El Padre™ Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 http://www.afc.premiumtv.co.uk/javaImages/6d/2d/0,,10284%7E7875949,00.jpg[/img] Jamie Langfield'sheroics against Celtic last week certainly did his internationalprospects no harm after a superb show of resistance. Jamie of coursefollows on from a long tradition of Aberdeen keepers who havedistinguished themselves at Pittodrie through the years. What has beenremarkable in the long line of Aberdeen custodians is that there hasbeen on several occasions' two top class keepers at the club at thesame time. That is reflected in the various international honoursthat have come their way, even though they were never seen as firstchoice for Aberdeen. In the 1950's Fred Martin was the first Scotlandkeeper at a World Cup, while his understudy Reg Morrison was the firstever Scotland U-23 keeper. That was repeated in the 1980's with JimLeighton and Bryan Gunn. Kevin Stirling selects our top ten keepers to play for the Dons in the past… 1 Jim Leighton Younger Aberdeensupporters may not remember Jim that well apart from some older videofootage but his 91 caps for Scotland has Leighton in the legendarycategory and as an Aberdeen keeper he had no equal. Jim is perhapsbetter remembered for his part in the Aberdeen success in his firstspell at Pittodrie before he joined Fergie at Old Trafford in 1988. JimLeighton took over from Bobby Clark in what was always going to be atough act to follow, but Leighton went on to become al all-timeAberdeen and Scotland great. The most capped keeper ever in Scottishfootball and the most decorated Dons keeper, he played more than 500games for the Dons in his two spells stretching from 1978-2000. 2 Theo Snelders Arguably had the mostdifficult task in that he was signed as a direct replacement forLeighton. Alex Smith took a chance on Theo Snelders on therecommendation from Alex Ferguson and the £300,000 paid to Twente in1988 was a real bargain. Snelders presence in the box was his greatestasset and he went on to become a cult figure at Pittodrie as he easedhis way into the Holland squad for the 1990 and 1994 World Cups. Beforehis bizarre choice to become a Rangers reserve, Theo was in theAberdeen side that won the domestic cup double in season 1989.90. Theois still involved in the game these days, coaching back in his nativeHolland. 3 Jamie Langfield The current Aberdeenkeeper who created a record amount of clean sheets last season. Signedby Jimmy Calderwood from Dunfermline in 2004, Jamie has battled backfrom being transfer listed to become the No1 at Pittodrie and aScotland squad member. Langfield was previously with Dundee and hasalso been capped at U-21 level. Helped Aberdeen back into Europeanfootball in 2007 and again last season and named the RedTV/Northsound Aberdeen Player of the Year which was voted for by the fans. 4 Bobby Clark One of Eddie Turnbull'sfirst signings for the Dons, Bobby Clark went on to become a trueAberdeen great and in his final season completed a domestic set ofwinners' medals after a memorable season when Aberdeen won the leaguetitle for the first time since 1955. Clark was also the most cappedplayer at the club before Willie Miller broke that record in 1982.Played for Aberdeen for 15 seasons and awarded a testimonial in 1978,he also had a brief, aborted spell as a centre half in 1968 afterlosing his place to Ernie McGarr. 5 Fred Martin The first Aberdeenkeeper to play for Scotland at a World Cup in 1954, Fred Martin was ahuge factor in the Dons success in the mid 50's. Originally an insideforward Fred Martin returned after his National Service as a keeper ofreal quality. Under the guidance of the Halliday-Shaw regime, Martinflourished and another Aberdeen keeper to play for his country. Nineseasons as first choice Aberdeen keeper through the 50's. 6 Bryan Gunn For a keeper to playonly 20 first team games for the Dons his inclusion may surprise many.However not unlike the Clark—McGarr and Martin—Morrison situations,Bryan Gunn was in his early years deputy to Jim Leighton. When calledupon Gunn excelled and showed enough potential to become a keeper ofgreat ability. It was not until his transfer to Norwich that his careertook of. Another Scotland international and he was also the regularScotland U-21 keeper while still deputizing for Jim Leighton atPittodrie. 7 Ernie McGarr Perhaps a surprisechoice but Ernie McGarr had the misfortune to be at Pittodrie at thesame time as established No 1 Bobby Clark. McGarr was arguably the bestreflex keeper the Dons have had and after he took over from Clark in1968 he went on to play for Scotland against Germany that same season.Incredibly the Dons had two full international keepers on their booksat the same time. 8 Peter Kjaer Joined Aberdeen at theright time and gave stability to the young defence in front of him. ADanish international Kjaer was calmness personified in an Aberdeen sidethat was struggling for the most part. One of the main reasons thatAberdeen returned to European football in 2001. Retired from the gamein 2002. 9 Reggie Morrison If there was anydisappointment in Reggie's career it was perhaps the fact that he didnot play as often as he had hoped. Reggie was reserve keeper to FredMartin during the early part of his Aberdeen career before taking overon a more regular basis in the late 50's. Morrison was a superball-round keeper, a joker in the Dons pack and testimony to his abilitywas his selection for the Scotland U-23 side while Fred Martin was theundisputed Scotland and Aberdeen No1. 