cup Final. Both goalkeepers, John kept goal for Bolton Wanderers when they lost to Notts County in 1894 while Charles turned out for Sheffield United 31 years later when they beat Cardiff City in the final in 1925.
Bolton Wanderers goalkeeper Dick Pym won three FA Cup Winners' medals during the 1920s (1923, 1926 & 1929) and never conceded a goal at Wembley. He also lived longer than any other England international.
When Ron Springett returned to Queens Park Rangers from Sheffield Wednesday in 1967, his brother Peter moved in the opposite direction as part of the transfer deal.
In a similar vein, when goalkeeper Bert Slater was transferred from Liverpool to Dundee, it was also something of a family affair. Reds manager Bill Shankly had sold the keeper to his brother, Bob, who was boss at Dens Park at the time.
German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn is very protective of his image rights, so protective in fact that he refuses to lend his name to the popular computer game Football Manager. He therefore appears as 'Jens Mustermann' - Mustermann being the fictitious name used for sample IDs and passports in Germany, while the name Jens was selected as it's the name of his rival for the German goalkeeping shirt, Jens Lehmann.
Edwin van der Sar collects goalkeeping jerseys worn by the great custodians of the game. The Dutchman was also the first non-Italian player to keep goal for Juventus.
Mart Poom's last-minute goal for Sunderland against Derby County in 2003 inspired one local brewery to produce a special edition of a beer called Poominator Ale.
In November, 1985, TV presenter Bob Wilson signed for Bristol Rovers as a standby goalkeeper. He was 44-years-old at the time.
Peter Shilton was sent off for the first time in his career on August 28th, 1992 in his 971st League game.
When Spanish goalkeeper Íker Casillas first broke into the Real Madrid first team squad he was forced to travel to training by public transport because he wasn't old enough to hold a driving licence.
Italian goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi was a ballboy at the 1984 European Cup Final between Liverpool and AS Roma.
Olympiakos goalkeeper Kleopas Giannou won €1m in the Greek National Lottery in 2002.
Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar once won a bet by walking the length of Wembley Stadium on his hands.
DC United keeper Troy Perkins took a second job as a mortgage loan advisor at the start of the 2006 MLS season, which led to one wag in the crowd putting up a banner that read "Troy saves - and loans!".
Scotland goalkeeper Bobby Brown holds two distinctive international honours for his country. Not only was he the last amateur player ever to play for Scotland, doing so in 1946, but he also became their first full-time manager in 1967. As an aside, he's also the last player from Queen's Park to be capped at full international level by the Scots.
Ex-England goalkeeper David James collects Raleigh Choppers.
Germany international Tim Wiese apparently has an expensive collection of model aeroplanes and helicopters
Former Arsenal, Crystal Palace and Scotland keeper George Wood is a keen bird watcher and has a nature reserve named after him back home in Lanarkshire.
In 1955 Doncaster Rovers Keeper Ken Hardwick was invited to attend an England Under-23 trial despite being 30 at the time. An embarrassed FA withdrew the invite once the error came to light.
When Pedro Almenez finally called it a day after twenty-two years between the sticks for Spanish amateur club Espira he was presented with a parting gift of one of the club's goals, complete with netting, which he set up in his garden as a hammock!
Former Hungary internationl Gyula Grosics finally got to play for his boyhood team, Ferencváros in 2008, 46 years after the Communist regime refused to allow him to sign for them. The then 82-year-old Grosics stood in goal for the opening minutes of a friendly match against Sheffield United before being substituted.
Tony Roberts has the distinction of being the only goalkeeper ever to be sent off in the opponents penalty box in an F.A. Cup ties. The former Welsh international recorded the "feat" in January 2008 while playing for Dagenham & Redbridge after clashing with Southend United's Peter Clark.
Former West Ham United and England centre half Alvin Martin scored a hattrick against three different keepers during a game against Newcastle United in April, 1986. He netted his first passed Martin Thomas, who was subsequently injured and replaced by defender Chris Hedworth, who Martin also beat. Hedworth was finally replaced by ex-England striker Peter Beardsley, allowing Martin to complete his hattrick in an 8-1 rout.
Belgian goalkeeping legend Jean-Marie Pfaff was dropped from Belgium's 1982 World Cup side after pretending to drown in the team's hotel swimming pool.
England and Old Etonians keeper John Hawtrey was the brother of famed stage actor Sir Charles Hawtrey
In June 2012, Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given had the honour of having a baby gibbon named after him. The ape, born in County Cork's Fota Wildlife Park, was christened Shay Gibbon after the name topped an online poll.
Scotland's Alan Rough was the only goalkeeper not to wear gloves during the 1978 World Cup finals. He let in six goals in three games as the Scots crashed out, despite beating eventual finalists Holland 3-2.
One-time Birmingham City and Wrexham goalkeeper Johnny Schofield survived a pit explosion at Baddesley Colliery in Warwickshire in November 1957!
Former AC Milan keeper Dida is the only Brazilian internaional goalie to be known by a nickname!
