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What If Twitter Was Accurate Of World Cup Goalkeeping?

What If Twitter Was Accurate Of World Cup Goalkeeping?
AW

Alex Waite

23 Dec 2022

The ‘alternative history’ of the World Cup, as narrated by snippets over the tournament from Twitter, shows us just how misinformed popular perceptions of goalkeepers are…

Imagine a world where the World Cup wasn't televised. Where no highlights were published to YouTube. Where our perception of the tournament was filtered through tunnel vision. Where we couldn't make judgements for ourselves, and were disempowered by poorly articulated, clickbait ‘easy’ rhetoric. 

What would we have made of World Cup goalkeeping? A good standard of goalkeeping, in reality, would have been reduced to…nothing, right? In reality, we saw one of the best tournaments goalkeeping-wise in modern World Cup history. Fantastic underdog stories concerning the likes of Yassine Bounou, Dominik Livakovic, Andries Noppert, and Shuichi Gonda, as well as match-defining performances from the likes of Hugo Lloris and Emiliano Martinez marked the 2022 edition of the tournament. 

The good more than outweighed the bad - and, like with any football tournament - there were goalkeeping mistakes at times. But if we didn't have the chance to see it for ourselves, what would we have picked up from social media? 

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This article is satire.

We've reached the end of the Qatar World Cup, and the goalkeeping on display has been poor. There’s no making up for the number of blunders from the supposed ‘world's best’ goalkeepers in Qatar. None at all. No positives. The expected celebration of wonderful shot-stopping, tips around the post and penalty saves has been overplayed; most of the ‘great saves’ were for the camera, after all. And it didn't take long to set the scene for goalkeeping at the rest of the tournament. 

Minutes into the World Cup, Saad Al Sheeb was the first to lay down the marker for lowering goalkeeping standards.  The Qatar goalkeeper should have fared better in the opener - it wasn't like he was playing in his first ever World Cup, nor that his error was uncharacteristic of one of Asia's best goalkeepers for over a decade. He left his expectant home crowd with little to cheer. 

Luckily for Al Sheeb, he had company for the worst opening goalkeeping display of the World Cup. During Senegal’s defeat against the Netherlands in game three, it was a ‘poor save’ that meant Édouard Mendy single-handedly gifted Oranje an opening match win. That was it; a poor save. 

Mendy's disappointing tournament was expertly broken down in an article by Goal, who dedicated an entire article to more than 30 Tweets that passed judgement on his tournament. Subheadings ranged from ‘Mendy is overrated’ to ‘Mendy is finished for Senegal’. Finished for Senegal indeed, it's not like Mendy is, by far, the most accomplished player in the entire Senegal squad aside from Sadio Mane (when fit) and one of the most accomplished of all time, winning the African Cup of Nations only last year and being named the tournament's best goalkeeper after saving a penalty in the final shootout. 

The Daily Mail were in similarly fine form, counting on a range of goalkeeping Twitter experts to analyse Mendy's performance at the tournament. 

Mendy GK.COM 2.png

A mistake from Japan’s Shūichi Gonda soon gave fans a new target. The tamest of efforts from Costa Rica’s Keysher Fuller gently drifted through Gonda’s hands like a feather in the wind before nestling into the top corner.  

Gonda nearly damaged the reputation of the Japanese team and fans during the competition for this sub-par effort. After all, everyone had expected Japan to go all the way and Gonda to be a contender for the Golden Glove. Forget his match-winning performance against one of the world's best footballing nations, Germany, and the fact that he'd been a huge part of why they got through to the Round of 16. Oh no, that didn't matter any more. Midfielder Joe Cole was particularly inspired by the blunder, with a pun that made perfect sense. 

As for Wayne Hennessey, what was he thinking? The Welsh number one looked more at home taking on Tim Wiese in the WWE ring rather than on the biggest stage in world football after colliding with Iran’s Mehdi Taremi. On the plus side, Hennessey wrote himself into the World Cup history books, joining a selective goalkeeping club after his homage to kung-fu. 

Then, the opportunity came knocking for Wales’ second-choice goalkeeper, Danny Ward. Gloves on, boots laced and training bib flung to the ground, Ward looked like a man ready to step up and help his depleted side battle the odds in Group B. 

