“Baggsy not nets” – Every Northern Irish kid down the park.
I don’t know if I can speak for all football fans here, but I love a last minute goalkeeper charge intill the box. Goalkeepers are often unsung heroes. Goalkeepers are often scapegoats. They make a mistake, they concede a goal. They get blamed. But without these lads, the team is nothing. The last line of defence.
Northern Ireland has been blessed with excellent goalkeepers down the years and a few eccentric ones too. There was the legendary Elisha Scott. Then Harry Gregg and Norman Upritchard, both heroes from World Cup 1958.
“I’m from T Bay. That’s the ghetto mate” – Carl Frampton.
Then there was Jim Platt and Pat Jennings. After that Tommy Wright and Alan Fettis helped us through the 1990s. Tommy saved a pelanty as we bate Albania away in 1993 and thwarted the German European Champions in Nuremberg in 1996. Alan kept Portugal at bay in Lisbon one night.
More recently Bailey Peacock-Farrell has saved 4 McCrums and Michael McGovern stopped 10 German Bombers in the box at Euro 2016. At the other end of the pitch, some of our goalkeepers scored goals, and here they are.
Alan Fettis
Born – Newtownards, Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland Caps – 25 (full), 3 (B level), 1 (under 18), 1 (under 17), 1 (under 16).
Clubs he was at – Hull City, Manchester United, Glentoran, Ards, West Bromwich Albion, Nottingham Forest, Blackburn Rovers, Leicester City, York City, Sheffield United, Grimsby Town, Macclesfield Town, Bury.
Club appearances – 424.
Club goals – 2.
Alan Fettis is till Norn Iron what Jorge Campos was till Mexico. And for one match only, the two keepers were on the same pitch when Northern Ireland lost 3-0 to Mexico in 1994. Alan bagged two goals for Hull City when he went up front during a striker crisis! He also did nets for Manchester United reserves!
Emma Higgins
Born – Ballymena, Northern Ireland (1990).
Northern Ireland Caps – 87.
Northern Ireland Goals – 1.
Clubs She Was At – Ballymena United Allstars, Glentoran Belfast United, Leeds United, Grindavík, KR, Doncaster Rovers Belles, Selfoss, Glentoran.
Club appearances – unknown.
Club goals – unknown.
Emma Higgins has the distinction of being the only Northern Ireland goalkeeper to score at full level for Northern Ireland. Her football career took her to Iceland, England and Northern Ireland and Emma has also played gaelic football. Another claim to fame is that Emma was in the 22-woman Team GB and NI squad for the 2012 Olympics. Some feat!
Pat Jennings
Born – Newry, Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland Caps – 119.
Clubs he was at – Shamrock Rovers, Newry Town, Watford, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Everton.
Appearances – 1,105.
Club goals – 1.
Unique fact – Pat Jennings is the only goalkeeper to score in a Charity Shield final.
Pat Jennings needs no introduction. He is a Northern Ireland legend. End of story. And apart from George Best, I believe he is the best ever player from Northern Ireland. And also, we get to hate Wikipedia which for some insane reason doesn’t include Cup matches, league Cup matches, international club level matches or friendlies in their matches count. Jennings only goal was in the Charity Shield final. You can see the goal here.
Josh Magennis
Born – Bangor, Northern Ireland (1990)
Northern Ireland Caps – 68.
Northern Ireland Goals – 10.
Clubs He Was At – Bryansburn Rangers, Lisburn Distillery, Glentoran, Cardiff City, Grimsby Town, Aberdeen, Saint Mirren, Kilmarnock, Charlton Athletic, Bolton Wanderers and Hull City.
Club appearances – over 300.
Club goals – over 100.
Josh started his career as a goalkeeper and is the highest goalscorer on this list having converted to a striker. He has an English league hat-trick (Charlton) and an FA Cup hat-trick (Bolton Wanderers) to his name.
At San Marino away in 2017, Josh was on two goals (a header and a left foot) and he was brung down in that there box so he was. We were winning 2-0 and we were solid. There was no way that San Marino would have scored 2 goals against us. And now we had a penalty. With Josh Magennis on a brace and needing just a goal to complete his hat-trick, myself and the GAWA fully expected that our captain Steven Davis would let Josh hit the penalty and complete the perfect hat-trick.
The only thing was, Steve Davis was our regular penalty taker at that time, and he took it and scored. After Davis mooned a McCrum in a 0-0 home draw with The Netherlands, Josh became the pelanty taker but then he missed a McCrum at Malta away.
