Thoughout my career I was lucky to play with some fantastic goal keepers both at Club and International level. From Paul Cooper and Laurie Sivell at Ipswich Town, Ian Andrews at Leicester City, John Burridge and Tim Flowers at Southampton and Ray Clemence, Peter Shilton and Joe Corrigan for England. Obviously there were one or two others that I played a few games with but these guys were the main ones. I would like to think that playing behind me wasn't a scary experience for any of the GKs and that I helped them out, along with the rest of the back four defenders, as much as they had to help me out, which was pretty regular. Every time I scored an own goal though, I thought the keeper should've done better, every time I lost a header and conceded a goal, the keeper should've done better. If the back pass was too short then it was because the keeper was too slow off his line to come for it. If possible I would blame the keeper for everything, every goal we conceded was, in my eyes, stoppable. That was until I had to play for in goal for 40 minutes to replace the injured Paul Cooper against WBA at Portman Rd, but I kept a clean sheet and as I alluded to earlier, it was all down to the back four defenders!! At international level there were always mixed opinions as to who was the best keeper, was it Shilton the best shot stopper or was it Clemence the better all round goalkeeper, by that I mean Clem was a better distributor of the ball, better kicker of the ball and better on crosses. If the two of them played today then Ray would be very comfortable with the back pass rule where as Shilts would always struggle with his footwork. But Brian Clough saw in the Peter the chance that one player could save his side eight or maybe ten points a season and how correct was Mr Clough,,,again. For me though Ray would get my vote, I always felt more comfortable with Ray behind me between the sticks. Joe Corrigan was very unlucky to play in the same era as Peter and Ray and in his own right was a fantastic keeper as well. I have to say that otherwise Joe will beat me up again when I see home next. At club level, Ipswich Town's Paul Cooper made a name for himself as a expert penalty saver and was a damn decent outfield player. Laurie Sivell, brave as any player that I ever played with but would not get a game today being only about 5'7'' tall. Ian Andrews at Leicester City was again a fab lad to play infront of, a great personal friend still, joined us on our ride from Wembley to La Manga in Spain, and did all the Physio stuff on the way down, top top top man. At Southampton it was John Burridge in goal to start with and then Tim Flowers. John 'Budgie' Burridge had many clubs, was a fitness freak and a perfectionist. He also had a wild side to him which came out one Christmas lunchtime when Louise had invited him to lunch as John's wife and kids had gone away on holiday over the festive break. I suppose it was partly my fault in suggesting a couple of pints of Guinness after training, back in Beaulieu village, before lunch. When we arrived at home Louise suggested a glass of champagne and a game of charades before eating along with our other 'guests'. My mother, sister, sister in law, father and brother were also staying with us, so a game of charades should break the ice nicely! Budgie jumped up first just infront of the girls on the sofa, 4 words, film, and then he dropped his jeans bent over with his backside just inches from my Mum's face and then dropped his boxer shorts as well. Oh my God, what a loony, after the shock of seeing his arse we were still none the wiser for the title of the film, it was 'Man in the Moon' and my Mum and the other girls will never forget the sight or the moment. Budgie once tackled me and the man I was marking, Alan McInally of Aston Villa and Sky Sports, the only problem was that we were just outside the centre circle!! The tackle put Alan out of the rest of the game and nearly broke me in half, Budgie must have been 40 yards out of his goal, I think he got bored. Boredom would explain him sitting on the crossbar half way though a league game at the Dell, and same when he went hand stand walking across the 18 yard box while the game was down the other end of the pitch. Anyway he kept the crowds amused, which reminds me of a pre season game against Carl Zeiss Jena in Germany. They had a gymnastics display on the pitch before the game and as we had arrived quite early we were all sitting on the running track watching the gymnasts vaulting and bouncing off the pommel horse with magnificent grace. Next thing we new our GK was sprinting down the runway, track suit top off, bouncing off the trampete and completing, to our amazement a perfect somersault vault and landing. Well that was it, he was vaulting here there and everywhere for the next hour, as he said, a perfect warm up for a keeper. If you doubt anything about this character read his book, 'Budgie' it is all in there and more, you won't believe half the stuff but it's all true! So in answer to the question 'Who Was The Best Goalkeeper I Ever Played With?' It has to be the fella from Skegness, Ray Clemence MBE, Scunthorpe Utd, Liverpool, Spurs and England. (758 league games).
5 Comments
Mark Osman
25/3/2016 07:29:00 am
Really enjoyed this , made me giggle!
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Nigel Gravelle
25/3/2016 09:20:14 am
As always a a good bit of reading.... But as a forest fan I would have to say shilton.... Then again what do I know I usually had a fat bloke in goal in a pub team behind me !
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Nigel
25/3/2016 10:07:58 am
but Forest beat us 5-0 in the Charity Shield so no love lost there!!
Russell Moore
26/3/2016 05:07:08 pm
A great read!!
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10/7/2016 07:28:21 am
I helped them out, along with the rest of the back four defenders, as much as they had to help me out, which was pretty regular.
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AuthorRussell Osman is a former England & Ipswich Footballer, 4 Handicap Golfer and Father of 3. Archives
April 2018
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