Peter Philip Bonetti (27 September 1941 – 12 April 2020) was an English professionalfootballer who played as agoalkeeper forChelsea, theSt. Louis Stars,Dundee United andEngland. He was known for his safe handling, lightning reflexes and his graceful style, for which he was given the nickname "The Cat". He was one of several goalkeepers (Gordon West ofEverton was another) who specialised in a one-armed throw which could achieve a similar distance to a drop kick.

Peter Bonetti

Bonetti in 2009
Personal information
Full name	Peter Philip Bonetti[1]
Date of birth	(1941-09-27)27 September 1941[2]
Place of birth	Putney, England
Date of death	12 April 2020(2020-04-12) (aged 78)
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.77 m)[3][4][5]
Position(s)	Goalkeeper[1]
Youth career
	Worthing
	Reading
	Chelsea
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1959–1975	Chelsea	495	(0)
1975	St. Louis Stars	21	(0)
1976–1979	Chelsea	105	(0)
1979	Dundee United	5	(0)
1986	Woking	2	(0)
Total		628	(0)
International career
1966–1970	England	7	(0)
Medal record Men'sfootball Representing England FIFA World Cup Winner 1966 England
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Bonetti played seven times for England, but mainly served the team as a back-up toGordon Banks; he was part of the winning England squad for the1966 FIFA World Cup, but did not play. He belatedly received a winners' medal in 2009, afterthe Football Association led a successful campaign for non-playing members of the squad to be recognised. After Banks fell ill before the1970 FIFA World Cup quarter-final, Bonetti played as England lost 3–2 toWest Germany.

Bonetti was born inPutney, southwest London.^[1] His family moved toWorthing, Sussex in 1948. His parents ran a café on the seafront next to theDome Cinema. They wereSwiss-Italian emigrants fromTicino.^[6] Bonetti attended St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Worthing.^[7] He shone at an early age, playing forWorthing.^[8]

Chelsea signed him from theReading youth team after his mother had written to managerTed Drake, requesting that he give her son a trial. Whilst a Chelsea junior, Bonetti made five appearances forCroydon Amateurs in theSurrey Senior League thanks to youth team coach Albert Tennant who was also coaching Croydon at that time.^[9] He made his first team debut in 1960, and a few weeks later helped the Chelsea youth team win theFA Youth Cup. From the1960–61 season onward he was Chelsea's first-choice goalkeeper, a position he held more-or-less constantly for the next nineteen years.

Chelsea were relegated in Bonetti's second full season, which saw the appointment ofTommy Docherty as manager. Bonetti emerged as a key figure in a talented young team which includedBobby Tambling,Terry Venables,John Hollins andBarry Bridges.^[10] The team went into the penultimate match of the season needing to beat promotion rivalsSunderland to have a chance of going up. Chelsea won 1–0, with Bonetti making a brilliant last minute save to denyGeorge Mulhall and maintain his team's promotion chances; a 7–0 win overPortsmouth secured instant promotion back to theFirst Division.^[11]

The new Chelsea team challenged for honours during the 1960s, with Bonetti a key figure throughout, although more often than not the team narrowly missed out. The club won theLeague Cup in1965 with a 3–2aggregate victory overLeicester City. Leicester put Chelsea under heavy pressure in the second leg atFilbert Street, but an inspired performance from Bonetti helped secure a 0–0 draw, and thus the trophy for his team.^[10] For most of that season Chelsea were on course to add both the league title and theFA Cup, but ultimately missed out. They were beaten byLiverpool in the FA Cup;^[10] meanwhile, their title challenge ended with a few matches left, following a bust-up between Docherty and several of his first-team players (though not Bonetti). The disunity behind the scenes meant that a much-weakened team was fielded in a key match againstBurnley, in which Bonetti conceded six goals.^[12]

Bonetti played in every match of Chelsea'sInter-Cities Fairs Cup run the following season, putting in a series of impressive displays against the likes ofRoma,A.C. Milan andBarcelona, though the team was eventually knocked out in the semi-final, as they were in the FA Cup for the second consecutive year. The signing ofAlex Stepney at the end of that season briefly threatened his position as Chelsea's first-choice goalkeeper, and he considered putting in atransfer request, but Stepney ultimately made only one appearance for the club and was sold toManchester United a few months later. Chelsea eventually reached an FA Cup final in 1967, where they facedTottenham Hotspur, but the team got outplayed on the day and Bonetti could do little to stop Spurs winning 2–1.^[13]