But 17 minutes later, the Leicester man extinguished any flames the Dragons had of World Cup progress. It was Wales' goalkeepers who were in the press' spotlight, given that the Welsh defence carried no equal blame. Likewise, the two goals that Wales conceded were entirely Ward's fault. No explanation needed. Clearly, he was worse than Hennessey. There was plenty of evidence for that against Iran. Plenty. Loads. Maybe? 

And, as Alan Shearer pointed out, it was Ward's fault that Marcus Rashford blasted a free kick right into the top corner when Wales met England. 

The next two Tweets portray the tournament of Thibaut Courtois; one only of mistakes and anger. Not of a goalkeeper who left the World Cup with a penalty save - the first Belgian goalkeeper to do so since 1966 - and one of the highest shot-stopping ratings of the tournament. 

It has been a World Cup for experienced goalkeepers to forget as they showed the up-and-comers how not to perform. Keylor Navas was another who seemingly downed tools with Courtois.  

Navas is a hero, leader and icon in Costa Rica. The 36-year-old thought he’d seen it all with the national team through previous upsets and over-achievements in tournaments gone by. A 7-0 loss to Spain may be what marks the end of Navas' international career, because remember; in a 7-0 loss, every single goal is always the goalkeepers fault, and the goalkeeper is undisputedly the worst player. 

What numbers are WhoScored using to calculate their ratings, by the way? 

If England needed one player to save them from major tournament heartbreak yet again, it was Jordan Pickford. The Three Lions’ number one has been a hero in recent tournaments. Penalty saves in Russia in 2018 and the EURO 2020 final, the Everton stopper is seen as THE man for a big occasion. 

But, despite all his technical brilliance and shot-stopping excellence, Pickford’s arms remain too short at this level. This showed in his questionable attempt to keep out Aurélien Tchouaméni’s long-range effort in a quarter-final clash with France. 

As Paul Merson noted, he doesn't know a Premier League goalkeeper who doesn't save that shot. He could have caught it, actually. 

'I don't know a goalkeeper who doesn't save France's first goal. Why Jordan Pickford was on his goal line when the ball was 25, 30 yards out I do not know. If Pickford was on the edge of his six-yard box, he probably catches Aurelien Tchouameni's shot' - Paul Merson. 

Likewise, Roy Keane's ever-impressive goalkeeping analysis made the headlines. 

Eventually, the 2022 World Cup boiled down to an Argentina vs France final. Two gargantuan forces in international football going head to head for the sport’s biggest prize. 

In the net for France was the experienced, cool head of Hugo Lloris - Les Blues' record cap holder and a dependable pair of hands to clasp the trophy and cradle it back to Paris. 

Unfortunately for Lloris and France, the final went to penalties after an enthralling 3-3 draw. Head in hands, the French fans already knew they had little chance. For all his greatness, Les Blues number one has a reputation as a bystander in shoot-outs. 

Yet the stage was set for him to rewrite history. Could Lloris overcome his record to become the saviour of France? Of course not. Get French Football News had the facts to back this narrative up. Oh wait. Lloris did save a penalty in a major tournament that happened less than a year ago, at the EUROs against Switzerland.

Let's hope for a mass improvement from these mediocre efforts in four years' time.  

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Now, of course, we did all have access to the tournament via television and everyone is entitled to their own opinion. We are able to take learning points from the mistakes goalkeepers made, and use any ill-fortune to improve. And that's the thing: goalkeepers do make mistakes, and this was no different at the World Cup. But it doesn't mean that they are the only players on the pitch to do so, or must be questioned every time a goal goes in. Nowadays, a goalkeeper will concede a perfectly decent goal, and immediately be questioned, seemingly just for the sake of it. 

Another thing that this article purposely demonstrates is the danger of picking and portraying selective evidence. There was praise for goalkeepers at the World Cup across social media; the article just doesn't choose to show it. We don't get a fully accurate picture by solely conforming to one narrative, and this happens in all walks of media. 