When the Republic of Ireland went to the World Cup in 1990 striker Niall Quinn was registered as their thrid-choice goalkeeper.
In March 2014, Eintracht Braunschweig goalkeeper Daniel Davari and his Borussia Mönchengladbach counterpart Marc-André ter Stegen both scored own goals in the same match. Davari has the misfortune of giving Mönchengladbach the lead in the first half before ter Stegen failed to control a backpass and ended up putting the ball into his own net. The match finished 1-1.
In 1978 France became the first team to field all three of their goalkeepers in a single World Cup tournament. First choice keeper Jean-Paul Bertrand-Demanes started both of France's opening games but in their second group game against Argentina, he was forced of the pitch injured after colliding with the goalposts and was replaced by Dominique Baratelli, who went on to concede the host nation's winner and like Bertrand-Demanes would never play for the national team again. Third-choice keeper Dominique Dropsy coming into the side for their final game of the tournament, making his debut in the process.
Other teams to have used all three goalkeepers at a World Cup include Belgium and Czechoslovakia, who both fielded all their custodians during the 1982 tournament in Spain, and Greece, who followed suit twelve years later as they struggled to keep out Argentina (4-0), Bulgaria (4-0) and Nigeria (2-0) in the group stages in the United States having gone undefeated through qualifying. Portugal used all of their goalkeepers during the 2014 World Cup Finals, with the Netherlands later following suit in the same competition.
In November 2014 Roy Carroll played two first class games in 24 hours. Having turned out for Northern Ireland in the Euro 2016 qualifier against Romania, the 37-year-old kept a clean sheet for Notts County against Coventry City in a League One clash the following afternoon.
Scott Howie went one better than Carroll back in February, 1993. Having played in Scotland's Under-21 3-0 victory over Malta, a game that kicked off at 1.30pm, Howie took the field for Clyde's 2-1 win over Queen of the South later that evening.
New York Cosmos and Boston Minutemen keeper Shep Messing posed naked for the December 1974 issue of Viva magazine, having previously posed for a centrefold in Playgirl. He was paid $5,000 and sacked by the Cosmos for his trouble.
Twenty years or so later, Tottenham Hotspur F.C. and England goalkeeper Ian Walker was reputedly paid £10,000 for posing naked in For Women magazine in the UK.
In January 2015 an Australian ballboy by the name of Stephen White became the unofficial mascot and lucky charm of the China national team during the Asian Cup when he advised keeper Wang Delai which way to dive for a penalty during a group game against Saudi Arabia. Delai was seen consulting the ballboy prior to Naif Hazazi's spot kick and the 12-year-old correctly instructed the China keeper to go to his left.
Malaysia used three goalkeepers during their 10-0 thrashing by the United Arab Emirates in a World Cup qualifier in September, 2015. Khairul Fahmi Che Mat (four), Zamir Selamat (three) and Khairul Azhan Khalid (two) were all unable to keep UAE at bay as Malaysia succumbed to their heaviest defeat in international football.
In September 2015, Liverpool goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux had his loan spell with Swindon Town terminated after he paid a £50 fine for turning up late for training in pennies.
Queen of the South legend Allan Ball played over 700 games for the club and was only ever booked once - for blaspheming on Christmas Day by Scotland's most infamous referee, Tiny Wharton.
The last goalkeeper reputed to have pick the ball up from a backpass is believed to be Leonel Cárcamo, who kept goal for El Salvador during their 5-1 win over Nicuragua on July 23rd, 1992 a day before the rule change came into force at the Barcelona Olympic games. The last goalkeeper do the same during an FA Cup Final in England came at the end of the match between Liverpool and Sunderland at Wembley Stadium when Steve Nicol passed the ball back to Bruce Grobelaar.
Ipswich Town and Wales goalkeeper Jack Perry became a notable brick layer after hanging up his gloves and later "topped off" the Natwest building in London.
Middlesbrough goalkeeper Stephen Pears scored from the penalty spot during his testimonial at the end of the 1995 season. It proved to be the last goal scored at Ayresome Park before the club moved home to the Riverside Stadium.
Back in December 1891, Blackburn Rovers' Herby Arthur found himself in a bit of a predicament when the rest of his team left the field in protest during a game against Burnley following an altercation that saw a player from both sides sent off. The referee, Charlie Clegg, ordered the game to continue despite the fact Rovers now only had one player on the field. However, after Burnley scored Arthur successfully claimed offside and took so long to take the freekick that Clegg gave up and abandoned the match.
England international goalkeeper Arthur Savage was the organiser and participant in the first documented football match played in Australia, at Parramatta in August, 1880.
When Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart joined Serie A club Torino during the 2016/17 transfer window he became the first English goalkeeper to ever appear in the top flight of Italian football since the league's formation back in 1929.
Former Everton, Swansea City and Wales goalkeeper Dai Davies is a recognised druid, having been initiated into the Welsh Gorsedd of Bards in 1978.