| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Antony Nigel Martyn | ||
| Date of birth | (1966-08-11)11 August 1966 (age 59)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | St Austell,Cornwall, England | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1986–1987 | St Blazey | 1 | (0) |
| 1987–1989 | Bristol Rovers | 101 | (0) |
| 1989–1996 | Crystal Palace | 272 | (0) |
| 1996–2003 | Leeds United | 207 | (0) |
| 2003–2006 | Everton | 86 | (0) |
| Total | 666 | (0) | |
| International career | |||
| 1988–1989 | England U21 | 11 | (0) |
| 1989–1994 | England B | 6 | (0) |
| 1992–2002 | England | 23 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Antony Nigel Martyn (born 11 August 1966) is an English football coach and former professionalfootballer who played as agoalkeeper. He is the goalkeeper coach ofMirandés.
He notably played in thePremier League forCrystal Palace,Leeds United andEverton, having initially played in theFootball League withBristol Rovers. His move to Palace saw him become the first £1 million goalkeeper in British football and was a member of the Palace side that lost the 1990 Cup Final and won theFull Members Cup in 1991. An ankle injury forced him to retire in 2006. He won 23Englandcaps between 1992 and 2002 and was a member of the national squad at four major tournaments.
Following retirement, Martyn briefly held a role as goalkeeping coach forBradford City but has not returned to the sport since 2009.
Martyn started his career as amidfielder until invited to play as a goalkeeper for his brother's works team when he was 17. He started by playing amateur football for Cornish sides Heavy Transport FC, Bugle andSt Blazey while working in a plastics factory and for a coal merchant,[2] before beginning his professional career withBristol Rovers in 1987 after apparently having been "spotted" by Rovers'tea lady Vi Harris,[3] whilst she was on holiday.[4][5]
Martyn was transferred toCrystal Palace for a fee of £1 million in 1989, becoming the first goalkeeper to attract a million-pound transfer fee in English football.[6] He remained at Palace for seven seasons, appearing 349 times for his club,[citation needed] including the1990 FA Cup Final, where Palace were beaten byManchester United in a replay,[7] and the 1991Full Members' Cup final, where Palace beatEverton.[8] In 1996, he signed withLeeds United, setting another record fee for a goalkeeper of £2.25 million.[citation needed]
In 2005, Palace supporters voted Martyn into theirCentenary XI.[9]
Martyn was signed by bossHoward Wilkinson in the summer of 1996–97, along with another high-profile capture in the form of Britain's most expensive teenager,Lee Bowyer.[10] Martyn's form for United, both at home and on the continent in European competition was outstanding – most notably in a man-of-the-match display at the Stadio Olimpico againstRoma in the1999-2000 UEFA Cup campaign, when Leeds reached the semi-finals. Martyn was also a huge part of the squad that eliminated illustrious clubs such asBarcelona,Lazio andDeportivo La Coruna in thefollowing season's UEFA Champions League campaign, leading them to the last four.
In total, Martyn played as Leeds' first-choice goalkeeper for six seasons and his consistency was such that years later at a supporters' dinner, the Cornishman was named officially as United's greatest ever goalkeeper, beating off competition from the likes ofGary Sprake,David Harvey, andJohn Lukic – all three being men who won championship medals at Elland Road.
However, it was a disagreement with new Leeds managerTerry Venables,[11] combined with the increasingly good form of youngsterPaul Robinson, that kept him from playing any games in Leeds'2002–03 season and after a string of unused substitute appearances, Martyn was told he could find new employers.[12]
On 10 April 2006, he was voted as part ofLeeds United's greatest team being the only player from after theRevie era to be part of the team.[13] He is still well regarded by the Leeds United fans and was involved in the "Back the Bid Leeds" campaign for Leeds to be one of the host cities in England's World Cup 2018 bid.
In the middle of 2003, Leeds were approached byChelsea and Everton with offers to sign Martyn. Both clubs were offering the out-of-favour goalkeeper a backup post: at Chelsea, he would understudyCarlo Cudicini; at Everton, the first-choice wasRichard Wright. Martyn chose to move to Everton, and six games into the season, an injury to Wright gave him his Everton debut. His performances for the first team during Wright's recovery were such that Martyn remained Everton's first-choice goalkeeper even after Wright returned from injury.
