The last line
It’s often said that a good goalkeeper can win your team several points over the course of a season, and this lot have certainly provided compelling evidence to that claim.
From incredible longevity, endurance and consistency, to simply outstanding reflexes, there are plenty of qualities to appreciate from some of the finest shot-stoppers to grace England’s top division.
Keepers are rarely handed individual awards but always exposed for criticism with every mistake, so the following 15 did well to carve out reputations as the best in a mean business...
15. Jussi Jaaskelainen
The flamboyant Finn had provided several contenders for the greatest save of the Premier League era by the time he departed English football last year.
Jaaskelainen made almost 400 top-flight appearances during a 15-year spell with Bolton, frequently demonstrating remarkable agility to get his team out of trouble as a struggling defence floundered in front of him.
Bolton were eventually relegated in 2011/12 and he moved on to West Ham, leaving Wanderers at number three on their all-time appearance list. In the Premier League 20 Seasons Awards back in 2012, Jaaskelainen’s remarkable double-save against Manchester United in October 2001 was named the third-best save in the league’s history.
14. Mark Schwarzer
A Premier League stalwart, Schwarzer made more than 500 league appearances for Middlesbrough, Fulham, Chelsea and Leicester. Boro qualified for Europe thanks to a last-minute penalty save from the agile Australian, and the excellent reputation he earned at the Riverside was consolidated during five reliable seasons with Fulham.
Age was no obstacle: Schwarzer played well into his 40s, culminating in silverware with both Chelsea and Leicester – although he didn’t play a single minute of either title-winning campaign.
13. Jens Lehmann
The German was already 33 by the time he pitched up at Arsenal, but he proved age is no obstacle for a goalkeeper by playing every game of the Invincibles season in his debut campaign.
Lehmann also kept the joint-most clean sheets in the division that year and, while his form did subsequently falter, it remains one of the most impressive goalkeeping feats of the Premier League era.
His record of conceding an average of just 0.84 goals per game ranks among the best, and he also set a Champions League record of 10 consecutive clean sheets. Unfortunately for Lehmann, the mad charge that resulted in his red card in the 2006 final of that competition may live longer in the memory.
12. Pepe Reina
As FourFourTwo revealed just last month, the Spaniard boasts the best clean sheet ratio in Premier League history. In 285 appearances for Liverpool, Reina prevented the opposition from scoring 134 times; a success rate of just over 47% that blows his competition out of the water.
Despite that, Reina is rarely put into the discussion when a debate over the greatest Premier League goalkeepers breaks out down the pub or in the office – perhaps because he failed to ever collect a league winners’ medal.
He did, however, win three consecutive Golden Glove awards during a spell of remarkable consistency at Anfield. Reina later impressed with Maurizio Sarri’s Napoli for three seasons before moving to Milan in the summer, where he’s currently warming the bench behind the promising Gigi Donnarumma.
11. Nigel Martyn
Another outstanding shot-stopper whose ability was never rewarded with silverware, Martyn didn’t win anything during his career and was capped just 22 times by England, but was nonetheless one of the best goalkeepers of his time.
He kept a remarkable 19 clean sheets for Leeds United in the 1996/97 season – five more than any other keeper – despite the Yorkshire club finishing in the bottom half of the table.
The Cornishman also represented Crystal Palace and Everton and twice set record transfer fees for a goalkeeper; testament to the esteem in which he was held. It’s no coincidence that he lined up between the sticks as Leeds reached the Champions League semi-finals and Everton recorded their best-ever league finish.
10. Neville Southall
Southall’s greatest days came before the dawn of the Premier League (although if you follow him on social media, you might argue afterwards), but even in the twilight years of his playing career he was a superb goalkeeper.
The Wales international had lost some of his famous agility from the 1980s glory years, but he often faced tougher days at the office as he featured for, in general, poor Everton teams that dodged relegation a couple of times.
However, he kept five clean sheets to help the Toffees win the ’95 FA Cup and only missed one game in 1994 as the Goodison Park outfit racked up 735 minutes without conceding.
9. Joe Hart
Hart’s star may have waned in recent years after an assortment of errors for England and his unceremonious exit from Manchester City, but he used to be one of the league’s finest.
While on loan at Birmingham and subsequently once he broke into City’s first team, he exuded the confidence that is so crucial for goalkeepers, although that would eventually give way to a slightly destructive alpha male personality.
To understand his impact in Manchester, you need only listen to the praise showered on Hart after his summer move to Burnley. Loans at Torino and West Ham weren’t a success, but he appears to be approaching his best again at Turf Moor.
