My Career

Junior Days

I started goalkeeping when I was seven years of age at V.V.R.U.C in Utrecht, Holland.  We were a successful side and won the under 12 and under 14 leagues.

I made my first team debut for the club when I was just 14 and had some great times there.  During my time here I played at County level which was a great honour.

 

 

 

 

Utrecht and beyond

When I was 16 I signed for FC Utrecht.  Utrecht is the fourth biggest city in the Netherlands and is located just south-east of Amsterdam.

In my first season with FC Utrecht my under 18 team finished second in the league to PSV Eindhoven.  I also helped the reserve team win the national league and in the process I developed into the clubs second choice goalkeeper.

The picture to the right is of the Utrecht squad - I am three in from the right on the back row.

After 6 years at FC Utrecht I joined NAC Breda.  Breda are based south-west of Utrecht by some distance. 

It was here where I made my top flight debut in professional football, coming on as a substitute in a goalless draw against FC Groningen. 

My full debut was a baptism of fire.  It came in the Semi-final of the Dutch Cup against Feyenoord.  Other highlights from my three years with NAC Breda include beating PSV Eindhoven twice and playing against Ronaldo when he was a youngster at PSV, prior to his move to Barcelona.

The picture below is of me training at Utrecht with legendary Dutch goalkeeper Piet Schrijvers.

In the summer of 1996 I signed on a Bosman transfer for Eindhoven on a two year contract.  The team was developing at Eindhoven all the time and we made progress each season.  It culminated in us reaching the play offs to get into the top flight of Dutch football.  I enjoyed my time with Eindhoven as first choice goalkeeper but chose to move on in 1998 after my contract ended.

Tranmere

In the summer of 1998 I had a successful trial at Tranmere Rovers in England who were then in the second tier of English football (now the Championship).  I signed a two year deal with Tranmere and soon made my first team debut on 25th September 1998 in a televised goalless draw at at home to Swindon Town. The picture to the right was taken when I signed for Tranmere.

In my first 5 years at Tranmere we became known as a ‘giant killing cup team’ due to our exceptional and surprising records in the domestic cup competitions. 

We qualified for the quarter finals of the FA Cup three times which is unheard of for a club at our level, it was a great achievment. In these games we beat Premier League teams Fulham, Portsmouth, Sunderland and Bolton Wanderers.

I also helped Tranmere get to the first major cup final in the clubs history when we played Leicester City at Wembley Stadium in the 2000 League Cup Final.

Despite playing in every qualification round I was dropped for the final as my contract negotiations were not finalised.  Tranmere lost 2 – 1.

 

There were many other great games to come though.  Some that stand out include the 3 – 0 victory in the FA Cup 4th round away at Everton in front of a full house of 40,000 in January 2001.  Everton are only a short distance from Tranmere so it was a derby game too, a massive result for the fans and players.  The photo below shows me celebrating at full-time at Goodison Park along with team mates Richard Hinds (now Sheffield Wednesday) and Graham Allen.

The win against Everton was followed by a game many describe as the best FA Cup comeback ever. After drawing 0 – 0 away at Premiership Southampton, we found ourselves trailing 3 – 0 at Prenton Park at half time.   In a remarkable second half we over ran our Premier League opponents and won 4 – 3.

I am quite often asked what are my favourite games for Tranmere?

I always enjoy the atmosphere and the pressure from playing the bigger teams and the cup runs, particularly the Bolton League Cup Semi Final away game where I made a number of very important saves which allowed us to win the game 1 – 0 and defend our position at home.

I also really enjoyed the FA Cup Quarter Final away game at Millwall in 2004 where we drew 0 – 0 and I made some important saves, including saving a Kevin Muscat penalty to get a historic replay back at Prenton Park.  Unfortunately we couldn't win the replay.

(Pictured right: The MIllwall Quarter-Final against Tim Cahill)

Obviously I really enjoyed the Everton and Southampton games but from a personal level I really didn’t have a lot to do.

Keeping 20 clean sheets in the 2003 - 2004 season was a personal best for me and something I am very proud of.

In my time at Tranmere I have been voted Players Player of the year on two occasions and also Supporters Player of the year once.

In the summer of 2007 I was delighted to sign a 2 year player goalkeeping coach at Tranmere Rovers. This followed a personally disappointing two seasons where I missed out large spells of both campaigns through injury.

I have worked hard to regain my fitness and am working very hard with Danny Coyne (Welsh International) to keep us both fit to ensure we achieve our goal of Championship Football.  Hopefully we can achieve that this season.

The 2 year extension will take me through to eleven enjoyable seasons with Tranmere.

2007/2008 season

This season I came into the team after Danny Coyne got injured.  I played five games in the first team again, during which we got to the top of League One after winning at Southend.  I also made my 299th start for Tranmere and so I need one more game to reach 300.

Coaching

A big part of my life now is my coaching.  I have already been lucky enough to work with some great goalkeepers from all different age groups.  Some of the ones I have worked with are listed below.

Professionals:

Phil Palethorpe: Now at Chester City.
Russell Howarth: York City, Bradford City
Dino Seremet: Whilst on loan from Luton Town
Joe Hart: Shrewsbury, Manchester City, England under 21 - Whilst on loan from Man City
Steve Wilson: Ex-Hull City and Macclesfield Town
Danny Coyne: Ex-Leicester City, Burnley, Grimsby Town and Wales international

Youth keepers who became YTS or move elsewhere after I worked with them:

Stephen Ryan: Stoke City Reserves first year pro
Peter Kennedy: YTS
Shane McWeeney: YTS
Damian Eastham: Trial at Manchester United for three months, signed YTS at Huddersfield Town
Connor Roberts: Sold from Tranmere to Everton.  Became Wales under 16 international whilst working with him and also called up for Northern Ireland under 16.
Joe Collister: YTS

Female keepers:

Jo Fletcher: Tranmere Rovers goalkeeper who left to go to Birmingham City Ladies in the Premiership.  Jo has also been picked to play for England.
Laura Barnes-Ellis: A member of the English student National team, she then moved to Bristol Rovers in the Premiership.
Rosie Lamprey: Plays for the Wales under 16 national team and now moved to Atlantic USA scholarship were she been taken on.