Goalkeepers' Union: Recent Episodes

Goalkeepers' Union

The podcast dedicated solely to those lonely men between the sticks.

Goalkeepers' Union includes a weekly goalkeeper guests, plus expert goalkeeping analysis from ex-Premier League stopper Richard Lee.

A tale of two narratives in this week's Between the Sticks.

One is relatively non-existent in the case of Bernd Leno, and that's simply because the German is going about his business in West London - just like he has done in the 126 consecutive appearances made for the club since he signed in the summer of 2022.

The other surrounds Tottenham stopper, Guglielmo Vicario. Despite an xGA of 2.3, it seems fans and pundits alike are losing patience with the Italian, who conceded three at the hands of Nottingham Forest at the weekend. Fair judgement? We discuss.

In the EFL, Carl Rushworth is making waves on what is his sixth loan away from Brighton (a club he's still yet to make a competitive outing for) and Sol Brynn's sounds the Goalkeeper Assist klaxon for his part in Middlesbrough's comfortable 3-1 victory over QPR.

Finally, a shout out to Shamal George for grabbing a Scottish League Cup Winners medal after St Mirren - a club he's on loan to from Wycombe - defied the odds to beat Celtic at Hampden Park.

With Richard Lee on his 2025-26 rotation, the vastly-experienced David Rouse steps in to fill the void this week.

In the Premier League, Emi Martinez was up to his customary tricks with a match-winning save in the class between Aston Villa and Wolves, Guglielmo Vicario felt the wrath of Tottenham fans when giving the ball away for what turned out to be the winner, and we delve into the goalkeeper celebration debate. Good thing? Bad thing? Or none of the above?

Joe Murphy dominated headlines in the EFL thanks to his star showing in Tranmere's win at grimsby. The Irishman is now 44 and looks just as agile as he did 20 years ago, prompting a look back at top-flight veterans of yesteryear.

This week's show is kicked off with three interference-based incidents:

Murillo's opener for Nottingham Forest at Liverpool
Eberechi Eze's first in a North London Derby hat-trick
Virgil van Dijk's disallowed header prior to the international break at Man City

Was vision obstructed for Alisson, Guglielmo Vicario and Gianluigi Donnarumma respectively or should all three goals have been given?

Over in the EFL, the old guard take centre stage. Asmir Begovic, Ben Hamer (Championship), Sam Walker (League One) and Richard O'Donnell (on loan in League Two) continue to roll back the years and provide further proof that, providing you still have the drive, a career in goalkeeping can persist well into your twilight years.

Welcome Andy Marshall.

A new voice arrives on Between the Sticks this week in the form of the ex-Millwall, Charlton and Birmingham Goalkeeper Coach.

Marshy, who decided to step away from the grass in the summer, will join up throughout the campaign to offer his expert insight on all things goalkeeping and the weekend's main talking points.

For this episode, we discuss a week of heroics from Guglielmo Vicario, a potential signing of the season in Martin Dubravka and a tale of two corners in the game between Everton and Tottenham.

Over in the EFL, Blackburn's Balasz Toth, Leyton Orient's Killian Cahill and Jojo Wollacott of Crawley are singled out for praise.

With more than 70 moves occurring across all four tiers of the professional English pyramid over the summer, it was about time we cast our eyes over all the big transfer talking points.

From James Trafford to Will Brook, this is a GKs On Their Way special interspersed with a smattering of the top goalkeeping action from the weekend.

What better way to kick off a new season (and a long-awaited return to Between the Sticks) than with two goalless draws? The ideal result at GKU Towers was witnessed at Selhurst Park and the Hill Dickinson Stadium (not sure that'll ever sound right) as four stoppers - including Premier League newcomer, Robin Roefs - made their way into Clean Sheet Club this weekend.

Joining Roefs on that list is fellow Prem newbie, Gianluigi Donnarumma, who made a lightning start to life at Man City, plus now established Prem No1 David Raya - the Spaniard racking up his 100th appearance for Arsenal against Nottingham Forest.

In the EFL, Lawrence Vigouroux returned in fine fettle from his international bow with Chile, Liam Roberts sounded the first klaxon of the campaign and Cieran Slicker saved two penalties as Barnet came from behind to win at Crewe.

Yep, you read that right. Peter Shilton. C. B. E.

Fresh from the release of his completely free, 14-part "Shilton's Secrets" program, England's record cap holder invited GKU into his home to primarily discuss why he thinks goalkeeper coaching needs a bit of a revamp.

Naturally, we do also briefly touch on his 31-year career. Shilts talks us through designing his own goalkeeper apparel, that semi-final at Italia '90 and just how one manages to play 1,3 professional games.

A true gent and legend of the position.

To find out more on Shilton's Secrets, visit Peter's Twitter handle @peter_shilton.

We're often asked how much longer we can continue to interview goalkeepers for.

How can you think up new topics? How can you keep it fresh? Doesn't every interview become the same after a while? Is the aim to have every goalkeeper to have ever played on the Goalkeepers' Union Podcast?
Granted, that last question might be a bit of a stretch. The others, however, are all part and parcel of what makes each chat with each goalkeeper that little bit unique. Finding that one aspect of the story that somehow hasn't yet been told on previous episodes.

For Jayson Leutwiler, it was reflecting on his career just weeks after announcing his retirement from professional football - a first for the podcast.

Here, from his home in the North West of England, we discuss the Canadian's processes leading up to the decision, how he felt afterwards and what life has in store post-goalkeeping.

One of the most pleasant guys to have appeared on the pod.

FA Cup Semi-Final weekend sees the focus on Dean Henderson and Matz Sels in this episode of Between the Sticks. The former making a bog stop in Crystal Palace's win over Aston Villa. The latter called out for not coming for a corner which all but ended Nottingham Forest's hope of a dream day out as Man City booked their place in a third successive final.

In the EFL, three goalkeepers bagged their first clean sheet of the season on the penultimate day. For George Evans and Toby Steward it was a full opening of a professional account at Millwall and Crawley respectively, while Michael Kelly helped Accrington survive another season in League Two.

Congrats to James Trafford, Sam Tickle and Owen Goodman who all made Teams of the Season. And a nod to Chris Maxwell, who following doctor's advice has decided to call time on his goalkeeping career.

Not often do you hear of a goalkeeper going from the Premier League to Tier 9 in the space of a few short years - only to gradually make his way back into the throes of a League One promotion race at the age of 37.

Ben Hinchliffe (that's Hinch-liffe, not Hinch-cliffe) is a straight-talking stopper with a whopper of a story to tell - from driving trucks part-time to dislodging every aspiring goalkeeper brought in by Stockport to replace him.

Now, as he currently sits on the sidelines with the first lengthy injury of his career, the Prestonian is eyeing a 400th appearances for his beloved County - plus a heck of a lot more if he has his way.

Proper goalkeeper.

Very rarely does a goalkeeper make four assists across an entire career. Ederson has achieved it this season alone.

The Brazilian racked up his goal-providing quad in Man City's 5-2 win over Crystal Palace, marking this as the most successful-ever season for assists from goalkeepers in a single Premier League campaign.

Fellow Brazilian Alisson returned for Liverpool to remind everyone why he's the best in the world in a 2-1 triumph of West Ham, while all manner of questions continue to be raised over the goalkeeping dilemma facing Manchester United.

In the EFL, pro debuts were made by Luke Hutchinson (Crawley, on loan from Bolton) and Taite Holtam (Gillingham), Sam Tickle reached 100 career appearances at Wigan and Luke McGee played a huge role in Tranmere's remarkable comeback in a League Two basement battle at Accrington.

Richard Lee returns to the fold to talk about the steadiness of Bernd Leno as a Premier League goalkeeper, the bit-between-his-teethness of Dean Henderson and 100 in succession for Jordan Pickford.

In the Championship, Karl Darlow was finally given the nod ahead of Illan Meslier as Leeds were held at Luton, while Max Crocombe was the subject of a dubious penalty awarded to Wrexham and Wyll Stanway bagged an MOM in a rare start for Barrow.

A nod to Andy Fisher and Rohan Luthra, too, as both excelled on loans at St Johnstone and Spennymoor respectively.

Everton goalkeeper Asmir Begovic makes his return to the GKU starting lineup to talk all things The Toffees, FA Cup Quarter Finals and goalkeeping goodness from the EFL.

We touch on his close relationship with Jordan Pickford, what the immediate future holds for Illan Meslier at Leeds and teammate Harry Tyrer's loan spell with Blackpool.

Father and son goalkeepers. How many can you name? Let us know any who pop out via all the usual channels.

In addition to that, plenty of goalkeeping analysis to dive into this week.

Joe Hart and Shay Given both stood up for stoppers as they ran the rule over performances from Dean Henderson, Ederson and David Raya against Ipswich, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United respectively.

Meanwhile, Robert Sanchez returned for Chelsea, Robin Olsen kept his first Premier League clean sheet since New Year's Day of 2023 and Kepa committed the cardinal sin of conceding one of "those" penalties.

In the EFL, Save of the Weekend contenders go to George Wickens, Jay Lynch and Paul Farman.

So, the eight-second ruling as imposed on goalkeepers by IFAB is due to finally come into effect as of next season.

Following yet another trial during the Club World Cup over the summer, it's possible referees will award corners to opposing teams should goalkeepers fail to release the ball after eight seconds. Let's see how it plays out.

Meanwhile, penalty shootouts took centre stage in the FA Cup and FA Trophy at the weekend. Bernd Leno the hero for Fulham at Manchester United. Will Jaaskelainen saved three and scored the decisive spot-kick for Woking in their quarter-final tie at Oxford City.

On the flip side of heroism, Liam Roberts was very much seen as the villain after seeing red for his challenge on Jean-Phillipe Mateta in Millwall's defeat to Crystal Palace. We discuss the incident and comments made by Palace Chairman, Steve Parish, after the game.

It's fair to say the narrative surrounding Chelsea goalkeepers has not been particularly positive in recent seasons. Aston Villa's winner in their defeat of The Blues won't have helped that cause as Filip Jorgensen allowed Marco Asensio's effort to squirm under his body at the weekend.

We discuss that moment, in addition to the art of combating the "dinker". Aaron Ramsdale was twice beaten by deft finishes in Southampton's 4-0 loss to Brighton, so is it purely down to unbeatable striking excellence - or is there a way to thwart those pesky frontmen in such a scenario?

In the EFL, Illan Meslier made headlines yet again for his part in a monumental Leeds triumph over Sheffield United, Jamie Jones and Filip Marschall share the Save of the Weekend contender spoils, and 'Keeper Capers stars Nick Townsend and Ryan Boot of Newport and Chesterfield respectively.

It may not have been a particularly busy transfer window for goalkeepers in the Premier League, but there was still one big move for one English stopper.

Alex Palmer earned a shot at the top flight following his move from West Brom to Ipswich. He started Tier 1 life in fine fashion with a Man of the Match performance on his debut at Aston Villa.

An incredible four klaxons were sounded overall at the weekend. Ederson (a record-breaking sixth in total) was joined by Bart Verbruggen, Mark Howard and Joe Day, while James Trafford racked up an 11th successive clean sheet in nets for Burnley. An astonishing achievement unlikely to be eclipsed any time soon.

Elsewhere in the EFL, Save of the Weekend contenders came from Jamal Blackman, Corey Addai and Gabe Breeze. A truly fine weekend for goalkeeping.

If errors leading to goals are a clear marker of a goalkeeper's game, Robert Sanchez would be in the lower echelons of those performing in this season's Premier League.

The much-maligned Chelsea stopper was at fault for Man City's winner on Saturday, so we look at whether the negative hype is fair or perhaps somewhat exaggerated based on his actions aside from goals conceded.

Elsewhere, Thomas Kaminski stopped a rot of 13 successive penalties conceded by Luton, Hull bagged a third consecutive clean sheet and victory on the road for the first time since March 2011, and Murphy Cooper produced an audacious piece of skill for Stevenage in League One.

What is a howler? That is the question.

'Twas a word which cropped up a fair few times over the weekend. Andre Onana, Robert Sanchez and James Beadle just three of the suspects suspected to have committed the most catastrophic of calamities if reports were to be believed.

In reality, two were errors and one shouldn't have even been discussed as anything other than how it would have and has since been discussed in goalkeeping circles.

We delve into all three, in addition to the heroics of James Trafford's two penalty saves in Burnley's goalless draw at home to Sunderland on Friday night.

Everything comes to he who waits...

That was the case for Brandon Austin who, after spending the best part of 17 years at Totttenham Hotspur, was finally granted his first team debut at the weekend. The soon-to-be 26-year-old acquitted himself well in the defeat to Newcastle, earning the Man of the Match award on TNT Sports and giving Ange Postecoglou something to think about ahead of Wednesday's Carabao Cup clash with Liverpool.

Elsewhere, Matz Sels is perhaps the surprise package of the season in the Premier League. The Belgian leads the way for top-flight clean sheets following his blank in Nottingham Forest's 3-0 win over Wolves.

In the EFL, Illan Meslier is feeling the heat at Leeds, Joe Whitworth provided an assist in Exeter's defeat to Bolton and Ben Amos returned to league action for the first time since April 2023.

What a week it's been for Fraser Forster.

First there was Manchester United in the Carabao Cup, which Tottenham won. Then there was Liverpool in the Premier League, which Tottenham resoundingly lost.

The understudy to Guglielmo Vicario has been called out for his lack of ability when playing out, raising suspicions Spurs might enter the market in January with Vicario not back until mid-February. We run the rule over his two performances, plus that of Danny Ward, Jordan Pickford and Emi Martinez - the latter being crowned the FIFA Best Men's Goalkeeper for the second time in three years.

Merry Christmas!

Did we witness the greatest-ever save in footballing history at the weekend? Or was it just the best save ever seen in the Premier League? Or was it neither?

We run the rule over that stop from Emi Martinez in Aston Villa's defeat to Nottingham Forest, before touching on respective heroics from England goalkeepers Jordan Pickford and Dean Henderson in a draw with Arsenal and win over Brighton.

In the Championship, Sol Brynn regained the No1 jersey at Middlesbrough - a jersey which looks like it's now his to lose - while Aynsley Pears made it five clean sheets in a row for Blackburn.

Matty Young and Connor Ripley take the plaudits as top stoppers in League Two. Young is proving his worth on loan form Sunderland at Salford, while Ripley's all-action style earned a point at Bromley to keep Port Vale in second spot.

Andre Onana was back in the error-stricken headlines this week.

It's been a while since the Manchester United stopper courted column inches, but that he did after conceding to Morgan Gibbs-White in Nottingham Forest's win at Old Trafford.

Elsewhere, two klaxons were sounded - one in the Premier League courtesy of Mark Flekken and one in League Two via Josh Keeley - while weather wreaked havoc yet again with League Two feeling the full force of Storm Darragh.

Two contentious decisions took place in the Premier League at the weekend:

1) Did Adam Armstrong interfere with Bart Verbruggen's ability to prevent a goal scored by Southampton in what ended in a 1-1 draw with Brighton?

2) Was it right to award a penalty for Lukasz Fabianski's challenge on Gabriel in West Ham's 5-2 defeat to Arsenal?

We attempt to answer both, albeit with a little fence-sitting in the process.

Elsewhere, a Premier League debut was handed to Joe Lumley at the age of 29, while Aro Muric pulled off a Save of the Season contender for Ipswich in their narrow loss at Nottingham Forest.

FA Cup Second Round heroes come in the form of Jas Singh, Billy Crellin and Josh Keeley, who sounds a brand new klaxon for the first time.

As conditions wreaked havoc across the country at the weekend, it was in non-league where goalkeepers truly felt the force of Storm Bert's brutal ball bamboozlement. We start with Wroxham and Gloucester City in the Isthmian League North and Southern Prem respectively.

The Premier League then takes centre stage with Save of the Weekend contenders from Andre Onana and Guglielmo Vicario, the latter of whom is now set for a period on the sidelines after playing the majority of Tottenham's win over Man City with a broken bone in his foot.

Alex McCarthy was under the spotlight in his 150th Premier League appearance for Southampton. In stepping in for Aaron Ramsdale, he conceded three in a defeat to Liverpool, the second of which saw Mo Salah steal in to gift The Reds an equaliser.

In the EFL a series of injury time saves proved crucial for points saved and matches won, notably for Luton's Thomas Kaminski and Jacob Chapman of Huddersfield.

A nod to Sol Brynn, too. Following a number of loan spells away from Middlesbrough, he finally bagged a first league appearance for the club. It came in a 6-2 away win at Oxford.

Caoimhin Kelleher and Mark Travers have been pretty much close to flawless since stepping in for Alisson and Kepa at Liverpool and Bournemouth respectively.

At the weekend, Kepa was back in the Cherries' starting XI, while Kelleher - who pulled off two stunning saves in a home win over Aston Villa - will no doubt be back on the bench once his Brazilian teammate returns to fitness.

So, what next for the two No2s who could most likely be No1s at other Premier League clubs?

We discuss exactly that, plus another head save from Dean Henderson and a Save of the Weekend contender from Jordan Pickford at West Ham.

The Goalkeeper Assist klaxon sounds for Ben Killip of Barnsley in League One, Franco Ravizzoli remains unbeaten in 12 for Wycombe and David Harrington switches allegiance from Ireland to Wales as the Fleetwood stopper is called up to Craig Bellamy's latest squad.

Have we witnessed a turning point for Southampton and Aaron Ramsdale?

Two big saves in the victory over Everton gave the Saints and Ramsdale a first win and clean sheet of the campaign at the weekend. With a likely call-up to the England squad beckoning, the tide could just about be turning down on the south coast.

Along the way is Mark Travers who, after stepping in for the injured Kepa Arrizabalaga, is very much staking his claim to be Bournemouth's ongoing No1. Defeat of Man City - their first in 32 games - gives Cherries boss Andonia Iraola something to think about once Kepa returns to fitness.

Plenty of action to cover in the FA Cup First Round. Onto the next next phase go Jas Singh, Den Jeseph, Mathew Hudson and Laurie Walker of Tamworth, Kettering, Oldham and Solihull respectively, while Harborough's Elliot Taylor and Jonny Maxted of Brackley stepped up to nab a scalp over their more advanced non-league counterparts.

Gainsborough Trinity's Dylan Wharton arguably bags Goalkeeper of the Round following his three successive stops in a shootout triumph over Hednesford, and Text Talk returns courtesy of Frankie Leonard. The SCEFL stopper went viral for a quite remarkable stop for Bearstead against Fisher, managing to make a save despite being entangled in the net at the same time.

