Keepers past and present.

Last week, a few days before the sad passing or our Bert, while channel hopping, I came across a discussion on Sky.

There was a group of four ex players, of which one was Joe Royal discussing Goalkeepers.

The discussion went along the lines as to how the keepers role has changed with the introduction of the back pass rule. For the younger ones amongst you, a player could play the ball back to the keeper and he could handle it.

When that rule came in the keepers role changed dramatically. In some aspects the goalie became a sweeper, he had to be able to control the ball with both feet as well as any outfield player. He also needed to be able to kick with both feet, often bringing the ball out to start an attack.

They spoke about the hugh size of the modern keeper, mostly over six foot three with almost gymnastic agility. They quoted cases of keepers who played in the the then first division who were only five foot eight or nine. Not a lot of good if you are up against Peter Cr