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David Andrew Seaman MBE (born 19 September 1963 in Rotherham , South Yorkshire ) is an English Football Goalkeeper who played for several clubs, most notably Arsenal and most recently with Manchester City . He retired from the game on 13 January 2004 , following a recurring Shoulder injury. He was awarded the MBE in 1997 for services to the sport. In England he is generally regarded as one of the best goalkeepers of all time, and his peak was during his period as Arsenal and England goalkeeper. During his time at Arsenal he won many medals including three league championships ( 1991 , 1998 , 2002 ), four FA Cup s ( 1993 , 1998 , 2002 , 2003 ), the League Cup in 1993 and the European Cup Winners Cup in 1994 . During this time he also played in the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, and Euro 96 and Euro 2000 . Early career He began his career at Leeds United , the club he supported as a boy. But much to his disappointment he was not wanted by then-manager Eddie Gray , who had been his favourite player. He went to Division 4 club Peterborough United for a £4,000 fee in August 1982, and he began to make a name for himself. Just over two years later, in October 1984, Second Division Birmingham City paid £100,000 for Seaman's services. They ended up winning promotion at the end of that season, but were relegated from the top flight after one season. Seaman was not to follow them back to Division Two. In August 1986 he moved to London club Q.P.R. for a fee of £225,000. Playing at a higher profile club, and on a plastic pitch, he was to earn his first England cap. This came under Bobby Robson in a friendly against Saudi Arabia in November 1988. Whilst at Q.P.R., Seaman was coached by Arsenal double-winner (of 1971) Bob Wilson , who was to work with him for more than a decade. Arsenal under Graham In 1990, long before the current Transfer Window system had come to English football, there was still a "transfer deadline", a few weeks before the end of the season. Arsenal , who had won the league in 1989, wanted to sign Seaman, but the deal involved Arsenal's keeper John Lukic (who, incidentally, was Leeds' first choice goalkeeper back in 1982) heading the opposite way on loan. Lukic did not want to do this, and the deal broke down and remained unresolved as the deadline passed. As soon as the season ended, and English clubs were allowed to buy players again, Arsenal manager George Graham came back for Seaman, with £1.3 million (at the time a British record for a goalkeeper) being the agreed fee. Lukic, who was highly popular amongst Arsenal fans, left to rejoin Leeds. Before making his Arsenal debut, Seaman was selected by Bobby Robson as England's second-choice goalkeeper behind Peter Shilton at the but after arriving in Italy, he had to pull out of the squad due to injury. Arsenal Fans ' expectations of Seaman were high, given the size of the transfer fee and the void created by the sale of Lukic. Bob Wilson had great faith in his his protegé, and donated Seaman the vest that he wore for each match of Arsenal's 1970-71 double season, and Seaman wore the 20-year-old Arsenal vest beneath his Arsenal shirt for the whole of his Arsenal career. Seaman and Arsenal then enjoyed one of the most successful periods in the club's illustrious history. The first season saw Seaman concede only 18 goals (playing every match of the 38-game season) as Arsenal regained the league title. In 1992, Seaman was rejected by Graham Taylor for the England squad, in favour of Chris Woods and Nigel Martyn . Arsenal won both the FA Cup and the League Cup in 1993 and supplemented this a year later with the European Cup Winners' Cup. Shortly before the European success, Terry Venables was appointed as England manager following Taylor's failure to qualify for the World Cup. Venables saw Seaman as his first-choice goalkeeper and Seaman would remain a permanent member of the England team until 2002. In 1995, George Graham was sacked, and Arsenal came close to becoming the first club to retain the Cup Winners' Cup, but the club lost in extra-time to a spectacular late goal which caught Seaman off-guard (see below). In 1996, however, Seaman became a household name in England for positive reasons, due to his heroics as part of Venables's semi-final-reaching England team. Arsenal under Wenger In 1996, Seaman had a new manager at club level, in Arsène Wenger . Wenger rated Seaman highly and in 1998, Seaman won league, cup and a place in Glenn Hoddle 's England team for the in France . England went out on penalties. In 1998-99 , Seaman played every match (38) and conceded only 17 league goals, a club record to this day. But 1999-00 brought what was arguably Seaman's worst year at Arsenal. Injuries brought a loss of form and Seaman looked a shadow of his former self. Still, he managed to reach the 2000 UEFA Cup final, which Arsenal drew 0-0 with Galatasaray , but lost on penalties. He was part of Kevin Keegan 's Euro 2000 squad, but sustained an injury in his warm-up exercises for the third game (against Romania ). Nigel Martyn stepped in and performed badly, and Phil Neville 's clumsy foul late in the game gave Romania a penalty which Martyn could not stop. England lost the match and went out in the first round. In 2002, Seaman won league and cup again, although Arsenal's other goalkeepers Stuart Taylor and Richard Wright also won championship medals, due mainly to Seaman's absence through injuries. Seaman was part of Sven-Göran Eriksson 's squad, and played every game as England reached the