Everything you've ever wanted to know about
goalkeepers and a little bit more
26 August 2024
A Bank Holiday update that sees Gianluigi Buffon enter the Goalkeeping Greats Hall of Fame! If that's not all, there's also some more goalkeepers that have scored a goal, including the Vietnam international with over twenty goals to his name, and the goalie that turned down a chance of a trial with Celtic and turned his back on the game for religious reason. And of course, because it's August, there's some more debuts - both heroic and not so heroic - to celebrate the start of the new football season.
Goalkeeping Greats, Goalkeeping Debuts, Goalscoring Goalkeepers, Keepers of the Faith
28 July 2024
Having completely ignored the Euros last month, the latest site update includes some goalkeeping-related trivia from championships of the past, including the goalkeepers with the most clean sheets. There's also some good and bad debuts, including the Angola international that became Porto's youngest ever player, some keepers with disabilities that did not prevent them from making the grade and some more footballing families. There's also a couple of defenders who found themselves in goal due to injuries to their keepers.
Quirky Facts, Goalkeeping Debuts, Getting Personal, Emergency Measures
27 June 2024
A mid-Euros update that doesn't feature a single piece of trivia about the European Championships! Don't despair, however, there's still lots of quirky facts, including the South American president who began life as a goalkeeper, the keeper who had the misfortune to be the first player ever to be substitued in the Football League and the American goalkeeper who decided to put the name of their hero on the back of their shirt. There's also some more debuts, both good and bad, some sporting masters plus the Scottish goalie whose brother featured in several Hollywood blockbusters.
Quirky Facts, Getting Shirty, Goalkeeping Debuts, Politically Speaking
26 May 2024
A Bank Holiday update that features not one but two goalkeepers that ended up in hospital after being bitten by spiders (no pets were involved!). In addition to the arachnid angst, there's the American goalkeeper who ended up behind bars along with his wife, the Inside Right who was forced to play an entire game in goal for Newcastle United after his keeper was injured in the warm-up and the day Kaiserslautern lost not one but two goalies. There's also some more unfortunate goalkeeping debuts, including the unfortunate custodian who was beaten six times while on loan at Espanyol.
Goalkeeping Debuts, Quirky Injuries, I Fought the Law, Emergency Measures
28 April 2024
April's update is another feast of goalkeeping trivia, featuring Aston Villa's shirt faux pas and the Huddersfield goalkeeper who was forced to wear his opponent's shirt during an away match. There's also the former Tottenham keeper who released a rap single, the German international who played a character called Big John in a South African film and bunch of goalkeepers that found the net, including the Southampton goalkeeper who once scored five in a game. If that wasn't enough there some more goalie-themed quotes from some the game's most famous names.
Quirky Facts, Getting Shirty, Goalscoring Goalkeepers, Words of Wisdom
24 March 2024
There is something of a Soviet-era feel to the latest update that includes the night Rinat Dasayev wore a France goalkeeper top for a friendly in Paris and the addition of the forgotten Yevhen Rudakov to the Goalkeeping Greats section. If that's not enough, there's also the Tehran derby where both keepers donned a shirt they swapped with their opposition numbers in the 1982 Asian Games, some more sporting masters and quirky coincidences plus the Spain international who turned to politics after hanging up his gloves.
Goalkeeping Greats, Quirky Facts, Getting Shirty, Politically Speaking
Goalkeepersaredifferent.com came to life in the summer of 1999. A treasure trove of goalkeeper facts, trivia and a whole lot more, it has kept football fans and goalkeepers alike amused and entertained with its collection of goalie titbits ever since. But don't just take our word for it...
"Educational and charming" - Oliver Kahn
"Excellent and well-written" - When Saturday Comes
"Excellent" - Guardian Unlimited
"Goalkeepers are the drummers of football... Great quirky facts, a great website" - Website Wasteland, The Gideon Coe Show, BBC Radio6 Music
- "It's disappointing to be dropped from any team - even my mates' fantasy league team"
Robert Green - "I dreamt of playing for a club like Manchester United, and now here I am at Liverpool"
Sander Westerveld - "He had no chance of beating Schmeichel from there, but it was always worth a try"
Alan Parry - "If you're a goalkeeper, it doesn't matter what you save the ball with - if you keep it out, it's not a goal"
Mark Lawrenson - "Goalkeepers aren't born today until they're in their late twenties or thirties"
Kevin Keegan - "And Seaman, just like a falling oak, manages to change direction"
John Motson - "It was like deja vu all over again"
Shaka Hislop - "I still don't buy the idea that I'm a sex symbol"
Hope Solo - "Peter Schmeichel will be like a father figure to Kasper Schmeichel"
Jamie Redknapp - "Casper Ankegren's a bit of a Dracula-type keeper... doesn't like crosses"
Andy Ritchie - "I discovered it's not the gloves but what's in them that counts"
Neville Southall - "You cant have nice goalkeepers. Nice goalkeepers don't win you anything!"
Alan Hodgkinson - "What goalkeeper doesn't like a little action?"
Karen Bardsley - "The goalkeeper position is not an easy one. You can only speak about it if you are a goalkeeper yourself"
Simon Mignolet - "If you're playing badly, the best gloves in the world won't help you"
Gary Bailey - "It's very easy for people to overlook how important a good goalkeeper is in a team"
Graeme Souness
