10) Gary Sprake
Although Sprake was Leeds' No.1 during their glory years of the late 60s and early 70s, he was prone to the odd spectacular cock-up. He famously allowed a soft shot from Chelsea's Peter Houseman to slip through his fingers in the 1970 FA Cup final - a match the Blues went on to win in a replay - although the kinder-hearted souls among the crowd pointed out that the Horse of the Year show that had been held at Wembley a few days before could have accounted for an unlucky bobble. Sprake, though, had no-one but himself to blame for his most notorious howler. Shaping to throw the ball out against Liverpool at Anfield in 1967, he attempted to abort the move when he saw Ian Callaghan approaching. Sadly for Sprake, the ball spilled from his grasp and rolled behind him into the net. To compound his misery, the Liverpool tannoy announcer played Careless Hands by Des O'Connor during the half-time break! To prove he had a sense of humour, however, Sprake later titled his autobiography by the same name.
9) Jim Leighton
The man who - almost - dispelled the myth about the utter uselessness of Scottish goalkeepers. A stalwart for Aberdeen, Manchester United and Scotland in the 1980s, all his good work was undone in a mad couple of months in 1990. First, he was dropped by Alex Ferguson for the 1990 FA Cup final replay against Crystal Palace after a series of mistakes in the 3-3 draw in the first meeting and then, with his confidence badly affected, he had a nightmare at Italia 90. Scotland crashed out in the group stages after losing to Costa Rica and Brazil, with Leighton's own low point coming against the South Americans when he spilled a weak shot into the path of substitute Muller, who slammed home an 82nd minute winner. Leighton played just one more game for United, a League Cup tie against Halifax, before returning to Scotland with Dundee, Hibernian and Aberdeen.
8) Peter Bonetti
Nicknamed 'The Cat', he was given the moniker for his agility and not, as some cynics would have you believe, for the fact that every time the ball went into the box his defenders had kittens! Sadly, a 20-year career at Chelsea, when he was undoubtedly one of the country's top keepers, is largely forgotten when set aside his one appearance for England at the 1970 World Cup finals. Standing in for the unwell Gordon Banks against West Germany in the quarter-finals, he had what is known in the trade as a 'shocker' as the Germans recovered from 2-0 down to win 3-2 and leave Bonetti feeling about as sick as Banksie.
7) Fabien Barthez
It might seem harsh to include a man who has won both the World Cup and the European Championship, but the word eccentric barely does justice to the baldy Frenchman. Laurent Blanc, of course, used to kiss his forehead for luck before matches, and Barthez could have done with some of that luck himself during some of his more colourful moments in a Manchester United shirt. There were the mad rushes from his goalmouth, the arrogant - and frankly darn right dangerous - step-overs when confronted with attackers and, best of all, the futile arm waving and flag pleading when West Ham's Paolo di Canio strolled through to knock the Red Devils out of the FA Cup at Old Trafford in January 2001 with Barthez rooted to the spot and waiting for the linesman to save him. He never did.
6) Bruce Grobbelaar
Old 'Spaghetti Legs' was never one for the orthodox when the unorthodox would do. Famed for his near suicidal tendency to come off his line for pretty much any ball that was launched into the Liverpool penalty area within a 20-yard radius of him, he dropped as many as he caught. He still ended up with a cupboard full of medals to show for his time at Anfield, of course, and even survived a betting scandal when people began to question whether or not he was chucking 'em in for personal gain and not just cause he was occasionally hopeless.
5) Heurelho Gomes
Former Tottenham boss Juande Romas paid the thick end of £8million to sign the Brazilian from PSV Eindhoven in the summer of 2008. Which you'd have to say is quite a lot of money for a man who looks about as safe as a straw house when the big bad wolf is working up a storm outside the front door. A litany of errors in his early days at White Hart Lane saw new boss Harry Redknapp sign Carlo Cudicini in the January transfer window and, although he did eventually place his trust in Gomes and keep him between the sticks, 'Arry's vigorous pursuit of David James in the past week tells you all you need to know about the Brazilian's long-term future down the Seven Sisters road.
