Bert Slater

Bert Slater
Personnel
Surname	Robert Slater
birthday	May 5, 1936
place of birth	Musselburgh ,  Scotland
date of death	July 21, 2006
Place of death	Brechin ,  Scotland
size	173 cm
position	goalkeeper
Juniors
Years	station
	FC Tranent
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1953-1959	FC Falkirk	134 (0)
1959-1962	Liverpool FC	99 (0)
1962-1965	Dundee FC	70 (0)
1965-1969	Watford FC	134 (0)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
	Scotland U23	1 (0)
1 Only league games are given.

Robert "Bert" Slater (born May 5, 1936 in Musselburgh , † July 21, 2006 in Brechin ) was a Scottish football goalkeeper . He won the Scottish Cup in 1957 with Falkirk FC and moved to Liverpool in 1959 , with whom he won the second division championship in the 1961/62 season . He later stood between the posts for FC Dundee in the European Cup .

Athletic career

Slater began his professional career at the age of 17 with FC Falkirk . At that time the club played in the Scottish first division mostly in the lower part of the table and was looked after by Bob Shankly , the brother of the famous Liverpool coach Bill Shankly . In the 1957 cup final , Slater suddenly had the opportunity to win the title. In the duel in April 1957 against FC Kilmarnock , which had at least reached third place in the league , FC Falkirk, who had narrowly escaped relegation, won after two games and in extra time 2-1 ( Reg Smith had replaced Bob Shankly at the beginning of the year) . Two years later, Falkirk rose as penultimate and in June 1959 Slater moved in exchange for Tommy Younger to the English second division club Liverpool .

After a somewhat unsuccessful debut on August 22, 1959 against Cardiff City (2: 3), two wins followed, but the newcomer had conceded a total of eight goals. Slater, who was called "Shorty" because of his small height, quickly came under fire and had to give his place back to Doug Rudham . On the occasion of an injury to Rudham and at the latest when Bill Shankly was coach of Liverpool FC, Slater returned, kept his regular place and ultimately made 30 competitive games in his debut season 1959/60 . In the following year he did not miss a single game, but just as in previous years failed with his men on the longed-for return to the English first division. Shankly then upgraded again significantly and before the promotion season 1961/62 he not only signed the later club legends Ron Yeats and Ian St. John , but also hired an additional goalkeeper in February 1962 with Jim Furnell . Slater had until then with 29 league games the "lion's share" in the success of Liverpool FC, but Furnell was immediately a serious competitor for Slater. In addition, Tommy Lawrence , who was signed up in 1957 at the age of 17, now also had ambitions for "number 1", so that Slater quickly slipped in the hierarchy. Ultimately, he was left with the quick escape back to Scotland, where he met his ex-coach Bob Shankly at FC Dundee in July 1962 .

FC Dundee had just won the Scottish Championship and took part in the European Cup for the first time in the 1962/63 season. His first appearance there was the first round match against the favored 1. FC Köln , which ended with a surprising 8: 1 for Dundee. The win had an indirect impact on Slater himself, as the Cologne goalkeeper Fritz Ewert was injured after a few minutes and had to give up at half time. Since substitutions were not allowed, Cologne continued to operate between the posts with ten people and field player Anton Regh . For the second leg it was generally expected that Slater would be chosen as the victim of revenge and in fact a Cologne shoe hit the head of the Scottish goalkeeper after 27 minutes of play. Half -forward Andy Penman finally went in for Slater, who in turn "helped out" as the left winger in the second half when the score was 3-0. After another Cologne goal, he put himself back in the gate and made sure that the victory, which was believed to be safe in the aggregate, was no longer in danger. In the next round, Dundee defeated Sporting Lisbon and RSC Anderlecht with Slater , before the eventual winners AC Milan proved too strong in the semifinals .

In May 1965 Slater moved to the English third division club Watford FC . There he was a regular goalkeeper for three years before he replaced Mike Walker in the 1968/69 season . He continued to work in the coaching staff of Watford FC before retiring from the football business. He later became interested in building golf courses and being a talent scout for Dundee. In the meantime he had emigrated with his family to Fuengirola , Spain , and later returned to Scotland. He worked on the coaching staff for Hibernian Edinburgh and supported offshoots of football schools of his Liverpool colleague Ian St. John in Aberdeen and his hometown Musselburgh. Shortly after his 70th birthday, Slater died in the Scottish village of Brechin.

Title / Awards

• Scottish Cup (1): 1957

Web links

• Bert Slater in the barryhugmansfootballers.com database
• Statistical data from the Post War English & Scottish Football League AZ Player's Database

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bert Slater: Goalkeeper (1959-1962) (LiverpoolFC.tv)
2. ↑ Players - Bert Slater (LFCHistory.net)
3. ^ Bert Slater: Goalkeeper with Falkirk, Liverpool, Dundee and Watford (Scotsman.com)