To football watchers of a less venerable age, the following statement may sound quaint to the point of rampant nostalgia, but there was a time when a two-strand, single theory was always cited in declaring the domestic game superior to anywhere in the world – namely English football had the best referees and best goalkeepers.
For the uninitiated it may also come as a surprise that such an assertion does not date from the time of Ealing comedies but could still be heard in the era of The Clash.
Indeed, whistlers such as Jack Taylor, George Courtney, Gordon Hill, Pat Partridge, Bob Matthewson and Norman Burtenshaw were more often than not the epitome of a good referee in spending ninety minutes hardly being noticed – applying common, nay football sense, before it was given the highfalutin handle of ‘game management.’
True, the diminutive figure of Roger Kirkpatrick could be officious and prone to build up his part, while Clive Thomas was around to prove there is an exception to every rule…………
In the case of goalkeepers the talent evident in the English game was emphasised as much by collective excellence as individual brilliance.
For a couple of years during the early 70s, World Cup winner Gordon Banks set the standard for English ‘keepers, as he had done for most of the previous decade. The eye injury, sustained in a car accident that sadly ended a magnificent career in October 1972, led to goalkeeping duties for the national team being shared almost exclusively between Peter Shilton and Ray Clemence – a cap apiece for Phil Parkes (QPR) and Jimmy Rimmer, along with the three won by Joe Corrigan before the 1970s ended, testament to the capabilities of a durable duo.
The high level of consistency displayed by Clemence and Shilton ensured England were, for the most part, well served between the sticks, even if the team itself performed in fitful fashion during much of the period.
At club level they would on a weekly basis come up against, at opposite ends of the pitch, a fellow custodian who despite not having a full England cap, was more often than not renowned and reliable – the consistent nature of their performances exemplified by frequent ever-present status and consecutive appearance numbers regularly running into three figures.
They played in an assured manner while honing the art of doing basic goalkeeping tasks well, an art in itself – playing far more good games than bad.
Ten such stalwarts are hereby saluted by SAMTIMONIOUS.com………….
MARK WALLINGTON (Leicester City): The embodiment of a dependable shot-stopper, at nineteen Wallington joined Leicester from Walsall in 1971, signed as an understudy to the aforementioned Shilton. When the England man moved to Stoke City in 1974, he was elevated to the first team whereupon Wallington was an ever-present for six seasons – making a club record 331 consecutive appearances.
After 460 games for the Filbert Street side, he left to join Derby County in 1985, his career tally increased by a further 150 matches shared between The Rams and Lincoln City, Wallington finally retiring from league football in 1991.
ANDY RANKIN (Everton/Watford): Born in nearby Bootle, Rankin spent much of the 60s as Goodison back-up to Gordon West, who along with his club honours also won three England caps.
His most active Everton season proved Rankin’s last. On being preferred to West early in the 1970-71 campaign he made 38 senior appearances spread across league and cup fixtures. Doing his reputation no harm with a series of distinguished performances, the highlight was an outstanding save in the European Cup second round penalty shoot-out against West German champions Borussia Monchengladbach, that saw Everton, in front of an ecstatic Gwladys Street, go through 4-3 on penalties.
Transferred to Watford at the the start of the following season, Rankin would play over three hundred games during a nine year stay at Vicarage Road, twice winning Player of the Year.
BRYAN KING (Millwall/Coventry City): Signed by Millwall at the age of twenty from Chelmsford City in 1967, during the next eight years King wracked up 380 first team games, any number of which bolstered a long-held reputation as ‘the best goalkeeper outside the top division.’
As an example of his superb agility (like King on the afternoon in question), a brilliant double-save from Joe Harper is impossible to beat – the Everton striker denied in breathtaking fashion as the second division visitors upset the FA Cup odds with a fourth round Goodison Park triumph.
When a move to Division One finally came about it was to Coventry City in the summer of 1975 – King making 31 Division One appearances for the Highfield Road club.
PHIL PARKES (Wolves): To some among a generation of Wolves supporters perhaps a contentious choice – given the consensus that errors by ‘big Phil‘ in both legs of the 1972 UEFA Cup Final, which was lost 3-2 on aggregate to Spurs, cost the Molineux side a European trophy.
In truth, the highlights do not cover Parkes in much glory, although in the interests of fairness it is worth pointing out he saved a penalty in both semi-final games against Hungarian side Ferencvaros – the 1971-72 season one in which he was an ever present (likewise 1972-73) and named Wolves Player of the Season.
From his 1966 first team debut (in which he also saved kept out a penalty) to the end of his twelve year Molineux first team career 303 games later, Parkes divided opinion among the faithful.
Absent through injury when Wolves won the 1974 League Cup Final, the heroics of Gary Pierce instrumental in the trophy being won (the two in competition for first team duty in the three seasons thereafter), Parkes can be seen at his most accomplished in a superb 1976 performance at Old Trafford that earned Wolves an FA Cup quarter-final replay.
KEVIN KEELAN (Norwich City): Few goalkeepers of this or any other era for that matter, had the agility of Kevin Keelan.
Born in India in 1941 where his father was serving with the British Army, having returned to England with his parents, Keelan at seventeen was signed by Aston Villa. Spells with Kidderminster Harriers and Wrexham proceeded a 1963 move to Norwich City, where he would play for the next seventeen seasons – clocking up an astonishing club record of 673 first team appearances, which included two promotions to the top flight and League Cup Final defeats in 1973 and 1975.
Winning successive Carrow Road Player of the Year awards in 1973 and 1974, in 1980 Keelan was award the MBE for his services to Norwich City.