Premier League appearance number 21 arrived for Bournemouth's Mark Travers at the weekend, stepping in for Kepa Arrizabalaga and yet again proving his worth as one of the most reliable No2 stoppers in the division.

So, we ask, what next for the Irishman? Is his level as an elite-level No2, or does he flee the Vitality in order to pursue first-team football elsewhere?

That was the key take from a relatively quiet bout of top-flight action, bar the sacking of Erik Ten Hag at Manchester United. What does the future hold for Andre Onana now the man pretty much solely responsible for recruiting him has moved on?

In the EFL, Viktor Johansson and Lukas Jensen continue their fine form at Stoke and Millwall respectively, Sunderland's Si Moore bagged his first EFL start in roughly two years and Harry Lewis takes this week's 'Keeper Caper.

Interfering or not interfering? Offside or not offside? And would Jose Sa have saved John Stones' header regardless?

These are all questions delivered and deliberated upon in this week's show, as we look into that injury time winner for Man City at Wolves.

Elsewhere, Matz Sels is making a name for himself with another match-winning performance for Nottingham Forest in their victory over Crystal Palace, Guglielmo Vicario and Caoimhin Kelleher racked up 50 appearances at Tottenham and Liverpool respectively, and Nick Pope made one of the most remarkable saves (with his head) you're likely to see. Ever.

In the EFL, Thomas Kaminski sounded the second klaxon of the weekend, while Franco Ravizzoli and Billy Crellin continue to upturn the form of Wycombe and Accrington since stepping in.

Finally, it's here.

Having found a post-window moment to sit back and reflect, we take a look at all the key movers and shakers in this summer's goalkeeping transfer merry-go-round.

Starting in the Premier League, the Ramsdale/Raya debate is put to bed (although another is as a result raised via a listener tweet) before a comprehensive list is offered up all the way down to Step 2.

Roll on January!

Sometimes you witness a passage of play in goalkeeping that simply makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand to attention.

This weekend, Robert Sanchez and Matz Sels contributed to a "save off" that earned a point for their respective sides Chelsea and Nottingham Forest. Incredible goalkeeping in an incredible moment.

For Liverpool, Czech 23-year-old Vitezslav Jaros made his Premier League debut when coming on as a second-half replacement for Alisson in the win over Crystal Palace. He did well, reopening the discussion on whether young or old is suited better to that No3 spot.

Established Goalkeeper Coach, David Rouse - in for Richard Lee this week - gives his opinion on the above, as well as casting an eye over the best action from the EFL. Paul Nardi continues to enhance his reputation at QPR, Illan Meslier is the subject of 'Keeper Capers for the freak goal which saw Sunderland scrape a draw with Leeds and Connor Ripley stakes his claim for Performance of the Weekend thanks to his starring role in Port Vale's victory at Notts County.

Lastly, we touch on the return of David de Gea. The Spaniard saved two penalties in Fiorentina's triumph over AC Milan, although remarkably two less than Paulo Gazzaniga managed in a week thanks to heroics in Girona's games with Feyenoord and Athletic Bilbao.

Just when you thought it was safe to listen to goalkeeping punditry...

Up popped Roy Keane with some rather preposterous analysis of Ederson's antics during Man City's draw with Arsenal at the weekend. Along with claiming the Brazilian needed to "come with violence" in a bid to halt his fellow countryman in Gabriel, Keane also suggested Matz Sels should be docked a week's wages for allowing Danny Welbeck's free-kick to beat him in Sunday's other contest between Brighton and Nottingham Forest.

It all makes for an action-packed Commentary Corner in this week's episode, followed by takes on the performances of Dean Henderson (MOM), Andre Onana (double save alert) and Guglielmo Vicario (handball or no handball?).

In the EFL, Jacob Zetterstrom is rapidly making a name for himself following his summer switch to Derby, Harry Tyrer bagged Celebration of the Weekend right in front of Charlton fans as Blackpool left The Valley with three points and, for the second week in succession, Tommy Simkin pulled off a knee slide after claiming a late cross for Walsall.

On one hand they giveth...

Goalkeeping punditry cranked up a notch at the weekend with Danny Murphy taking centre stage on MOTD. In showcasing Ederson's distribution in Man City's win over Brentford, he not only did so with understanding and well-reasoned analysis, but unknowingly carved a hole for the universe to strike a balance elsewhere.

For over on Sky Sports, messrs Neville and Carragher continued their goalkeeping guffery with criticism of Guglielmo Vicario, Emi Martinez and Sam Johnstone - Neville at one point bizarrely stating Tottenham's Italian stopper had "frogs in his pants".

In the Championship, James Trafford helped Burnley to a big win at Leeds, Jacob Zetterstrom bagged another clean sheet in a strong start to life at Derby and Anthony Patterson very nearly made a Save of the Season in Sunderland's loss at Plymouth.

Tommy Simkin of Walsall takes Celebration of the Weekend and a shout out to Kasper Schmeichel for not conceding in his opening five league games for Celtic - the first time since 1906 any goalkeeper in Scotland has achieved such a feat.

Not nineteen forever.

That's certainly what you'd imagine if Lukasz Fabianski's career history is anything to go by. In Saturday's defeat to Man City, the West Ham goalkeeper replaced Alphonse Areola at half-time, racking up his 19th direct involvement in a goalkeeping substitution. Three of those have come since January, meaning we're hedging our bets that number 20 could well occur before the season is out.

Elsehwere in the Premier League, Aaron Ramsdale, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Sam Johnstone were all thrust into action at their new clubs, while Dean Henderson not only made three vital stops in a draw for Crystal Palace at Chelsea, but in turn bagged Celebration of the Weekend.

In the EFL, Bristol City's Max O'Leary and Christy Pym of Mansfield staked their claim for Save of the Weekend, on the international stage a new three-man selection was introduced for the England Men's senior team and the U21s, and over in France a ray of light was handed to much-troubled Bordeaux thanks to a last-gasp goalkeeping equaliser.

Only two games into the Premier League campaign and we already have a Save of the Season contender.

David Raya earned three points for Arsenal with his stop from Ollie Watkins at Villa Park. Not only did it banish the demons from the title-denting defeat of last term, but it served as yet another reminder that the Spaniard is at the very top of his game right now.

Two contests come in the form of 'Keeper Capers and Top Tips Over throughout all four tiers, both of which we saw on multiple occasions over the weekend. Jordan Pickford and Aro Muric guilty of the former in the top-flight, but Muric also involved in the latter with a marvellous stop from Erling Haaland as Ipswich fell to Man City.

Robert Sanchez raised his stock with Chelsea fans thanks to quick thinking and excellent execution in helping to set up Cole Palmer for the Blues' second in the 6-2 romp of Wolves, and Neto seemed to be a counterattack-thwarting target for Newcastle as they held Bournemouth at the Vitality.

Penalty stops from Joe Whitworth and Luke McGee should be noted, as should Conor Hazard's MOM performance for Plymouth in their draw at QPR.

A little late this week.

That can be blamed on both the transfer window and sleepless flights, which might just give you an insight into what this week's Voice of Goalkeeping will be.

Silliness aside, Joe Hart is now a bonafide member of the Match of the Day setup - and if the Premier League's opening weekend show is anything to go by, we could be in for a wealth of high-profile goalkeeping punditry this season.

That, alongside Christian Walton's first-ever top-flight start at Ipswich and Robert Sanchez currently being one of six at Chelsea, is covered with all the best bits from the EFL.

Special mention to Corey Addai for sounding the first Goalkeeper Assist Klaxon of the campaign.

It hath been a while.

Consider this a drop-in. A restart before the proper restart, if you will.

With the window still very much in full swing, our standard summer schedule didn't quite go according to plan this time out. However, we do promise to make up for that once September is upon us. That means more interviews and a few specials thrown in for good measure, too.

For now, behold the first Between the Sticks of 2024-25. All the key goalkeeping goodness from the opening day of the EFL campaign is covered, including a whopping 28 debutants among the 72.

Quite the window thus far...

As the curtain comes down on the domestic campaign, so too does this season's bout of Between the Sticks shenanigans.

Stefan Ortega and Andre Onana both had moments in the FA Cup Final. We touch on each before a look at the Scottish Cup Final and Championship Play-Off Final, won respectively by Celtic and Southampton.

Attention is then turned to the season as a whole. Rich rates his Goalkeepers of the Season from the Premier League to League Two with a few stats thrown in for good measure.

Thank you for all your support yet again this term. The pod is nothing without loyal listeners and the GKU has stood strong once more.

As the final weekend of the Premier League season cemented Man City's fourth successive title, we ask the question, "Was it all down to Stefan Ortega?"

The German pulled off a masterclass in "No2ing" in the midweek victory over Tottenham and capped off another impressive campaign since joining the club as a relative unknown on these shores.

Elsewhere, Nick Pope returned to action for Newcastle, James Shea made his Premier League bow for Luton, Dean Henderson finished on a high at Crystal Palace and David Raya showed just how good his hands are in Arsenal's defeat of Everton.

A quick nod is given to Corey Addai and Jamie Cumming for their play-off triumphs at Crawley and Oxford respectively, while Joe Hart is now just one game away from goalkeeping retirement.

Following his retirement from professional football in 2018, Adam Bartlett's ascent in the world of goalkeeper coaching has been rather rapid.

Since officially taking the reins as Head of Goalkeeping at Newcastle United at the beginning of the 2022-23 season, he's overseen the arrival of Nick Pope, managed an unexpected scenario of having to play No3 Loris Karius - a man who hadn't started a competitive fixture for 20 months - in the EFL Cup Final with Manchester United, and contributed to his hometown club returning to the Champions League.

Over a spot of premium grub at Darsley Park, he talks us through how he grasped an opportunity and continued to evolve a department he hopes will soon be close to unrivalled in the Premier League.

Player of the Season is where we begin this week.

How many goalkeepers, if any, were handed awards at EFL end-of-campaign shindigs this term?

In the Premier League (where awards are yet to be handed out) decisions were made in favour of David Raya and Dean Henderson, but against Mark Travers. We discuss whether or not each one was correct.

The Championship's final day saw clean sheets and subsequent survival for Mike Cooper, James Beadle and Aynsley Pears at Plymouth, Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn respectively, while Grant Smith leaps into League Two with promoted Bromley.

A word on Tim Howard, too, who this week gained entry into the US National Soccer Hall of Fame.

This week's pod comes unexpectedly live from the home of Coventry City (it'll all make sense inside the opening five minutes).

In the Premier League, much has been discussed about Tottenham's need for a defensive set-piece coach. Richard Lee, however, isn't so sure. Neither was he convinced Cody Gakpo should have been allowed to tap into an empty after confusion reigned between Alphonse Areola and referee Anthony Taylor in West Ham's draw with Liverpool.

Elsewhere, Seny Dieng is finishing a disruptive campaign strongly at Middlesbrough, Russell Martin's decision to play Alex McCarthy over Joe Lumley at Southampton is discussed and, as tends to be standard practice on the final day of the league season, a number of understudies were given some much-needed minutes - and thus a mention on this very podcast.

More importantly, the Clean Sheet Club King of 2023-24 is revealed.

It is 200 up for GKU and Between the Sticks. A double century. One more game than Richard Lee managed in his career.

To celebrate, we've simply produced a standard episode you've grown accustomed to listening to over the past few years.

In it, we discuss Aro Muric's performance in Burnley's romp of Sheffield United, while also running the rule over his opposite number in that clash, Ivo Grbic. An analysis of the "Ic's", if you will.

Jordan Pickford continues to keep us all entertained with his on-field antics in a huge win for Everton over Nottingham Forest, while Andre Onana and Brad Collins shared saves in a whopper of an FA Cup Semi Final between Manchester United and Coventry.

Elsewhere, Keeper Capers goes into overdrive: Dean Henderson, Freddie Woodman, Aynsley Pears and Vicente Reyes all blessed with the jingle this weekend.

The Goalkeeper Assist klaxon, meanwhile, is sounded for Jackson Smith of Walsall.

Following a mini-break during the international and Easter interludes, GKU is back as per to cover all the key action as Storm Kathleen wreaked havoc with goalkeeping conditions over the weekend.

Jose Sa was caught out direct from a James Ward-Prowse corner, Franco Ravizzoli saw a cross float over his head in the dying embers of the EFL Trophy Final and Thimothee Lo-Tutala launched airmail for Doncaster's opener in a comprehensive win at Morecambe.

Elsewhere, we mark Lukasz Fabianski's 18th substitute involvement, Stefan Ortega's silky skills at Selhurst Park and Performance of the Weekend contenders from Max O'Leary, Luca Ashby-Hammond and Jackson Smith of Bristol City, Notts County and Walsall respectively.

Very rarely can a subject of interviews on this podcast boast a career involving anything else other than "goalkeeper" or "goalkeeper coach".

For Ian Feuer, however, vocations such as actor, stuntman, DJ and even part-time cook come into the mix.

There's also the fact he was introduced to goalkeeping via the nephew of a notorious Vegas mobster, he's son to a musical maestro who worked closely with Elvis Presley and sister to the one-time wife of Hollywood star Mickey Rourke.

At 6ft 7in, he's the tallest goalkeeper to have featured in MLS and back in 1994 became the first US stopper to journey into the Premier League. Two years prior to that, he was involved in the first-ever competitive fixture to implement the backpass rule.

This is the story of goalkeeping's Forrest Gump.

Across the four FA Quarter Final ties this weekend, five No2 goalkeepers were utilised.

Considering the negative narrative surrounding Robert Sanchez on BBC's coverage of the Chelsea v Leicester clash, we look at the implications of such decisions.

In the Premier League James Trafford was dropped for the first time this term, making way for Ara Muric to step in and help Burnley to a rare victory over relegation rivals Brentford. It means five ever-present goalkeepers remain in the top-flight for 2023-24 - can you name them quicker than Rich?

Joe Wildsmith takes centre stage in the EFL with an incredible Save of the Weekend contender in Derby's huge win at home to Bolton. And as a keen listener of the show, he provides us with a full breakdown of the stop via Text Talk.

It's been a while, but the Ramsdale/Raya debate returns following the former's display in Arsenal's win over Brentford on Saturday evening.

Much to be said, and therefore much is discussed.

Ederson's season looks to be hanging in the balance with an injury picked up in the draw between Liverpool and Man City. Basic error or poor goalkeeping to give away the penalty for that foul on Darwen Nunez?

Commentary Corner is back as Gary Neville tentatively released a call for a regular goalkeeping pundit, Jordan Pickford celebrated his 30th birthday with smiles at Old Trafford and Matz Sels comes under the spotlight for the first time since his January arrival at Nottingham Forest.

In the EFL, James Beadle and Dan Grimshaw took plaudits in the Championship and League One respectively, while League Two produced a series of sensational displays in the form of Jack Bycroft, Vicente Reyes and Nick Townsend.

Save of the Weekend (and possibly the season) contender comes from Kevin Dabrowski of Raith Rovers.

Save of the Weekend contender kicks off the show this week.

And that save was made by Bournemouth's Neto, who flew across his goal to brilliantly fling out a paw and pat away Jacob Bruun Larsson's free-kick in a 2-0 win over Burnley.

Alphonse Areola bagged another MOM display as West Ham won at Everton, Emi Martinez put in a superbly solid performance for a triumphant Aston Villa against lowly Luton, and Andre Onana secured a season's first with his eight successful high claims in the defeat to Man City being more than any goalkeeper has managed in a Premier League match this term.

In the EFL, Jed Ward continues to receive rave reviews at Bristol Rovers, Steve Arnold has stepped in admirably for a struggling Sutton and in Grimsby's 1-0 win over Forest Green Rovers, the game saw one shot on target and no saves made. Quite the spectacle.

It's all about Caoimhin Kelleher this week.

For the second Carabao Cup Final in three years, he pretty much single-handedly dragged Liverpool to the trophy at the expense of Chelsea.

Huge saves from Cole Palmer and Conor Gallagher had Jurgen Klopp and Virgil Van Dijk singing his praises and forming a narrative which could prompt The Reds into a big decision this summer. Does the Irishman stay or go?

Elsewhere, Loris Karius made his first Premier League start since May 2018, Viktor Johansson continued to rack up his save count in yet another defeat for Rotherham and debut podcast mentions were awarded to Jack Bycroft and Steve Arnold of Swindon and Sutton respectively.

Lastly, a quick word is offered on Joe Hart following the 36-year-old's announcement that he'll be hanging up his gloves at the end of this season.

A select band of names seem to be synonymous with goalkeeper coaching.

Andy Quy is one of them.

Following more than a decade at Stoke City - a period which saw them climb into, consolidate their status and then drop back out of the Premier League - he enjoyed short stints with Brentford and Burton before being tasked with assisting the creation of an entirely new MLS franchise in Charlotte FC.

Now back in England and reflecting on next steps, he talks to GKU about his ultimate goalkeeping department, how taking time out can aid progression and facing countless free-kicks from Gazza at Wembley.

NB: This podcast was recorded two weeks prior to Andy taking on his current role at Huddersfield Town.

Just like Richard Lee the goalkeeper, we are short and sharp this week.

Packed inside half-an-hour of goalkeeping goodness comes multiple Save of the Weekend contenders. Guglielmo Vicario and Jose Sa staked their claims in Wolves' win at Tottenham, while Gavin Bazunu, Viljami Sinisalo, Liam Roberts and James Belshaw fly the EFL flag for Southampton, Exeter, Barnsley and Harrogate respectively.

Stat of the Week arrives courtesy of Brighton, who broke a Premier League record by making a 15th starting goalkeeper change in the victory at Sheffield United. Bart Verbruggen's inclusion eclipsed the 14 racked up by Manchester United in 2000-01 - and we still have more than ten games to play.

He may have been on the losing side, but Mark Flekken broke Premier League records for Brentford in their clash with Man City on Monday night.

We briefly discuss his start to life in England, in addition to some familiarly rough treatment dished out to Guglielmo Vicario in Tottenham's draw at Everton.

A day of deflections, own goals and rebounds occurred in the EFL, where Bristol Rovers youngster Jed Ward excelled in claiming his first clean sheet in professional football. Welcome to the Club, Jed.

Lastly, GKs On Their Way has its final hurrah before the summer.

Lucas Covolan, take a bow.

A man-of-the-match performance from Maidstone's No1 helped The Stones defeat Ipswich and in turn become the first club from outside the top five tiers of the English football pyramid to make the FA Cup fifth round since Blythe Spartans in 1978.

