Goalkeepers' Union

This week’s guest is a goalkeeper you may have heard on various podcasts in recent years.
With so many stories from a varied 19-year career which brought four promotions, unforgettable celebrations, an appearance in all four divisions of English football in almost as many seasons, lengthy spells on the sidelines and club sandwich eating competitions with teammates, he could arguably be described as the man who saved Manchester City.
Nicky Weaver, currently goalkeeper coach at his beloved Sheffield Wednesday, speaks to GKU about bouncing back, going to Kasper Schmeichel's 18th birthday party and taking the perfect penalty.

A discussion never properly presented from a goalkeeping perspective is that of Peter Shilton's performances at Italia 90.

Blamed largely for conceding a deflected Andreas Brehme free-kick and all four penalties in the semi-final shootout with West Germany, Shilts called time on his 20-year England career once the tournament had ended.

We look at whether he was to blame, whether criticism was justified and why Sir Bobby Robson kept faith in his 40-year-old captain and custodian.

We look at a selection of saves made by Safe Hands himself over the course of his 23-year career.

Stops from his time with QPR, Arsenal, Manchester City and England are included, in addition to a closer inspection of Gascoigne in '91, Nayim in '95 and Ronaldinho in '02.

Following the recent passing of Peter "The Cat" Bonetti at the age of 78, Rich pays homage to his first-ever professional goalkeeper coach.

Clayton Beerman from the Chelsea FanCast also joins the discussion and we offer some balanced Bonetti analysis to right the wrongs of that 1970 World Cup criticism.

Following a brief COVID-related hiatus, The Goalkeepers' Union Podcast returns for an interim series tackling some of the game's big goalkeeping questions.

First up, we discuss whether Peter Schmeichel – arguably the greatest goalkeeper of all time – would be able to mix it with the big boys in the modern game.

Feedback always welcome. Join the debate on Twitter @GKUnion.

This week’s guest is a man who began his goalkeeping life at the Theatre of Dreams.
From the age of 10 he came through the Manchester United ranks under Sir Alex Ferguson and made a handful of appearances for The Red Devils prior to moving onto pastures new.
He’s since come to the end of a 19-year career encompassing a whopping 19 clubs and a number of highs and lows to match.
Paul Rachubka joins GKU to tell tales of his formative years alongside Peter Schmeichel and Fabien Barthez and his life after football.

This week's guest is another opportunity for current and aspiring goalkeeper coaches to dive back into Coaches Corner.

Starting like many others as a coach in the community, Paul Clements didn't take the conventional route into football. However, a successful route now sees him overseeing the likes of Jonas Lossl and Kamil Grabara at Huddersfield Town.

He talks candidly to GKU about how he arrived at The John Smith's Stadium - and how this is only the beginning of his journey.

Triple saves from Dean Henderson and Alex McCarthy feature in this week's analysis show, as does Kepa's return, the long-awaited emergence of Simon Sluga and arguably the greatest save of the season so far from Portsmouth's Alex Bass.

Keeper Capers: Ederson in the Manchester derby

This week’s guest is a man who started at Reading, excelled at Charlton and stepped up to the Premier League with Leicester and then Huddersfield.
He’s bagged two promotions, he’s been named in a PFA team of the Year. He’s even won a PUMA Golden Glove.
But, perhaps best of all, he’s one of a number of guests we’ve had on the podcast to have dislodged Richard Lee from the No1 spot.
Ben Hamer is currently enjoying life on loan at Derby County in The Championship. He talks GKU through his goalkeeping journey so far, including an unexpected linguistic talent.

Richard has returned!

With Mr Lee back in Blighty, the weekend's key goalkeeping action is discussed, including the mixed fortunes for Jordan Pickford and David De Gea in the game at Goodison Park.

We also touch on Kiko Casilla's ban at Leeds, plus a bit of League One to boot.

Keeper Capers: Nahuel Guzmán