That was the closest he came to winning another trophy with Chelsea until 1970, by which time Docherty had been succeeded byDave Sexton. In 1970, Chelsea again reached theFA Cup final and this time faced reigning league championsLeeds United. Over the two fiercely contested matches, Bonetti had what was perhaps the finest moment of his playing career. Chelsea were outplayed for large spells in the first final atWembley Stadium and he made a series of crucial saves to help them emerge with a 2–2 draw. Shortly into the replay atOld Trafford, his left knee was badly injured after a challenge from Leeds'Mick Jones. He returned to the field after treatment, but was effectively playing on one leg for the rest of the match and was powerless to stop Jones scoring the opener a few minutes later. In spite of the injury, and being targeted by the Leeds forwards, he made crucial saves throughout the match, denying bothPeter Lorimer andTerry Cooper, and resisted more pressure from Leeds after Chelsea had taken the lead inextra time to help secure a 2–1 win. Such were Bonetti's performances that season, he was voted runner-up in theFWA Footballer of the Year awards.^[14]

A year later, the team added theEuropean Cup Winners' Cup after another replayed win in the final, this time over Spanish giantsReal Madrid in Athens. Chelsea took a 2–0 lead in the replay, but Real dominated for much of the second half and it was another inspired performance from Bonetti that helped them hold on for a 2–1 win.^[15]

That was his last trophy with the club, although they narrowly missed out on more in the following years, losing in the 1972 League Cup final toStoke City and in the semi-final of the same competition toNorwich City a year later.^[10] Financial and disciplinary problems within the club prevented them from building on their success.^[16]

Bonetti left on afree transfer in 1975, joining theSt. Louis Stars of theNorth American Soccer League. That year, he made 21 appearances for the team and helped them top the Central Division that summer and reach the play-off semi-final.^{[citation needed]}

He then returned to Chelsea, where his experience proved invaluable in helping new managerEddie McCreadie's young team gain promotion in1976–77. Two years later, in May 1979, he played his final appearance for Chelsea, a 1–1 draw withArsenal, having made a total of 729 appearances for the club in nineteen years – onlyRon Harris has made more – and kept over 200clean sheets. He conceded one goal or less in two-thirds of his appearances for Chelsea.^{[citation needed]}

Bonetti earned sevencaps forEngland, kept out of the team byGordon Banks. He was a member of England's successful1966 FIFA World Cup squad, but did not make an appearance.^[17]

Bonetti's England career is largely remembered for one match – the1970 FIFA World Cup quarter-final againstWest Germany in Mexico. He was thrust into the starting line-up as a late replacement for Banks, who was suffering from severefood poisoning. During the match England relinquished a 2–0 second-half lead and lost 3–2 after extra time. Bonetti received a large amount of blame from the public for the loss, and never played for England again.^[18]

In the1966 World Cup final only the 11 players on the pitch at the end of the 4–2 win over West Germany received medals. Following aFootball Association-led campaign to persuadeFIFA to award medals to all winningsquad members, Bonetti was presented with his medal by prime ministerGordon Brown at a ceremony at10 Downing Street on 10 June 2009.^[17]

After leaving Chelsea, Bonetti moved to theIsle of Mull where he ran a guesthouse and became apostman.^[19] While living in Scotland, he briefly came out of retirement to make several appearances forDundee United as understudy toHamish McAlpine. Following his retirement from playing, Bonetti moved into coaching and had spells with Chelsea and the England national team, as well as working withKevin Keegan atNewcastle United,Fulham andManchester City.^[20]

During his time as a Chelsea coach, he was persuaded to play two matches forIsthmian League Division Two clubWoking, including an FA Cup debut in a 1–0 win overFootball Conference teamWeymouth. At one time he held the record for the most appearances for a single club by a goalkeeper, but was overtaken in the 1990s by Portsmouth'sAlan Knight.^{[citation needed]}

Since 2005, Bonetti made several appearances for an Old England XI in various charity matches, notably against celebrity teams, usually coming on for the last 10 minutes of each match.^{[citation needed]}

Bonetti died on 12 April 2020, aged 78, following a long illness.^[21] On 18 April 2022, his ashes were left behind the goal at the Shed End atStamford Bridge.^[22]

Source:^[23]

Totals include oneCharity Shield appearance in 1970–71.

Chelsea Youth

• FA Youth Cup:1959–60^[7]

Chelsea

• Football League Second Division promotion:1962–63,1976–77^[7]
• FA Cup:1969–70;^[7] runner-up:1966–67^[24]
• Football League Cup:1964–65^[7]
• European Cup Winners' Cup:1970–71^[7]

St. Louis Stars

• North American Soccer League Central Division:1975^[7]

England

• FIFA World Cup:1966^[25]

Individual

• North American Soccer League All-Star First team:1975^[26]

• Peter Bonetti at National-Football-Teams.com 
• Peter Bonetti at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database