The Brazilian takes centre stage this week, along with the rest of the fourth round action where, yet again, "Foul or No Foul?" rears its head following Man City's winner at Tottenham.

Altay's possibly one and only appearance for Manchester United this season is touched upon, as is Martin Dubravka's likely challenge as Newcastle's main man for the remainder of the campaign, plus a spot of GKs On Their Way with the January window reaching its conclusion.

Is it feasible for a professional goalkeeper to genuinely consider a career as a kicker in the NFL?

That is a question we’ve posed on the podcast many times before. Indeed, Kasper Schmeichel - as you’ll be reminded of in this episode - provided a very frank response when comparing the two disciplines a couple of years ago.

Now, we have an answer.

For Josh Lambo did just that. Following a short career in MLS - a short career, no less, which still encompassed starring for the USA at various youth international tournaments and very nearly bagging a move to Everton - he made the brave and ultimately successful decision to switch sports at the age of 22.

The result: A fruitful decade of breaking records and cementing his name as the most accurate kicker in Jacksonville Jaguars history.

Here, Josh outlines the similarities between goalkeeping and placekicking, why and how he chose one over the other, and the meeting with NBA great Kobe Bryant that he believes reshaped his mindset.

Visit joshlambo.com to find out more about the man on a mission to help people change the way they think.

Gamesmanship? Cheating? Poor goalkeeping? Anything other than taking accountability?

Those are the questions posed when pondering Ivan Toney's much-talked about opener in Brentford's win over Nottingham Forest at the weekend. From a goalkeeping perspective, we look at whether his ball-tampering tactics should have been flagged earlier by Forest - and whether Matt Turner's wall wasn't positioned properly.

"Foul or no foul?" rears its head for a second week running following incidents involving Dean Henderson and Alphonse Areola in a defeat and draw for Crystal Palace and West Ham respectively - and Jason Steele exhibited another distribution masterclass as Brighton were held at home to Wolves.

In the EFL, Carl Rushworth continues to impress on loan at Swansea from Brighton, Vaclav Hladky was named Sky's MOM in the top of the table clash between Leicester and Ipswich, Jack Stevens of Cambridge threw his name in the ring for Save of the Weekend, and Dan Connor - Goalkeeper Coach at Forest Green Rovers - stepped up to a caretaker role following the dismissal of Troy Deeney.

Slightly different approach this week.

Colin Barnes is a man with skin in the goalkeeping game. After 25 years in the coaching arena, he's contributed to the development of more than 40 professional stoppers over the course of his career (he may have also been Richard Lee's first-ever goalkeeping coach).

Now, as Head of Emerging Talent at Crystal Palace, he's scouring South London to find the next generation of Eagles as part of the club's burgeoning academy setup.

Not many people within professional and non-league goalkeeping don't know who this man is, so we sat back and let him offer his thoughts on the position, how it's evolved over the years and what the future holds.

Foul or no foul?

That was the question on, well, some people's lips following Luton's last-minute equaliser at Burnley over the weekend. With James Trafford appearing to be impeded by Elijah Adebayo, a goal was given and the Twittersphere was split.

We look at that incident, as well as Andre Onana's AFCON involvement which could pave the way for Altay Bayindir's long-awaited first piece of action as a Manchester United goalkeeper.

Ben Hamer nabbed Performance of the Weekend in the EFL with a stunning display to see Watford leave QPR with three points, while Josh Vickers remains Derby No1 despite Joe Wildsmith hitting double figures for clean sheets prior to being dropped.

All that, plus Clean Sheet Club and more GKs On Their Way.

A typically unpredictable and reactive window has resulted in this week's podcast arriving a little later than usually expected.

However, we quickly wrap up all the key action from the FA Cup Third Round.

Big performances from Nathan Baxter, Dan Grimshaw and Max O'Leary helped Bolton, Blackpool and Bristol City take Premier League sides to respective replays on home soil, Lucas Covolan stayed firm to see Maidstone through to the Fourth Round for the first time since their 1992 reformation, and Cam Dawson saved two penalties inside the opening ten minutes as Sheffield Wednesday saw off Cardiff.

Meanwhile, GKs On Their Way rolls on with a further four moves taking place. Special mention to Jed Steer for securing a short-term contract with Peterborough. The ex-Villa man looks set to don the gloves for the first time in almost two years.

Happy New Year to goalkeepers far and wide.

We kick off 2024 in reluctant fashion with... Commentary Corner! Yes, remarks directed towards Matt Turner in Nottingham Forest's victory over Manchester United were simply too ridiculous to ignore, so we run the rule over whether they were justified. (Spoiler: they were not.)

In the EFL, Viktor Johansson continues to keep Rotherham's Championship survival hopes alive, debuts were handed to Fynn Talley and Gabriel Breeze of Peterborough and Carlisle respectively, and Tranmere's Luke McGee played a huge part in his side's maximum take from the four festive fixtures.

GKs On Their Way returns, Louie Moulden is lauded for his five assists so far on loan at Rochdale and Arbroath's Ali Adams bags a mention for the goal that went viral.

Crystal Palace now have a conundrum on their hands.

Dean Henderson's welcome to return to action in the draw with Man City most likely means the No1 jersey is his to lose. A No1 jersey which, up to this point, had been deservedly maintained by fellow England goalkeeper, Sam Johnstone.

We discuss that and plenty more in this week's show, including a first-ever four successive Premier League clean sheets for Jordan Pickford and the theatre that was Martinez/Maupay in Aston Villa's win over Brentford.

In the EFL, Ben Hamer, Jack Bonham and Max O'Leary battled it out for Performance of the Weekend, Fleetwood's Jay Lynch pulled off a remarkable Save of the Weekend contender and Sutton shipped eight at Stockport.

It's been a long time coming, but Burnley have bagged precious points in recent weeks - and the draw at Brighton was thanks largely to MOM, James Trafford.

The uber confident 21-year-old made 10 saves to silence The Seagulls in a performance to show the Premier League he has very much arrived.

Returning from a short absence was Alisson, whose presence between the sticks aided Liverpool's comeback at Crystal Palace. Emi Martinez, meanwhile, revelled in a raucous encounter between Aston Villa and Arsenal, both Jose Sa and Matt Turner regained their respective No1 spots and many congrats go to Remi Matthews who finally earned his top-flight bow at Selhurst Park.

In the EFL, Cam Dawson enhanced his ridiculous penalty-saving stats, Asmir Begovic led QPR's revolution under Marti Cifuentes, Colchester loanee Owen Goodman sounded the Goalkeeper Assist klaxon and Joe Walsh bagged his first-ever professional start as an emergency loan acquisition at Accrington.

Every so often you meet a goalkeeper and think, "Yeah, this lad's got that bit extra."

Connor Ripley is one of those lads.

After waiting more than ten years to earn a sustained period of first team football at his registered club, the Middlesbrough-born stopper has revelled in his rightful role as No1 in recent seasons.

Successive campaigns at Morecambe and Port Vale have garnered rave reviews, the EFL have offered accolades and fans have made him very much a favourite.

Now, with a 250th professional appearance under his belt, the 30-year-old is enjoying his football and loving his life.

Here, he talks taking on jiu jitsu, lugging logs up a hill alongside Gordon Strachan and maturing as a goalkeeper.

NB: Explicit language is used in this recording.

According to Erik ten Hag, Manchester United's Andre Onana is the second-best goalkeeper in the Premier League "based on stats".

We discuss the Dutchman's claims and look back over his stopper's midweek performance at Galatasaray, before turning attention to Newcastle and a gaping void left by the injury suffered to Nick Pope. If only there was a proven Premier League goalkeeper with world class quality out there as a free agent...

In the Championship, Chris Maxwell continues to deputise admirably for Lee Nicholls at Huddersfield, Gavin Bazunu racked up a second successive clean sheet for just the second time in his Southampton career and Ben Hamer bagged his first penalty stop since April Fools Day of 2014.

Keeper Capers comes from Bundesliga 2, Ligue 1 and Serie A, where the Goalkeeper Assist klaxon was also sounded for AC Milan's Mike Maignan - his third assist in as many campaigns.

First on Match of the Day and also opening this week's show are Luton and Thomas Kaminski.

The Belgian has been solid for The Hatters since his summer arrival from Blackburn, and a series of saves in a first Premier League home win at Kenilworth Road continues to raise his profile.

Andre Onana kept a clean sheet away at Everton and looks like he's just beginning to adjust to life behind an ever-changing Manchester United backline, Ederson provided us with yet another distribution masterclass in the draw between Man City and Liverpool, and Newcastle named three goalkeepers on the bench for what we reckon was the first time in top flight history.

Oh, and there's the customary Raya/Ramsdale debate following the latter's heavily scrutinised return to Arsenal's starting line up against Brentford.

In the EFL, Chris Maxwell made his first league appearance and debut for Huddersfield, Dan Grimshaw kept it clean in Blackpool's 4-0 romp over promotion chasers Portsmouth and Craig MacGillivray revelled in a new playing-out-from-the-back system under Mike Williamson at MK Dons.

It's not often you encounter a dog taking part in First Team training.

At Mansfield Town, however, Bobbie (pooch of manager, Nigel Clough) is very much part of the furniture. As is Adam Collin, a Goalkeeper Coach enjoying his first full season in the role.

Following a morning on the grass, we sat down with the ex-EFL stopper to discuss his transition from player to coach, how he implements his philosophy and how not one training session is ever the same.

From being released at Newcastle to amassing more than 600 appearances and making his EFL bow at the age of 24, Adam is honest, insightful and, thanks to some select stories, quite entertaining.

NB: Explicit language is used in this recording.

For the first time ever on the Goalkeepers' Union Podcast, it is two for the price of one.

A goalkeeper accompanied by his goalkeeper coach.

Dan Bentley flanked by Neil Cutler.

We visited Wolves' training ground to sit down with the pair on how they operate, the inner workings of a Premier League goalkeeping department and the implementation of a very meticulous fine system.

Normal service resumes on Between the Sticks with a full rundown of the key goalkeeping action from the weekend.

Alphonse Areola, winner of October's Premier League Save of the Month, whacked his name in the hat for November's award with a fine stop from Taiwo Awoniyi in West Ham's victory over Nottingham Forest.

He could be accompanied by a) Nick Pope who, despite being on the losing side at Bournemouth, showed excellent reactions to thwart Luis Sinisterra, and b) Emi Martinez for touching a Raul Jimenez effort onto the post as Aston villa beat Fulham.

In the EFL, Brad Collins, Ben Hamer and Jonathan Mitchell made their first league outings of the campaign, while Reading's David Button sounded the Goalkeeper Assist klaxon.

Premier League, Championship and FA Cup First Round action is discussed and dissected this week.

The standard debate around David Raya kicks things off, followed by Guglielmo Vicario's almost point-saving performance as Tottenham fell at home to Chelsea.

In the second tier, Illan Meslier was praised as "the best goalkeeper in the league" by boss Daniel Farke, while many a non-league goalkeeper made their name in progressing to the next stage of the FA Cup.

Goalkeeper Assist klaxon: Joe Day of Yeovil Town.

Raya and Ramsale? Again?

Yep, following the weekend's clash between Chelsea and Arsenal, that debate takes centre stage once more.

We discuss whether Mikel Arteta's current No1 was at fault for Mykhailo Mudryk's cross-cum-shot, whether criticism of his performance was justified and whether Aaron Ramsdale should be "banging the manager's door down" as some pundits have suggested.

Elsewhere in the Premier League, Alphonse Areola racked up a 50th appearance for West Ham, Alisson became the first Liverpool goalkeeper since Ray Clemence in 1976 to record four consecutive Merseyside Derby shutouts, and Guglielmo Vicario continues to earn deserved plaudits at Tottenham.

In the EFL, another summer recruit in Mads Hermansen marches on with Leicester, Sam Tickle bagged an important clean sheet for Wigan in their win at Exeter and Doncaster's Louis Jones sounded the Goalkeeper Assist klaxon.

Following on from Part One of our chat with Simon a few months, this is just a quick clean up where he talks about more of the goalkeepers he's worked with over the years.

The likes of Pavel Srnicek, Joe Hart and Martin Dubravka receive a mention, as do some lovely stories of Simon's time with Sir Bobby Robson.

As much as we all try to move on, the Raya/Ramsdale debate continues to bag headlines and, as a result, the centre of attention on this very show.

Some suggested the current Arsenal No1 looked shaky in the first-half of The Gunners' win over Man City at the weekend. Taking his entire performance into account, we argue whether such analysis was a little hasty.

In the same game, Ederson racked up his 300th appearance in English football (140 clean sheets in that time, if you're asking) while fellow countryman Alisson pulled off a Save of the Weekend contender to earn Liverpool a point at Brighton.

Seny Dieng and Middlesbrough are very much back on song in the Championship, Luke Southwood played a huge part in Cheltenham's first point in seven League One outings and Christy Pym did his homework to brilliantly save a James Tilley in the bottom tier stalemate between Mansfield and AFC Wimbledon.

Keeper Capers focuses on Olivier Giroud's cameo between the sticks for AC Milan, plus an unfortunate incident in the Thurlow Nunn League Divison One South.

A bit late this week.

With Rich over in the US, we opted to hold off until the midweek fixtures had occurred, thus including Champions League action into this episode's analysis.

Andre Onana's start to life at Manchester United is reviewed following Tuesday's home defeat to Galatasaray, a first minor slip from David Raya occurred as Arsenal lost at Lens and Napoli's Alex Meret came within a whisker of making one of the greatest-ever Champions League saves... Only to be registered with an own goal instead.

The weekend's Premier League highlights are touched upon, with Jamie Carragher's assertion that Robert Sanchez is "not good enough" for Chelsea to compete for the title, while Murphy Mahoney pulled a double save for the ages in Swindon's League Two defeat at Notts County.

In the 2020-21 campaign, one name tended to crop up a fair bit during the EFL Overview.

Affectionately referred to as "K-Leth" on the pod, Kyle Letheren's 24 appearances for Morecambe in the second half of that season were a key factor in The Shrimps' League Two Play-Off promotion.

Since then, it's been something of an itch to have him sit opposite us. An itch which, we're delighted to say, has now been scratched on a stage in a working men's club in Alvethorpe.

Kyle sat down with GKU to talk about his goalkeeping father Glan, battling to be a No1 and ambitions of reaching the very top of goalkeeper coaching.

Once again the Raya/Ramsdale debate takes centre stage in this week's episode.

With the former in for three straight games since his introduction, we discuss whether Mikel Arteta will stick to his reasoning that each stopper will be selected on a game-by-game basis - and comment on that noticeable applause offered by Ramsdale upon Raya's save from Brennan Johnson in the North London Derby.

Meanwhile, over in Brighton, Roberto De Zerbi is sticking to his word and seemingly flip-flopping Luke Steele and Bart Verbruggen as Brighton continue to plough on in the Premier League. The latter was in for the victory over Bournemouth, but did make what could have been a costly error in allowing the visitors to take the lead.

In the Championship, Ryan Allsop has replaced Matty Ingram at an in-form Hull - a big call from Liam Rosenior which so far appears to be paying off.

Connor Ripley saved yet another penalty in Port Vale's draw at Cambridge (that's now seven from his last 12), Troy Deeney scored yet another Troy Deeney penalty and Louis Jones earns high praise upon his return to the fold at Doncaster.

Raya or Ramsdale? That is the question.

And it is a massive, potentially position-changing question in a fascinating scenario which will no doubt rumble on until the end of this season - at the very earliest. Mikel Arteta has been respectfully firm in his stance that rotating goalkeepers shouldn't be such a big deal; his argument leaning towards how the perceived No1 and No2 norm has never been called into question when, in a modern era of rapid evolution, alternating stoppers simply makes sense.

We discuss whether Arteta has a point, and how Arsenal's crucial block of games from now through to early November will provide a clear and likely marker for how the Spaniard intends to move things forward.

In other news, Don Goodman added a new term to a pundit's goalkeeping glossary during Leicester's win at Southampton, and for the first time this term we hear a Goalkeeper Assist klaxon from the National League (bravo, Louie Moulden), a Keeper Caper over in Denmark (sorry Bailey Peacock-Farrell) and, lastly, a Text Talk courtesy of the FA Cup Second Qualifying Round (thank you, Roco Rees).

Imagine making your pro debut and then having to wait five years for your next taste of action. That, right there, is the life of a goalkeeper.

Welcome to the story of Alex Cairns, current No1 at Salford City with more than 300 appearances under his belt and plenty more in the tank.

We sat with the ex-Leeds man (a few weeks BEFORE the triumphant EFL Cup outing against his former club) to discuss what makes him tick, how he tackled his long wait for first team football, goalkeeping drills à la Kasper Schmeichel and why, after establishing himself as the main man at Fleetwood, he was cast aside and left in the goalkeeping doldrums for more than half a season.

With the transfer window tidied up and normal service resuming, we reflect on all the weekend's goalkeeping action - including an injury-time epic involving Jordan "Don Corleone" Pickford at Sheffield United.

A glance is given to the best of the rest from the EFL and last week's Carabao Cup clashes, plus a final look at all the movers and shakers on Deadline Day.

NB: With Rich away on post-deadline travels (and not taking his equipment with him), this recording was conducted via Zoom.

What is a big save?

There be a question which commonly crops up when discussing goalkeeping. Is it the timing of the save? Is it the technique executed to make the save? Is it the magnitude of the game in which the save is made? Or is it just simply a big save?

Whichever criteria you plump for, there's no escaping a certain Alisson Becker fell into the big save category at St James' Park on Sunday afternoon. His stop from Miguel Almiron was, well, big in ensuring Liverpool remained in the clash with Newcastle which, as we now know, they went on to win.

Competing in that category with the Brazilian was West Ham's Alphonse Areola. Although within his imaginary "arc" (more of that on the show), the 30-year-old kept Brighton at bay with a string of fine stops to justify his inclusion as the Hammers' current No1.

In a weekend littered with Saves Galore (see Rich's Erik Thorstvedt reference) Jordan Pickford and Jose Sa pulled off worldies in Wolves' 1-0 triumph at Everton, Jak Alnwick continued an excellent start to the campaign for Cardiff and Swindon's Murphy Mahoney - on loan from QPR - kicked off his clean sheet tally with a first-ever career shutout.

With every goalkeeper (and subsequent goalkeeper coach) comes another story slightly different to the other.

Lewis Price played in the Premier League with Derby, but never really believed he deserved to be there. He initially opted out of goalkeeping when a youth spell at Southampton went awry, inadvertently jumped back in with Ipswich, helped Luton reach Wembley in a two-game cameo and freely admits he spent large swathes of his career as either a No2 or No3 - an important role he was happy to perfect.

