Villa Goalkeepers

[dave.woodhall]

I cannot remember Jimmy Rimmer making a serious mistake in his time with our club.

No mistakes and as a few have said, only one memorable save. Maybe it's the boots and balls that now make keeping more about theatricals, but back then they seemed more reliable and relied on positioning rather than reflexes.

[Exeter 77]

I cannot remember Jimmy Rimmer making a serious mistake in his time with our club.

No mistakes and as a few have said, only one memorable save. Maybe it's the boots and balls that now make keeping more about theatricals, but back then they seemed more reliable and relied on positioning rather than reflexes.

The save after the penalty miss in Berlin? I can't remember another one either.

[Damo70]

My wife's mate was the 'star' of the Bosnich/Yorke threesome pictures a few years back, I used to live and work in the Canary Islands with Kevin Poole's cousin Sean and Jimmy Rimmer is my Godfather.

Okay, I admit I made the last one up.

[SirSteveUK]

Who here could ever forget Mike Pinner ?? 

Well, all of us apparently - 54-57 - 4 appearances - anyone ever see him play ??

An amateur in the true sense  !

I think he was the one who used to cut off the feet part of his socks before a game....or was that Budgie?

[Ron Manager]

Who here could ever forget Mike Pinner ?? 

Well, all of us apparently - 54-57 - 4 appearances - anyone ever see him play ??

An amateur in the true sense  !

I think he was the one who used to cut off the feet part of his socks before a game....or was that Budgie?

Mike Pinner was the last amateur to play for us..Went on to become a top class lawyer down the smoke.Brian Green saw him play for us.l remember him playing for QPR in the early sixties.he is still alive and well by all accounts.

[Oscar Arce]

Can someone settle an argument for me- did we or did we not have the ex bluenose keeper Jim Herriot on a short term loan around the late sixties?

Yes we signed Jim Herriot on loan from Blues as cover.
He played in a reserve game at VP under floodlights and had this habit of smearing mud around his eyes because he reckoned it stopped he glare!
I kid ye not he looked like a Panda on acid.
Thank god he never made a first team appearance.
Evan Williams was a good shout earlier, on loan from Wolves he looked good as di Graham Moseley on loan from Derby.
John Dunn's kicking was awful, much worse than even Bosnich.
Colin Withers made great saves but was prone to gaffes, Spink has to be number one for me with Rimmer, the bst I've seen.

[dave shelley]

Re Jim Herriot and the 'mud' under his eyes.  As bad as a goalkeeper he was, he was before his time with that.  That is common in American Football.  It's anti-glare from floodlights IIRC.

[Flamingo Lane]

Evan Williams was a good shout earlier, on loan from Wolves he looked good

No, no, no, no.  Evan Williams was completely useless and was a key reason why we were relegated to the third division.

[Ron Manager]

I agree. Evan Williams and John Phillips were second rate most of the time as was John Gavan in the early sixties.

[manic-road]

The first keeper I remember was Burridge, I think that the best keeper for consistency was Rimmer but greatest one off game was Spink in Rotterdam.

[Whiney MacWhineface]

I remember Simms and (occasionally) Sidebottom, but Colin Withers was my favourite goalie until Rimmer came along. Didn't worry me he'd come from Blues, he made some great saves (let's face it he needed to) and created a real impact as he trotted towards the Holte End because he stank of liniment.

Rimmer's my overall favourite because he was so solid (also had a great defence in front of him), and he succeeded a number of deeply flawed goalies, though who knows what his kicking would have been like?

Bosnich comes close for the sheer number of world class saves he made (though he too had a very good defence n front of him), only the dreadful kicking marks him down.

[Whiney MacWhineface]

Oh, and some time in late 77 I'd been down to Bodymoor to watch that stellar team train, took a few pictures, got autographs, then they buggered off leaving us to watch some chump goalie being put through his paces. He was terrible - didn't stop a single shot. Talking to a fellow spectator I voiced my expert opinion which went something along the lines of "God help us if we ever have to rely on him". He agreed, but added that as we'd only just signed him as a kid from non-League he had time to learn.

Four and a half years later he showed me a) not to judge too quickly b) he'd learned, and how.

[Godfrey Brian]

Evan Williams was a good shout earlier, on loan from Wolves he looked good

No, no, no, no.  Evan Williams was completely useless and was a key reason why we were relegated to the third division.

No confidence at times but some acrobatic saves at others. Went on to play in a European Cup final for Celtic

[castlefields_villan]

Anybody the Tommy Hughes calamity performance in the table topper vs Notts County in 1971/72 at home - he'd had an absolute howler of a game but topped it off with a late penalty save from was it Don Masson to preserve our 1-0 win (courtesy of a Ray Graydon header)

Incidentally didn't Don Masson miss a penalty for Scotland in the 1978 World Cup against the mighty Peru ?  If memory serves me right it would've put the Jocks 2-1 up in a game they went on to lose 3-1.  This from a team that was going to "Win" the World Cup and yet could afford not to even include Andy Gray in their squad.

[claretandbeer]

Bosnich,James and Rimmer but I'm not sure in which order I would rank them.Withers made spectacular saves but stayed on his line for crosses.Why was his fall from grace so sudden ?
The other disappointment was Mercer letting go of Kevin Keelan who was outstanding for the youth team and played against us in the 75 League Cup final.