Bruce Grobbelaar

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Bruce Grobbelaar
Bruce Grobbelaar.png
Bruce Grobbelaar (2008)
Personnel
Surname Bruce David Grobbelaar
birthday October 6, 1957
place of birth Durban ,  South Africa
size 1.85 m
position goalkeeper
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
Highlanders FC
1977 Jomo Cosmos
1979-1981 Vancouver Whitecaps 24 (0)
1979-1980 →  Crewe Alexandra  (loan) 24 (1)
1980-1994 Liverpool FC 440 (0)
1993 →  Stoke City  (loan) 4 (0)
1994-1996 Southampton FC 32 (0)
1996-1997 Plymouth Argyle 36 (0)
1997 Oxford United 0 (0)
1997 Sheffield Wednesday 0 (0)
1997-1998 Oldham Athletic 4 (0)
1998 Chesham United
1998 Bury FC 1 (0)
1998 Lincoln City 2 (0)
1999 Northwich Victoria
2007 Glasshoughton Welfare 1 (0)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1975-1979 Southern Rhodesia
1980-1998 Zimbabwe 33 (0)
1 Only league games are given.

Bruce David Grobbelaar (born October 6, 1957 in Durban , South Africa ) is a former Zimbabwean football goalkeeper and was active during his active career both for the Zimbabwean national team and for numerous English professional clubs  - especially for many years for Liverpool FC .

Adolescence

As a teenager, Grobbelaar was a talented cricketer and was given the opportunity to play baseball in the US on a scholarship . However, he decided to play football and joined the Jomo Cosmos club in South Africa at a young age . However, he left this club prematurely after he often only found himself on the bench and saw his skin color in the team dominated by dark-skinned players as the reason. Immediately afterwards he did a two-year service in the "Rhodesian National Guard" for his home country, the then still British colony of Southern Rhodesia . In 1979 he went to Canada to the Vancouver Whitecaps . Shortly before, he had attended a club's youth camp in South Africa.

Athletic career

Vancouver Whitecaps

Grobbelaar was coached in Vancouver by the former England international and goalkeeper of Blackpool FC Tony Waters and made his debut for his club in 1980 against the Seattle Sounders . Although he was only second choice behind the goalkeeper Phil Parkes , he developed into a cult figure among the club's supporters . While visiting family and friends in England in 1980, he was invited by Ron Atkinson for a trial session at West Bromwich Albion . Atkinson was keen to get Grobbelaars signed, but difficulties with his work permit prevented a move. He returned to Vancouver, but was soon able to gain a foothold in Great Britain on loan from Crewe Alexandra . During his time in Crewe he played 24 championship games, scored his first and only goal of his football career with a penalty in the last game and was discovered by Liverpool FC talent scout Tom Saunders during this time .

Liverpool FC

By the time Liverpool FC had decided on a final signing, Grobbelaar had returned to Vancouver after finishing his loan job in Crewe. Liverpool then contacted Tony Waters, who himself had been in business with the top English club in the 1970s and has now approved Grobbelaar's transfer. In 1981 Grobbelaar signed in Liverpool and was henceforth a substitute goalkeeper. When regular goalkeeper Ray Clemence moved to Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of the same year , Grobbelaar had the chance of number 1.

During his time in Liverpool between 1981 and 1994, he stood between the posts for his team in 627 games and was known for his eccentric and flamboyant style. At the final of 1984 in the European Cup , which ended 1-1 after extra time against AS Roma , he was the winner in the subsequent spectacular penalty shoot-out . When Bruno Conti took his penalty kick, Grobbelaar smiled confidently and somewhat provocatively into the cameras behind the goal and bit into the goal net to imitate eating spaghetti . Conti shot the penalty over the crossbar of the goal. Grobbelaar behaved similarly when Francesco Graziani's penalty kicked when he wobbled his legs a lot. Graziani also shot. Liverpool won the penalty shootout 4-2 and Grobbelaar became the first African to win the major European club title.