Oh, and there's also the little detail of representing his country, Wales, 11 times.

Currently Goalkeeper Coach at Oxford United, Pricey - who recently spent a year out of the game recovering from testicular cancer - gives an insight into how his unique approach to goalkeeping worked as a player, and how that wealth of experience is being passed on to the next generation.

With the Premier League now back in full swing, so too is Between the Sticks.

All the goalkeeping action from all top tiers of English football is covered, including the much-discussed double whammy at Arsenal with Aaron Ramsdale and David Raya ready to battle it out for that No1 spot.

We also look at Mary Earps' World Cup, victory for Inter Miami and Drake Callender in the North American Leagues Cup, polish off some more GKs On Their Way, and welcome the return of the Clean Sheet Club.

A slight tweak has kept Rocky out of the opening few games of the Championship campaign, so we've ensured he remained in action as the latest subject in our recent series of interviews.

The Cardiff No1 delves deep into his thoughts on goalkeeping, the key decisions required to fulfil a career and just what a precarious position it can be.

With one half of GKU away on a very quick break, Between the Sticks shall be returning next week.

A bonkers summer of goalkeeping activity shows no signs of abating.

Therefore, with just less than a month still to go, we thought it was best to cover off the majority of moves to have taken place thus far.

Rich returns to run the rule over acquisitions from all four tiers, plus offering a little reflection on the opening weekend of the EFL campaign and Aaron Ramsdale's Community Shield success.

If you're into this sort of thing, a rate and review on iTunes would be hugely appreciated. No worries if not, of course, but always worth asking. Good to know what you all think of the show. N'que.

Had arrangements gone to plan, this podcast would have been recorded and subsequently released about a month ago.

Thankfully, that wasn't the case. Because a month ago, Tom King was a goalkeeper who had not long completed a short-term contract in League Two with Northampton Town.

Now, he's Tom King of Premier League outfit Wolverhampton Wanderers, training alongside Jose Sa and Dan Bentley in a bid to make his mark on the Old Gold.

In this episode, the Wales international talks GKU through how the unexpected move materialised, his early impressions of life in the top flight and what he foresees occurring over the next two years of his goalkeeping career.

Honest, insightful and, thanks to a TikToktastic social media reference, rather funny.

After starting his pro career with a close to ten-year stint at one club, Jack Stevens made the decision to switch allegiance this summer.

The 25-year-old jumped ship (or boat, more fittingly) from Oxford to Cambridge, signing a two-year deal at the Abbey Stadium in a bid to further an already blossoming spell between the sticks.

Touted among top-flight clubs since first breaking onto the scene, his goal is to reach the very top - and he still has plenty of time to achieve it.

Here, he speaks to GKU about being told by Chelsea he'd never be tall enough for a goalkeeper, life away from the game and receiving unexpected voice notes from Dion Dublin.

Up until now, only two goalkeepers to have appeared on the Goalkeepers' Union Podcast could lay claim to winning a European trophy.

Alex Stepney and Peter Schmeichel now have company in the form of Czechia's Tomas Vaclik.

After rising through the ranks on home soil, a multi-title winning move to Basel preceded a sunshine switch to Sevilla where he was present for one of the many Europa League's claimed by the club.

A starring role at Euro 2020 followed before a tumultuous spell at Olympiacos prompted an unexpected foray into the English game. Thirteen games later and Tomas had helped to aid Huddersfield's great escape from Championship relegation last season.

Now, as one of goalkeeping's very attractive free agents this summer, he talks to GKU about life in Leeds, adapting to new techniques in each country and learning from fellow countryman and Premier League Hall of Famer, Petr Cech.

NB: This episode was recorded a week prior to the end of last season.

Back to the dugout for this one.

Kevin Miller enjoyed a thorough playing career. From the top tier with Crystal Palace to the nether regions of non-league goalkeeping, he racked up more than 700 appearances over the course of a whopping 26 years.

Now his fortunes have come full circle with a role as Goalkeeper Coach at Exeter City, the club where it all began as a teenager in the late 1980s.

In this episode, after outlining his philosophy in working with the likes of Jamal Blackman at St James Park, Kev takes us on a trip down memory lane to recall tales of playing under the likes of Barry Fry and Steve Coppell - and how the lure of goalkeeping twice plucked him out of retirement.

Before today, only once in the history of the Goalkeepers' Union Podcast had a guest been invited back onto the show for a second outing to discuss his or her career.

That man was Kasper Schmeichel. And now joining such illustrious company is Lawrence Vigouroux - the man crowned Clean Sheet Club King of 2022-23 and set for an exciting few years ahead.

Currently on the verge of monumental career move, Vigs reflects on the two years since our previous chat and tackles some of the key topics in the modern game.

He even has time to demonstrate his rather impressive recall in our cheeky career quiz at the end of the show.

TWO PODS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE!

Following the release of this episode, we'll upload the Patreon special we recorded with Vigs back in the summer of 2021.

In the final analysis pod of the campaign, we discuss Ederson's heroics in the second-half of Man City's Treble-securing triumph over Inter Milan in Istanbul, while also looking at the impact Andre Onana had on the game.

GKs On Their Way also briefly returns to quickly capture the few moves to have taken place in the post-season, before Rich runs the rule over the past 12 months and offers his thoughts on what we might expect from goalkeeping in 2023-24.

Thank you, as always, for listening and supporting us for another season. We'll be dropping in with GKs On Their Way and feature interviews throughout the summer.

Having been out of the cut and thrust of goalkeeper coaching for close to a full season, it was awesome to sit down with a man who's had time to reflect on his career and the fine art of goalkeeping.

Simon Smith is the ultimate glovesman. He's worked with one of the most solid No1 and No2 duos the Premier League can ever boast in Shay Given and Steve Harper, he's travelled the globe to expand his understanding of the position and he possesses a bank of knowledge and experience not many others can lay claim to.

This is the first part of a lengthy chat with the affable ex-Newcastle United man, who was kind enough to invite us into his home up in Tynemouth.

A shorter Part Two - focusing more on a few stories of those he's coached over the years, plus his time with Sir Bobby Robson - will come next week.

And so the end of another campaign is very nearly upon us, which can only mean one thing... IT'S TIME FOR THE HOTLY-ANTICIPATED GOALKEEPERS' UNION PODCAST AWARDS CEREMONY.

Yes, eight gongs are up for grabs in this year's showpiece event, ranging from your standard Goalkeeper of the Season to your not-so-standard Surprise Package of the Season.

Before that, we take a quick look at the FA Cup Final and Scottish Premiership Play-Off Final where Manchester City and Ross County were respectively triumphant.

Apologies for the slight delay this week. Travel arrangements (read: Rich on a plane) meant we had to hold off until Wednesday for a full rundown of the final weekend of league action, but hopefully a dose of standard goalkeeping goodness will make up for it.

Rather than delve into each Premier League game, we've instead opted to run through the goalkeeping landscape for each of this season's 20 clubs, analysing who may be in and out come the beginning of next term.

There's also a glance at the three EFL Playoff Finals. Ethan Horvath and Tomas Holy were on the winning side of two tense shootouts for Luton and Carlisle respectively, while Cam Dawson bagged a second promotion in as many seasons.

Once you've negotiated a rather unimaginable tale told by Richard Lee this week, you'll find plenty of analysis on the weekend's key performers in the world of goalkeeping.

David Raya pulled off a stunning double save at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (can it actually be credited as a "double save", though?), matched by decent stops from Sam Johnstone, David de Gea and Stefan Ortega - the latter receiving plenty of praise from Gary Neville as Man City beat Chelsea.

In the League Two playoffs, Ben Hinchcliffe was the hero for Stockport – albeit after Alex Cairns had pulled off a Save of the Weekend contender in the dying moments of extra-time – and over in Turkey, on loan Alex Runarsson sounded the klaxon for the second time this season during his spell with Alanyaspor.

There's a quick nod to Premier League PSxG stats, and we mention Maarten Stekelenburg - the one-time Dutch No1 who will be hanging up his gloves at the end of the campaign.

Big Dick, in the middle of our goal, Big Dick...
Another goalkeeper. Another unique goalkeeping story.

Richard O'Donnell sits down with GKU to recall a career with the type of twists and turns we've not heard from a previously featured guest.

From almost falling out of the game a year after his release from Sheffield Wednesday, to bouncing back with Walsall and then opting to join Wigan - a move which catalysed a series of new contracts with new clubs in a matter of just a few years - he tells his tale in an honest and reflective fashion.

As chilled as "down to Earth" guys go (quote: Steve Cotterill) Rich is right up there. Now 34 and off the back of yet another Player of the Year campaign, the next challenge awaits.

Bosnia's finest returns for another stint in the analyst's chair this week.

Asmir Begovic talks us through Everton's defeat at home to Man City, answering Roy Keane's criticism of Jordan Pickford in the process.

Jason Steele takes centre stage for his show-stopping performance at Arsenal, Dan Bentley receives a nod for impressing on his Wolves and Premier League debut and the return of Edouard Mendy is discussed.

In the epic National League Playoff Final, Archie Mair bags a mention not only for his penalty-saving heroics, but also for the fact he wears AB1 GK gloves.

And to finish things off, Asmir lifts the lid on his PFA Player of the Year selections, including his selected one to XI.

Onto the next feature interview we go, this time with the return of Richard Lee to the question-asking fold.

James Trafford may only be 20, but the Man City stopper already has a wealth of goalkeeping experience to draw upon.

From farmland beginnings in Cumbria to signing for The Cityzens at the age of 12, he talks GKU through a difficult first stab at professional football with Accrington, finding a temporary – and hugely successful – home in Bolton and learning alongside Xavi Mancisidor and Ederson et al at the Etihad.

Traff's a very uncomplicated, family-oriented chap whose growth both as a person and goalkeeper has been evident in the past 18 months.

A bright future awaits.

Another weekend of goalkeeping thrills and spills in the Premier League and EFL.

Jordan Pickford was vintage Jordan Pickford, David de Gea was what you could arguably describe as vintage David de Gea and Alisson racked up a 100th clean sheet in all competitions for Liverpool.

Of course, the real award goes to Lawrence Vigouroux who was finally crowned Clean Sheet Club King for 2022-23. Seny Dieng can also boast to bagging QPR's Goal of the Season for his late equaliser at Sunderland earlier in the campaign.

Contrasting fortunes in the Premier League this weekend.

Bernd Leno and Keylor Navas - the latter of which made one of the saves of the season in the midweek win over Brighton - both put in shifts to no avail in defeats for Fulham and Nottingham Forest respectively.

Neto, meanwhile, remains consistent for Bournemouth as one of the signings of the campaign - The Cherries looking safe for another year of top-flight football.

In the EFL, Lee Nicholls made a shock return in Huddersfield's huge victory over Cardiff, Sutton's Brad House lasted just 29 minutes into his first-ever professional start, and 39-year-old Glenn Morris scooped the Gillingham Player of the Year award.

Oh, and a definitive Clean Sheet Club King will go to the wire. Over to you, Christian Walton.

Just when you thought you'd heard all Norms' stories...

Another one from the Patreon vault this week with a Nottingham Forest and goalkeeping great.

As it goes, Norm couldn't help but hark back to those anecdotes with Mr Clough. However, we attempted to then delve a little beyond the brilliant but oft-told tales he's served up in after-dinner talks and podcasts elsewhere.

It's up there with one of the most enjoyable chats we've done. It's certainly the longest, that's for sure.

Please do enjoy. And, as we also always say, drop us a line on any feedback. We'd love to hear your thoughts.

Enjoy!

GKU

Yet another busy week across the Premier League and the EFL provided plenty of goalkeeping talking points.

Taking centre stage is David de Gea doing a job for Manchester United in their FA Cup semi-final triumph over Brighton - a game which saw Peter Schmeichel in the BBC studio for some welcome goalkeeping analysis.

Aaron Ramsdale, Illan Meslier and Hugo Lloris are also covered for much talked about performances, as is klaxon-sounding Corey Addai of Crawley. He bagged an assist in a massive win over League Two relegation rivals Hartlepool.

Today's Between the Sticks is a little different due to time constraints and Rich having to duck out on an emergency "Goalkeeping Super Agent" phone call.

Thankfully, a readymade replacement was with us in David Rouse - the ex-QPR and Stoke City goalkeeper coach possessing a bundle of knowledge on all things our favourite position.

Rather than analyse each individual tier as per, we instead picked a bunch of top-flight topics and instead let the conversation flow.

Key references include Kepa's second term under Frank Lampard, Jason Steele's ongoing popularity at Brighton and the new trend of having two goalkeepers on a Premier League subs bench.

This week's feature interview is another enlightening discussion with a goalkeeper coach.

Just like James Belshaw last week, Joe Prodomo has a unique story to tell. A modest non-league playing career suggested no immediate signs of a transition into professional coaching. If anything, a shot at teaching appeared to be his likely path.

Then an impromptu gig with Weymouth - thanks to connections between his twin brother and then Terras manager, Mark Molesley - would prove to be the catalyst for a rather rapid rise into the EFL.

A spell working in a thriving setup at Bournemouth saw him develop under the likes of Neil Moss and Anthony White. That experience led to a first-team role with Southend, before a return to Bournemouth and subsequent switch along the south coast to Portsmouth.

At 31, Joe is a First Team Goalkeeper Coach at a League One club.

Opportunity presented. Opportunity grasped.

After much consultation, it was decided to record this week's Between the Sticks before the second round of Easter EFL fixtures.

Reasons being threefold:

1) Aaron Ramsdale pulled off that performance against Liverpool and it couldn't wait another two days to talk about.
2) Ivan Toney saw a penalty saved by Nick Pope after Rich claimed in last week's show that the Brentford man would never not score another penalty (and it couldn't wait another two days to talk about).
3) Rich was genuinely recognised at the airport (and that definitely couldn't wait another two days to talk about).

So here we are with a bunch of brilliant goalkeeping action to cover from Friday through Sunday.

Jordan Pickford kept the score down with nine saves at Old Trafford, Ben Amos joined him for Performance of the Weekend with a series of stops in Wigan's defeat to Sheffield United and Walsall's Owen Evans can consider himself extremely unlucky at conceding a fourth goal that categorically never was against Rochdale.

This week's feature interview provides yet another take on the route into professional goalkeeping.

James Belshaw has had quite the journey. A journey saturated with sliding doors.

After turning down a pro contract at Walsall, he opted to put education first and fled the country to North Carolina where he earned honours in History, Business, Marketing and Management at Duke University.

An offer from Chicago Fire followed, but his choice was to return home and restart a career with lowly Nuneaton. Next came Tamworth. Then Harrogate. And, slowly but surely with promotion after promotion, he realised a dream of playing EFL football.

He was 30 when he made his professional debut.

Now with Bristol Rovers in League One, James – who bagged Player of the Year at the Gas last season – recounts his travels in incredibly articulate fashion.

Really good listen, this. Belly's a great guy with a rather unique story.

Remember when penalties used to purely be about the taker trying to score past the goalkeeper?

Sure. The premise remains the same, but over the years odds have gradually been strengthened in that taker's favour. And just when you thought restrictions upon goalkeepers in such a scenario couldn't be restricted any further, IFAB have decided to dig just that little bit deeper in the past week.

As of July 1 of this year, goalkeepers are no longer allowed to "taunt" takers during penalties. Free shots from 12 yards, remember. But, no, seemingly that is not enough of an advantage.

Naturally, that is where we begin what is a quick Between the Sticks. With Rich hopping on a plane for some global goalkeeping business, we recorded this one swiftly after the Super Sunday games had finished.

That's it. We've eked out every last drop of our chat with Rob Green, so here's the third and final instalment in the trilogy of chats.

Aside from discussing his final ever season with Chelsea, Rob goes into detail about that moment against USA at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. He doesn't pull any punches and lifts the lid on what life was like under Fabio Capello, how he dealt with the critics and how he bounced back.

Hopefully you've enjoyed this mini-series. More chats have been lined up for the coming weeks, so feature interviews shall return in due course.

As you have no doubt already seen, ex-Premier League and England goalkeeper Ben Foster has come out of retirement to join Wrexham AFC.

So much to be said on this one, especially considering Rich played a huge part in orchestrating the move.

Here's a quick 15 minutes explaining how the deal was conceived, negotiations with Wrexham and why it's a decent match-up for both parties.

You can't be a bit of FA Cup action, which is why the Quarter Finals kick off this week's show.

We start at Old Trafford with a great save from, er, Willian, and discuss questionable ITV Sport punditry regarding the performances of David de Gea and Sheffield United's Wesley Foderingham.

In the Premier League, Illan Meslier continues to add to his growing roster of youthful landmarks, David Raya has been labelled a No10 by Brentford's media team and divisional debuts were welcomed in the form of Dan Iversen and Joe Whitworth.

Elsewhere, Angus Gunn - called up to the Scotland squad following his switch of international allegiance - takes centre stage with impressive Championship stats at Norwich, Christian Walton kept a seventh successive shutout and Jamie Cumming throws his gloves in the ring for this matchday's Save of the Weekend contender.

Finally, an honourable mention goes to ex-England No1, Carly Telford, who called time on a 20-year playing career last week. Onto the next step.

It's been a while since we've conducted a proper feature interview, so we're delighted to post this latest podcast with ex-Manchester City and Chelsea stopper, Willy Caballero.

Now at Southampton, Willy charts his rise from humble beginnings in Argentina to saving penalties in EFL Cup Final shootouts at Wembley.

We talk Joe Hart and Edwin van der Sar, a tricky transition from La Liga to the Premier League and, of course, that moment with Kepa in 2019.

It appears there may have been something in the goalkeeping water this weekend.

From Nick Pope not giving away a penalty to forward roll fights and Harry Lewis nonchalantly catching a ball over the top a good ten yards outside of his area, the global glovesmen game veered a little left field.

And that's what we love, of course. Because it gives us plenty to talk about, in addition to the customary analysis of super saves from the likes of Emi Martinez, Fraser Forster and Gavin Bazunu - the latter keeping a clean sheet at Old Trafford in what could be a vital point for Southampton come May.

Elsewhere, Jak Alnwick made it successive Saturdays for Cardiff 'keepers to see red, while Christian Walton broke a club record at Ipswich by going six games without conceding.

If you like what we do, please consider leaving a review on iTunes. Much and always appreciated. Goalkeeping puns encouraged.