PAUL COOPER (Ipswich Town): It is often said a top notch goalkeeper is worth a goal start. The value of Paul Cooper to Ipswich therefore is inestimable as in 1978-79 and 79-80 he saved thirteen of the seventeen penalties he faced – the eight kept out in the latter campaign still a record for a single season.
By the early 80s he was often the only non-international player in the Ipswich side, yet the 1980-81 term still resulted in him winning Player of the Year – this in a season where Bobby Robson’s men finished runners-up to league champions Aston Villa, reached the FA Cup semi-finals but went on to lift the UEFA Cup, a second winners medal going the way of Cooper, adding to the FA Cup success of 1978.
Having joined Ipswich from Birmingham City in June 1974, Cooper became established first choice early in the 1975-76 season. When he left twelve seasons later (going on to subsequent spells with Leicester City, Manchester City and Stockport County), Cooper had amassed 575 senior appearances for the Portman Road club.
JOHN JACKSON (Crystal Palace/Leyton Orient/Millwall): Hammersmith-born Jackson, who sadly passed away at the age of 80 in December 2022, made 346 first team appearances (222 in succession), during a nine year stint with Crystal Palace, missing only four games in their 1969-1973 top flight tenure.
On Palace being relegated at the end of the 1972-73 season, he moved across London to Leyton Orient where 226 first team games ensued – his commanding January 1979 display in treacherous conditions at Portman Road, a model performance of sound positional play, safe handling and quick reflexes that forced FA Cup holders Ipswich into a Brisbane Road replay.
In the last four years of his career Jackson played 79 times for Millwall and had short spells with Ipswich and Hereford United before hanging up his gloves in 1983.
COLIN BOULTON (Derby County): In this list of ten commendable ‘keepers there are only two league championship medals to be found – both of which belong to Colin Boulton.
Signed by Derby in August 1964 when nineteen years of age, Boulton initially had his route to the first team blocked by Reg Matthews and then Les Green. But deemed ready by Brian Clough at commencement of the 1971-72 season, he went on to keep twenty three clean sheets as Derby lifted the league title – once more playing every game when Derby were champions again, this time under Dave Mackay, in 1975.
His bravery and all-round dependability saw Boulton through 344 Derby first team games before departing the Baseball Ground in the late-70s to play in America.
ALAN STEVENSON (Burnley): Of our uncapped brigade none came closer to taking the international stage than trusted Turf Moor man Stevenson. Picked by Sir Alf Ramsey in what proved the last England squad he would select, the other goalkeeper in the party for a March 1974 friendly against Portugal in Lisbon being Phil Parkes (Clemence and Shilton unavailable due to facing each other on the same night in a Liverpool v Leicester FA Cup semi-final replay).
In the event Parkes received the nod from Sir Alf (who was sacked by The FA two weeks later) and in the ensuing goalless draw the QPR ‘keeper made his solitary England appearance. All of which left Stevenson, then 23, with his eleven U-23 caps and week-to-week acclaim for excellent displays behind the Burnley rearguard, the club having signed him for £50,000 from third division Chesterfield in January 1972.
An ever-present in 1972-73 as Burnley won Division Two, Stevenson quickly became a top flight performer of some repute, noticeably missing half the season when they were relegated in 1975-76.
But it was far from the end of his time at Turf Moor. Stevenson barely missed a game during the next six seasons after regaining his place early in the 1976-77 campaign and when he did finally come to leave, signing for Rotherham in the summer of 1983, there were 540 Burnley first team appearances against his name.
JIMMY MONTGOMERY (Sunderland): Making his debut at 18 during the 1961-62 season and going on to make a club record 627 appearances for his hometown team does not tell the full ‘Monty’ story – his remarkable career defined by those two blink-of-an-eye, split-second saves on the afternoon of Saturday 5 May 1973 that serve as the most astonishing instance of goalkeeping ever seen in an FA Cup Final.
Playing a prominent role as second division Sunderland defied logic in beating cup holders Leeds, Montgomery had been exceptional along the road to Wembley, playing brilliantly in the semi-final defeat of Arsenal – but it is unlikely the glory trail would even have been blazed, had he not made a save described as ‘miraculous’ when the visitors were up against it at third division Notts County in round three.
Yet even before Bob Stokoe and ’73, Montgomery was recognized as a polished practitioner and although Sunderland had been relegated from Division One in the preceding season, many considered him unlucky not be included in the England squad for the 1970 Mexico World Cup.
On leaving Roker Park in 1977 he spent two seasons with Birmingham City, but in a career that had already produced one remarkable twist in denying Trevor Cherry and then Peter Lorimer beneath the Twin Towers, there was to be another.
Signed on a short-term deal by Nottingham Forest as cover for Peter Shilton, it resulted in Montgomery being on the bench for the 1980 European Cup Final against Hamburg – ‘Monty’s Double‘ is this case not a wondrous double save or even the title of a novel by the author of this article, but winners’ medal to go beside that from Wembley in 1973.
Honourable mentions: Jim Cumbes (West Bromwich Albion/Aston Villa), Laurie Sivell (Ipswich Town), Bill Glazier (Coventry City), Peter Grummitt (Nottingham Forest/Sheffield Wednesday), Mick Mahoney (Newcastle United), John Burridge (Blackpool/Aston Villa).
Authors note: Tony Godden was not considered due to many of his fine games for West Bromwich Albion occurring during the 1980s, while Mervyn Day (West Ham United) features in the link (below) attached to this article.
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NEIL SAMBROOK is the author of ‘MONTY’S DOUBLE‘ – an acclaimed thriller now available in paperback and as an Amazon Kindle book.
