The keepers

After Michael Cooper looked back to his best against Bolton, Phil Ridley looks back at the great, good and eccentric goalkeepers to have worn the gloves for Sheffield United.

Phil Ridley

People say keepers are just a bit different, not wired up the same. Not wired up at all in some cases…

Maybe being the northerner with a funny accent at my primary school was where my being ‘a bit different’ started. I certainly remember it being about that age when I started chucking a tennis ball at the concrete steps round the side of my house to test my reactions when it bounced back in all different directions, and throwing myself about on the concrete path trying to stop it. Mum would always berate me for ripping another pair of school trousers or cutting my knees again.

This is where my fascination with goalkeeping and goalkeepers started. Whereas most kids brought up in the 80s had footballing heroes like Gary Lineker or Bryan Robson, my idols were Neville Southall, Nigel Spink and Steve Sutton.

Bringing it back to United, good goalkeepers are one thing we seem to have often been blessed with.

I reckon my earliest memories of going to the Lane were being fascinated with John ‘Budgie’ Burridge. If ever you need an example of us keepers being a bit different, he’s the GOAT! Not only was he crackers, but he was a bloody good goalkeeper too, despite being pretty small at 5’11”.

I clearly remember Hans Segers being brilliant for us too while on loan for a short period. What an impact he would go on to have for United a few years later… allegedly.

After Budgie, we’d have a few barren years of goalkeeping greatness, with unremarkable keepers such as Phil Kite, Andy Leaning and Graham Benstead.

Then Harry Bassett brought in a young 21-year-old from Wimbledon for just £7,500 who would go on to be probably my favourite ever United player.

Simon Tracey was an absolute revelation and became part of Blades folklore by being a major part of the Bassett-era sides’ rise through the leagues. He went on to remain at the club for 15 years.

You could say he wasn’t the most alert-looking of blokes, but Trace was another example of keepers being a little bit different to the rest. He had incredible reactions and could make saves he had no right to make look so easy. I can clearly remember a stop he made in front of the Kop at Anfield from Ray Houghton. Houghton just stood there in disbelief and applauded it.

He was also pretty good with crosses and brave to a fault, as he would find out thanks to the boot of Ian Rush breaking his cheekbone after he bravely dived at the striker’s feet in the first game of the 1990 season.

Tracey’s kicking let him down, a theme for United keepers throughout the years, and he was prone to the maybe far too frequent rush of blood to the head. Or ‘brain farts’, as I remember hearing one of his errors leading to a Norwich goal described towards the end of his Blades career.

That said, in my opinion Tracey should have had an England cap or two. He was definitely better than that clown Woods the other lot from S6 had between their sticks around the same time. He did apparently make a squad once but had to pull out before it was announced due to a back injury.

The 1992 signing of Alan Kelly meant Tracey had fewer opportunities over the coming years. Although, ironically, Kelly got his chance through another one of Tracey’s brain farts, after Tracey was sent off for two stupid bookings against Spurs. Pretty sure the second yellow was for stopping a Spurs player taking a quick throw-in by grabbing his arms.

Alan Kelly was the perfect goalkeeper, and another Bassett bargain, this time from Preston. Big, commanding, brilliant shot-stopper, great with crosses and pretty much unflappable. Unusually for a goalkeeper, he rarely ever made a mistake.

His performance at Wembley against that lot was incredible and saved us from a bit of a hiding, in truth. Although I reckon, with the modern-day Twitter experts, he would have been slaughtered by some for Waddle’s free-kick if that was today.

On that point, I regularly get stick from mates for defending keepers too much. Keepers’ Union and all that!

But I honestly think some people think that just because we’ve conceded, it has to be the keeper’s fault, no matter what mistakes or poor play have gone before it. While I don’t think he has been as good as last season, Michael Cooper has suffered a bit with that this season.

Back to Kelly after my ranty digression…

He went on to play over 200 games for the Blades and cemented himself into Blades folklore on Paddy’s Day 1998 by saving three penalties against Coventry City to help us to another FA Cup semi-final. A feat he had similarly achieved five years earlier against Blackburn.