Following another week's hiatus (apologies, unforeseen circumstances meant recording had to take a back seat last week) we've hopefully made up for it with a comprehensive analysis of the weekend just gone – plus a few snippets from the previous week missed.

That means a look at Loris Karius' comeback performance in the Carabao Cup Final, a clean sheet record broken by David de Gea and a landmark reached by Ederson.

Robert Sanchez comes into focus after being dropped for the first time since claiming the gloves from Maty Ryan back in December 2020, Karl Darlow bags his break at Hull and Paul Farman continues to rack up MOM awards with Barrow.

Text Talk also returns in the form of Bristol Rovers stopper James Belshaw, and Rich has a tale to tell about rubbing shoulders with Carlo Cudicini, Mikael Silvestre and Tony Bellew.

Unforeseen scheduling changes meant we weren't able to record this week, so to fill the void we're dipping back into the vault for another dose of Rob Green... Two years after the first.

The first-half focused on, well, the first half of his career. This second-half hones in on what came next and a complete debacle of a situation at QPR. Then, as extra-time rolls in at some point over the next few weeks, we concentrate heavily on England and that solitary outing in South Africa.

Great storyteller, Greeny. Hope you enjoy. And thank you, as always, for listening.

Good to be back! Between the Sticks returns with a comprehensive roundup of the weekend's action, where David de Gea equalled a long-standing record, Nick Pope ruled himself out of a first club trip to Wembley and Emi Martinez went against the wishes of his manager - much to the public dismay of said manager.

In the EFL, the Goalkeeper Assist klaxon is sounded for Nicholas Bilokapic of Huddersfield, while Hokey Cokey 'Keepers goes into overdrive from the Championship to League Two.

A word is given on Manuel Neuer's comments following the departure of Bayern goalkeeper coach, Toni Tapalovic, 'Keeper Capers goes north of the border with Dundee United's Mark Birighitti, and a quick tribute is paid to stoppers who have sadly passed away since we were last on air.

Two huge Premier League derbies this week. Two huge goalkeeping talking points.

Should Bruno Fernandes' goal have stood as Manchester United equalised and then defeated Man City? And was Hugo Lloris at fault for the opener in Spurs' North London loss at home to Arsenal?

Both questions are rather vociferously answered by Mr Lee in this podcast, in addition to analysis of performances from Kepa Arrizabalaga, Emi Martinez and Jordan Pickford.

Clean Sheet Club returns – complete with a new-look leaderboard – for the first time since the beginning of November, and GKs On Their Way springs into action as the goalkeeping merry-go-round starts to take shape.

If you'd like to rate and review us on iTunes, please do give it a go. We fully understand, however, if you'd rather not. N'que.

No full complement of league action, of course, but an eventful FA Cup Third Round weekend provided plenty of goalkeeping talking points.

None more so than at Old Trafford where David de Gea bizarrely let one slip in Manchester United's victory over Everton, followed up by a playing-out-from-the-back error courtesy of Alisson as Liverpool were taken to a replay by Wolves.

On the flip side, Sheffield Wednesday's Cam Dawson trumped his top-flight counterparts with an MOM showing in a giantkilling of Newcastle, Jak Alnwick saved a penalty in Cardiff's draw at home to Leeds and, over in League Two, Richard O'Donnell of Rochdale pulled off a Save of the Season contender against Newport.

It's January, so GKs On Their Way returns shortly before Rich offers a quick tribute to his one-time manager at Watford, Gianluca Vialli, who sadly passed away last week following a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

After a brief break for the festive season, GKU returns for a slightly alternative Between the Sticks offering.

With games here, there and everywhere, we instead reflect on goalkeeping in 2022 as a whole while factoring in a selection of recent action.

Rich answers "five big questions" with top performers and surprise packages named from the Premier League to League Two.

Happy New Year to one and all. Thank you for your continued support. Onwards and upwards in 2023.

With the World Cup finally wrapped for another four years, we analyse what was without a doubt the most epic of finals ever seen on the global's greatest showpiece (for those born in 1982 at least).

Performances (and antics) from Emi Martinez and Hugo Lloris are given a nod, as are a fair few comments from commentators made throughout the tournament.

With Rich away, Everton's Asmir Begovic rejoins the ranks to cover off all the key action from the previous two rounds of the 2022 World Cup.

Key topics include penalty shootouts involving heroics from Bono, Dominik Livakovic and Emi Martinez, while Asmir also shines a light on what life has been like for goalkeepers not in Qatar.

What’s this? A Saturday pod?!

With the theme of today's show being speed-based, we'll make this very quick.

Just a few hours before the Round of 16 commences in Qatar, we tail off the final batch of group games.

Key focus is on Lawrence Ati-Zigi, Manuel Neuer and Unai Simon amid a mad 48 hours of World Cup drama.

In a bid to not over-promise and under-deliver (classic Richard Leeism, that), we did state our next Between the Sticks would be three-to-four days after the last.

Thankfully, we've managed to sync schedules and produce the following.

All the key action from the majority of second group games is covered, including Diogo Costa's near mishap against Ghana and Wayne Hennessey's absolute mishap in Wales' defeat to Iran.

Munir Mohamedi admirably stepped in at the eleventh hour for Bono as Morocco shocked Belgium, Edouard Mendy silenced the doubters with a couple of fine saves in Senegal's win over hosts Qatar, and Wojciech Szczesny stamped his name in World Cup folklore with one of the finest double saves you'll ever see in the tournament.

Naturally, there's a wealth of Commentary Corner content, too.

If you like what we do, taking a moment to jot a review on iTunes would be hugely appreciated.

If you're not so keen on what we do, please do let us know that as well.

On Day Five of the Qatar World Cup, we reflect on the key action from the first four days.

Top topics include:

Mohammed Al Owais and his MOM display in Saudi Arabia's win over Argentina
An international debut for new Netherlands No1, Andries Noppert
Criticism of Edouard Mendy and Manual Neuer in opening game defeats for Senegal and Germany respectively

Enjoy!

It's good to talk, which is how we start this week's Between the Sticks.

Aside from Rich offering up some motivational anecdotes over the past week, we read out a listener's email focusing on anxiety and nervousness in aspiring goalkeepers as young as ten years old.

Additionally, we ponder a question which isn't often asked despite the regular use of its main subject: What and where exactly is "no man's land"?

Edouard Mendy, Jordan Pickford and Dean Henderson were all found guilty of residing in such a place this weekend, so we figured it was worth delving into the origins surrounding this loathed location.

Elsewhere, the FA Cup First Round throws up names not usually heard on the podcast, and Benfica B stopper Samuel Soares has put his hat in the ring for next year's Puskas Award. The 20-year-old netted an absolute piledriver against Trofense in Portugal's Segunda Liga.

Rich explains the fortnight absence before delving into all the goalkeeping action from the weekend, plus a few snippets we missed last time out.

There's a nod to three goalkeeping substitutions in the Premier League (plus another in the Scottish Championship), matchwinning performances from Illan Meslier and David de Gea (although the latter still not deemed decent enough for a provisional 55-man Spain squad) and a return to form and action for Danny Ward and Mark Travers respectively.

The klaxon is sounded thanks to Nik Tzanev's pinpoint distribution as AFC Wimbledon beat Harrogate - and there's even a goalkeeper goal to celebrate courtesy of Alex Bass' last-gasp equaliser for Sunderland U21 at Newcastle.

Thank you, as always, for your support. Please feel free to drop us a line with absolutely any goalkeeping queries and questions.

hello@goalkeepersunion

07503673020 (WhatsApp)

@GKUnion (Twitter)

@gkupodcast (Instagram)

Oh, and if you like what we do, we'd be hugely appreciative if you scribbled it on a review over at iTunes. Cheers!

In this week's episode, we take a look at the return of Kepa to Chelsea's No1 fold. Circumstance may have prompted his selection ahead of a then injured Edouard Mendy, but the Spaniard has since established himself as Graham Potter's favoured goalkeeper - and he's not conceded in the past four outings.

Fellow countryman David Raya produced another match-winning performance for Brentford as they saw off Brighton, while David de Gea - also in the hunt for a trip to Qatar next month - racked up appearance number 500 for Manchester United.

The klaxon is sounded for Alisson, Thomas Kaminski produced a potential Save of the Season in Blackburn's win over Middlesbrough and David Robson earned an EFL debut in a long-awaited victory for Crawley.

Following another European sojourn for Richard, it's another Tuesday podcast this week.

All the usual stuff, however. Some quick chat about his time with Uwe Rosler at Brentford before a dissection of the Premier League and EFL, plus a 'Keeper Caper from Portugal and some very rare stopper squabbles over in Denmark.

Apologies for the late arrival of this one, but viewers of the Fozcast will be well aware of the reasons.

Yes, Richard rejoined his ex-teammate for a chat about all things goalkeeping and all things goalkeeper agent(ing) on Monday, thus pushing this particular episode back a day.

Naturally, we cover his guest appearance on the show in a very tight Manchester United top, plus all the key action from all four tiers of English football.

Enjoy!

We're going to take a wild stab in the dark that listeners of this podcast are almost certainly avid listeners of Ben Foster's Fozcast.

That being the case, you'll have all heard a familiar name on this week's YouTube phenomenon. For when announcing his retirement, Foz mentioned a certain Richard Lee and the part our apparent "Goalkeeping Super Agent" played in a rollercoaster of a day which convinced the ex-England No1 to hang up his gloves.

Rich reacts to a manic 24 hours on this episode, in addition to all the customary analysis from the Premier League and EFL.

With a host of games cancelled, we'll take a break during the international fixtures and return once the league schedule restarts.

Wow. Insane.

Two words used by Jurgen Klopp to describe the performances of Jordan Pickford and Alisson in the weekend's Merseyside derby.

He also asked, "What can you do?" And our answer to that is to produce a podcast which delves a little deeper into what we all saw at Goodison Park.

Equally impressive displays were seen at St James' Park in the form of Nick Pope and Vicente Guaita - the latter of which was the subject of a rather dubious VAR call, matched by that goal-overturn involving Edouard Mendy and Jarrod Bowen of Chelsea and West Ham respectively.

All the key action from the EFL is also covered as Rich returns to cast an eye over Deadline Day transfers and a long-awaited Rate My Save. The franchise may now return following our reinstatement on Twitter.

Good to have opinions of our listeners back on the regular.

"Hold on a minute. Is that a regular episode of Between the Sticks... But with Everton goalkeeper Asmir Begovic and not the Voice of Goalkeeping, Richard Lee?"

Well, funny you should ask... Because it most certainly is.

With Mr Lee otherwise engaged, we've drafted in a new voice for what will become a semi-regular slot on our weekly analysis show.

Asmir joins GKU to cover all the key goalkeeping action from the weekend's fixtures, plus a little insight to his current setup at The Toffees alongside Jordan Pickford.

All the same stuff, just with a Begovic instead of a Rich.

Here's to the first of many more.

Following his much-maligned performance at Brentford last week, David de Gea fronted up in both body and mind to help Manchester United to victory over Liverpool.

It's testament to a stopper who, despite his continued critics, continues to remind everyone just why he's still commonly regarded as one of the world's best.

In the North East, Nick Pope kept Man City at bay and bagged another MOM display in the process – very much staking his claim for a potential starting berth at this year's World Cup.

A man who will most definitely be starting in Qatar is Edouard Mendy. However, the Chelsea No1 is the subject of this week's Keeper Capers after conceding possession and then a goal to Leeds' Brenden Aaronson in a shock 3-0 triumph for the Lillywhites.

The klaxon is sounded at Goodison Park courtesy of Jordan Pickford, Barrow's Paul Farman provides a Text Talk after his heroics helped barrow to three points against Harrogate and the first leader of the Clean Sheet Club is revealed.

You couldn't have asked for more contrasting fortunes concerning Manchester United goalkeepers at the weekend.

Dean Henderson, on loan at Nottingham Forest and off the back of some pretty scathing remarks about his parent club, had a worldy. David de Gea, very much the chosen No1 much to the chagrin of Henderson at Old Trafford, struggled in a 4-0 defeat to Brentford.

All that, plus another MOM performance from Nick Pope, is discussed in this latest episode, which also tackles the debate as to whether Pierre-Emile Højbjerg's goal for Tottenham at Chelsea should have counted with Richarlison obstructing the view of Edouard Mendy.

Meanwhile, in the Championship, a new trumpet is tooted after Seny Dieng scored a last-ditch equaliser in QPR's comeback at Sunderland – and then made a heroic double save to maintain parity.

It starts.

Another new season. Another beginning for a bunch of Between the Sticks from now until May.

All the same stuff: Premier League to League Two and anything outside of that which warrants special goalkeeper attention.

And by the same stuff, we do sadly mean an immediate return for Commentary Corner. Jamie Carragher flexed his analytical inadequacies when it comes to goalkeeping in running the rule on Aaron Ramsdale, David de Gea and Robert Sanchez this weekend.

In more positive news...

Illan Meslier and Edouard Mendy started their respective campaigns in solid fashion - Wes Foderingham sounded the first Goalkeeper Assist klaxon of the season
Double stops from Christian Walton and David Stockdale helped bag three points for Ipswich and Sheffield Wednesday respectively
Sol Brynn, on loan at Swindon from Middlesbrough, threw his hand in the ring for a Save of the Week contender

Another month along means another month of goalkeeping comings and goings – and plenty of them, too.

We return with a full recap of all domestic transfers throughout July, plus a smattering of the best from Scotland and Europe.

A familiar friend in the EFL Overview is also back in shorter form following the commencement of the new campaign at the weekend.

Next week, once the Premier League has kicked off, a full Between the Sticks offering shall be begun once more.

Following a bit of post-season downtime, we're back with a quick recap of all the goalkeeping moves to have occurred over the past few weeks.

More, plus a planned return of some feature interviews, coming up throughout the summer.

For the final analysis-based Between the sticks of the season, we focus on an epic, record-breaking Champions League Final performance from Thibaut Courtois. The Real Madrid stopper has asked for respect to be put on his name, and it's certainly fair to say he thoroughly deserves it.

Congrats go to Brice Samba, Ethan Horvath and Aidan Stone for playing their part in Nottingham Forest and Port Vale going up via the Wembley route respectively, plus a quick shout out to Rio Patricio for Roma's Europa Conference triumph.

Lastly, a doff of the goalkeeping cap to Lee Grant. A friend of GKU and an all round top gent, Granty has called time on his playing career after four solid years as a backup – and integral goalkeeping cog – at Manchester United. A coaching role at Ipswich beckons. They're lucky to have him.

After a very quick break, we're back to cover off the final few matchdays of the Premier League season, plus all the key action from the semi-finals and finals of the FA Cup, Scottish Cup, Europa League, FA Trophy and EFL Playoffs.

GKs On Their Way returns as the goalkeeper transfer market leaps into action and, more import, the Clean Sheet Club King of 2022 is crowned.

All the key action from the Premier League is here, including yet another match-winning performance from Jordan Pickford, a nine-out-of-ten performance from Robert Sanchez and a moment from Illan Meslier we've seen before and almost certainly will see again.

Elsewhere, a thrilling final day in League Two saw goalkeepers take centre stage, as did Orjan Nyland in helping Luton reach their lofty playoff heights.

So much going on and so little time. We'll be back in due course with a full review of all four tiers once the season is fully over. A return for GKs On Their Way isn't far off, either.

It's another Tuesday pod (we promise not to make a habit of this) and another pod where Jordan Pickford takes centre stage.

England's No1 (England's, England's No1) pulled off the No1 performance from a Premier League goalkeeper at the weekend – as per post-shot xG stats revealed by StatsBomb.

In the EFL, Matt Ingram was drafted in on an emergency Luton loan with quite the baptism of fire at Craven Cottage. We discuss the decision from Hatters boss Nathan Jones to not stick with Harry Isted, while also sounding yet more klaxons - this time Brice Samba and Lawrence Vigouroux weighed in with goalkeeper assists.

Lastly, the goalkeeper world will be bidding a fond farewell to Karen Bardsley at the end of the season. Following a decorated career with Manchester City and England, the pioneering stopper has decided to hang up the gloves.

Sorry we're a bit late! The bumper Easter show we had lined up last week has been half-slotted into this week’s effort, but the action is mainly from the weekend where Nick Pope’s recent run of form is keeping Burnley’s survival hopes alive.

We discuss how the landscape is looking for England with Pope, Fraser Forster and Aaron Ramsdale all dividing opinion on whether they can challenge Jordan Pickford for that No1 spot.

Teams of the Week were announced across the EFL last night, so huge congrats must go Lee Nicholls, Michael Cooper and Jojo Wollacott. There were so many outstanding candidates, but the three are fully deserving of their award.

And a big week lies ahead for West Ham. Should Lukasz Fabianski be selected over Alphonse Areola? A recent article from journalist Martin Samuel sees the show finish on the art of goalkeeper rotation.

Yet again another incidental weekend of goalkeeping action across England's four tiers.

No fewer than seven replacements had to be drafted in across the EFL due to either a pre-match injury, in-game injury or red card. It meant rare league appearances for Jacks Walton and Rose, plus a professional debut for QPR's Murphy Cooper.

In the Premier League, Fraser Forster had one of those days where you actually play as well as you can but still concede six goals, while Hugo Lloris was labelled "Superman" by teammate Heung-Min Son.

Elsewhere, we discuss what the future holds for Jordan Pickford should Everton be relegated, a crop of 'Keeper Capers from across the globe and a top Text Talk delivered by Northampton's Liam Roberts.

Continuing the theme theme of recent episodes, we take a look at how the luck of a goalkeeper can vary when parrying efforts on goal.

Some, as we saw with Alisson and David Raya at the weekend, mount counterattacks from which teams take the lead. Others, as we saw with Kasper Schmeichel and Fraser Forster, can fall to opposition players and result in goals conceded.

Commentary Corner is back with David Ginola taking centre stage, Jose Sa continues to stake a claim for a spot in Portugal's World Cup squad and David de Gea produced another one of those match-saving saves for Manchester United.

In the EFL, Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper admitted he now has a goalkeeping conundrum on his hands after Brice Samba returned as No1 in place of Ethan Horvath, while Plymouth's Michael Cooper was lauded as League One's best stopper by Oxford manager, Karl Robinson.

After QPR's David Marshall suffered an injury in the midweek defeat to Nottingham Forest, the club found themselves in the unenviable position of having four first-team goalkeepers out of action.

With Dillon Barnes (essentially a No6) recalled from a loan spell and waiting in the wings, Mark Warburton wasn't able to dip into the emergency loan market and instead plumped for Keiren Westwood – one of very few out of contract goalkeepers available on a short-term deal.