Many of the outlets quoted and featured in this article are large entities, with huge followings. They have reach, and they influence popular perception. Some also have the resources to go and source more accurate analysis, but seldom does this occur. In recent years, we've seen the likes of Rob Green make more appearances on Sky Sports' panels, but the lack of proper goalkeeping insight is still sorely apparent. 

The narrative portrayed in this article portrays the pitfalls of negative, biting narratives on social media in football today. And, as we all know too well, it is goalkeepers that often face the brunt of them. 

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The Week in Goalkeeping 42: Another medal for Martinez, Play-Off heartbreak, World Cup goalkeepers announced, and more

The top goalkeeper news stories from 17th May - 24th May 2026World Cup Winner adds another trophy to his collectionLast Wednesday, Aston Villa travelled to Istanbul for their Europa League final vs Freiburg. Villa were endeavouring to end a long trophy drought against the German side. Unai Emery’s side ultimately dominated the final as they won 3-0, and it was a night to remember for Emiliano Martinez as he added another trophy to his impressive collection. Moments of the month: when Emi Martínez became a Europa League winner 🥹🏆 pic.twitter.com/1ZGYeCWI0d— Goalkeeper.com (@goalkeepercom) May 24, 2026 Before the COVID-19 lockdown, Martinez had been struggling for gametime but only six years later, he has bagged himself a World Cup, two Copa Americas, a Europa League, and two Yashin awards, amongst other honours.. What a fantastic five years for Dibu. Hull make it to the promise land after costly errorOn Saturday, Hull faced Middlesbrough at Wembley with the possibility of returning to the Premier League after 10 years. The Play-Off Final was already a point of great controversy following Southampton's expulsion, and the game didn't look like it would be befitting of the drama of the days leading up to it. The tie was sizzling out in the dying embers as the scoreline read 0-0 with clock ticking towards extra time. "Oli McBurnie, he's got the EYE OF THE TIGER!" 🐯🔥 pic.twitter.com/mbu5sxtTVc— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) May 23, 2026 But, in the 95th minute, Hull were on the attack and a ball, which flew towards Boro goalkeeper Sol Brynn, was flapped at at the mercy of striker Oli McBurnie who pounced and buried the ball into the back of the net. It was an unfortunate error for Brynn with the goal condemning Middlesbrough to another season of Championship football.Teammate Aiden Morris said 'Sol makes that catch nine times out of ten. You go down the other end and we could have scored more goals, or we could have done something to stop the cross. There’s tonnes of things.'Which goalkeepers have made the England World Cup squad?On Friday, Thomas Tuchel announced his England squad for the World Cup. There was a lot of controversy surrounding the outfield omissions, but we were more focused on the three choices between the sticks. Jordan Pickford, Dean Henderson and James Trafford were the three names selected to represent their country in the States - hardly a surprise. Do you think England have one of the world's best goalkeeper departments? Liverpool goalkeeper rumours continue to swirlSunday marked the official end to Andy Robertson and Mohammed Salah’s Liverpool careers, playing their final game at Anfield. However, another departure rumour that continues to swirl is that of Alisson. Juventus are reportedly planning to swoop in for the signature of the Brazilian, who was called up for his nation’s World Cup squad last week. Will Alisson stay at Merseyside for another season, or will he make a return to Italy?Kinsky continues redemption arc as Spurs survive Tottenham Hotspur's final day victory over Everton meant that the North London club had secured another season of Premier League football. One man who has been integral to their survival in the last few games of the campaign in young Antonin Kinsky. Since the well-documented Atletico Madrid debacle, Kinsky has been in solid form, and pulled off another great save on Sunday to maintain the lead. What a save from Kinsky in a crucial game against Everton 😮‍💨🧤 pic.twitter.com/cFAM19gmWQ— Goalkeeper.com (@goalkeepercom) May 24, 2026

Harry Salkeld
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Debate: Will The Removal Of Goalkeepers From Under 7s Football Really Be 'Catastrophic?'

