Dave Beasant

Dave Beasant

Personal information
Full name	David John Beasant
Date of birth	20 March 1959 (1959-03-20) (age 52)
Place of birth	Willesden, London, England
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1978–1979	Edgware Town	?	(0)
1979–1988	Wimbledon	340	(0)
1988–1989	Newcastle United	20	(0)
1989–1992	Chelsea	133	(0)
1992	→ Grimsby Town (loan)	6	(0)
1992	→ Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan)	4	(0)
1993–1997	Southampton	88	(0)
1997–2001	Nottingham Forest	139	(0)
2001–2002	Portsmouth	27	(0)
2001	→Tottenham Hotspur (loan)	1	(0)
2002	Bradford City	0	(0)
2002	Wigan Athletic	0	(0)
2003	Brighton & Hove Albion	16	(0)
2003–2004	Fulham	0	(0)
Total		774	(0)
National team
1989–1991	England B	7	(0)
1989	England	2	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

David John "Dave" Beasant, (born 20 March 1959 in Willesden, London) is a retired English football goalkeeper who began his career in the late 1970s. A well-travelled player, Beasant's former clubs include Wimbledon, Newcastle United, Chelsea, Southampton, Nottingham Forest, Portsmouth, Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton & Hove Albion and Wigan Athletic. He is best remembered for his part in Wimbledon's 1988 shock FA Cup victory, during which he was the first goalkeeper to save a penalty in an FA Cup final. His nickname was 'Lurch' due to his resemblance to the butler in the TV show The Addams Family. He made two appearances for the England national football team.

Football career

Wimbledon

He entered the Football League in 1979 at the age of 20 when Wimbledon, newly promoted to the Third Division, signed him from non league Edgware Town. He made his debut for them against Blackpool on 12 January 1980 and played once again that season, in which Wimbledon were relegated. He became a regular player the following campaign when they were promoted and stayed loyal to the club even when they were relegated again in 1982, being a key player in the side that won the Fourth Division title in 1983, won promotion from the Third Division a year later, and completed a four-season rise to the First Division in 1986 when they gained promotion from the Second Division in only their ninth season as a Football League team.^[1]

He became the first goalkeeper to save a penalty in an FA Cup final when he blocked John Aldridge's spot-kick for Liverpool in 1988, and in doing so helped Wimbledon secure a famous 1–0 win. He was also the first goalkeeper to captain his team in an FA Cup final.^[2] His ability to kick the ball some considerable distance fitted in well with the style of play Wimbledon were known for in the 1980s, nor was he afraid to move out of the area and upfield before kicking the ball, or in order to take free kicks. As a result, opposing defences could never relax when he had the ball. Beasant won two caps for England, and went to the 1990 World Cup as a late replacement when third-choice keeper David Seaman suffered a hand injury. Wimbledon also did well in the league after their promotion in 1986, going top of the First Division in early September before finishing sixth at the end of the 1986-87 season. They finished seventh in the cup winning campaign a year later, and in June 1988 Beasant was sold to Newcastle United for £750,000 - a national record for a goalkeeper at the time.

Chelsea

However, Beasant's spell on Tyneside was short and ill fated as the Magpies struggled and were finally relegated from the First Division in bottom place, but Beasant had left in January 1989 to join Chelsea.^[3]

In September 1992, two mistakes in a match against Norwich City led to Chelsea manager Ian Porterfield telling the media Beasant would never play for the club again, although he returned to the side when Porterfield left later that season.^[4]

He missed the first two months of the 1993–94 season with an injury sustained after an accident when he dropped a bottle of salad cream on his foot,^[5] severing the tendon to his big toe.^[6]

Following the arrival of new manager, Glenn Hoddle, who opted for Dmitri Kharine as his first choice keeper with Kevin Hitchcock in reserve, Beasant was unable to get back into the Chelsea squad and looked for a new club.^[4]

Southampton

Beasant signed for Southampton in November 1993 for a fee of £300,000^[4] to replace the recently departed Tim Flowers.^[7] Beasant made his debut in a 1–0 defeat at Everton on 4 December; despite a run of four defeats,^[8] his confidence gradually returned and he soon became a favourite with The Dell crowd. With the departure of Ian Branfoot and his replacement as manager by Alan Ball, the "Saints" eventually climbed out of the relegation zone, finishing the 1993–94 season one point above relegated Sheffield United.^[8]