4) Alan Rough
Rough, who boasted one of the best bubble perms of the 1980s, used to blow his nose as often as possible during a game on a hankie he kept in the goalmouth. And that self-same hankie would also have come in handy to dry his tears every time he faced Brazil. He was beaten by a Zico free-kick in the 1986 World Cup finals when he stood stock still, rooted to the spot, as the ball sailed past him. Rough's supporters leapt to his defence by claiming no-one could have predicted the ball's flight-path after the Samba star had struck it. Well, perhaps one man could have done. The man who was beaten by an identikit free-kick during an international in Rio five years previously. That man? You've guessed it...
3) David James
Still going strong at 39 and still clinging, perhaps a little more precariously than 12 months ago, to his position as England's No.1, but he will never shake off the 'Calamity' tag that has dogged him since his Liverpool days. Or should that be since the 'PlayStation days' when, by his own admission, his form suffered as a result of him spending half the night playing computer games. How much his square eyes contributed to his errors we will never know but one thing is for sure.. no matter how we'll he's playing, no matter how many saves he makes, there's always a cock-up just around the corner.
2) Massimo Taibi
The man bought to replace Peter Schmeichel at Manchester United, he was less Great Dane and more Lame Italian. Fergie paid £4.4million to sign him from Venezia, but he would probably have done just as well if he'd plucked one of the city's Gondola operators off the.. err.. canals. And he could have got him for just one Cornetto. As it was, Taibi played just four games, one of which was a 5-0 hammering by Chelsea - only the third time in 25 years United had shipped that many goals in a single game. Even that wasn't the low point, however. That came when Southampton's Matt Le Tissier beat him with a 25-yard daisy cutter that the keeper could have thrown his cap on. Instead, he allowed the ball to not only go between his arms, but also his legs. His Old Trafford career in numbers: P4 W1 D2 L1 GA11. Cost per game: £1.1m. Thanks for popping in...
1) Allen McKnight
A former Celtic keeper, he arrived at West Ham in the summer of 1988 as part of the EastEnders' brave new world that also included the return of Frank McAvennie. By then end of the campaign, the Hammers were 19th, relegated, and their new No.1 had picked up the nickname 'Allen McKnightmare'. He played just 23 games in three years at Upton Park and the season after he left - for the mighty Airdrieonians - West Ham got promoted back to the First Division. 'Nuff said...
THE MIRROR
Although Sprake was Leeds' No.1 during their glory years of the late 60s and early 70s, he was prone to the odd spectacular cock-up. He famously allowed a soft shot from Chelsea's Peter Houseman to slip through his fingers in the 1970 FA Cup final - a match the Blues went on to win in a replay - although the kinder-hearted souls among the crowd pointed out that the Horse of the Year show that had been held at Wembley a few days before could have accounted for an unlucky bobble. Sprake, though, had no-one but himself to blame for his most notorious howler. Shaping to throw the ball out against Liverpool at Anfield in 1967, he attempted to abort the move when he saw Ian Callaghan approaching. Sadly for Sprake, the ball spilled from his grasp and rolled behind him into the net. To compound his misery, the Liverpool tannoy announcer played Careless Hands by Des O'Connor during the half-time break! To prove he had a sense of humour, however, Sprake later titled his autobiography by the same name.
9) Jim Leighton
The man who - almost - dispelled the myth about the utter uselessness of Scottish goalkeepers. A stalwart for Aberdeen, Manchester United and Scotland in the 1980s, all his good work was undone in a mad couple of months in 1990. First, he was dropped by Alex Ferguson for the 1990 FA Cup final replay against Crystal Palace after a series of mistakes in the 3-3 draw in the first meeting and then, with his confidence badly affected, he had a nightmare at Italia 90. Scotland crashed out in the group stages after losing to Costa Rica and Brazil, with Leighton's own low point coming against the South Americans when he spilled a weak shot into the path of substitute Muller, who slammed home an 82nd minute winner. Leighton played just one more game for United, a League Cup tie against Halifax, before returning to Scotland with Dundee, Hibernian and Aberdeen.
8) Peter Bonetti
Nicknamed 'The Cat', he was given the moniker for his agility and not, as some cynics would have you believe, for the fact that every time the ball went into the box his defenders had kittens! Sadly, a 20-year career at Chelsea, when he was undoubtedly one of the country's top keepers, is largely forgotten when set aside his one appearance for England at the 1970 World Cup finals. Standing in for the unwell Gordon Banks against West Germany in the quarter-finals, he had what is known in the trade as a 'shocker' as the Germans recovered from 2-0 down to win 3-2 and leave Bonetti feeling about as sick as Banksie.
