LONDON: Manchester United's Edwin van der Sar stands on the brink of defying death - Steve Death, that is - today.

Full Story

Not many football fans are familiar with the late Steve Death, who passed away more than 5 years ago. After all, he was a goalkeeper with unfashionable Reading. However, supporters of the club will remember Death as one of the longest-serving (10 years & 537 games) & best-liked players ever to represent them.

Death won a 4th Division Championship in 1979, keeping 26 clean sheets that season, setting & holding the Football League record of 1,103 minutes without letting a goal. That is the record Man Utd's Edwin Van Der Sar is trying to emulate. Steve Death was a colourful character, who often smoked cigarettes, during a game, to the chagrin of his manager & the delight of his fans.

Piece of cake.

Death to another record. Edwin Van Der Sar keeps another clean sheet to break Steve Death's long standing record achieved when he was Reading's goalkeeper. Fortune had a part to play in it, as Everton's Joleon Lescott was denied a legitimate penalty-kick, after he was hauled down by Rio Ferdinand in the area. I guess it's nothing new; referees have always been in awe of star players of the Big 4 EPL clubs. The 'rub of the green' phenomenon is not a new development.

Eagle 2004 31 Jan 09 at o1:06 PM

<< Death won a 4th Division Championship in 1979, keeping 26 clean sheets that season, setting & holding the Football League record of 1,103 minutes without letting a goal.>>

Keeping a clean sheet against Premier League teams and keeping a clean sheet against 4th Division teams are two different things altogether.

owtspoken

{Keeping a clean sheet against Premier League teams and keeping a clean sheet against 4th Division teams are two different things altogether}

You got this one all wrong.

Keeping a clean sheet while playing behind a formidable & expensively assembled team such as Man United, who are club champions of England, Europe & the World, is a piece of cake.

Tending goal for a 4th Division club with limited resources battling on a much more level-playing field than the Premier League, which is dominated by the Big 4 clubs, is a MUCH greater achievement.

I salute the late Steve Death, who never had the privilege of world class defenders & midfielders protecting his goal, & covering up his mistakes.

Luther Blisset was a powerfully built centre-forward for Watford & England in the 1980s. He scored 27 league goals as his club finished runners-up in the Old First Division.

This prompted AC Milan to splash out a then exhorbidant 1 million pounds to be their chief striker in Serie A. However, he was a total flop as his lack of finesse, poor ball control, absence of dribbling skills, & worse of all - a mere 5 goals - made him the butt of jokes all over Europe. He returned to Watford after 1 season, at half his purchased price, & with the new nickname 'Luther Miss It'.

Edwin Van Der Sar probably holds the record for the number of minutes he has kept a clean sheet because he plays for Man Utd. It would be a far greater achievement if he obtained this record while playing for the likes of Everton, Spurs, Newcastle, Boro, Portsmouth, Sunderland, Stoke etc.

The legendary Dino Zoff was a goalie for Juventus & Italy. He became the oldest ever winner of the World Cup, when he captained his country to victory in 1982 at the ripe old age of 40.

Zoff also holds the record for the longest playing time without conceding a goal in international football at 1,142 minutes between 1972 & 1974. He was helped, in part by the defensive formation, which Italian teams of that era adopted. Of course, he also benefitted from having almost the entire Italian defence comprising of his clubmates at Juventus. Even though Zoff had to face formidable international class forwards while playing for Italy, having a settled & water-tight defence playing in front of him was a huge plus point.

Wonder what is the S-League record.

Its great to see Van Der Sar accomplishing this. He is one committed professional.

However, at 38 I wonder if Utd is already looking for a possible replacement. They must have relected on the un-settling effect when Schmeichel left Utd and how they needed time to rebuild that level of confidence.

I do see Van Der Sar playing for at least 3 years more, it is whether it will be at Utd though.