Although Grobbelaar was often criticized for his controversial performances, with Bob Paisley , Joe Fagan and Kenny Dalglish three of the best Liverpool coaches stuck to him in a total of thirteen years. Apart from the propensity for show business , they rated him as one of the most capable goalkeepers of his generation. Grobbelaar himself defended his eccentricity by having fought in the Zimbabwean civil war and thus considering the importance of football in general as comparatively minor. His strengths included the above-average agility - almost equivalent to a gymnast - and great self-confidence, which was not visibly diminished even if mistakes were made during a game. He was also notorious for his noisy instructions to the defensive players if they gave the opponent an unnecessarily easy scoring chance. A high point was his verbal attack on his teammate Jim Beglin during the FA Cup final in 1986. He won more titles with Liverpool than any other player of his age and with Ray Clemence is arguably the most renowned Liverpool goalkeeper of all time.

Despite occasional competition for the goalkeeper position and short periods of injury or illness - especially meningitis that forced him to take a break for about half of the 1988/89 season - Grobbelaar was Liverpool's regular goalkeeper until the end of the 1980s . It was not until David James signed on in the summer of 1992 that the "Grobbelaar era" ended. Although James could not convince at first, Grobbelaar ensured through his frequent surrenders for the Zimbabwean national team that James received numerous other opportunities, which he was able to use more and more. In the 1992/93 season Grobbelaar only made six appearances at Liverpool FC and was even loaned to Stoke City for a short time . Due to the changing performances of James Grobbelaar was able to play back into the Liverpool team. However, he played - like the entire team in the 1993/94 season - very mixed and injured on February 28, 1994 in the last minute of the 2-0 draw against Leeds United . This game would then be Grobbelaar's last game for Liverpool FC.

Allegations of manipulation

Grobbelaar left Liverpool in the summer of 1994 to join Southampton FC . In the same year the British tabloid " The Sun " published allegations after it was recorded on videotape that Grobbelaar had apparently been involved in the manipulation of football games in favor of a betting syndicate . Together with the goalkeeper of FC Wimbledon ( Hans Segers ), a striker from Aston Villa ( John Fashanu ) and a businessman from Malaysia ( Heng Suan Lim ), Grobbelaar was then charged with conspiracy charges.

He pleaded "not guilty" and said he only collected evidence that he later passed on to the police . After two consecutive trials in which the jury could not agree on a verdict , he and his co-defendants were acquitted in November 1997. Grobbelaar later sued the Sun for defamation and was awarded £ 85,000. The Sun , however lay vocation and the case was in the Lords House of reference, where it was found that, although the original allegations were not occupied, templates sufficient evidence of the dishonesty Grobbelaars. The amount of damages awarded in the defamation process has been reduced to the lowest possible amount under English law of just one pound. Grobbelaar was also ordered to reimburse the Sun for £ 500,000 in court costs. In his judgment, Lord Bingham of Cornhill stated :

“The right to defamation protects those whose reputation has been unlawfully violated. It offers little or no protection to those who have or deserve a reputation that is not worth protecting. Until November 9, 1994, when the newspaper published its first articles about him, the appellant's reputation was pristine. But he had acted in a way that no decent or honest footballer would; in a way that, if not revealed, would undermine the integrity of the game that thrives on the loyalty and support of millions ”.

Grobbelaar was unable to raise the amount and declared bankruptcy . He moved back to South Africa and coached a number of teams with varying degrees of success. According to his own statement, he still hopes that he will “one day return to Anfield as coach of Liverpool FC”, but his outstanding debts as well as his damaged reputation due to the match-fixing allegations make this wish seem unrealistic.

successes

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Grobbelaar, Bruce
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Grobbelaar, Bruce David
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Zimbabwean soccer player and coach
DATE OF BIRTH October 6, 1957
PLACE OF BIRTH Durban , South Africa