New FA Rules are expunging keepers in favour of technical growth in the first stage of organised youth football.Goalkeeping, like life, is not always a linear pathway. It is such a highly specialised position with a skillset that requires a commitment to isolation in mindset and presence. Some are born to be in nets. Others find out by chance that the different coloured jersey was meant for them. “Amazing to see how much the goalkeeper union has grown over the last few years, record numbers across academies, grassroots and youth pathways are choosing to be goalkeepers in all corners of the globe. Goalkeeping is cool,” Mary Earps posted on her socials last year.  She’s right, but when should a budding goalkeeper first enter the ’cool’ box? The jury remains somewhat out on that, after the Football Association recently announced that goalkeepers would be removed from the earliest stage of organised football next summer.From the beginning of the 2026-27 season, children in the under-7 bracket will adopt a new three-a-side format with smaller pitches and no goalie. All six players are 'active, engaged, outfield players’ where each child has the opportunity to ‘grow their skills and join the attack and defence.’No keepers in U-7s football will be 'catastrophic' https://t.co/ee7f66fEoG— BBC Essex (@BBCEssex) April 13, 2026 According to the FA, the plan is to give everyone more touches of the ball. But it is a decision that has caused some waves in goalkeeping circles. “If a child naturally gravitates toward being a goalkeeper, it’s worth asking why we would take that opportunity away from them,” suggests Rangers’ current Head of Academy Goalkeeping Conor Brennan.“The intention behind rotating positions is understandable, giving players more touches and broader experiences. However, in doing so, we risk losing valuable time in developing the unique psychological attributes required for goalkeeping”, Brennan insists.There is an argument that rotation prevents early typecasting. Youngsters can explore different positions before finding their niche. There are numerous anecdotal stories of an outfielder becoming the accidental goalkeeper in their teens.  One of the true greats, Lev Yashin, once said: 'I wanted to be a forward – I was always dreaming about hitting goals – but gradually I got moved back and back until I became a goalkeeper.' Not a bad career move for a Ballon d’Or winner. A year that was technically lost in development can be alternatively framed as 12 months spent in understanding the game from a different perspective“To assume that you can only build a goalkeeper from seven, or influence a goalkeeper from that age is pretty wild,” claims Dan Tumelty-Bevan, Head of Academy Goalkeeping at Birmingham. “To get seven-year-olds into environments where there’s more capacity to enhance skill movement and development is a positive. I think refining that as you go through the ages will give more opportunity for athletes to be goalkeepers.”Gianluigi Donnarumma began in ‘the gate’ at the age of five, playing around with his elder brother and uncle. 'I was never afraid. Maybe that's why I chose goalkeeping,' he has mused. That's exactly the point that Brennan makes. Being thrown in at the deep end is the way to learn the lone eagle of the game.“Building bravery (such as the willingness to put their body in the way of the ball), experiencing the emotional highs of saving a penalty, and learning to handle the inevitable highs and lows all come with being the last line of defence.”“These experiences are not dependent on formal coaching; they are developed organically through repetition and exposure. By delaying this process, we may unintentionally hinder the development of these crucial traits.”We are always told that children are resilient. So why not test the theory at the earliest opportunity to make a head start on the rest? Pitching youngsters into the hero and villain goalkeeping cycle is something that can appeal to a certain DNA. Dean Henderson recently told Goalkeeper.com that he loved  “breaking hearts” from the very beginning. There must be something in that.The fear expressed out loud by coaches is that youngsters who are predisposed