8. David James
Longevity is a quality that shouldn’t be underestimated, and while that may sound like a backhanded compliment, you don’t reach 572 top-flight appearances for five different teams – not to mention 53 England caps – without being top class. At times during his long career, James was.
He was unfairly cast aside during his early years at Liverpool despite being just 22 and featuring for a team that was falling apart at the seams.
Later in his career, he was unlucky to play behind some poor defensive units, particularly at West Ham and Manchester City, but James still managed to emerge with credit.
7. Brad Friedel
Friedel was made to wait in his efforts to breach English football, having had moves to Nottingham Forest, Sunderland and Newcastle fall apart due to work permit regulations.
He did eventually land in the Premier League with Liverpool in 1997, but struggled to break into the team and moved to Blackburn three years later, where he would establish a reputation as one of the best netminders in the division.
The American always had the air of a wise old goalkeeping sage, perhaps because he was already over 30 when he started to feature regularly. He gets extra points for being one of just five keepers to score a Premier League goal – now try to name the other four…
6. Shay Given
Underrated or overrated? For a while, that was the argument that raged around Given. However, now that he’s retired and more time has passed, everyone is more or less in agreement that the Irishman was a solid goalkeeper.
Given spent a large chunk of his playing days with an unpredictable Newcastle team that swung between impressive highs and crisis-ridden lows, before he moved on to Manchester City once the oil millions arrived.
One thing worth considering with Given is that for many years on Tyneside he had Steve Harper for competition – a goalkeeper who would’ve taken the No.1 spot at a lot of other clubs – yet managed to consistently keep hold of his place in the team.
5. Edwin van der Sar
Sir Alex Ferguson described Van der Sar as one of his best signings in 2009. When you consider the Dutchman’s competition for that accolade, it’s not a compliment the legendary Scot would have dished out lightly.
Fergie regretted not bringing in the goalkeeper after Peter Schmeichel’s departure in 1999, but Van der Sar proved to be an excellent piece of business in any case, despite his advancing years.
Only one keeper – Schmeichel, of course – has won more Premier League titles, and the Dutch shot-stopper also saved a penalty to win his team the Champions League in 2008. He was also a fantastic servant to Fulham, who he helped establish as a top-flight outfit after their promotion in 2001 during four years at Craven Cottage.
4. David de Gea
Things haven’t exactly gone swimmingly for United since Fergie called it a day, but they could’ve been much worse were it not for De Gea.
The Spaniard has been exceptional since overcoming his initial struggles to adapt at Old Trafford after his 2011 arrival, becoming arguably the best in the world in his role.
Ex-United goalkeeping coach Eric Steele says he only remembers Fergie ever missing two games: one for his son’s wedding, the other to scout De Gea. The Spaniard’s former team-mate Dimitar Berbatov was a bit more to the point: “De Gea, you’re superhuman, man. You could catch a bullet.”
3. David Seaman
It’s tempting to disqualify Seaman giving himself the complimentary nickname ‘Safe Hands’, but to be fair to the man it was quite accurate.
The ponytailed Englishman was the rock behind the solid Arsenal defence that Arsene Wenger inherited and, with the exception of a regrettable weakness for audacious lobs from midfield, he was a complete goalkeeper.
Incredible reflexes (most notably that save against Sheffield United in the 2003 FA Cup semi-final) and dominance of his penalty area combined to make him one of the best England’s ever.
2. Petr Cech
Although the Czech’s form has dipped in recent seasons at Arsenal, at his best he arguably came closer than anyone to ousting Peter Schmeichel from the top of this list.
His imposing stature made attempts to score against Chelsea appear futile at times, above all in Jose Mourinho’s first spell when Cech and his defensive colleagues were crucial to three of the five titles that the Stamford Bridge club have won.
Not so comfortable in the era of ball-playing sweeper-keepers, Cech’s best days appear to be behind him. But what days they were.
1. Peter Schmeichel
It feels like Schmeichel was at Old Trafford for longer than ‘just’ eight years. A colossus in body and personality, the Dane wasn’t so much a footballer as a monument, and the rock at the base of Alex Ferguson’s first couple of great Manchester United teams.
The Great Dane scared opposition forwards into making mistakes as much as making stops, and perhaps the greatest indicator to his class were the six years it took the club to find a suitable replacement.
“Goalkeepers win you games sometimes,” said Ryan Giggs, “and Peter Schmeichel won more games than any other goalkeeper I’ve ever seen.”
