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Exclusive: Darryl Flahavan On Facing Rooney And Ronaldo, Knocking Slot's Reds Out Of The FA Cup, And Mentoring A Legion Of EFL Goalkeeping Greats
Last Sunday, Darryl Flahavan watched on as his latest number one ended Liverpool's quadruple charge with a heroic performance. It was the latest moment of pride in an immense goalkeeping career on and off the pitch.
Since he first laid eyes on a football, Darryl Flahavan has been surrounded by various waves of goalkeeping brilliance that have shaped a tremendous playing and coaching career. His older brother Aaron was a professional goalkeeper at Portsmouth and paved the way for Darryl’s introduction to football. “When I was nine, I watched my brother at the Portsmouth Academy and School of Excellence,” he says, speaking exclusively to Goalkeeper.com.
“I would stand on the side of the pitch, catching balls and diving around. I played Sunday football and was recommended to Portsmouth. I then joined my hometown club Southampton aged 12 and officially signed for them at 14. I signed a YTS (Youth Training Scheme) Apprenticeship at 16 and a professional contract arrived when I was 18.”
A meteoric rise through Southampton’s ranks landed Flahavan in a Premier League squad: an invaluable experience for such a young player. He reflects on this period glowingly: “I was fortunate enough to have a few sessions with Tim Flowers before he joined Blackburn Rovers. I also trained with Dave Beasant, Bruce Grobbelaar and Paul Jones. I worked closely with Neil Moss, now Bournemouth's goalkeeper coach. Ray Clemence and Les Sealey would help with training.”
Through his brother and time at Southampton, Flahavan received the ultimate goalkeeping education. He is full of praise for the Saints. “It is one of the best academies and clubs for offering opportunities to young talents and putting them on the right career path,” Flahavan beamed. “It’s full of great people and gave me the right platform to kickstart my career.”
In 1998, Flahavan left Hampshire and joined National League outfit Woking, before he landed a spot at League Two side Southend United in 2000. Under manager Steve Tilson, the Shrimpers clinched successive promotions in the 2004/05 and 2005/06 seasons. Southend were promoted to League One through a play-off final victory over Lincoln City, then secured the third-tier title in the next campaign.
It was a mind-boggling achievement and Flahavan was at its heart. The goalkeeper scooped the club’s Supporters’ Player of the Year 2002/03 and Players’ Player of the Year in 2003/04 and 2005/06. Flahavan was also named the PFA League Player of the Year in 2006.
In the 2006/07 season, Southend struggled in the Championship and were relegated back to League One. However, the Blues mustered a memorable Carling Cup journey which included a 1-0 fourth-round victory over eventual Premier League champions Manchester United at Roots Hall in November 2006. Flahavan fondly recalls the day as one of the best in his career.
“We were bottom of the Championship and Man United were blitzing teams in the Premier League and progressing comfortably in Europe. In the previous tie, they fielded a lot of young and fringe players so we didn’t know what to expect. When I was warming up on the pitch, they started naming the teams on the loudspeaker. Rooney, Ronaldo, all the big hitters were playing. My goalkeeper coach Lee Turner said ‘I think you might be busy tonight Flavs.’ They're the sort of nights you want. We were underdogs and expected to get put to the sword. Fortunately enough, we won the game. Freddie Eastwood scored a superb free-kick. I had one of those nights where I managed to save everything that was thrown at me.”
Southend lost 1-0 in the quarter-finals to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane. Flahavan produced another incredible performance and kept his side in the match until extra time. Flahavan remarked that he didn’t feel the pressure on these big occasions.
“I always wanted to play at the top level so I was looking forward to it. These games were broadcast and it was an opportunity to showcase my talents. We played a Spurs side that included Jermaine Defoe and Dimitar Berbatov. We defended for our lives throughout the game. Again, I had a night where I was in the way of everything. We took it to extra time but Defoe scored at the end. I was one of the first players to ever receive the Man of the Match award at White Hart Lane.”
Flahavan left Southend in 2008 and joined Championship side Crystal Palace. Unable to dislodge Selhurst Park folk hero Julian Speroni, he departed on loan to Leeds United and Oldham Athletic and briefly joined Portsmouth for a season. Flahavan described this period as “difficult” but found a new home at Bournemouth ahead of the 2011/12 campaign. That season, Flahavan played in 44 League One matches and relished the opportunity to be back playing consistently and regularly.
“I loved my time with Bournemouth,” he reminisced. “Before I joined, whenever I played at the Vitality, I always said I’d love to play for the club. I had a great first season and it was amazing to be back playing again in a positive environment. The supporters were brilliant and I felt so comfortable.”
Serious long-term injuries to his shoulder and quad disrupted Flahavan’s second season at Bournemouth, but he still treasured his time on the south coast. This period was still highly beneficial as Flahavan said this is when his “coaching journey started.”