to the art of goalkeeping might be lost to other sports.Idrees Afzal, PhD, is a human performance scientist, analyst, and conditioning coach who has worked at Bradford City, within county cricket circles, and alongside national badminton Federations. He is certain that there is a bigger positive to multi-skilling across disciplines from a skill acquisition angle. “Could it help support certain coordination patterns and movement patterns because players haven't got gloves on at a young age and they start learning new things? That's one take on it”, he says. “The other take is simply how representative will this change be in terms of what a goalkeeper will need to do”? Afzal also touches on the holistic element of goalkeeping development. “Is having the gloves on a haptic - a perception relating to a sense of touch? Do young players need to feel what it's like to actually be in goal during a game? Will there be that same perception and action of things that are going on in the scenario as opposed to not having goalkeepers in U7s? Those would be the two big elements that stand out for me. “It could potentially help with a goalkeeper’s ‘possession skills’. But if that's going to be the case, then it needs to be facilitated by either a coach or a referee in a certain way to allow those adaptive behaviors to take place. If it's just going to be a goalkeeper with no gloves standing near the net, it might defeat the whole purpose.”Afzal speaks a lot about ecological dynamics in relation to the question at hand. The theory emphasises that movement and decision-making emerge from the continuous, dynamic interaction between the individual, the environment, and the task.Image Credit: Fabian Otte LinkedIn“Gaining a variety of physical components in terms of your strength, power, and mobility, is going to be really good for a young person. Having exposure at a young age to different aspects of perception and motor learning with the likes of a golf or tennis ball, for instance, is important.”Brennan isn’t so sure. “Other sports, such as hockey, GAA, futsal, and handball, offer young players the opportunity to specialise as goalkeepers from an earlier age. If a child has a strong desire to play in that role, but feels restricted within football, it is reasonable to question whether they may be drawn toward alternative sports where that identity is encouraged.” On the other hand, Yashin tried the high jump, shot put, discus, took fencing lessons, had a go at boxing, diving, wrestling, skating, basketball, ice hockey and water polo. He didn't even want to be a footballer at one point. There is also simply the question of: does this actually matter, for one year of a child’s football career? Afzal believes so.“It's 12 months. That's a lot of time for the development of a young person's mind. I think it all matters. Any exposure, any experience that young athletes are having is really important”, he opines.In these days of competitive parenting and results matter narratives, it would be easy to make the young goalkeeper feel the weight of that responsibility rather than enjoy it. The 3 v 3 structure is key in imparting technical learning when the young mind is open. There are no official results or tables, ensuring a sense of freedom in a fun environment.Afzal has an interesting thesis on what the authorities are really driving at. “It might be a philosophical mindset. Maybe the FA wants our players to be technically good on the ball. Is that going to develop in a young player’s game if they’ve just got gloves on their hands and they’re just stationary, or just stuck to being in the nets?”Of course, this all could backfire. Children are sure to be watching a magical save during the World Cup and think: “I want to be (insert famous goalkeeper name here) right now.” Is the moment being stolen? The new format is about individual actions and not positions.Tumelty-Bevan insists that the broader view wins the day: “People can be so focused on this idea that everything has to look like a mini version of where it’s going to. It doesn't.” The next generation will tell us something about both sides of this story. Goalkeeping is cool. Maybe hothousing can wait.