10 George Johnstone In the days when signingplayers from Junior football was an accepted practice, Johnstonestarred for Benburb as the Glasgow Junior club won the Scottish JuniorCup. Johnstone caught the eye of Aberdeen boss Pat Travers and afterjoining Aberdeen in 1936, he went on to become a legend in the greatAberdeen side of the 1930's. Johnstone was the Aberdeen keeper in theclubs first ever Scottish Cup Final in 1937 when the Dons played Celticin front of the biggest ever crowd for a club match in Britain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie_millers-barmyarmy Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 gonna be ridiculed probably, but i dont care, langfield, is NEVER the 3rd best keeper we have ever had?.....never Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandy_Don Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 I think Kjaer should be higher than he is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glasgow sheep Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 Before my time but surely Bobby Clark and Fred Martin should be higher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baggy89 Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 gonna be ridiculed probably, but i dont care, langfield, is NEVER the 3rd best keeper we have ever had?.....never Why would you be ridiculed for being correct? Kjaer was Danish No.2 behind the greatest keeper of the modern era otherwise he would have had far more caps and Bryan Gunn has more Scotland Caps than Clangers zero despite being up against two of Scotland's best ever keepers for a starting berth. I'm sure the older posters will be horrified to read Langfield is allegedly a better keeper than the likes of Clarke too. Fuck it Bobby Mimms was twice the keeper Langfield is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigAl Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 Got to agree with others to date, Kjaer at number eight is postively shocking. I know he arrived at Pittodrie late in his career, but should stil lrank far higher then number eight. don't honestly think Gunn can rank so high given the limited number of games he actually played for us, and where the fuck is Nicky Walker in this list Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Padre™ Posted December 10, 2009 Author Share Posted December 10, 2009 No mention of Budgie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manc_don Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 Kjaer should be higher. That is all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kowalski Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 No Stillie? Clark and Kjaer should be above Langfield for sure. In fact Clark could be number 2 IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reekie_Red Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 where the fuck is Nicky Walker in this list 87 Bertrand Bossu Absolutely shite. However I did actually see him make one save against Rangers, which make him one position better than .... 88 Nicky Walker Hard to believe he was Scotland's third-choice keeper behind Leighton and Goram. Thankfully, neither Leighton nor Goram were injured that much, so Walker never got a game. Can now be seen girning on the front of shortbread tins around the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandy_Don Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 No Esson or Michael Watt? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentorred Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 Marc De Clerc (sp) Only Aberdeen Goalie to score a goal to my knowledge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrlandoDon Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 Well, saw both Jim and Theo in their prime. Both were fantastic and I do prefer Leighton as he was a Scot. However, I feel Theo steals it as the slightly better keeper. I felt he was more commanding, better with his feet, and had more of a presence in the box. While Jim was excellent, we had McLeish and Miller infront of him, probably had much less to do, and had players like McLeish, Rougvie, Neale Cooper etc to win the high balls as he wasn't the tallest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One Bobby Clark Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 No Stillie? Clark and Kjaer should be above Langfield for sure. In fact Clark could be number 2 IMHO. Agreed. I should be..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobbyBiscuit Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 Well, saw both Jim and Theo in their prime. Both were fantastic and I do prefer Leighton as he was a Scot. However, I feel Theo steals it as the slightly better keeper. I felt he was more commanding, better with his feet, and had more of a presence in the box. While Jim was excellent, we had McLeish and Miller infront of him, probably had much less to do, and had players like McLeish, Rougvie, Neale Cooper etc to win the high balls as he wasn't the tallest. Theo had McLeish and Miller in front of him for his first two seasons with us as well. It's hard to split Leighton and Snelders but I think Leighton edges it. Theo was probably technically superior but Leighton had the raw talent and was utterly fearless despite taking some very heavy knocks to the head (anyone remember him leaving the field at Hamilton [?] with bandages over his head?). Sadly, after that cunt McCoist volleyed Theo in the face, fearless wasn't something that could be said for him. He definitely lost something after that incident although he was still a great keeper. I can only echo the calls for Kjaer to be higher, he was a fantastic influence on his defence and a brilliant all round goalkeeper. Langfield being up there is nothing more than some sort of sick joke. He was very good last season, he seems to have regressed this season. It would be too easy to point out the missing factor this season, but I'm sure you can all work it out for yourselves... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharpie Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 87 Bertrand Bossu Absolutely shite. However I did actually see him make one save against Rangers, which make him one position better than .... 88 Nicky Walker Hard to believe he was Scotland's third-choice keeper behind Leighton and Goram. Thankfully, neither Leighton nor Goram were injured that much, so Walker never got a game. Can now be seen girning on the front of shortbread tins around the world. 86 Robbie Winters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bilbobaggins Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 It seems quite a pointless list to me and I like lists. I think all that needed to be said was. 1. Leighton 2. Snelders 3. Clark It may well be variations of that list depending on age, for example, but it's really all that needed to be said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyrant Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 I think Kjaer should be higher than he is. Good to see you Granda up there at no. 9 spot, min. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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