Steve Ogrizovic

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Steve Ogrizovic
Personnel
Surname Steven Ogrizovic
birthday September 12, 1957
place of birth Mansfield ,  England
size 193 cm
position goalkeeper
Juniors
Years station
1976-1977 ONRYC
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1977 Chesterfield FC 16 (0)
1977-1982 Liverpool FC 4 (0)
1982-1984 Shrewsbury Town 84 (0)
1984-2000 Coventry City 507 (1)
Stations as a trainer
Years station
2002 Coventry City (interim)
2004 Coventry City (interim)
1 Only league games are given.

Steven "Steve" Ogrizovic (born September 12, 1957 in Mansfield ) is a former English football goalkeeper . He did not get beyond the role of substitute at Liverpool FC , but then developed into the record player at Coventry City after two years in Shrewsbury . In a total of 16 years, he completed 601 competitive games for Coventry. In 1987, winning the FA Cup was his greatest success.

Athletic career

Via Chesterfield and Liverpool to Shrewsbury (1977–1984)

The son of a Yugoslav immigrant was initially only active in regional football in Mansfield. Rather, he aspired to a career as a police officer as a cadet before he signed his first contract as a professional footballer at the end of July 1977 with third division Chesterfield FC - less than 20 kilometers from Mansfield. Ogrizovic made his league debut there on August 20, 1977 in a 3-1 win against Port Vale and in the first 16 games he did not concede six times. He was quickly considered a goalkeeper with great potential and in November 1977 he was signed by the then reigning English champions Liverpool FC . The "Reds" paid a transfer fee of 70,000 pounds for the transfer and "Oggy", as he was often called by teammates, should act primarily as a cover and "number 2" behind goalkeeper Ray Clemence .

In the following four and a half years, Ogrizovic was mostly in Clemence's shadow. To make matters worse, his first test on March 8, 1978 against Derby County with 2: 4 went a little wrong and he got little opportunity to recommend himself. By the summer of 1982 he played just four championship games, and in December 1978 against RSC Anderlecht (2-1) a game in the European Cup . Finally, the club management of Liverpool FC and Shrewsbury Town agreed on a swap deal with Bob Wardle and so Ogrizovic hired in August 1982 at the second division.

Right from the start, Ogrizovic was "set" as a goalkeeper at his new club. His strong physical presence in the goalkeeping game turned out to be his strength. Grown up and equipped with a good understanding of his position, he showed himself to be confident on opposing crosses and was able to shift the game far into the opposing half with powerful tees. With 84 league games in two years, he was immediately "permanently present" in Shrewsbury and thanks to his help, the club, which had previously only managed to stay in the league with difficulty, established itself in a single-digit position. However, the goal for him remained the top division football and for the comparatively low transfer fee of 72,000 pounds, he moved to Coventry City in late June 1984 . He even found time to actively devote himself to cricket - his second passion besides football.

Record goalkeeper in Coventry (1984-2000)

The "Himmelblauen" from Coventry were just like two years at Shrewsbury Town primarily a team that played against relegation, and in the first two years until the summer of 1986 the club only narrowly reached the relegation goal with the new goalkeeper Ogrizovic. The sporting situation then developed very positively in the 1986/87 season, when Ogrizovic not only led the team to a comfortable midfield position, but surprisingly won the FA Cup . He had also stood between the posts in the final against Tottenham Hotspur (3-2). Another personal "highlight" for him had previously been his goal on October 25, 1986 against Sheffield Wednesday (2-2), when he had beaten opposing goalkeeper Martin Hodge with a tee .

After a total of 209 league games without interruption, an injury from the game against Millwall in September 1989 caused the end of a series that no Coventry player had managed before. Although the successes did not materialize after winning the Cup in 1987 and Coventry City was mostly one of the relegation candidates after the change of the decade, Ogrizovic remained a constant in the team for a long time. Little changed at first when the Premier League entered its first year in the 1992/93 season . He had to take his first long compulsory break in 1995. He had already exceeded the mark of 400 league games for Coventry and only had to sit out for five games in March 1995 due to a foot infection. In a friendly against Northampton Town he then broke a leg, which he failed not only for the last four games of the 1994/95 season but also for a large part of the first half of the subsequent 1995/96 season to November 1995. Although his "comeback" had a bumpy start with twelve goals conceded in the first four games, with good performances between December 1995 and January 1996 and four games in a row without conceding a goal at the end of the season, he provided decisive advantages for the again narrow (and only favored by a better goal difference) class retention . In the following 1996/97 season, Ogrizovic replaced George Curtis as Coventry goalkeeper with the most appearances and although he was now in his 40th year, he continued to astound with good performances. His performances in Blackburn, when he saved a penalty against the Rovers in the FA Cup , and in Liverpool, which laid the foundation for an away win at Anfield , attracted particular attention . This contrasted with a spectacular mistake against Arsenal when he failed to hold a harmless ball and then fouled Ian Wright at the expense of a penalty.

With the commitment of the Swedish national goalkeeper Magnus Hedman in the season 1997/98 Ogrizovic received additional competition on the goalkeeper position. Up to a 3-0 defeat by Aston Villa in December 1997, he then kept his regular place before Hedman displaced him with the exception of a few injury-related breaks. In his last two years as a professional up to May 2000, he only got a sporadic move; instead, he played primarily games in the reserve team. Due to persistent neck problems, he had to undergo an operation in March 1999 and when this was satisfactory, he returned to gaming in October 1999. He played his 600th competitive game for Coventry against his ex-club from Liverpool and after a final appearance on the penultimate matchday against Sheffield Wednesday (4-1) Ogrizovic ended his active career. With 601 games for Coventry City, he had become the club's record player.

After his playing career, he remained loyal to Coventry City. He joined the coaching staff there and began working primarily as a goalkeeper coach. In addition to other tasks related to the reserve team, he also briefly helped out in the first team on two occasions. In 2002 he took over the interim head coach function with Trevor Peake before Gary McAllister took over from Roland Nilsson . Two years later he was responsible for the role of the "interim solution" for a second time, until Peter Reid could finally be hired.

Title / Awards

literature

  • Hugman, Barry J .: Premier League: The Players - A Complete Guide to Every Player 1992-93 . Tony Williams Publishing, 1992, ISBN 1-869833-15-5 , pp. 262 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "Cricket Archive: Steven Ogrizovic"
  2. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1995-96 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1995, ISBN 0-09-180854-5 , pp. 157 .
  3. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1996-97 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1996, ISBN 1-85291-571-4 , pp. 182 .
  4. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1997-98 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1997, ISBN 1-85291-581-1 , pp. 202 .
  5. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1998-99 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1998, ISBN 1-85291-588-9 , pp. 222 .
  6. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1999-2000 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1999, ISBN 1-85291-607-9 , pp. 226 .
  7. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 2000-2001 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2000, ISBN 1-85291-626-5 , pp. 240 f .
personal data
SURNAME Ogrizovic, Steve
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ogrizovic, Steven
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English football goalkeeper
DATE OF BIRTH September 12, 1957
PLACE OF BIRTH Mansfield