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Withdean's Greatest XI Vote - Goalkeeper
With the end in sight for Brighton and Hove Albion's
time at Withdean Stadium,
we've decided to put together a poll for the Greatest
XI to pull on the stripes
during our 12 year stay - with this weeks vote being for
our goalkeeper
If one position has proven
to be a nightmare for the Albion since returning to the
City of Brighton and Hove in 1999, it has been
goalkeeper.
Incredibly, we have got
through a grant total of 24 (TWENTY FOUR) men between the
posts in our 12 year stay - and that does not include unused
substitutes who never took to the field (Chris Jones
anyone?!)
Among them, we've had ten
different nationalities (13 English, 2 Danes, 1 Scot,
1 Welsh, 1 Irish, 1 Northern Irish, 1 Swede, 1 Dutch,
1 Slovakian and 1 American), four who have won full international
honours, a fair few examples of quality and a lot more
examples of complete incompetence.
We've narrowed the
shortlist down to the ten who have played the most games
for the club as well as a bonus World Cup star - so pick
your poison!
Please
remember this is a vote for the player you thought to be
the BEST Albion goalkeeper - not your favourite!
Mark Walton
1999-2000,
58 appearances |
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Welshman
Walton signed from then-landlords Gillingham
in 1998. After fighting and losing the battle
with Mark Ormerod for the number one jersey
for the 1998-99 season, he established himself
as first choice 'keeper for the Seagulls first
year at Withdean thanks in part to the arrival
of Micky Adams whom he had played under at Fulham.
An extremely vocal 'keeper, Walton did not prove
too popular with fans and this was more often
than not reflected in the fact that he came
across as a moody sod and was slightly on the
podgy side. Despite being offered the chance
to be number one in 2000-2001, he left the club
on a free transfer to sign for his hometown
team Cardiff. |
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Michel Kuipers
2000-2011,
247 appearances |
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When
the former Dutch Marine was substituted after
just 45 minutes of his debut at Southend in
2000, nobody would have thought he would last
another eleven years at the club. But he did.
After regaining his place from Mark Cartwright,
Kuipers never looked back and was number one
for back-to-back promotions in 2001 and 2002.
A fantastic shot stopper who could have gone
onto greater things if it were not for horrendous
bad luck with injuries, he was only truly replaced
by one better 'keeper - Ben Roberts - who was
even more unlucky in the treatment room. Michel
was released at the end of 2010-11 as Gus Poyet
sought a new brand of football. |
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Ben Roberts
2003-2004,
35 appearances |
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Roberts
originally arrived on-loan in 2002 but did
enough in a three game spell to convince Steve
Coppell to sign him permanently in the summer
of 2003 and install him as number one. He was
the complete package - good off his line, a fine
communicator, a great shoot stopper and a knack
for flair, often deciding that dribbling around
opposition forwards was a good idea. He was
influential in keeping seven clean sheets in
eight games at the end of 2003-04, including in
the play-off final at the Millennium Stadium and
pulled off a stunning penalty save against
Swindon to help us there. Unfortunately, a back
injury forced him to retire at the end of
that season. |
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Dave Beasant 2003,
16 appearances |
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At the
ripe old age of 44, Dave Beasant played a pivotal
role in the Albion's unsuccessful bid to stave
off relegation from Division One in 2003. With
Michel Kuipers injured, Steve Coppell signed
the vastly experienced 'keeper and he didn't
disappoint. His attempted worm as Watford were
beaten 4-0 at Withdean as well as the infamous
tale of a heavy night ending with him sleeping
in the corner of a city centre kebab shop after
the Tuesday home encounter with Crystal
Palace endeared him to the Albion support, and
had Roberts not signed permanently in the summer
of 2003 the likelihood is that Beasant would
have still been pulling on a Brighton shirt
at the age of 45. |
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Rami Shaaban
2005,
6 appearances |
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Yes,
there are far more worthy players than Rami
to be on the list. There is no hiding away from
the fact that his total contribution while in
an Albion shirt amounted to precisely bugger
all, bar that 2-1 win over champions-elect Sunderland
at Withdean. Signed from Arsenal where he had
played Champions League football, he took over
from David "pink shirt at Leeds" Yelldell,
and no sooner had he warmed up his gloves than
he was being replaced by Alan Blayney, who went
onto play a key role in our survival that year.
The strangest thing of all - a year later Shaaban
found himself starting in the World Cup for
Sweden. As they say, football is a funny old
game. |
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Alan Blayney
2005, 15 appearances |
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With Mark McGhee having severe doubts
about Rami Shaaban, he moved to bring
in Alan Blayney from Southampton just
before the loan deadline. Blayney was
instantly installed as number one, a position
he held until the end of the season and
played a key role in the unbeaten run
that helped secure the Albion's Championship
status in 2004-05. McGhee tried to sign
the 'keeper permanently in the summer,
but was priced out of a move. He did return
to the club though for a second loan spell
in late 2005 when Wayne Henderson's initial
three months were up and Michel Kuipers
was still not fit, and saved penalties
in back-to-back games with Derby and Watford. |
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Wayne Henderson
2005-2007,
36 appearances |
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Henderson
was another loan signing to solve a keeper
crisis, coming in just days before the start
of the 2005-06 season. He impressed enough to convince
Mark McGhee to fork out £35,000 for him from
Aston Villa and in his time at Withdean he became
a full Ireland international but was a divisive
figure among Seagulls fans. Great performances,
particularly away at Leeds and Crystal Palace,
were mixed in with the habit of parrying a ball
straight to an oncoming centre forward, and
his days were numbered when a large majority
of the supporters booed him off the field following
a last minute mistake at Bournemouth. |
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Peter Brezovan
2009-,
20 appearances |
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With
Michel Kuipers again injured and Graeme Smith
leaking goals at an alarming rate, Gus Poyet
made his first signing as Albion boss when
he recruited Slovakian Peter Brezovan. Sexy Pete made an instant impact,
saving a penalty on his debut against Exeter
and although prone to make the odd cock up usually
when dealing with a ball into his box as games
against Wycombe and Carlisle showed, he soon
made the number one shirt his own in the Albion's
impressive run at the end of 2009-10. He would
have begun the 2010-11 season as number one,
but a hand injury suffered in pre-season has
restricted to him to just cup appearances this
season. |
Casper Ankergren
2010-,
28 appearances |
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Ankergren
signed on the eve of the 2010-2011 season after
Gus Poyet remained unconvinced about new signing
Michael Poke filling the void left by Peter
Brezovan's injury. The former Leeds stopper
hasn't looked back, playing in every league
game this season in one of the meanest
defences. He has pulled off some
vital stops to earn points this season, most
notably away at Carlisle and Southampton and
his distribution and role in the "flicky
flicky" style of football is key to starting
attacks from the back. The only question marks
remain about his ability to deal with crosses,
but with such solid fullbacks in front of him
its a weakness that is yet to really be exposed. |
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