Tim Ellis
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Is the Play-Off lottery still fair? Wembley hero Saša Ilić on persistence, promotion and penalty shootouts

Play-Off Final winning goalkeeper Ilić discusses the nature of one of football's most unique matches. It’s 1998, and the greatest Play-Off Final of all time seems like it’s never going to end.Charlton Athletic striker Clive Mendonca has bagged the first ever Play-Off final hat-trick against his boyhood club, Sunderland. His teammate Richard Rufus has scored his first ever senior goal. The only problem is that Addicks goalkeeper Saša Ilić, who had kept nine clean sheets in a row leading up to the final, has also conceded four.Both goalkeepers have had just as little luck in the ensuing penalty shootout. 13 penalties have been taken, and 13 penalties have been scored. So, as Sunderland’s Michael Gray steps forward for yet another do-or-die spot-kick, Ilić decides to take a new approach.He decides to leave it up to chance.“Towards the end of the penalty shootout, you get sort of frustrated,” he tells Goalkeeper.com. “You’re going one way, the ball’s going the other way. It just doesn’t seem like it’s going to come to an end. And I saw this coin on the pitch on the right side of the post.“So I sort of flicked it, and I’m like ‘Okay, because I’m not having any luck saving these penalties, if it’s on heads I’ll dive to my left, if it’s tails I’ll dive to my right.’ Fortunately, it went on heads!”One dive later and Charlton were going to the Premier League.Happy 53rd Birthday to former Charlton Athletic goalkeeper, Mr Sasa Ilic. Have a great day @sashailic1 cafcpic.twitter.com/OjMLgiPjVx— CAFC Facts & Stats (Stuart Court) (@CafcFacts) July 18, 2025 Much like the coin, it was a series of coincidences which meant that Ilić had even made it to Wembley in the first place. As a Serbian-Australian living in the former Yugoslavia during the bloody civil war in 1996, Ilić visited his sisters in London. On the last night before he was due to return to Belgrade, he got chatting to Sheffield United midfielder-turned-marketing-manager Mike Trusson at football-themed restaurant Football Football.Within a few months, Ilić had moved permanently to London and was playing seventh-tier football for Trusson’s former club St. Leonards Stamcroft. A year later, having impressed scouts from a number of teams, he was training at Charlton.“I didn’t really have much money,” he remembers. “My sisters would lend me some money to jump on the train from where they were living in Putney. So I had to commute from Putney all the way to New Eltham, like a two-and-a-half-hour trip. And I did that with a huge smile on my face!”His excellent form in training – coupled with an injury to Mike Salmon – meant that, on February 25th, 1998, Ilić made his Charlton debut in a 2-1 win at Stoke. Exactly three months and 12 clean sheets later, his astonishing rise had taken him all the way to Wembley.“It was like I literally fell from the sky into Charlton,” he says. “I didn’t understand the hype of all of it, because I was just sort of thrown into it. It was a case for me where [the Play-Off Final] was just like any other game, and you approached it like any other game. But on the day we travelled to Wembley, we were greeted by 20,000, 30,000 Sunderland fans.“And we got this huge roar – people showing their middle finger, saying all sorts of profanity towards us. And that’s when it kicked in, the importance of the actual game. And obviously, going to the changing room, walking out on the pitch, it was just like a space shuttle in my eyes.”Three hours later Ilić had gone down in history as the man who decided one of the greatest Play-Off Finals of all time. Fast forward 28 years and, after a long career in England, Ilić now lives in Montenegro with his wife and two sons.The Play-Offs themselves, meanwhile, are now 40 years old, and have arguably never been under more scrutiny. In each of the last two seasons, Championship teams have hit the 90-point mark and still not gone up. In the National League, the ever-more popular '3UP' campaign gathered more steam this season as Rochdale amassed 106 points and still needed to scrape a Play-Off final win on penalties to ascend to League Two.From 2026/27, the Championship Play-Offs will expand from four to six teams. Questions have been asked about whether the Play-Offs remain the fairest way of deciding promotion. Ilić, though – perhaps unsurprisingly – remains resolute that they are.“That’s part and parcel of the excitement about football where you’re giving an underdog a chance to grab that trophy,” he says. “I think that’s what makes football super exciting. If you’ve done well throughout the season and you’ve accumulated 20 or 30 points more, on paper you should be winning these games. “But, you know, if you fail at the last hurdle, you’re not ready for it. You’re not ready for it, because you’re going to have a lot more challenging situations in the Premiership or the league above you, if you can’t handle the Play-Off. So, in some ways, it’s a good way to maybe see mentally where these players are.”Ilić is also an expert on what those games can do for a player’s legacy.“A footballer’s career is quite a short career. I think it’s very difficult, even when you’re a professional footballer, to exceed your level. But these sorts of situations can make a player excel quickly, can give a player a bit more recognition if they do particularly well in this one game. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing, I don’t know. I just know I’m one of those people that benefitted from that,” he says.“It creates legends, it creates an aura, it creates something for people to talk about.”This year’s Championship Play-Off final has thrown up one of the biggest talking points of all: the ‘spygate’ scandal. But Ilić is not convinced that Southampton should be expelled for their alleged misconduct.“That’s all absurd. I think it’s more paper talk than anything else. If you’ve lost because of a couple of photographs, mate, then… no,” he laughs.In an age when preparations for the Play-Offs are so intense that they can include spying on the other team, it seems unlikely that either Daniel Peretz or Ivor Pandur would have wanted to leave their fate up to the toss of a coin.For Pandur at least, he'll be hoping and praying that his numbers are drawn in this weekend's Play-Off lottery.