We kick things off with how that move panned out for the ex-Coventry and Sheffield Wednesday stopper, before diving into all the key action from the Premier League and FA Cup Quarter Finals - including a long-awaited return to action (and subsequent clean sheet) for Arsenal's Bernd Leno.

In the EFL, Jamie Cumming, Anthony Patterson and Jordan Wright all made claims for Save of the Weekend contenders, while another two klaxons were sounded due to assists from Craig MacGillivray and Jojo Wollacott of Charlton and Swindon respectively.

Love-ins for Aaron Ramsdale and Lee Nicholls take centre stage with media and pundits calling for both to be recognised by England manager Gareth Southgate.

Text Talk returns with Joe Lumley talking us through a point-saving save for Middlesbrough in their draw at Millwall, Clean Sheet Club goes into overdrive with what we reckon is the highest number of entries since the franchise began and, speaking of franchises, the birth of a new Spawny Goal of the Week could well be in the offing.

To finish, we touch on comments made by goalkeeping, ahem, "expert" Tony Cascarino on talkSPORT this week. Apparently you go in nets if you fail as an outfielder. Nice one, Tone.

Here's Alex Stepney talking goalkeeping then and now.

Bit different, this one. Big Al pulls no punches in how he still expects the fundamentals of the position to take priority over any of the modern elements of today's game.

We mention in the podcast that the ins and outs of Alex's career were left to one side for this episode. Tales of non-league to European Cup winner in the space of five years, the 1970 World Cup, playing in the US and that save from Eusebio will come next time.

NB: This podcast was initially recorded for our Patreon platform. As a result, some references may be outdated.

Business as usual this week with a full compliment of goalkeeping analysis to set those glove-based juices a-flowin'.

In the Premier League Aaron Ramsdale racked up his 150th career club outing while Kasper Schmeichel moved up to third in Leicester's all-time appearance list.

Dan Iversen produced one of the saves of the season as Preston bagged a big win over Bournemouth in the Championship – a save matched by equally as emphatic distribution from Swansea's Andrew Fisher in a comfortable defeat of Coventry.

Pro league debuts were made by Jordan Wright and Harrison Sharp of Lincoln and Dundee respectively, and Christy Pym sounds the klaxon with an assist for Stevenage.

Ratings and reviews are always welcome on iTunes. If you'd like to help support the ongoing production of the podcast, please visit patreon.com/goalkeepersunion.

All the reaction from the Carabao Cup Final between Chelsea and Liverpool.

The decision to bring Kepa on. That shootout. That penalty. And the performance of Caoimhin Kelleher, who has now won three shootouts with Liverpool, more than any other goalkeeper in the club's history.

Hugo Lloris, Kasper Schmeichel, Illan Meslier, David de Gea and Marek Rodak were all on the receiving end of misjudged analysis at the weekend. Of course, we're used to it by now, but always worth flagging on here.

In better news, Alisson bagged an assist, Jose Sa continued his fine form at Wolves and Ederson pulled off one of the saves of the season in Man City's home defeat to Tottenham.

Elsewhere in Europe, Nantes stopper Alban Lafont became just the 13th player to be given a maximum player rating from French publication L'Equipe, while Greek fourth tier goalkeeper Grigoris Athanasiou netted - yes, netted - a hat-trick of penalties.

From Glenn Hoddle's utterly ridiculous analysis of David de Gea to a Save of the Weekend contender from Illan Meslier, the Premier League was jam packed with goalkeeping action this weekend.

As was the Championship with Brice Samba's rush of blood to the head taking centre stage alongside the key moments elsewhere in the EFL.

Listener questions are answered, GK PI returns over in North Buckinghamshire and the Goalkeeper Assist klaxon is heard all the way across Europe in Italy.

It's not often we have a guest on this podcast who is neither not nor has ever been a goalkeeper.

Step forward Dan Abrahams. As a leader in sports psychology who has worked with top names in football, Dan offers a take on goalkeeping mindset from a professional's perspective.

Hopefully you can take plenty from this chat. And it's well worth listening to it more than just the one time. The conversation is packed full of useful nuggets you can utilise to improve yourself as a goalkeeper, so you may well find you take in something you may have missed first time out.

Either way, it's a great listen with a very articulate and forward-thinking individual.

NB: This was initially recorded for our Patreon platform. As a result, some references may be outdated.

Glory be, where to start with the madness from another eventful few days in goalkeeping punditry?

Perhaps we should instead focus on glorious performances from Taye Ashby-Hammond, Luke Simpson and Mike Cooper - three goalkeepers all attempting to write giantkilling history and all coming so close to a perfect hat-trick. In the end, Ashby-Hammond was the one triumphant with Boreham Wood seeing off Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.

Edouard Mendy's 18-month rise to stardom continues with Senegal's first-ever AFCON trophy and an accolade for being named the tournament's top goalkeeper, Gabaski's heroics meant it was nearly him an Egypt taking centre stage, and David de Gea picked up January's Player of the Month in the Premier League - the first goalkeeper to win the award in six years.

All the weekend's key action from the EFL is discussed, including another star performance from Blackpool's ever-improving Daniel Grimshaw. The Tangerines escaped from Craven Cottage with a draw thanks to their now No1 – no mean feat against a Fulham side banging in the goals of late.

In League One, James Trafford – on loan at Bolton from Manchester City – bagged the first assist of his fledgling career, while Pontus Dahlberg was on the receiving end of FOUR penalties in Gillingham's defeat to Oxford.

And in League Two, Christy Pym racked up a first clean sheet since switching to Stevenage on a loan deal which makes him the fourth goalkeeper utilised by the club this season.

GK PI also returns with a closer look at James Shea and Thomas Kaminski of Luton and Blackburn respectively. The pair left Kenilworth Road with a clean sheet apiece on Saturday.

If you can ignore the utterly insane call which led to Liverpool being awarded a match-clinching penalty against Crystal Palace at the weekend, focus instead on Alisson's MOM display which ultimately helped The Reds clinch said match.

The Brazilian completes an extremely solid No1 and No2 for Jurgen Klopp's side, with Caoimhin Kelleher equally as impressive in the Carabao Cup Semi-Final triumph over Arsenal a few days prior.

Elsehwere, David de Gea has now made more saves than any other Premier League goalkeeper so far this season, Fraser Forster racked up a 200th appearance in English football and Hugo Lloris joined Emi Martinez in signing contract extensions at Tottenham and Aston Villa respectively.

In the EFL, Neil Etheridge returned to his best form for Birmingham and Nick Townsend continues to stake his claim as Newport's No1 ahead of Joe Day.

Anyone watching the EFL Cup semi-final first leg between Liverpool and Arsenal last week would have no doubt been aghast at the suggestion that Aaron Ramsdale - yes, Aaron Ramsdale - was to blame for Granit Xhaka's sending off.

Jamie Carragher and Paul Merson were the culprits and Rich, quite rightly, goes in on their analysis. As he does with questionable comments made on Kepa conceding the only goal of the game in Chelsea's defeat at Man City, and the winner scored for Leeds by Jack Harrison – a brilliantly-taken finish to bag a hat-trick, but also a potential error made by Lukasz Fabianski according to those in the Sky Sports studio.

An EFL Overview provides all the key action from The 72, including an overzealous challenge from Port Vale's Lucas Covolan, matched in its enthusiasm by Dean Bouzanis embarking upon a mazy run which nearly resulted in a goal for Sutton in their eventual draw with Stevenage.

We also touch on two moments from AFCON and the FIFA Best Awards, which took place in Zurich last night.

Following a brief break over the festive period, we are back with a look at all the goalkeeping goodness from the FA Cup Third Round.

Special mentions for Dimitar Mitov, Michael Cooper, Taye Ashby-Hammond and Nicholas Bilokapic for helping their respective clubs knock out higher league opposition.

There's also a return for GKs On Their Way as we roundup all the latest movers and shakers in the January transfer window so far.

Keen to follow up on his maiden GKU outing nearly an entire year ago, Kasper Schmeichel rejoined GKU and unleashed his goalkeeping geekdom to discuss gloves, boots, balls and plenty more.

We go deep on leadership within goalkeeping, how the goalkeeping landscape can differ and evolve between young and old stoppers, and why learning new skills off the pitch can very much be the key to success on it.

A rate and review is always welcome on iTunes. Sporadic deliveries of GKU mugs are there for the most creative offerings.

Another MOM for David de Gea and a quite ridiculous 100 clean sheets for Ederson in just 212 Man City outings.

All the reaction from the weekend's goalkeeping goodness is rounded up in the following audio, including a look at top-flight clubs currently without a recognised No3.

As we've seen with Southampton hastily signing Willy Caballero on a short-term deal last week, opting against an established back-up could prove costly.

Commentary Corner is back with a vengeance after BT Sport's puzzling analysis of Lukasz Fabianski and Edouard Mendy in West Ham's win over Chelsea this weekend.

There were contrasting VAR opinions at Parks Villa and St James' as Kasper Schmeichel had producers trawling the rulebook after his clever paw denied Jacob Ramsey a goal in the former. Sadly, in the latter, Nick Pope had no such luck.

Odd (read: passing of the buck) comments made by Ralph Hasenhuttl may cause issues at Southampton after he unfairly called out Alex McCarthy for Brighton's very late equaliser, and GK PI comes in the form of Daniel Bachmann following Rich's short trip to see Watford host Manchester City.

Elsewhere, the best of the Championship is covered, as are some rarely heard heroes for their part in the FA Cup Second Round.

This week's episode includes a look at similar saving scenarios for Alvaro Fernandez, David de Gea and Martin Dubravka.

Conditions wreaked havoc across the land and we saw Kasper Schmeichel dealing a little better with the snow than his opposite number, Dan Bachmann - back in for Watford with Ben Foster set for a period on the sidelines.

In the EFL there were spectacular stops from Craig MacGillivray, Jayson Leutwiler and the returning Tom King, while Jamie Cumming - on loan at Gillingham from Chelsea - continues to impress in difficult circumstances for the League One outfit.

Guess what? Rich is on holiday... Again!

Still, we couldn't let another week pass without a Between the Sticks. All the key Premier League action is assessed, with a particular focus on recent comments made by – shock of the century coming up – Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher.

At the age of 31, Jason Steele made his Premier League debut with an MOM performance for Brighton at Aston Villa and Jose Sa earns plaudits for a solid start to life at Wolves.

No Between the Sticks this week, so we've filled the void with arguably the No1 Goalkeeper Coach currently working in English football.

Aston Villa's Neil Cutler joins GKU to delve deep into his goalkeeping philosophy, building relationships in football and what drives Emi Martinez to be the world's No1.

Foul or no foul? That is the question.

Both Alisson and his manager Jurgen Klopp were furious at the fact West Ham's opener in their win over Liverpool was allowed to stand. Meanwhile, over in Manchester, David de Gea was criticised for conceding the second of Man City's two goals in the 186th Manchester Derby.

We discuss both incidents, in addition to the key action from the Premier League and Championship.

There's also a brief nod to the FA Cup First Round with the opportunity for names not normally mentioned on the podcast to bag a well-deserved doff of the cap.

Not for the first time this season, Aaron Ramsdale takes centre stage in this week's Between the Sticks.

Yet another MOM performance from the Arsenal stopper in the victory at Leicester.

The Great Dane.

Peter Schmeichel joins GKU to talk us through his latest book, One: My Autobiography.

It's not often two goalkeepers conceded a combined 12 goals of a weekend, yet come away thinking, "I've not actually had a bad one today."

That was arguably the case with messrs De Gea and Krul in respective hammerings for Manchester United and Norwich at the hands of Liverpool and Chelsea.

Lukasz Fabianski produced another solid performance for West Ham in their win over Tottenham, so we touch on where Alphonse Areola currently fits at the London Stadium, while debating whether Man City's opener against Brighton should have stood.

GKI PI returns with Lawrence Vigouroux this week's subject, Connor Ripley saw his emergency loan extended by Salford and Paul Farman bags Rich's Performance of the Week for the nine saves made in Barrow's draw at Walsall.

This week, we understandably begin proceedings with a quire remarkable performance from Edouard Mendy at Brentford. In equalling his best-ever save return in a single Premier League game, the Senegalese stopper ensured Chelsea bagged three points and earned an MOM award in the process.

In the EFL, Glenn Morris racked up a 500th career appearance. Some achievement for a goalkeeper who thought his playing days were all but numbered upon first arriving at Crawley back in 2016.

Thoughts must also go to Dan Barden. The young Norwich goalkeeper announced this week he has been diagnosed with testicular cancer. We wish him and his family nothing but the best here at GKU.

A quick roundup of all the international goalkeeping action, including Danny Ward, Sam Johnstone, Craig Gordon and Kasper Schmeichel.

Proceedings begin, however, with yet another trophy for Hugo Lloris. Much to the dismay, bizarrely, of Don Hutchison.

How many goalkeepers, in total, have been used so far this season?

That factors in all 92 professional clubs in English football. League games only.

The answer is revealed in the following audio as we take a deeper look into why (hint: more than 92) a substantial amount have been utilised by managers after just ten or so games.

Commentary Corner returns in preposterously predictable fashion and there's a bit of chat regarding the career of Richard Wright following a listener's question.

Aaron Ramsdale is now at the heart of a consistent back five, lauded by Arsenal fans perhaps realising their swift judgement of the ex-Sheffield United man may have been a little misguided.

Elsewhere, debate ensued over whether David De Gea was interfered with by Ollie Watkins for Aston Villa's winner at Old Trafford, David Raya pulled off one of the saves of the season as Brentford drew with Liverpool and Jose Sa bagged a goalkeeper assist in Wolves' win over Southampton.

All the customary EFL action follows, including a rather remarkable 'Keeper Caper for Bailey Peacock-Farrell.

What a weekend it was for David de Gea at the London Stadium, but let's not forget the part Lukasz Fabianski played in the game, too. Incredible performance from the Pole, despite being on the losing side - just like Hugo Lloris in Spurs' 3-0 defeat to Chelsea.

In the EFL, Luke Southwood is making the most of his chance at Reading, Scott Flinders is rolling back the years as Cheltenham's No1 and Ross Doohan bagged his first start in English football following a loan move from Celtic to Tranmere.

With Richard still kicking back in Dubai, this BTS episode remains via Zoom.

However, it contains all the usual goalkeeping goodness, with a focus on David de Gea, Ederson and Aaron Ramsdale from the weekend's Premier League action.

Congrats go to Vicente Guaita for racking up 100 appearances at Crystal Palace, a second full top-flight appearance for Jed Steer (six years after his first) and a first league outing for Ben Hamer at Swansea.

Mr Lee has taken it upon himself to jet over to Dubai for some much-needed downtime following the madness of football's off-season in July and August.

GKU, however, continues to continue. In this episode, we cover the main talking points from the first batch of international fixtures, plus the few games taking place in the EFL.

Rich also offers a little insight into how his deadline day panned out.

With little more than 24 hours of the summer transfer window remaining, it was a quick in and out for GKU this morning.

Rich, as you're about to hear, was hot on his heels to help dot potential i's and cross possible t's... Or do absolutely nothing at all.

Much like houses, transfers can depend on one individual catalysing the chain.

Yet, naturally, it did not stop us reviewing the weekend's action in goalkeeping. A stronger focus on the Premier League as opposed to the EFL this week, but still time for a Keeper Caper and Commentary Corner nonetheless.

It may not have been the busiest weekend for Premier League goalkeeping action, but there was certainly one major talking point with the transfer of Aaron Ramsdale to Arsenal finally being completed.

Rich offers his verdict on the £30m move, in addition to all the customary goings on from the EFL.

Jonathan Bond has had to wait patiently for a good crack at first-team football. Spells with Watford and Reading promised plenty of potential, but as we've heard so many times on this very platform, goalkeeping isn't always as straightforward as one might wish.

Now, following a flirtation with West Brom, Bondy is LA Galaxy's outright No1.

We chat to the latest star of MLS about living in La La Land, lessons learned over the years and why stats aren't really his thing.

Bit later than usual this week.

All the key goalkeeping reaction from the opening Premier League weekend is here. As is the best of the rest from the EFL, Clean Sheet Club and a little look at Yann Sommer's heroics in Borussia Monchengladbach's draw with Bayern on Friday night.

We're not sure what series we're on, but we do know we're back.

The first Between The Sticks of 2021-22 is here with all the best from the weekend's EFL goalkeeping action.

Clean Sheet Club returns alongside a transfer update and a new GK PI offering from a certain Detective Lee.

Hello! Thought we'd quickly jump in for a transfer update.

A substantial 31 moves have occurred since we last recorded after the Euros. As a result, here's rundown on the signings we thought stood out most.

So that is that. The Euros done.

Jordan Pickford bagged a Golden Glove and "Gigio" Donnarumma was named Player of the Tournament.

On top of that we witnessed a pretty solid month of goalkeeping action, with lesser known names often usurping global powerhouses and shootout drama just reinforcing why pressure penalties can bring out the best in us.

We've enjoyed producing these especially for the tournament. Hopefully you've enjoyed listening in.

Back soon.

England are the Final of a major international tournament.

Jordan Pickford has bagged the Euros Golden Glove.

Jordan Pickford has broken a record for the most minutes without conceding a goal as England goalkeeper.

Kasper Schmeichel saved Harry Kane's penalty, but it still went in.

Both Euro 2020 semi-finals are analysed in this, our 100th episode of Between The Sticks.

Naturally, Jordan Pickford's record-breaking display against Ukraine takes centre stage in this episode.

All three other Euros quarter-finals are also covered, as are the latest transfers in our latest feature.

Take a bow, Jordan Pickford.

There just seems to be something about playing for his country that brings the best out in the Everton goalkeeper. We discuss his match-winning performance against Germany and Harry Maguire's comments that the Three Lions No1 is the most scrutinised position in world football.

Elsewhere, all the other Last 16 action is covered. What a round of games it was with heroics from Hugo Lloris, Yann Sommer and Unai Simon bouncing back from his early setback in Spain's victory over Croatia.

Please do rate and review on iTunes. Always and much appreciated.

Now the group stages are done, we reflect on the best (and sadly, the not-so-best) action from the final round of games prior to the knockout stages.

A tough afternoon at the office for Martin Dubravka was almost usurped with the differing of opinions around the penalty given against Hugo Lloris in France's draw with Portugal. As a result, Commentary Corner returns for the first time in quite a while.

More transfers are ticked off, there's even a mention of The Flying Scotsman and, yes, Rich still has hayfever.