Martyn was one of Everton's best performers in the2004–05 season when they achieved their bestPremier League finish of fourth. Many fans believed that Martyn almost single-handedly stopped them from slipping down the table afterThomas Gravesen's departure.[14] He produced some of the best form of his career, despite being 38 years of age, to the delight of the Everton fans, with whom he remains a favourite. In his final season at Everton he was picking up many injuries and missed the remainder of the season. His final appearance for Everton was his 100th game for the club against Chelsea in an FA Cup tie at Goodison Park which ended 1–1, making numerous excellent saves. He was nicknamed "Big Nige" by Everton fans, a play onNeville Southall's "Big Nev" nickname.[15]
On 8 June 2006, Martyn announced his retirement from football due to a stress fracture in his ankle that had sidelined him since January and failed to heal properly.[16]David Moyes said that he would miss Martyn and described him as his "greatest ever signing".[17]
Martyn made his debut for theEngland national side against theCommonwealth of Independent States in Moscow in 1992, becoming one of the few[quantify]Cornishmen to play for England.[citation needed] He earned 23caps for his national side, spending the peak of his career as second-choice goalkeeper behindDavid Seaman.
Martyn replaced the injured Seaman for England's finalUEFA Euro 2000 group match againstRomania, a 3–2 defeat.[18] He also started in goal for a 2–2 draw withGreece atOld Trafford that qualified England for the2002 FIFA World Cup.[19] InSven-Göran Eriksson's first game in charge of England againstSpain in February 2001, Martyn came on as a substitute forDavid James and saved aJavi Moreno penalty in a 3–0 win.[20]
Martyn was selected for the England squad at both the1998 and2002 FIFA World Cups, remaining second choice behindArsenal's David Seaman at both tournaments.
Martyn spent time as goalkeeping coach atBradford City,[21] a role he started in March 2007 as a favour for former Leeds United teammateDavid Wetherall, who was then caretaker manager at Bradford.[22]
Martyn grew up supportingPlymouth Argyle.[23]
While still in Cornwall he was also acricketer, and played with Cornwall Schoolboys as awicket-keeper, as well asFowey Cricket Club.[2] Since his retirement from professional football, he has returned to cricket, playing regularly for a Leeds team called Leeds Modernians in the Airedale & Wharfedale Senior Cricket League.[24] As a player for Knaresborough C.C., alongside another formerEngland goalkeeper,Paul Robinson, he won promotion to theYorkshire Premier League North, in 2024. His son Thomas is an opera singer.[25]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| St Blazey | 1986-87 | South Western Football League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| Bristol Rovers | 1987–88 | Third Division | 39 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 2[a] | 0 | 47 | 0 | |
| 1988–89 | Third Division | 46 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 8[b] | 0 | 58 | 0 | ||
| 1989–90 | Third Division | 16 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | — | 1[a] | 0 | 19 | 0 | |||
| Total | 101 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | 11 | 0 | 124 | 0 | |||
| Crystal Palace | 1989–90 | First Division | 25 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | — | 5[c] | 0 | 37 | 0 | ||
| 1990–91 | First Division | 38 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 6[c] | 0 | 52 | 0 | ||
| 1991–92 | First Division | 38 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | 3[c] | 0 | 50 | 0 | ||
| 1992–93 | Premier League | 42 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | — | 51 | 0 | |||
| 1993–94 | First Division | 46 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 2[d] | 0 | 53 | 0 | ||
| 1994–95 | Premier League | 37 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | — | 51 | 0 | |||
| 1995–96 | First Division | 46 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 3[e] | 0 | 55 | 0 | ||
| Total | 272 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 36 | 0 | — | 19 | 0 | 349 | 0 | |||
| Leeds United | 1996–97 | Premier League | 37 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 44 | 0 | ||
| 1997–98 | Premier League | 37 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 45 | 0 | |||
| 1998–99 | Premier League | 34 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4[f] | 0 | — | 44 | 0 | ||
| 1999–2000 | Premier League | 38 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12[f] | 0 | — | 55 | 0 | ||
| 2000–01 | Premier League | 23 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12[g] | 0 | — | 36 | 0 | ||
| 2001–02 | Premier League | 38 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8[f] | 0 | — | 49 | 0 | ||
| 2002–03 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 207 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 36 | 0 | — | 273 | 0 | |||
| Everton | 2003–04 | Premier League | 34 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 40 | 0 | ||
| 2004–05 | Premier League | 32 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 33 | 0 | |||
| 2005–06 | Premier League | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4[h] | 0 | — | 27 | 0 | ||
| Total | 86 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 100 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 666 | 0 | 52 | 0 | 58 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 846 | 0 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 1992 | 2 | 0 |
| 1993 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1997 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1998 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1999 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2000 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2001 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2002 | 4 | 0 | |
| Total | 23 | 0 | |
Crystal Palace
England[27]
Individual
The Bristol Rovers tea lady discovered Nigel Martyn?
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