quarter-finals. Shortly afterwards though, Eriksson called time on Seaman's England career as British tabloid newspapers began to heavily criticise Seaman for his errors and lack of mobility. As he got older, Seaman began missing an ever-increasing number of matches due to injuries, and whilst 2003 brought FA Cup success to Seaman, it also brought his Arsenal career to an end, with Wenger opting to bring in the younger and less injury-prone Jens Lehmann . Wenger had previously kept his faith in Seaman, always restoring him to the starting lineup after an injury. Seaman played in goal for Arsenal more times than anyone else, and also holds the Arsenal Premier League appearances record, with 344. Late career Leaving on a free transfer, Seaman joined up with Kevin Keegan at Manchester City . Seaman's career in Manchester did not last long, and whilst out of action due to injury, he announced his immediate retirement, at the age of 40, in January 2004. Seaman's last act at City was to help Keegan select his successor in goal, David James — the man who had ironically ousted him as England's first choice goalkeeper a little over a year earlier. Seaman retired with a proud record of being one of the few players who played for more than 1000 matches throughout his entire career for both clubs and country. Acclaim Seaman is not generally known for particularly athletic saves: his great skill was the usage of angles to deny opposing strikers any part of the goal to shoot at, making spectacular diving saves largely unnecessary. However, near the end of his career, in Arsenal's 2003 FA Cup semi-final against Sheffield United , in his 1,000th professional match, Seaman pulled off what many regard as the greatest save of recent times, and some even call it the greatest ever. Arsenal were defending a 1-0 lead, when with less than ten minutes to go, Paul Peschisolido had a header towards an apparently open goal from six yards out with Seaman seemingly stranded at the near post. However, Peschisolido headed the ball slightly too close to Seaman and the goalkeeper leaped sideways and backwards, somehow managing to stretch his right arm behind him and scoop the ball back and away from both his goal and the opposing players ready to pounce on a rebound. Seaman was also noted for his ability to save Penalty Kick s - for example, saving Attilio Lombardo 's shot in a Penalty Shootout against Sampdoria to take Arsenal to the final of the 1995 Cup Winners' Cup. For England, during Euro 96 , Seaman first saved a penalty in normal play from Scotland 's Gary McAllister in a group match, while England were 1-0 up ( Paul Gascoigne scored soon after to make it 2-0). Then, after England's quarter-final against Spain ended scoreless, Seaman saved Miguel Nadal 's kick in the shootout to knock Spain out of the tournament. England eventually were eliminated in the semi-finals of the competition; Seaman was named alongside Golden Boot winner Alan Shearer and winger Steve McManaman in the UEFA "Team of the Tournament". Euro 96 sponsor Philips named him "Player of the Tournament". Blame Ironically, Seaman is well known for a few high profile errors, such as letting in a goal from an arcing 40 yard free kick by Ronaldinho during the 2002 World Cup and Nayim 's astonishing lob from the right-hand touchline, some 45 yards, in the final minutes of the 1995 European Cup Winners Cup Final . Seaman was in goal for England when, in 1993, they conceded (to David Gualtieri , of San Marino ) the fastest goal in World Cup qualifiers history – 8 seconds, after an errant backpass by Stuart Pearce . England went on to win 7-1, and ultimately the goal had no standing on England's failure to qualify for the . As his mobility decreased with age, Seaman was blamed for letting in a goal directly from a corner kick in a 2-2 draw with Macedonia , despite the fact that he had positioned a defender on the goal-line for such eventuality. Seen as an error, this became Seaman's last appearance for the England national team, a Euro 2004 qualifier in October 2002. Non-footballing career Seaman's on-screen presence made him a popular choice for chat-shows and televised appearances during his sporting career, and he can occasionally be spotted on British television. He briefly replaced Gary Lineker as team captain on the television quiz They Think It's All Over before producers decided to drop him in favour of former Arsenal team-mate Ian Wright . Seaman acted in a cameo role in a BBC Film based around the events of his successful Euro 96 tournament, starring Rachel Weisz , it was entitled '' My Summer With Des ''. In December 2004, following his retirement from professional football, he became one of the celebrities to take part in ''Strictly Ice Dancing'', a one-off ice dance version of '' Strictly Come Dancing '', in which celebrities are paired with professional dancers. He joined the show at late notice, replacing Paul Gascoigne . With just eight days to prepare for the show, broadcast on BBC One on December 26 , Seaman and his professional partner Zoia Birmingham managed to win the competition. The other competitors spent a month in training for the show. In late 2005 he had the ponytail (which had become his trademark in the previous 5 years) cut off on live television for charity. Seaman returned to the ice for another ice-dancing series, Dancing On Ice , broadcast on ITV . The series started on 14 January 2006 , and Seaman ended in fourth place. Seaman also hosts a "Safe Hands" charity golf event annually. Club statistics ENGLAND
Honours
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