Such is the nature of the Euros schedule, the ad hoc podcast production shall continue is the same manner.

We focus on all the key goalkeeping action from Scotland's opening group game with Czech Republic to last night's Home Nations stalemate.

Next edition is planned for Thursday, one of those horrible first days with no games following the culmination of the early stages.

With games coming thrice a day, every day, there's no way we can keep up with all the action as it happens.

Therefore, we shall record ad hoc throughout the Euros in a bid to react to what we can, when we can.

First up is a look at the opening three matchdays, factoring in Jordan Pickford, Danny Ward, Yann Sommer and Maarten Stekelenburg.

We also continue to cast an eye over the most recent transfers in the world of goalkeeping.

With less than a week to go before the big Euros kick-off, we take a look at England's final two friendlies against Austria and Romania.

There's also a delve into the psychology of performing at a major international tournament and how that can differ from domestic football.

It may be slightly late, but here's a quick recap of the Champions League and Europa League Finals.

We assess the impact made by Edouard Mendy at Chelsea and what could be David de Gea's last act at Manchester United.

Elsewhere, there's a look at the latest transfer activity and a quick eye cast over Gareth Southgate's Euro 2020 squad selection.

Reaction from the final round of Premier League fixtures, plus a look back at the Playoff Semi-Final games in the EFL.

Keeper Capers heads to Germany and Argentina. What would you have done in Roman Burki's position?

If you have time, please rate and review on iTunes. Thank you!

One word: Alisson.

Another word: Kasper.

Two stoppers who continue to astound us with their excellence. What a goal. What a pair of saves. What goalkeepers.

We're back for a quick podcast to cover all the quite remarkable goalkeeping action from the weekend.

The inaugural Clean Sheet Club has reached its climax - and what a thrilling climax it was.

We reveal the 2020-21 winner along with all the customary goalkeeping goodness from English football over the final EFL weekend of the regular season.

With just a few games taking place we thought we'd wait until Monday to cover anything major which may have occurred.

Then Ederson decided to ping one half the distance of Manchester, Edouard Mendy spearheaded Chelsea's charge into the Champions League Final and Mark Travers scored an injury-time goal to help Bournemouth on their way to a first Hampshire Senior cup in 32 years.

The call was made. Episode 89 of Between The Sticks was recorded.

We discuss Jordan Pickford's return to form, Jonathan Bond's impressive start to life in MLS and the best of the rest from the world of goalkeeping.

Remarkably, this podcast begins with some goalkeeping hair chat.

Feel free to fast-forward five minutes to the quick recap of the week's Champions League action, plus the Best of the Rest from the EFL.

Rich also answers a listener's question on Hibernian's Matt Macey.

On the agenda is another solid display from Emi Martinez, the future of Arsenal's Bernd Leno and promotions for Watford and Hull.

St Johnstone stopper Zander Clark also receives a mention for his heroic efforts as The Saints saw off Rangers in the Scottish Cup Quarter Finals.

Oh, and the results from the Schmeichel poll are revealed. Shambles.

Please rate and review on iTunes. Always appreciated.

As much as we regret to involve listeners in the daily squabbles of the host and co-host of The Goalkeepers' Union Podcast, sometimes we do require an opinion from elsewhere.

In this case, you'll hear the differing views of Rich and Matt when it comes to Peter Schmeichel's involvement in Manchester United's 1999 Champions League Final equaliser. (Twitter poll currently ongoing.)

Aside from all that, plenty of reaction from the Premier League and EFL as per usual.

Meanwhile, if you get an opportunity, please rate and review us on iTunes. Always appreciated and occasionally prizes awarded!

There's certainly a time for stories and career anecdotes, but with the an ever-increasing list of podcasts doing just that, GKU wanted to sit down with Kasper Schmeichel and simply talk goalkeeping.

No agenda. No idea of how and where the chat would steer. Just a chat about what goalkeeping means to him and, more importantly, what makes him tick.

NB: This was released on Patreon back in January, but bar one reference to the number of career games he's made, everything else should remain in fine, up-to-date goalkeeping order.

All the usual stuff from the Premier League and EFL, with a bit of extra attention paid to the future of Aaron Ramsdale.

Now Sheffield United are relegated, what next for the England U21 international?

Following on directly from our chat with Tim Dittmer, Head of Goalkeeping for the FA and England, we now turn to one of his colleagues in the national team setup.

And, like Tim, Anthony White is a goalkeeper coach making waves in the game at a relatively young age.

Now officially regarded as an England Men's National Goalkeeping Coach, Ant talks us through his early endeavours and the relationship dynamic between goalkeeper and goalkeeper coach.

Some really insightful stuff in this one.

If you get a chance, please rate and review us on iTunes. Always appreciated!

Manuel Neuer's performance in Bayern Munich's eventual exit from the Champions League had Rich riffing on the role of a sweeper 'keeper and how that translates in England's lower leagues.

We also cover the rest of the Champions League Quarter Final action, while casting an eye over another set of games in the EFL.

Dean Henderson looks to be Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's No1 moving forward at Manchester United, Bailey Peacock-Farrell stepped in for Nick Pope and performed admirably in Burnley's home defeat against Newcastle, while Graeme Souness produced some questionable analysis of Vicente Guaita's display in a heavy loss for Crystal Palace.

In the EFL, Cardiff fans were surprised to see Dillon Phillips replaced by Alex Smithies, birthday boy Ben Amos produced a Man of the Match showing in Charlton's big win over Sunderland and Josh Griffiths continues to earn deserved plaudits for his consistency on loan at Cheltenham from West Brom.

All the reaction from the Easter Monday fixtures and the midweek Champions League Quarter Finals.

Here's a quick pod to cover the games over the Easter period, from Friday through to Sunday evening.

Reaction from Monday's EFL and Premier League games will come in Thursday's podcast.

No1 Mindset and feature interviews will be available on Patreon at the end of this week and the beginning of next.

International week means zero focus on the Premier League and Championship, so we've offered a quick take on England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland's exploits in the first two of the three games for each over this period.

We also touch on the few games in League One and League Two.

Plenty of playing-out-from-the-back errors witnessed this weekend, yet none of them the fault of a goalkeeper. A pair of horrid goalkeeper own goals, too. Again, nothing Dan Iversen nor Matt Ingram could have done with their respective in-vain efforts.

In Spain, Sevilla stopper Bono bagged a last-minute equaliser at Real Valladolid, while Can Tho's Pham Tran Tranh Vu (that's the Vietnamese second tier, if you're wondering) saved a penalty and celebrated by knee-sliding right in front of the referee.

Aside from all that, there's all the action and reaction from the Premier League, EFL and the FA Cup to cover.

Head of Goalkeeping for the FA and England. Not a bad title, is it?

In this podcast, we discuss the DNA of an England goalkeeper and what the future holds for England goalkeepers and goalkeeper coaching.

Tim also explains how he worked his way up the coaching ladder and the multitude of techniques he adopts to being the best out of himself and those around him.

Quick one today.

We touch on another solid performance from Edouard Mendy in the Champions League (six clean sheets in a row now) while reflecting on the key moments in the EFL.

Unsurprisingly, Rich and Matt disagree on a couple of moments from League One and League Two.

Edouard Mendy's narrative seems to be swinging back in his favour following another clean sheet against Leeds at the weekend. We look at the Senegalese stopper's performance and remarkable record since joining Chelsea in the summer.

Dean Henderson has helped Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to four consecutive Premier League clean sheets for the first time since becoming Manchester United manager. With Jordan Pickford possibly out of action for a few weeks, what next in the contest for England's No1 at the Euros in a few months?

All the standard EFL action follows, plus a Keeper Caper all the way from the Bundesliga.

Messrs Ederson, Marchesin and Bono were all guilty of a cheeky tête-à-tête with outfielders and, needless to say, we're fully on board. (Got to give it back occasionally, haven't you?)

We cover the best of the action from the Champions League and the latest round of games in the EFL, including a Text Talk with Fleetwood Town stopper Alex Cairns.

Chris Wood made Arsenal pay at the weekend, but who was really at fault for gifting the ball to the Burnley striker? And is this just another example of how Risk vs Reward is now simply a part of the game fans have to accept as the norm?

All the key goalkeeping action and reaction from the Premier League and EFL coming up.

Plenty has been crammed in today, including a new addition from a lad named James Mayley. You may have seen his posts on Twitter regarding analysis of League One goalkeepers. Here, he explains a bit more about it.

All the latest from the Premier League and EFL as per.

Aaron Ramsdale kicks off this podcast thanks to an impressive performance in Sheffield United's defeat to Liverpool.

Elsewhere, the Dubravka/Darlow debate rumbles on at Newcastle, as does all the action from the EFL. Playing-out-from-the-back alert.

Feedback? Yes, please! Rate and review us on iTunes, if you get a chance.

Every so often, we filter through one of our Patreon podcasts.

This time out the subject is Ostersunds Goalkeeper Coach, David Preece, a real gent with a real passion for goalkeeping, and one he articulates so well over various platforms.

Here, we focus on his coaching philosophy and just how he made a name for himself as one of goalkeeping's go-to pundits on social media.

Quick one today.

We pick up on a few landmarks courtesy of Ilan Meslier and Ederson, plus all the key talking points from the midweek EFL action.

Oh dear. The near post debate is back.

In addition to examining Marcus Rashford's opener for Manchester United against Newcastle and Karl Darlow, we also focus on Paul Scholes' quite inexplicable analysis of David de Gea's performance in the same game.

Special mention for Dillon Phillips and his two penalty saves as Cardiff beat Preston, Jojo Wollacott making a winning return on loan at Swindon and David Stockdale, recalled by Wycombe to keep Millwall at bay and offer thoughts via Text Talk.

Oh, and Jordan Pickford. Well played, son.

Alisson returned to clean sheet ways with the 50th shutout of his Liverpool career in the Champions League first-leg victory over Leipzig.

We run the tule over the key European action in addition to the customary Championship rundown and EFL best of the rest.

On a positive side, splendid saves from Sam Johnstone and Kasper Schmeichel kick things off, with yet another mention of Emi Martinez and his nine saves at Brighton. He's never made more in a Premier League game.

We also look a little closer at the part Alisson played in Liverpool's defeat at Leicester, in addition to Jamie Redknapp's comments that Hugo Lloris is currently in the midst of "having a nightmare".

Please rate and review us on iTunes if you get a chance. Feedback always welcome.

The BT Sport crew yet again going above and beyond with some rather misinformed punditry during Everton's FA Cup Fifth Round triumph over Tottenham on Wednesday evening. Regrettably, we commence with Commentary Corner in this episode.

In fact, in terms of goalkeeping talking points the action has been more focused on games in League One and League Two this week. A stop apiece from Jack Stevens and Joe Day in Oxford's win at Bristol Rovers are well worth a look.

Quite the monumental weekend of goalkeeping ensued with two of the highest-profile stoppers in world football nabbing the headlines.

David de Gea and Alisson both came in for a healthy amount of criticism as a result of their performances against Everton and Manchester City respectively. As always, we shall pick the bones out of the incident and, also as always, do our best to offer an objective and reasoned opinion.

Plenty of action elsewhere in the EFL is followed with a well-deserved doff of the cap to seven-time Super Bowl winner, Tom Brady.

From another solid Aaron Ramsdale showing to late cross collectors such as David Raya and Robert Sanchez, here is all the key action and reaction in the world of goalkeeping this week.

Commentary Corner: Curtis Davies

Keeper Capers: Samir Handanovic and Handball World Championships

Feedback always welcome! Email hello@goalkeepersunion.net or rate and review on iTunes.

All the customary goalkeeping goodness, with reaction from the Premier League and the EFL.

Jordan Pickford takes centre stage (of course he does) as we analyse Everton's defeat to Newcastle, while Ellery Balcombe's double penalty save provided three points for Doncaster at Lincoln.

Rate and review on iTunes if you can. A GKU mug awaits the best.

Aerial challenges on goalkeepers were the main talking point from the midweek games across the Premier League and EFL.

Rich runs the rule on one given and one not in Manchester United's defeat to Sheffield United, along with a happier Aaron Ramsdale and the spotlight once more on Jordan Pickford.

Taking priority this Monday is the fact Rich has almost waved the white flag regarding Troy Deeney's penalty expertise, plus the ongoing Newcastle No1 debate with Martin Dubravka hot on the heels of Karl Darlow at St James' Park.

Kepa comes up (of course he does) in an FA Cup Fourth Round review which includes a solid showing from Cheltenham' loanee Josh Griffiths against Manchester City and a long-awaited return for Christian Walton at Brighton.

There's also a bumper Best of the Rest from the EFL, in addition to those favourite franchises of 'Keeper Capers and Rate My Save.

From Newport's Tom King breaking a world record for football's longest-ever goal, to 41-year-old Alcoyan stopper Jose Juan being the scourge of Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey.

There has been a raft of goalkeeping action this week, and we've aimed to cover all the key talking points right here.

Derby's Kelle Roos also drops in with a voice note to talk through his match-winning save against Preston.

Rates and reviews always appreciated. The better ones may even be entitled to a special GKU mug.

Extraordinary stuff from messrs Carragher and Neville in weekend fixtures at Craven Cottage and Anfield, so we've stripped the comments down and, as always, attempted remain balanced in the analysis of the analysis.

Elsewhere, two landmarks were reached in the top and bottom tiers of English football. In his 94th consecutive Premier League outing, Kasper Schmeichel hit 400 at Leicester, while James McKeown now holds the record as Grimsby Town's all-time leading appearance-maker for a goalkeeper.

Keeper Capers, Clean Sheet Club and Rate My Save all back for good measure.

If you can, please rate and review on iTunes. Hugely appreciated!

We're back in lockdown and back on Zoom, but Between the Sticks shall continue from our living rooms.

Following another rip-roaring weekend of FA Cup Third Round action, we focus on debutants and first first-team appearances for a number of No2 goalkeepers.

We've also managed to slip in a post-edit reaction to the eventful tie between Newport and Brighton (it was on as we were recording).

Seeing as we're all locked down once again, we recorded a quick overview of 2020 in the world of goalkeeping.

Rich runs through his key performers and emerging talents from all four tiers, we read out the top tweets on your No1 stoppers from the past 12 months and, just for an added dose of thrill-a-minute goalkeeping goodness, a quiz finishes things off.

Thank you for all your support in 2020. Onwards and upwards. Ish.

Podcast No1 of 2021 takes a look at all the key goalkeeping action from the first weekend of the New Year, including:

Allan McGregor's Old Firm antics
Illan Meslier and Robert Sanchez talking points
Emi Martinez impressing again
Gregor Kobel with one heck of a penalty save

Feedback welcome: hello@goalkeepersunion.net

All the key goalkeeping talking points from the Boxing Day fixtures, including:

A shift in the Mendy narrative
Dubious calls on Pope and Meslier
Sam Johnstone denies Firmino
Alex Runarsson's Carabao Cup call

Seeing as it's Christmas, we're rolling out two of the three Rob Green chats we launched with Patreon.

In this opener, Rob charts his time breaking through with Norwich and establishing himself as an England international while at West Ham.

He also discusses that crooked pinky and a rather gruesome injury in his early days with the Hammers.

It's our pre-Christmas show complete with horrendous pre-Christmas puns.

All the latest action, plus our first voice notes from listeners. Featuring:

Scottish Cup Final and Craig Gordon's angry antics
Route one Ederson
Schmeichel's steady response
Robert Sanchez staying at No1
Best of the rest from the EFL

All the key goalkeeping action from the midweek Premier League and EFL fixtures, featuring:

Sanchez in for Ryan

Pickford benched

Johnstone jubilation at the Etihad

Kasper caper

Vicente Guaita and Emi Martinez grabbed the headlines for standout performances (albeit with some dubious punditry to boot) while Alphonse Areola and Alisson both kept their teams in a game as Fulham held Liverpool to a draw at Craven Cottage.

As per, the best of the rest from the EFL, including a 10th clean sheet of the season for Freddie Woodman in his 100th career appearance.

Naturally, David de Gea hogs the headlines with that third goal in Leipzig which sent Twitter into meltdown.

The customary Championship rundown follows, as does the best of the rest from the world of goalkeeping this week.

We look at Pope vs Pickford in Burnley's draw with Everton, a first Premier League start for Dean Henderson at Manchester United and a rare lapse from Edouard Mendy as Chelsea beat Leeds.

Also: The Clean Sheet Club.

Reaction from the key goalkeeping action in the Champions League, including an impressive debut for Liverpool's Caoimhin Kelleher.

Rich also casts his eye over the midweek EFL games, and we introduce a new Goalkeeping Geek Mode as John Harrison deep dives into Ajax stopper Andre Onana's performance at Anfield.

Let us know what you think on Twitter @GKUnion.

All the key goalkeeping action from the Premier League, EFL and FA Cup Second Round is discussed and dissected in our 50th BTS episode.

First Premier League starts of the season for Dean Henderson and Bailey Peacock-Farrell brought contrasting fortunes for the pair, Sam Johnstone bagged a second clean sheet in West Brom's win over Sheffield United and Hugo Lloris continued his solid form to earn Spurs a point at Stamford Bridge.

Let us know your thoughts on Twitter @GKUnion

Review and rate on iTunes. It's all appreciated!

Does Dean Henderson need to seek another loan move away from Manchester United in January? After being left out of the starting XI in the Champions League win over Istanbul Basaksehir, we discuss whether this season is hindering the England goalkeeper's progress.

Rich also runs the rule over a couple of commentary calamities from the midweek Championship action, plus the best of the rest from the EFL and UCL.

Ederson caused quite a stir with his advanced antics in Manchester City's defeat at Spurs, so we discuss the pros and cons of the modern goalkeeper in closing down attackers.

We also commend Sam Johnstone for a solid return to Old Trafford and the ongoing form of Aaron Ramsdale.

Rundowns in the Championship, League One and League Two focus on two epic stops from Marko Marosi and Matt Gilks of Coventry and Bolton respectively, while Asmir Begovic gives us his take on two key moments in Bournemouth's comeback victory over Reading.

Action and reaction from the Nations League, Papa John's Trophy, U21 international fixtures and even the FA Youth Cup.

Yep, we've gone a little niche this week. But we do also touch on the introduction of five subs in the EFL and how that might just somewhat alter the goalkeeping landscape.

Let us know your thought. Feedback always encouraged and welcomed.

Football lost a legend this weekend.

Ray Clemence was and shall always remain a goalkeeping great.

Alongside all the customary reaction from the Nations League and EFL, we pay homage to Clem and his trophy-laden career.

Gone but not forgotten.

