Peter Shilton

Peter Leslie Shilton is an English former footballer and a manager who played as a goalkeeper. Born on 18th September 1949, Shilton had a professional footballing career that spanned over 30 years starting at Leicester City before hanging his boots at Leyton Orient in 1997.

Shilton holds the record for playing more games for England than anyone else, earning 125 caps, and held the all-time record for the most competitive appearances in world football with 1,249 appearances under his belt till 2017.

The IFFHS ranked Shilton among the top ten keepers of the 20th century in 2000 and holds the record for most number of clean sheets with 10 in World Cup finals in which he debuted at the age of 32.

Background

Born in Leicester, England, Shilton began his youth career with the local club Leicester in 1963 aged 13. He immediately got the eye of first team goalkeeper who commented to the coach about how promising he was.

He spent 3 seasons at the academy before being promoted to the first team in 1966.

Debut

In May 1966, a 16-year-old Shilton made his debut for Leicester against Everton and his potential was quickly spotted to the extent that the Leicester City management sided with their academy graduate over the World Cup winner by selling him to Stoke City.

The following season saw him reach the FA Cup final where they bowed out of the tournament to Manchester City 1-0 courtesy of an early goal scored by Neil Young. Leicester, however, were relegated from the first season.

He was impressive in the lower league and caught the eyes of National team’s Management and manager Alf Ramsey gave him his debut against East Germany in November 1970 which was won by the Three Lions 3-1.

Rise to glory

The following season saw Leicester being promoted back to the first division. The team, however, struggled to keep up with the other teams. Shilton was becoming an integral part of England’s 1972 European Championships qualifiers by being the back-up for Gordan Banks.

England failed to qualify for the European Championships and was already considered to replace Banks. A car-accident to Banks all but forced him to retire from the game promoting Shilton as England’s Number 1.

In November 1974, Shilton joined Stoke City for a record £325,000 transfer fee. He featured in the whole 48 fixtures that season and attracted bids from Manchester United which didn’t materialize after his weekly wages demands weren’t met by the club.

He was sold to Nottingham Forest in September 1977 for £250,000 and won the League Cup under Brian Clough. In his first season at the Nottingham, he conceded just 18 goals in 37 league appearances and won the PFA Players' Player of the Year award.

In 1979, Forest won the League Cup by defeating Southampton 3–2 at Wembley and won the European Cup final by beating Swedish side Malmö in Munich.

Shilton then featured heavily as England qualified for the 1980 European Championships in Italy and were unable to make it into the knockouts phase after a 1-0 defeat to the hosts.

After successfully qualifying for the World Cup in the 1982 World Cup, he made his World Cup debut at the ripe age of 32.

Shilton moved to Southampton to join his former teammates Keegan and Alan Ball. In the 1986 World Cup at Mexico, England met Argentina in the Quater Finals where Argentina captain Diego Maradona scored the infamous “Hand of God” by punching the ball over the goal as England bowed out of the tournament 2-1.

In June 1989, Shilton broke his old England skipper Bobby Moore's record of 108 appearances for his country when he won his 109th cap in a friendly against Denmark in Copenhagen.

Despite retiring from internationals, He moved to Derby County from Southampton in 1987.

In 1991, Derby was relegated and in his 42nd year and was ready to become a manager. In early 1991, he had rejected an offer to manage Hull City.

On 22nd December 1996, he featured for Leyton Orient against Brighton & Hove Albion in his 1000th International appearance.

Low points

During the period where Forest failed to win any trophy, Shilton began what would be a long-standing gambling addiction. There were also stories of an extramarital affair and a conviction for drink-driving, with the player fined £350 for the offense.

On March 2013, Shilton was charged with drinking and driving. He was banned for 20 months and was ordered to pay £1,020 costs.

Retirement

His final appearance came just four months before the 20th anniversary of his international debut, making his full international career one of the longest on record. He was never booked or sent off at full international level.

retiring on 1,005 league games at the age of 47 at the end of the 1996–97 season. By the time of his retirement, he was the fifth oldest player ever to have played in the Football League or Premier League.