7) Fabien Barthez
It might seem harsh to include a man who has won both the World Cup and the European Championship, but the word eccentric barely does justice to the baldy Frenchman. Laurent Blanc, of course, used to kiss his forehead for luck before matches, and Barthez could have done with some of that luck himself during some of his more colourful moments in a Manchester United shirt. There were the mad rushes from his goalmouth, the arrogant - and frankly darn right dangerous - step-overs when confronted with attackers and, best of all, the futile arm waving and flag pleading when West Ham's Paolo di Canio strolled through to knock the Red Devils out of the FA Cup at Old Trafford in January 2001 with Barthez rooted to the spot and waiting for the linesman to save him. He never did.
6) Bruce Grobbelaar
Old 'Spaghetti Legs' was never one for the orthodox when the unorthodox would do. Famed for his near suicidal tendency to come off his line for pretty much any ball that was launched into the Liverpool penalty area within a 20-yard radius of him, he dropped as many as he caught. He still ended up with a cupboard full of medals to show for his time at Anfield, of course, and even survived a betting scandal when people began to question whether or not he was chucking 'em in for personal gain and not just cause he was occasionally hopeless.
5) Heurelho Gomes
Former Tottenham boss Juande Romas paid the thick end of £8million to sign the Brazilian from PSV Eindhoven in the summer of 2008. Which you'd have to say is quite a lot of money for a man who looks about as safe as a straw house when the big bad wolf is working up a storm outside the front door. A litany of errors in his early days at White Hart Lane saw new boss Harry Redknapp sign Carlo Cudicini in the January transfer window and, although he did eventually place his trust in Gomes and keep him between the sticks, 'Arry's vigorous pursuit of David James in the past week tells you all you need to know about the Brazilian's long-term future down the Seven Sisters road.
4) Alan Rough
Rough, who boasted one of the best bubble perms of the 1980s, used to blow his nose as often as possible during a game on a hankie he kept in the goalmouth. And that self-same hankie would also have come in handy to dry his tears every time he faced Brazil. He was beaten by a Zico free-kick in the 1986 World Cup finals when he stood stock still, rooted to the spot, as the ball sailed past him. Rough's supporters leapt to his defence by claiming no-one could have predicted the ball's flight-path after the Samba star had struck it. Well, perhaps one man could have done. The man who was beaten by an identikit free-kick during an international in Rio five years previously. That man? You've guessed it...
3) David James
Still going strong at 39 and still clinging, perhaps a little more precariously than 12 months ago, to his position as England's No.1, but he will never shake off the 'Calamity' tag that has dogged him since his Liverpool days. Or should that be since the 'PlayStation days' when, by his own admission, his form suffered as a result of him spending half the night playing computer games. How much his square eyes contributed to his errors we will never know but one thing is for sure.. no matter how we'll he's playing, no matter how many saves he makes, there's always a cock-up just around the corner.
2) Massimo Taibi
The man bought to replace Peter Schmeichel at Manchester United, he was less Great Dane and more Lame Italian. Fergie paid £4.4million to sign him from Venezia, but he would probably have done just as well if he'd plucked one of the city's Gondola operators off the.. err.. canals. And he could have got him for just one Cornetto. As it was, Taibi played just four games, one of which was a 5-0 hammering by Chelsea - only the third time in 25 years United had shipped that many goals in a single game. Even that wasn't the low point, however. That came when Southampton's Matt Le Tissier beat him with a 25-yard daisy cutter that the keeper could have thrown his cap on. Instead, he allowed the ball to not only go between his arms, but also his legs. His Old Trafford career in numbers: P4 W1 D2 L1 GA11. Cost per game: £1.1m. Thanks for popping in...
1) Allen McKnight
A former Celtic keeper, he arrived at West Ham in the summer of 1988 as part of the EastEnders' brave new world that also included the return of Frank McAvennie. By then end of the campaign, the Hammers were 19th, relegated, and their new No.1 had picked up the nickname 'Allen McKnightmare'. He played just 23 games in three years at Upton Park and the season after he left - for the mighty Airdrieonians - West Ham got promoted back to the First Division. 'Nuff said...
THE MIRROR