Our goalies

Arnold made plenty of outstanding saves in that game and along with Neville Southall were the only two out of the many Kendall signed, when he first came, who were value for money.

Georgie Wood was a very likeable fella who wasn't a bad ‘keeper but I think he was handicapped to an extent with wearing contact lenses!

I spoke with my dad on the phone after the game, he said George Wood had been superb.

Don, I don’t recall George Wood being referred to as “wee”Georgie, he was about 6’1” and 15 stone!

Gordon had a long-term thigh injury which prevented him from kicking the ball, so he developed a throw which could fling the ball deep into the opponent’s half.

To counter this lethal weapon, Southport’s Eric Redrobe, a large, muscular gentleman, decided to stand in front of Westie whenever he had the ball in his hands. Every time, Gordon dropped to one knee and was awarded a free kick, to Eric’s dismay and, ultimately, fury.

In the days when a booking took some earning, Eric eventually went into the notebook in the 2nd half, with a clear warning that another offence would see him taking an early bath.

Gordon had stitched him up, Big Joe scored a goal, we made it to the final.

I can't look beyond Southall. His best save amongst many, was that one away at Sheffield Wednesday for me.

However I want to mention a certain Andy Rankin who never let us down when he replaced or stood in for Gordon West. One game at Goodison we beat either Chelsea or Nottm Forest (can’t recall which) 6-1but the thing I remember was a save from AR who was diving one way but a deflection required him to turn in midair to tip the ball round the post. It was astonishing. Thanks for the memory Andy.

Then again, Pickford has given us some breathless moments of late. Obviously he had that brain fart moment at Anfield and doesn't command his box as well as he should. Maybe that's down to his lack of confidence of those in front of him or just his instinct to stay close to his goal line and 6 yard box.

But he's made some spectacular saves.

I also think Tim Howard was a bit underated

We travelled to Sheffield that day with the possibility of clinching the title. The rs had to lose in an early kick-off at Anfield, we just needed our customary win.

Things didn’t quite go that way. The rs kept going into the lead, Chelsea fought back, but eventually it was 4-3. Never mind, we would stroll to our victory.

Wrong again. Wednesday tore into us. They had early chances but Andy Gray scraped in a goal midway through the first half. Neville kept us in the lead until the break. Surely we would gather ourselves at halftime?

No. We had one of the toughest 45 minutes of the season with Lee Chapman and our old mates Imre Varadi and Mick Lyons causing our defence huge problems. The Big Man was never going to let one in that day, he was a man possessed.

What a reception he and the rest of the team got at the end of the game.

And he rarely gets the credit he deserves from the media.

That 84-85 team gets zero credit when so-called pundits talk about great teams from the past. Shocking really.

But don't get me started!

I'm talking about the “great teams” bit.

Well, we saw to that.

It was the same in 1995 when we ruined their dream Tottenham v Manchester United final by dumping Tottenham out of the semi-final.

Mimms, Harper, Pointon, Van den Hauwe, Ratcliffe, Langley, Adams, Power, Sheedy, Steven, Sharp, Heath.

Seriously, how on earth did that team win the league? But win it we did, and in some style I recall. Steven and Sheedy basically.

1984-85 team was similar in that regard I thought which is maybe why the ‘individual star celebrity’ focussed media overlooks them.

On goalies, I tend to like (have empathy for) all who wear our jersey, but Neville and Nigel are the stand out performers for me.

I tried to model that part of my goalkeeping skills from West but being short sighted had to make do with shorter distances.

Not that it was any great standard, schoolboy games, but it confused the opposition when the ball wasn't kicked route one.

Truth is I was never a great kicker of the ball anyway. When I played right back I had speed, a hard tackle and could pass, but never able to hoof the ball downfield, and again, couldn't see that far anyway!

My 5-a-side games at uni were much better.

Danny #12, I played briefly with a keeper like that, Jim Standen, who won the FA Cup with West Ham and was also a top professional cricket bowler. I was his DCL-style target man for half a season in a California semipro side, and he could unfailingly find my head or chest with either a dropkick or that cannon of a right arm.

We had some good players, George Wood included, but they will always be remembered as the nearly men. They just couldn't quite get there and missed out on that elusive League Cup.

I also remember watching Jan Mucha in a game, think it might have been a cuo game vs Brentford..

Am surprised Neil Lawson hasn't chipped in with a comment or three :)

Nev is undisputed number 1, and a nice down to earth guy.

Nigel Martyn was still a very class act when he came to goodison, composed and competent.

I liked Tim too, great character I thought, then there's Picks, didn't get to England's number one by fluke..

I went on the stadium tour yesterday, to say goodbye, I'd like to thank our guides Bill and David for their excellent knowledge and memories...

I don’t mind Pickford either. He’s made some spectacular saves for us. He has weaknesses but there is not a goalkeeper playing today on Southall’s level.

Neil, if you are reading this, apologies.

and Ian too.

I thought that the Neville sit-in was against Leeds?

I wasn't considered tall enough for GK once we got out of our teens and was moulded into a half-decent centre-half when playing Sunday league. I thought I was too short but still won most things in the air somehow, think part of it was the fearless determination that I picked up from worshiping Southall.