Jamie Barton
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"The Standards Don't Change": Dean Kiely on a Career Built on Consistency

Dean Kiely has stood between the sticks - and mentored those who do - at the very top for decades. Adapatability is a virtue - but the standards don't change. November 3rd 2003 It’s a cold autumn night in the West Midlands, and Dean Kiely’s goal is under siege. His Charlton Athletic side have taken the lead through a Matt Holland header, and Birmingham City are launching attack after attack forward in hope of levelling the scores. Kiely makes three sharp saves before the break to maintain the lead. Early in the second half, a floated cross finds World Cup winner Christophe Dugarry’s head just five yards from the Addicks’ goal. The striker makes perfect contact, but Kiely springs into life, clawing the bullet header over the bar. Non-plussed, the Frenchman’s face goes blank before contorting into a rictus of disbelief. That stop would later be named the Premiership’s save of the season in 2003/4, a campaign that would end with the Addicks in seventh place and Kiely being named the club’s Player of the Season for the second time. “When I was at my best, I felt like I played on autopilot,” Kiely tells Goalkeeper.com. “That was one of those days where everything went right. “To see his reaction to it, that’s one of the best feelings you can have as a goalie. To see the disbelief on a striker’s face when you make an incredible save. It’s like you’ve broken their heart.” Kiely’s natural agility and penchant for demoralising opposition goalscorers made the shot-stopper a hero at The Valley. An almost ever-present during Charlton’s seven-year stint in the Premier League in the 2000s, he carved out a career at the very top of the English game after travailing every level of its professional pyramid. “We did some special things. We beat Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea. It’s only when you look back on it, that you realise it’s a golden era for the club, and also a golden era for me professionally.” Born in Manchester to an Irish dad and a mum from the Black country, Kiely would eventually pick up football after his parents moved back to the Midlands, initially training with Birmingham before landing at West Bromwich Albion’s academy. At the age of 14, the Baggies put the youngster forward to attend the FA’s National School at Lilleshall in 1985, training with the top talent in the country for two years. On his 17th birthday, Kiely signed his first professional contract with the reigning FA Cup winners Coventry City. Playing in the reserves and youth teams, he was unable to dethrone club legend Steve Ogruzovic. “He showed me the grind it takes to play at that top level. His standards were incredible. I was never going to break into the first team with Steve there, so I was sent out on loan to Ipswich and then York City.” After a couple of months training with the fourth tier club, Kiely made a permanent switch and took over the number one spot. He would go on to make 215 appearances and keep 83 clean sheets for The Minstermen, securing promotion with a penalty shootout save in the Third Division playoff final at Wembley. 🥳 Happy 53rd Birthday to former Minsterman Dean Kiely.We hope you've had a great day, @deankiely40! 🎂YCFC 🔴🔵 pic.twitter.com/3QWjJdTWOB— York City F(C) (@YorkCityFC) October 10, 2023 “From the moment I broke into the first team, I was playing regular professional football for the next 21 years of my career,” says Kiely. “That’s all I ever wanted to do.” Throughout our conversation, the theme of consistency and a commitment to a steadfast work ethic come up, time and time again. After York barely survived relegation from the third tier in the 1995/6 season, a £125,000 switch to Bury beckoned.“What would Bury want from me?” Kiely says, rhetorically. “I would imagine it would be to train and play at a consistently high standard. To perform, and improve to the best of my ability.” They got that in spades. Kiely became a crucial member of the now defunct club’s modern golden era. Winning the Second Division crown in his first season, and helping the Shakers maintain their status in the second tier in his sophomore campaign, he would go on to keep 18 clean sheets in his final term despite the club’s relegation. The shotstopper missed just one game in his tenure, his only absence due to international commitments with the Republic of Ireland. Prior to the 1999/2000 season, Alan Curbishley and his first-team coach Mervyn Day, a former FA Cup-winning goalkeeper, were scouring the market, looking for a goalie that could propel the Addicks back to the Premier League at the first time of asking. With Kiely between the sticks, Charlton would keep 19 clean sheets as they romped to the First Division title, securing their seat at the top table once again. That would be Irishman's final promotion in a career that saw him successfully climb out of all levels of the professional pyramid. Kiely had that sometimes hit and miss virtue in the modern game: the ability to prove a transfer worthwhile. “I can say this now, having been in recruitment meetings as a coach, I would imagine throughout my career, the coaches are saying, ‘we’re alright at goalie’. The evidence says Dean is available and consistent, so we can look at other positions.