6’1” Shay Given has been described as being quite short for a goalkeeper, so kudos to this lot for forging a career in this position. Sport.co.uk lists ten pint-sized goalkeepers…
1. Jeremie Janot (AS Saint-Étienne), 5’9” – The Frenchman has played 242 games for his boyhood club and was named Goalkeeper of the Year by L'Equipe for the 2006-07 season. In 2005, he wore a Spiderman costume bearing his name and number for a game against FC Istres, as you can see in the following video…
2. Rene Higuita (Colombia), 5’9” – Yes, Rene Higuita of ‘Scorpion Kick’ fame. Sport.co.uk can’t help but wonder with solemn intrigue just how many copycat fatalities have followed that particular piece of showboating over the years.
3. Elisha Scott (Liverpool), 5’9” – The Belfast-born custodian kept goal for the reds in two spells either side of the First World War. His rivalry with Everton hero William Ralph ‘Dixie’ Dean is the stuff of legend; one story has it that, upon bumping into each other in Belfast city centre, Dean tipped his hat and nodded respectfully as he passed, prompting Scott to then dive onto the ground as if saving one of the powerful headers for which Dean was renowned.
4. Dennis Herod (Stoke City), 5’9” – Herod broke his arm while playing for the Potters against Aston Villa in 1952, although he would not know the extent of the injury until after the game. As such, given that there were no substitutes, he swapped positions with left-winger Sammy Smyth and scored Stoke’s third goal of the game! He passed away in December aged 86.
5. Luciano da Silva (FC Groningen), 5’8” – By some distance the shortest goalkeeper in the Dutch Eredivisie, da Silva compensates for his diminutive stature with lightning quick reactions and an outstanding leap.
6. Teddy Davison (Sheffield Wednesday), 5’7” – On record as the shortest goalkeeper to ever play for England (which he did just once), Davison also made 424 appearances for the Owls and is rightfully considered as one of the club’s greatest ever goalies. Known as ‘Honest Ted’ for his diplomacy off the field.
7. Eddie Hopkinson (Bolton Wanderers), 5’6” – Hopkinson is probably the shortest goalkeeper to go to a World Cup finals with England, as he did as a reserve in 1958. All in all, he was capped 14 times by his country in addition to racking up over 500 appearances for the Trotters.
8. Jorge Campos (Mexico), 5’6” – Capped over 100 times by his country, Campos is surely one of the very few goalkeepers in history who doubled up as an effective striker (no, David James doesn’t count). Campos retired in 2004 after a career full of delightful quirks such as the fact that he designed his kits himself, and once scored 14 goals in a season with Mexican side Pumas.
9. Frederico Valentini (San Marino), 5’5” – Well, it goes some way towards explaining how San Marino manage to make the 1993/1994 Swindon Town side look like George Graham’s Arsenal.
10. Motshweneng Simon Gopane (South Africa), 5’4” – Gopane went to the World Cup finals with his country as recently as 1998 – although, to be fair, he only went because of injuries to keepers above him in the pecking order. While accepting that we’ve never seen him play, the words ‘chocolate’ and ‘teapot’ do spring immediately to mind here.