XI at 11: England's Best Goalkeepers
by Owen Evans, 12 October 2007
With the debate raging all week as to whether Paul Robinson should be England's No. 1, our latest XI at 11 takes a look at England's finest ever goalkeepers.
1. Gordon Banks, 73 caps.
1966 World Cup winner and widely regarded as the best English goalkeeper of all time. The former Leicester City and Stoke player will always be remembered for his gravity-defying save against Brazil legend Pele in the 1970 World Cup.
2. David Seaman, 75 caps.
Gunners legend David Seaman earnt the nickname 'Safe Hands' through match-winning performances for the national side. Most notably, Seaman's penalty save from Scotland's Gary McAllister in Euro 96 helped England towards a famous 2-0 victory.
3. Peter Shilton, 125 caps.
England's record cap-holder played a starring role in three World Cups and two European Championships. All the more impressive considering the former Nottingham Forest keeper did not make his World Cup debut until he was 32, keeping a record 10 clean sheets in 17 finals appearances.
4. Ray Clemence, 61 caps.
Desperately unlucky to have played in the same era as Shilton, ex-Liverpool ace Clemence was also one of the few keepers ever to captain The Three Lions in a 1-0 friendly defeat against Brazil.
5. Frank Swift, 19 caps.
Manchester City's FA Cup-winning goalkeeper's international career was severely cut short by World War II. Swift tragically passed away in the Munich air disaster, when he was on the same plane as the Manchester United team in his capacity as a journalist.
6. Nigel Martyn, 23 caps.
The big Cornishman found it difficult to surpass England stalwart David Seaman after making his international debut against Russia in 1992 but had some good moments for his country.
7. Chris Woods, 43 caps.
Peter Shilton's long-time understudy Woods finally came to the fore in the early 90s and played all the games in The Three Lions' Euro 92 campaign. Unfortunately he is also remembered for taking part in some of Graham Taylor's biggest defeats.
8. David James, 34 caps.
Steve McClaren has brought the controversial keeper back from the international wilderness after his record-breaking form for Portsmouth. The former Liverpool player made his debut under Glenn Hoddle against Mexico in 1997.
9. Peter Bonetti, 7 caps.
Sandwiched between England legends Banks and Shilton, Chelsea's Bonetti was restricted to only a handful of England appearances. Nicknamed 'The Cat', Bonetti represented England in their 1970 World Cup campaign but was blamed for the 3-2 defeat to West Germany.
10. Joe Corrigan 9 caps.
Part of the 1982 World Cup campaign, Manchester City legend Corrigan acted as strong competition to Shilton after making his debut against Italy in 1976 but was very unfortunate to find Shilton and Clemence ahead of him in the pecking order due to their remarkable consistency.
11. Tim Flowers 11 caps.
A Premiership winner with Blackburn, Flowers battled for the starting spot with Seaman during Euro 96 and the World Cup two years later. A very smart shot-stopper but never one to flourish on the international stage.