“Often, a keeper gets parachuted into those teams that come up and they can’t sustain a run of games. “It was the same at York and at Bury. But obviously, the Premier League has that little bit more gravity to it, because of the standard.” Even with the standard of strikers he references as his most fearsome opponents - “Thierry Henry, Wayne Rooney, Ronaldo” - he more than held his own, helping Charlton to multiple top half finishes and bagging a spot in Mick McCarthy's squad for the 2002 World cup along the way. But how did he adapt his game to meet the grade? “My strengths were always my agility, my speed, how I moved around the goal. Everything else had to come up incrementally. Before every game, I’d cross myself, touch the post and repeat the mantra: be positive, be strong, come for crosses, kick well, clean sheet. “I started working with a sports psychologist working on visual cues and visualisation. Like when I played at Anfield, I would visualise kicking towards the scoreboard in the corner of The Kop. I knew if I nailed a kick towards that scoreboard, I’d be ok.” While he initially worked with Day on his drills, he would eventually settle into a working relationship with Micky Cole, a physio turned de facto goalkeeper coach. They enjoyed a collaborative relationship, using Cole’s expertise in the gym to build a position-specific exercise regime. “We were doing things you see a lot on Instagram now, working with resistance bands and plyometric exercises. I didn’t want to bench press, to be built like Arnold Schwarzenegger, it all had to feed back to on-field performance.“I was fortunate to have both. Mervyn who had been there at the top level, and Coley who was just so enthusiastic about goalkeeping but with that strength and conditioning approach.” Kiely’s openess eased the transition to coaching. After short stays at Portsmouth and Luton, he would return to West Brom, eventually taking up the number two spot behind Scott Carson. In his final year as a pro, outgoing goalkeeper coach Joe Corrigan suggested he take on a player-coach role. While Kiely was initially reluctant, manager Tony Mowbray’s counsel opened his eyes to the possibility. “He said, ‘you don’t realise this, but you’re coaching every day. The way you talk to the young players. The way you interact with the staff is really positive.’“I was inquisitive as a player. I wanted to try things. I’m like that now as a coach. I want to set an environment where you have to deliver, but if there’s something you don’t like we’ll discard it. It was like that when I was working with Scott [Carson]. We’d be out there for another 45 minutes or an hour after everyone’s gone in. What did you like about drill? What didn’t you like? We’d be open and honest, because that’s how you get your evidence.” That approach has seen Kiely forge a decade-long career as a goalkeeper coach at both international and club level. Since 2021, he has been a part of Ireland’s set-up. From 2018 until last summer, he was back in south London, this time working with top shot-stoppers like Dean Henderson under the auspices of managers including Roy Hodgson and Patrick Vieira at Crystal Palace. Even with the changes in the top job creating slightly shifting demands, Kiely says he was largely working towards the same principles in his one-on-one work. Hanging on his every word 🗣️When Dean Kiely talks, you listen 🤲GKUnion | WEAREON | COYBIG pic.twitter.com/7bEd6P4BlZ— Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 (@IrelandFootball) March 26, 2021 “If you compare Roy with Patrick, they both play a 4-3-3, but Roy was more defensive and Patrick was more attacking. That means different demands for the goalkeeper, you might have to make more saves. Ultimately, I’m doing the same things most of the time, but with little tweaks in line with what the manager wants.” Kiely is now at Maccabi Tel Aviv, his first time working outside of the UK. At first, he suggests the demands remain the same, although he catches himself at one point. “You don’t go on a coaching course and have a module on what to do if your number three keeper gets called up for national service,” he says, wryly. “Sometimes you have to get off the training pitch because the air raid siren goes up and missiles are being launched. “But you still have to get the football right.” Even in the face of geopolitical interventions in his routines, the basics that saw Kiely make 757 club appearances, keep 246 clean sheets, win 11 caps for Ireland and become a legend at York, Bury and Charlton remain the same. “I’m a Premier League player and coach, an international player and coach. I’m not going to rock up somewhere and be different. They’re the standards, that’s what I bring. Embrace it. If you don’t like something, let’s change it. But let’s crack on, and embrace it.” 

Tom Ritchie