Widely regarded as United’s greatest-ever goalkeeper, Kelly eventually left to join Blackburn after reportedly turning Wednesday down because it was Wednesday. Legend!

During the Kelly and Tracey years, we also signed a relative unknown from West Brom who would go on to leave a lasting legacy at the club for more reasons than just his ability.

Mel Rees only actually played eight times for the Blades before he was diagnosed with cancer. But what an impression he left. How Mel had never really held down a first-team place anywhere is beyond me. A tremendous keeper taken far too soon.

His lasting legacy was leading both teams out and his lap of honour at the FA Cup semi-final, when Sheffield came together in applause and respect. He died less than two months later.

Rest in peace, Mel.

The next Blades great keeper was another bargain signing, this time from Bury. Paddy Kenny.

Initially signed on loan to cover another Tracey injury, we signed Paddy permanently for just £45,000. Ridiculous really for a keeper who went on to achieve so much, both with United and elsewhere.

I actually think Paddy was a better keeper than he was given credit for, although let’s be honest, he didn’t look the part from day one. Bald, a touch on the tubby side and a little bit erratic in how he played, but he was a brilliant goalkeeper and a great servant for the club. He went on to make nearly 300 appearances. It would have been more but for getting banned for a year for taking the wrong cough medicine.

How Paddy ended up leaving left a sour note for many, as it seemed he jumped ship after the club had stood by him during his ban. I’m glad that in more recent years he has had the opportunity to tell his side of the story, and I think most Blades have forgiven him now.

And rightly so. His time at United deserves to be remembered fondly rather than for a sour ending.

We’d have another barren spell for a few years, with keepers like Mark Bunn (great at kicking, couldn’t stop a shot), Steve Simonsen (couldn’t catch a cold, can’t take a penalty), Mark Howard and George Long.

Simon Moore came in at just the right time in the Wilder League One season and gave us exactly what we needed. Calm, assured and an all-round good goalkeeper. A brilliant servant for the club and rightly still highly regarded by so many.

He wasn’t quite good enough to play all the way through our journey up to ninth in the Premier League, but was the perfect number two to the next legendary Blades keeper.

Despite never actually being our player, Dean Henderson felt like he was a proper Blade.

His announcement to the Blades Twitter family, tweeting the words to the Greasy Chip Butty Song along with a picture of a bottle of Hendo’s shortly after signing the first time around, set the tone for how the Blades would come to love him.

Henderson was already a pretty much complete keeper when we signed him, despite never having played as high as the Championship. He truly announced himself early in the promotion season with an incredible three-on-one save late in the game against Norwich to stop them taking the lead, a game we would go on to win with an even later Billy Sharp goal.

His antics during games will always be memorable, a fake dive taking the piss out of a Lee Evans wild, high-and-wide shot against Wigan being my personal favourite.

It’s a shame we couldn’t have signed Deano permanently, but he had ambitions higher than us at Man Utd. I’m glad he’s gone on to prove his worth at Palace, especially with his contribution in the FA Cup final against City. Should be England’s number one for me.

Since Henderson, we’ve gone back to a barren spell of average at best.

Ramsdale cost a fortune and wasn’t great for most of the relegation season, despite ending up as our Player of the Year, winning an England call-up and forcing a move to Arsenal. At least we got more than our money back.

Wes Foderingham was better than he was given credit for in my eyes. Brilliant shot-stopper but terrible with his feet. Some of the stops he made in that Premier League season were ridiculous, the one from Mo Salah especially!

Grbic, garbage.

So on to the current number one.

Does Michael Cooper go on to be the next Blades legend keeper?

Whether he regains his form or not is likely to be a key factor in how well we do this season, and the signs so far are pretty good. After his performance in last night’s win against Bolton and his contribution to the draw away at Cardiff, we’re arguably already four points better off than we could easily have been.

I’ve thought for a while that this season will determine how his legacy at the club is viewed.

If his performance levels continue in their current vein, there’s every chance that, in years to come, he’ll be thought of in a similar way to the likes of Tracey, Kelly and Kenny.