Alan Mannus
Born – Toronto, Canada.
Northern Ireland Caps – 9 (full), 1 (under 23), 3 (under 16)
Clubs he was at – Linfield, Larne, Carrick Rangers, Shamrock Rovers, Saint Johnstone.
Club appearances – Over 500.
Club goals – 1.
Our Canadian-born goalkeeper Alan Mannus is one of the few goalkeepers to have scored a goal in the run of play. In a match against Omagh Town in 2003, for Linfield, his long goal kick bounced over the head of opposing goalkeeper Gavin Cullen and into the net. As a result of scoring his first goal, he was given the Player of the Month award for October 2003.
Allen McKnight
Born – Antrim, Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland Caps – 10.
Clubs he was at – Distillery, Glasgow Celtic, Albion Rovers, West Ham United, Airdrieonians, Stockport County, Rotherham United, Walsall, South China, Exeter City, Collier Row, Romford and Collier Row & Romford
Club appearances – Around 200.
Club goals – 1.
Won the Scottish Cup at Glasgow Celtic, nicknamed McKnightmare by West Ham United fans, Allen also scored a goal for Romford! He scored from a clearance in a cup match with Barking, and also made an attacking impact on a number of other occasions when playing up-front following injury or whilst seeking late equalisers.
Elliott Morris
Born – Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland Caps – 1 (under 21), 1 (B level).
Clubs he was at – Glentoran, Crusaders, West Bromwich Albion, Doncaster Rovers.
Club appearances – Around 800.
Club goals – 2.
Elliott Morris has the distinction of scoring in two different countries. He scored a penalty (and saved two penalties) in a shoot-out for West Bromwich Albion in the FA Youth Cup in 2000. Then in January 2019, he scored the below screamager for Glentoran away at Institute in the Brandywell!
Alan Paterson
Born – Belfast, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland Caps – 1 (Amateur Cap), 1 (Irish League Cap), 4 (League of Ireland Caps).
Clubs he was at – Glentoran, Sheffield Wednesday, Sligo Rovers,
Club appearances – 700 ish.
Club goals – 1.
Alan Paterson’s only career goal is simply unforgettable. He scored it in extra time in a final! It November 1988 with Glentoran playing Linfield in the Roadferry Cup Final at the Oval. The scores were level at 1-1 with four minutes to go when Paterson sent a long punt upfield. Incredibly the ball bounced over George Dunlop’s head and into the back of the net. Paterson had not only scored the winning goal in a cup final, but in the process ended a remarkable run of 21 matches without a Glentoran win over Linfield.
Alan Paterson vs Linfield 🤔
— Glentoran FC (@Glentoran) January 12, 2021
Elliott Morris vs Institute 🤔
📊 Which iconic Glentoran goalkeeper goal gets your vote as the best in #GFC history? Let us know in the comments below! #WeAreGlentoran #COYG 💚🐓 pic.twitter.com/XpHBixEVBl
Jim Platt
Born – Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland Caps –
Clubs he was at – Liverpool, Middlesbrough, Cardiff City, Hartlepool United, Ballymena United, Coleraine.
Club appearances – Over 500.
Club goals – 4+ (for Middlesbrough Reserves).
Jim Platt played in the World Cup in 1982 in the Austria match and his career for Northern Ireland was unlucky in that he was always going to be second fiddle to Pat Jennings. Jim’s career saw him appear in two Panini World Cup sticker albums, trial at Liverpool, play for United and City and become a legend at Middlesbrough where he even weighed in goals for the reserves. Multi-tasking Platt had been an outfield players at school, but was later converted to a keeper and part of his Middlesbrough legend is a hat-trick playing up front for the reserves away at Lincoln.
Red Herring
Artur Boruc (Poland)
Although Artur Boruc is not from Northern Ireland, nor has he scored for Northern Ireland, he certainly played his part! In a March 2009 World Cup qualifier at Windsor Park, Boruc was manning the nets in front of the vociferous Kop Stand. Northern Ireland were 2-1 up when Damien Jonhson’s ball was nudged back towards Artur Boruc by Zewlakow. Boruc went to kick it and missed, fluffing it completely, blaming a divot (which he himself had made) and the ball rolled into the net to put Northern Ireland 3-1 up. The final score was 3-2 and Northern Ireland fans still sing “Artur Boruc Artur Boruc Ulster’s Number One”. Boruc, was also a goalscoring goalkeeper and indeed he scored penalties for both Glasgow Celtic and Legia Warszawa, as well as conceding a goal from fellow goalkeeper Begovic once!
