| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Craig Lorne Forrest | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1967-09-20)20 September 1967 (age 58) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coquitlam Bel-Aire City | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1985–1997 | Ipswich Town | 263 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1987–1988 | →Colchester United (loan) | 11 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1997 | →Chelsea (loan) | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1997–2002 | West Ham United | 30 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 307 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1988–2002 | Canada | 56 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Craig Lorne Forrest (born 20 September 1967) is a Canadian former professional soccer player and sportscommentator.
As a player, he was agoalkeeper from 1985 until 2002, playing his entire career in England. He madePremier League appearances forIpswich Town,Chelsea andWest Ham United, whilst also spending time on loan in theFootball League withColchester United. He made 56 international appearances, representingCanada. In 2012 as part of theCanadian Soccer Association's centennial celebration, he was named to the all-time Canada XI men's team.[1]
Born and raised inBritish Columbia, Forrest began playing football at age 12. He first tried goalkeeping when a friend could not make it to a game and he decided to play as a replacement. He began playing with Coquitlam Bel-Aire City and also played for the BC U-16 and U-18 provincial teams. He was scouted by scouts from England and, in 1984, he travelled to England, signing a two-year apprenticeship deal withIpswich Town at the age of 17 and soon after was training with the English national youth team.[2]
Forrest joined English league sideIpswich Town in 1984 and remained with the club until 1997, making 263 league appearances. Forrest saw his first first-team action with 11 appearances on loan toColchester United in the 1987–88 season. From 1988 to 1989 through to 1996–97, Forrest was in the Ipswich Town goal, including during the 1991–92 season when the club won promotion to the newly establishedPremier League by winning the oldFootball League Second Division. Forrest was ever-present that season. He was also one of only 13 foreign players to play on the opening weekend of the FA Premier League along withJohn Jensen,Jan Stejskal,Anders Limpar,Peter Schmeichel,Andrei Kanchelskis,Robert Warzycha,Eric Cantona,Ronnie Rosenthal,Michel Vonk,Gunnar Halle,Roland Nilsson andHans Segers.[citation needed] He was the goalkeeper for what was then the heaviest Premiership defeat in history when Ipswichlost 9–0 toManchester United atOld Trafford in March 1995.
His goalkeeping helped Ipswich beat United (then in the early years of their period of dominance of English football) on one occasion in the first three seasons of the Premier League in a 3–2 victory there in September 1994 - as well as holding them to draws at Old Trafford in August 1992 and November 1993 - on the latter occasion he ensured that Ipswich were one of just three sides who visited United in the league without conceding a goal that season. He was voted Goalkeeper of the Month in the Premier League for October 1994, and around this time an offer of around £2 million from an unnamed club for Forrest's services was rejected by Ipswich. He remained loyal to the club despite their relegation at the end of that season, and stayed there for another two seasons.[3]
Forrest went on loan toChelsea from Ipswich in 1997, playing in the same team with the likes ofGianluca Vialli andGianfranco Zola under the guidance of managerRuud Gullit. A permanent move to Chelsea was turned down by the Ipswich Board of Directors.
Forrest signed forWest Ham United in the summer of 1997 for £500,000.[4] Forrest played a number of first-team games in the FA Premier League in the late 1990s and early 2000s with the east Londoners, remaining atBoleyn Ground until his retirement from football in 2002. On 1 April 2000 he was again the goalkeeper for a big defeat by Manchester United. Although West Ham scored first, the game finished 7–1 to Manchester United.[5] In 2001, Forrest was diagnosed withtesticular cancer. He beat the disease, but was advised by his doctors that he would no longer be able to play, culminating in Forrest retiring in 2002.[6]
Forrest played at the 1987FIFA U-20 World Cup[7] and made his debut for theCanada senior team in a May 1988 friendly match againstChile. He earned 56 caps (excluding the May 1990 North American Championship match against the US), the most of any goalkeeper in the national team's history tied withPat Onstad and earned the most clean sheets in the country's history before retiring from international football in 2002. The highlight of his international career was undoubtedly helpingCanada win the2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup, in which Forrest was named tournament MVP and Most Valuable Goalkeeper for allowing a mere three goals and stopping two penalties in his side's five games. Also during his international career Canada had secured a 1–1 draw againstBrazil only a month prior to theWorld Cup in the US in 1994. Forrest had further success against Brazil in 2001, recording a clean sheet in a 0–0 draw in the2001 Confederations Cup in Japan. In 2012, Forrest was voted by the fans into the Canadian best XI in theCSA's first 100 years.
Forrest began working as a sports analyst withRogers Sportsnet (now Sportsnet) upon his retirement from playing. He appears[when?] frequently[clarification needed] as a broadcaster for the men's national team andToronto FC onSportsnet as well as Sportsnet's Soccer Central Matchday. Forrest is now[when?] the CanadianFIFA Ambassador forSOS Children's Villages.
Ipswich Town
West Ham United
Canada
Individual
Canada squads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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