“I’ve always really thought about the actions in training and the analytics,” he said. “Back then, I used to generate clips via discs and watched how I performed. I looked at the smallest things like where my hands were before a shot, if my positioning was too high or too deep, or if my hands were too wide or narrow.
“When I was injured, I’d watch how the goalkeepers trained and helped the younger ones in sessions. I was very detailed with everything. When the Bournemouth first team travelled for away matches, I’d stay behind with the young goalkeepers and create sessions. I also started a goalkeeping academy in Southampton with Scott Bevan, who is now a coach at Wolves.”
Whilst at Bournemouth, Flahavan played a friendly against Real Madrid in July 2013 at the Vitality Stadium. The Cherries lost 6-0 but Flahavan loved the occasion.
“It’s one of the games that sticks out in my memory the most. In the build-up, the media attention was crazy. They wanted our dressing room because it was bigger and the club contemplated it. We used the Adidas La Liga ball so we compromised. We didn’t care because we were playing against this world-class football club. All the big stars played including Ronaldo, Modric, Di Maria, Ozil and Benzema. It was a great occasion to host this calibre of players.”
Flahavan was a member of the Bournemouth squad that achieved promotion to the Premier League in the 2014/15 season. He retired in 2016 with 492 career appearances. Flahavan transitioned into coaching as part of Garry Monk’s staff at Leeds United, Middlesbrough, Birmingham City and Sheffield Wednesday. He also coached at Wigan Athletic, before a life-changing opportunity on the other side of the globe arrived.
“When I left Wigan, Tim Dittmer of the English FA asked if I’d be interested in helping the coach of the Taiwan national team with their camps. The head coach Gary Wright was from Southampton and he convinced me. I did it to experience football on the other side of the world and take me outside my comfort zone. I thought it would develop and improve me as a coach. I did camps in Oman and Malaysia in October 2023 and June 2024. It was a fantastic experience. I coached at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium, which can hold up to 90,000 people so it was amazing to see that.”
Flahavan joined Plymouth in January 2024 and helped steer the club to Championship safety. He hopes to achieve the same with the Pilgrims this year. When asked how the role of the goalkeeper has changed in the last 25 years, he replied: “The in-possession aspect has evolved massively. Managers want a comfortable and confident goalkeeper with the ball at their feet. Goalkeepers need an excellent range of passing, which must be integrated into training. Goalkeepers are also expected to play really high and defend the space behind the back line. They are part of the press.”
A tricky league season for Plymouth has been punctuated by an incredible FA Cup journey. The Greens have defeated Brentford and Liverpool by a 1-0 scoreline. In the latest cup shock against Arne Slot’s Red Juggernaut, Conor Hazard kept a magnificent clean sheet and Flahavan provided an insight into the club’s preparation for this game.
“Preparation was no different to any other game. I analysed their attacking threats and designed my sessions around them. Matchday -3 until matchday -1 consisted of transitional moments. We worked a lot on the precision and pace of their counter-attacks. Therefore, we assessed the goalkeeper’s high position and the subsequent recovery, as well as decision-making if through-balls were played. We also focused on their inverted wingers and how they released shots after cutting inside.
We then looked at their penalty area movement and honed in on the common assist zones, low crosses over the goal mouth and possible interception or pivoting to make a save. Cut-backs were another focus for us. We worked on their box crosses and how they overload the back post. We recreated headers with the rebound shield to get the goalkeepers moving across the area.”
Flahavan has had a glittering coaching career and has mentored an array of fantastic goalkeepers.
“I’ve been so lucky. I had Rob Green at Leeds United. He was a great professional and we feel very similarly about goalkeeping, so it was a great platform for me to start."
An incredible number of EFL and Premier League goalkeepers have benefitted from Flahavan's mentorship. "I also coached a young Bailey Peacock-Farrell. I went to Middlesbrough and had Darren Randolph and Aynsley Pears. At Birmingham, I coached David Stockdale, Tomasz Kuszczak and Lee Camp. At Sheffield Wednesday, I worked with Joe Wildsmith and Cameron Dawson.
“At Wigan, I brought Sam Tickle into the first team and gave him his Championship debut. At Plymouth, I coached Michael Cooper, who is fantastic and earned a move to Sheffield United. Currently, I’m working with Conor Hazard and Daniel Grimshaw. I’ve worked with many great goalkeepers and long may that continue.”
Despite a successful career, Flahavan is still gushing with ambition. “I want to work in the Premier League,” he said. “I work hard every day to improve myself and develop as a coach. If the opportunity came along, that would be fantastic, then if it doesn't I'm grateful for this because there's a lot of fantastic coaches that don’t get to work in the Championship for multiple years.”
The goalkeeping baton is still being passed on in the Flahavan family. Darryl’s son Aaron plays for Solihull Moors and is following in his father’s and uncle’s footsteps. The Flahavan name is synonymous with English goalkeeping and continues to hold significant influence on and off the pitch.