At the start of the 1994–95 season, he was replaced by Bruce Grobbelaar but was restored as first-choice keeper for the last month of the season.^[9] Following Alan Ball's move to Manchester City in the summer of 1995, new manager Dave Merrington preferred Beasant in goal. The team struggled throughout the season, and were never far from the relegation zone, but finished level on points but with a better goal difference than Ball's Manchester City who were relegated.^[10] Beasant himself finished the season by being voted the club's Player of the Season.^[7]

For the 1996–97 season, Graeme Souness was appointed manager; initially, Souness kept faith with Beasant but after a series of injuries (during which Saints took Chris Woods on loan),^[11] Souness signed Maik Taylor from Barnet in January.^[7] Beasant's final first-team game for Southampton was a 1–0 defeat against Liverpool on 29 December 1996. Following the arrival of Paul Jones in the summer of 1997, Beasant was now only third-choice 'keeper, and after a loan move to Nottingham Forest in August 1997, the transfer was made permanent in November.^[7] In his four years at The Dell, he made a total of 105 appearances in all competitions.

Later career

In November 1997, he signed for Nottingham Forest at 38 years old, after a short period on loan. He spent four years at the City Ground, during which time they were relegated from the Premier League one season after promotion. He went on to become Forest's oldest ever player at 42. He produced arguably much of his best form during his time at the City Ground. He was solid and reliable, and consistently produced good saves each season.

He then signed for Portsmouth in August 2001 after their regular goalkeeper Aaron Flahavan was killed in a car crash.

He played his last competitive game in the 2002–03 season for Brighton & Hove Albion in Division One at the age of 43, although he did spend the 2003–04 season registered as a player with Fulham in the FA Premier League. By then he was the oldest player registered with any professional club and the last in England with a 1950s birthdate.^{[citation needed]}

International career

The first of Beasant's two England caps came on 15 November 1989 against Italy. The following month, on 13 December, he made his second and final England appearance against Yugoslavia.^[12]

Coaching career

By the time of his retirement, Beasant had been appointed as a goalkeeping coach at Fulham in addition to serving as goalkeeping coach for Northern Ireland under former Wimbledon teammate Lawrie Sanchez. Beasant resigned from the Northern Ireland post in 2007 after Sanchez was appointed Fulham manager only for the pair to both be sacked by the club in December 2007.

Beasant is currently a senior coach at the Glenn Hoddle Academy. He joined in 2008 and works not only with the Academy’s goalkeepers, but also outfield players, especially defenders.^[13]

Honours

Wimbledon

• FA Cup winner: 1988
• Football League Third Division runner-up: 1983–84
• Football League Fourth Division champion: 1982–83
• Football League Group Cup runner-up: 1982

Chelsea

• Zenith Data Systems Cup winner: 1990

Nottingham Forest

• Football League First Division champion: 1997–98

References

1. ^ "Dave Beasant: Wimbledon FC 1979-1988". Football Heroes.net. http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=38265. Retrieved 15 April 2010. 
2. ^ "14 May 1988: The first FA Cup final penalty save". Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/may/15/dave-beasant-wimbledon-liverpool. Retrieved 24 June 2011. 
3. ^ "Dave Beasant - Chelsea FC 1989-1993". (Part 1) 1989-91. Football Heroes.net. http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=36413. Retrieved 15 April 2010. 
4. ^ ^{a b c} "Dave Beasant - Chelsea FC 1989-1993". (Part 2) 1991-93. Football Heroes.net. http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=36414. Retrieved 15 April 2010. 
5. ^ "Couch potatoes and salad cream". BBC Sport. 22 January 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/1068546.stm. Retrieved 8 September 2010. 
6. ^ "Gers star hurt by exploding egg". BBC Scotland. 15 May 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/8051673.stm. Retrieved 8 September 2010. 
7. ^ ^{a b c d} Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (2003). In That Number – A post-war chronicle of Southampton FC. Hagiology. pp. 479–480. ISBN 0-9534474-3-X. 
8. ^ ^{a b} In That Number. pp. 231–235. 
9. ^ In That Number. p. 241. 
10. ^ In That Number. p. 245. 
11. ^ In That Number. p. 250. 
12. ^ [1]
13. ^ "Dave Beasant: Senior Coach". Glenn Hoddle Academy. 2009. http://www.glennhoddleacademy.com/profile_dave_beasant.html. Retrieved 15 April 2010. 

External links

• Dave Beasant career stats at Soccerbase

Awards
Preceded by Matthew Le Tissier	Southampton F.C. player of the season 1995-96	Succeeded by Egil Østenstad

Persondata
Name	Beasant, Dave
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	20 March 1959
Place of birth	Willesden, London, England
Date of death
Place of death