In light of the insightful analysis given by Martyn Margetson to Sky Sports on England's goalkeepers yesterday, we touch on some of the negativity attracted as a result.

Rich also answers questions from social media regarding Jordan Pickford's current form.

Have a question you'd like to ask? Drop us an email on hello@goalkeepersunion.net.

Episode 100 is now live!

(We know it says #44. We've done 44 BTS episodes, plus 56 of the others.)

In celebratory fashion, we delve deep into the weekend's action from the Premier League, Championship and FA Cup First Round. More on Jordan Pickford and his performance against Manchester United, a mark-making display from Fulham's Alphonse Areola and a string of top saves including Kasper Schmeichel, Karl Darlow and Alex McCarthy.

For the extended version, head on over to patreon.com/goalkeepersunion.

Reaction from the key Champions League action, with special mentions for Edouard Mendy, a return for Marc-Andre Ter Stegen and an explosive debut for Dynamo Kyiv youngster, Ruslan Neshcheret.

Rich also touches on games in the Championship and two dubious decisions involving Angus Gunn and Asmir Begovic.

Rich discusses whether Carlo Ancelotti was right to drop Jordan Pickford for the game at Newcastle (and then publicly state he'd be back in for the next game) while analysing the best of the rest of the action from the Premier League and the EFL.

Reaction from the weekend's games, so no UCL analysis in this one. Moving forward, we'll plan to record on Mondays and Thursdays to fit in as much as we can.

Subjects include Edouard Mendy's clean sheet at Old Trafford, two questionable moments in the game between Wolves and Newcastle and three Keeper Capers from League Two.

Rich also offers his take on Bolton boss Ian Evatt's scathing – and rather public – attack on loanee goalkeeper, Billy Crellin.

It's been a while, hasn't it?

Apologies for the unforeseen hiatus. We are now back and plan to kick on in 2020-21.

This is essentially another new start for The Goalkeepers' Union. We've set up shop (socially distanced, we must stress) in a shiny new studio and plan to release far more content as the weeks go on.

To re-kick things off, Rich has provided a comprehensive rundown of what we've not reported on since our last podcast at the beginning of August.

Good to be back. Onwards and upwards.

Rich takes a look at the performance of Brentford goalkeeper David Raya in Tuesday evening's Championship Playoff Final.

NB: This episode was recorded as part of the Patreon Instagram Live feed, so audio quality is slightly different to normal.

From being told he wasn't good enough (or tall enough, more to the point) to dropping into non-league and working his way back (almost) to the very top, Flavs touches on that career-defining night at Southend in keeping a clean sheet against Manchester United, honouring his late brother Aaron with a move to Portsmouth and helping Bournemouth on their way to the Premier League.

For the full interview, visit patreon.com/goalkeepersunion.

And that is it for the Premier League campaign.

Rich returns to analyse all the key action from the final day, including Frank Lampard's courageous Kepa call, Ederson's Golden Gloves, a tale of top spin at the London Stadium and plenty more.

Rich and Matt react to the final round of matches in the regular Championship season, before touching on more questionable commentary surrounding Kepa in Chelsea's 5-3 defeat at Liverpool.

No surprises what makes up the majority of this episode.

David De Gea made headlines for all the wrong reasons in Manchester United's FA Cup Semi Final defeat to Chelsea. We look at that second goal from Mason Mount and whether it's fair to suggest he was at fault for all three.

There's also the best of the rest in the Premier League and what some (Rich) are calling the £100m save from Stoke's Adam Davies.

Emi Martinez (again), Ederson (again) and Alisson (you get the idea) are the early focus on this week's BTS.

We also take a look at Adam Davies' return to action at Stoke and touch on comments made by Emilio Alvarez, who recently claimed he left Manchester United in order to no longer work with David De Gea.

Following another "erratic" performance from Jordan Pickford against Wolves at the weekend, we look at whether the England No1 needs a break from the action.

Elsewhere, Rich analyses a rare error from Kasper Schmeichel and a worldy stop from Arsenal's Emi Martinez in the North London derby.

Nick Pope is leading the charge for this season's Golden Glove with a 14th clean sheet picked up in Burnley's win at West Ham.

Rich looks at whether the England hopeful will move on in the summer, in addition to a quick rundown of the latest Championship action.

More reaction from the latest round of Premier League games, including:

Another clean sheet for Emiliano Martinez
Drama at the London Stadium in the game between West Ham and Chelsea
Gary Neville and Ederson being caught "in no man's land"

An uncharacteristic piece of goalkeeping from Sergio Romero kicks off this edition of Between The Sticks.

Was the Manchester United stopper at fault for Todd Cantwell's equaliser in the FA Cup Quarter Final clash with Norwich? And could Dean Henderson have done better with Arsenal's winner from Dani Ceballos at Brammall Lane?

That and plenty more from the past few days of action across the Premier League, Championship and FA Cup.

Wayne Hennessey was questioned for his positioning as Trent Alexander-Arnold floated in a free-kick for Liverpool on Wednesday night.

Rich looks at the incident and reacts to listener tweets, while also touching on Martin Dubravka conceding against Aston Villa and "world class" claims surrounding David De Gea and Kasper Schmeichel.

Premature retirement through injury hasn't deterred Matt Murray.

He's since forged a successful media career and continues to offer advice and inspiration to a number of players in the game.

In this chat, we take a deep dive into goalkeeping psychology, battling inner demons and positive thinking.

Matt also touches on his adoption, being raised by white parents and racism in football.

NB: This is a preview episode. For the full chat, head over to patreon.com/goalkeepersunion.

With Bernd Leno set to be out for the remainder of the campaign, we assess the impact of that Neal Maupay challenge and how Emiliano Martinez may fare as Arsenal's No1.

Among other goalkeeping talking points from the weekend's action, we also touch on what Joe Hart's next career move should be following his release from Burnley.

Well, Roy Keane certainly had his say on David De Gea in the draw between Spurs and Manchester United on Friday night.

Time for a goalkeeper's opinion now. Rich offers his take on the De Gea error, Keane's reaction and why not enough focus was given to Hugo Lloris at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

This week’s guest is a goalkeeper who did not step between the sticks until he was 15 years old.

Little more than 12 months later he’d joined Charlton where he eventually landed his first pro contract under Alan Curbishley.

Now with Newcastle and previously capped by Ireland, Rob Elliot joins GKU to discuss Toon takeover talk, where his future lies and just why he's called The Dilsh.

NB: This is a preview episode. For the full chat, head over to patreon.com/goalkeepersunion.

WE ARE BACK... AGAIN!

After 100 days exactly, the Premier League returned this week.

Rich and Matt discuss Orjand Nyland's goalline technology favour and the continuing emergence of Dean Henderson.

Ederson's dynamic distribution is also touched upon following Manchester City's comprehensive victory over Arsenal - a result which could have been far worse for The Gunners were it not for Bernd Leno.

This week’s guest is a goalkeeper you may have heard on various podcasts in recent years.

With so many stories from a varied 19-year career which brought four promotions, unforgettable celebrations, an appearance in all four divisions of English football in almost as many seasons, lengthy spells on the sidelines and club sandwich eating competitions with teammates, he could arguably be described as the man who saved Manchester City.

Nicky Weaver, currently goalkeeper coach at his beloved Sheffield Wednesday, speaks to GKU about bouncing back, going to Kasper Schmeichel's 18th birthday party and taking the perfect penalty.

A discussion never properly presented from a goalkeeping perspective is that of Peter Shilton's performances at Italia 90.

Blamed largely for conceding a deflected Andreas Brehme free-kick and all four penalties in the semi-final shootout with West Germany, Shilts called time on his 20-year England career once the tournament had ended.

We look at whether he was to blame, whether criticism was justified and why Sir Bobby Robson kept faith in his 40-year-old captain and custodian.

We look at a selection of saves made by Safe Hands himself over the course of his 23-year career.

Stops from his time with QPR, Arsenal, Manchester City and England are included, in addition to a closer inspection of Gascoigne in '91, Nayim in '95 and Ronaldinho in '02.

Following the recent passing of Peter "The Cat" Bonetti at the age of 78, Rich pays homage to his first-ever professional goalkeeper coach.

Clayton Beerman from the Chelsea FanCast also joins the discussion and we offer some balanced Bonetti analysis to right the wrongs of that 1970 World Cup criticism.

Following a brief COVID-related hiatus, The Goalkeepers' Union Podcast returns for an interim series tackling some of the game's big goalkeeping questions.

First up, we discuss whether Peter Schmeichel – arguably the greatest goalkeeper of all time – would be able to mix it with the big boys in the modern game.

Feedback always welcome. Join the debate on Twitter @GKUnion.

This week’s guest is a man who began his goalkeeping life at the Theatre of Dreams.

From the age of 10 he came through the Manchester United ranks under Sir Alex Ferguson and made a handful of appearances for The Red Devils prior to moving onto pastures new.

He’s since come to the end of a 19-year career encompassing a whopping 19 clubs and a number of highs and lows to match.

Paul Rachubka joins GKU to tell tales of his formative years alongside Peter Schmeichel and Fabien Barthez and his life after football.

This week's guest is another opportunity for current and aspiring goalkeeper coaches to dive back into Coaches Corner.

Starting like many others as a coach in the community, Paul Clements didn't take the conventional route into football. However, a successful route now sees him overseeing the likes of Jonas Lossl and Kamil Grabara at Huddersfield Town.

He talks candidly to GKU about how he arrived at The John Smith's Stadium - and how this is only the beginning of his journey.

Triple saves from Dean Henderson and Alex McCarthy feature in this week's analysis show, as does Kepa's return, the long-awaited emergence of Simon Sluga and arguably the greatest save of the season so far from Portsmouth's Alex Bass.

Keeper Capers: Ederson in the Manchester derby

This week’s guest is a man who started at Reading, excelled at Charlton and stepped up to the Premier League with Leicester and then Huddersfield.

He’s bagged two promotions, he’s been named in a PFA team of the Year. He’s even won a PUMA Golden Glove.

But, perhaps best of all, he’s one of a number of guests we’ve had on the podcast to have dislodged Richard Lee from the No1 spot.

Ben Hamer is currently enjoying life on loan at Derby County in The Championship. He talks GKU through his goalkeeping journey so far, including an unexpected linguistic talent.

Richard has returned!

With Mr Lee back in Blighty, the weekend's key goalkeeping action is discussed, including the mixed fortunes for Jordan Pickford and David De Gea in the game at Goodison Park.

We also touch on Kiko Casilla's ban at Leeds, plus a bit of League One to boot.

Keeper Capers: Nahuel Guzmán

From across the pond!

Florida-based Richard Lee responds to Jordan Pickford's response to recent criticism and takes a look at Simon Jordan's comments about the current state of English goalkeeping.

Keeper Capers: Japanese Super Cup

This week’s guest is a goalkeeper who enjoyed a 21-year career based primarily in the north of this blessed country of England in which we dwell.

He enjoyed promotions with hometown club Preston and later with Sheffield Wednesday, he racked up more than 300 appearances and after finishing his playing days at Fleetwood Town, Highbury Stadium is where he remains as current Goalkeeper Coach.

David Lucas joins GKU to talk injuries, Big Sam and continual, never-ending improvement.

In amongst all the weekend's action in the Premier League and EFL, Rich remarks on the dropping of Kepa, Vicente Guaita's fumble in Crystal Palace's game with Sheffield United and all the deadline day deals in the world of goalkeeping.

Keeper Capers: David Raya and Will Norris

More goalkeeping analysis with Richard Lee and Matt Beadle.

This week we focus on the FA Cup Fourth Round, set-piece stoppers in the EFL, the retirement of Dean Brill at Leyton Orient and the ongoing loan saga of Dean Henderson.

Commentary Corner: Danny Murphy

Keeper Capers: Pau Lopez

This week's guest is a goalkeeper who started out at Everton, but came to prominence at Barnsley with two promotions and an EFL Trophy in recent years.

He's represented Wales at international level and currently sits behind Jack Butland and Adam Federici at Stoke after enduring a tricky start to life at the Bet365 Stadium.

Adam Davies joins GKU to talk laser eye surgery and how he's using time on the sidelines to improve his goalkeeper game.

WE ARE BACK.

After an early (and unforeseen) 2020 hiatus, GKU returns with a new batch of goalkeeping analysis. On this week's agenda:

David De Gea. Foul or no foul?
Steve Cook, goalkeeper in the making
Nick Pope back to his best
Simon Sluga's Forest fumble
Keeper Capers: Levent Aktug

Happy New Year from all at The Goalkeepers' Union.

We're back with the first analysis show of 2020, focusing primarily on the FA Cup Third Round and second string stoppers grabbing their chance for some first-team action.

Any questions? Drop us a line on hello@goalkeepersunion.net.

The last show of 2019 sees Rich and Matt go over the festive fixtures, all from a goalkeeping perspective. Including:

Fabianski's return
Bernd Leno vs Chelsea
Gazzaniga and Krul in Norwich vs Spurs
De Gea's first clean sheet in 15
EFL roundup
Keeper Capers: Joe Lumley, Will Norris and Alex Cairns

MINI POD: Before heading off for a festive salmon and gravy, Rich analyses the antics of David De Gea and Paulo Gazzaniga from the weekend's Premier League action.

This week's goalkeeping analysis podcast includes:

Allan McGregor vs Motherwell
Bernd Leno denying a De Bruyne hat-trick
David De Gea: foul or no foul?
Championship roundup
Keeper Capers: Alexander Nübel

Rich and Matt return for a quickfire review of the week's action in goalkeeping. Including:

Champions League debut for Maarten Vandervoort
Dean Henderson saving The Blades
Keeper Capers: Jamie Jones

This week’s guest is a goalkeeper who, like many others we’ve featured on the podcast before him, has a series of tales to tell.

After jetting over from Drogheda in Ireland, he tackled the bright lights of England’s capital at Chelsea before spells with Hibernian and Barnsley earned him caps for his country, The Republic of Ireland.

He’s contested derbies in London, Edinburgh and Dundee. He’s won three promotions as a player and coach.

Now goalkeeper coach at Wigan Athletic, Nick Colgan takes GKU through his eventful career and how it’s shaped him as a coach.

Rich and Matt return with more goalkeeping analysis following the first batch of Amazon Prime fixtures in the Premier League. Including:

Jonjo Shelvey vs Dean Henderson
Paulo Gazzaniga at Old Trafford
Jordan Pickford's pitiful rating

Rich and Matt return for more goalkeeping analysis. Including:

Alisson winning the Yachine Trophy
David Martin's Premier League debut
Tim Krul vs Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Championship changes
FA Cup Second Round
Keeper Capers: Gianluigi Buffon

This week’s guest is a goalkeeper coach who slightly veers from the norm.

Once a Masters student in Sports Coaching and Performance at the University of South Wales, he’s since enjoyed a 15-year career coaching goalkeepers at academy level in the US, in Africa, in Austria and in the UK with Swansea.

More recently he left his role as Goalkeeper Coach of Orlando Pirates in South Africa to take up the same position with Southampton in the Premier League.

Andrew Sparkes joins GKU to discuss his early days in the business and the hard work behind the fulfilment of a boyhood dream.

Rich and Matt return for more goalkeeping analysis. Including:

More Roberto West Ham woes
David De Gea back to his best
Simon Moore's Prem debut
Neville, Carragher and Hoddle commentary
Keeper Capers: Antonio Rodriguez

Rich and Matt return for more goalkeeping analysis following the FA Cup First Round. Including:

Claudio Bravo vs Liverpool
Roberto's mixed bag at Burnley
Goalkeeper galore at Aston Villa
Championship and FA Cup roundup
Keeper Capers: Bradley Collins

This week’s guest is a goalkeeper who shares a similar story to that of the club he currently plays for.

Starting in the top flight with Arsenal, he somewhat unexpectedly drifted into non-league before a rapid rise back to pro football and back up the leagues into The Championship where both he and Luton Town now reside.

He’s won The Double, he’s been a Player of the Year, he’s bagged a combined three promotions and he’s even got a Golden Glove to boot.

James Shea joins GKU to talk battling for the No1 jersey, why Arsene Wenger is The Boss and the unlikely home for that Golden Glove.

This week’s guest is a man with a name destined to belong within the Goalkeepers’ Union.

After spells at Barry Town, Cardiff City and Newport County during his time as a player, it’s his career as a goalkeeper coach where this man mountain has made his name with an ever-growing reputation among British football’s coaching elite.

Now on the backroom staff at Bristol City, Pat Mountain joins GKU to talk through his coaching techniques, how he keeps goalkeepers onside and why Daniel Bentley has a chance of becoming England's No1.

Rich and Matt return for a midweek bonus pod following an eventful Wednesday night of Champions League action. Including:

Kyle Walker, Claudio Bravo and Ederson all in one night
Guilherme's error against Real Madrid
Mixed fortunes for Andriy Pyatov
No goals conceded from Keylor Navas
Jan Oblak in a ruck

This week's goalkeeping analysis show comes after matchday 11 in the Premier League. Focus on:

A rare Ederson error
West Ham's Roberto woes
Caretaker coach Barry Roche
That Ben Foster and Kepa cuddle
Keeper Capers: Christos Mandas

This week's goalkeeping analysis show comes after matchday 10 in the Premier League. Focus on:

Paulo Gazzaniga's 12 saves at Anfield
Tim Krul's penalty double
Route one working out
Martin Dubravka and that six-year deal
Keeper Capers: Angus Gunn

This week’s guest is a man who restarted from the bottom and is now very much here.

At one stage as far down as the sixth tier of non-league football, a stratospheric rise to Charlton and then Burnley propelled him into the Premier League where he currently resides as one of the division’s top goalkeepers.

Chuck an England call-up, a first England cap and trip to the 2018 World Cup in the mix and you have a goalkeeper very much on the up.

Nick Pope joins GKU to talk board games, omelettes and Bulgarian dreamers.

This week's goalkeeping analysis show comes after matchday nine in the Premier League. Focus on:

Alisson back in action
Krul and Ramsdale keeping it clean
James Shea's return at Luton
Gigi Buffon still going strong
Keeper Capers: Alan Julian

This week’s guest is a man who made his professional debut just three years after taking up goalkeeping.

Three promotions, a bunch of Player of the Year awards and an England call-up followed with the likes of Motherwell, Norwich and currently Wolverhampton Wanderers, but we begin with his rather unique ascent to top-flight football in what is the first of two parts to this particular podcast.

John Ruddy joins GKU to talk learning in lower leagues, early hair loss and a bizarre incident at airport customs.

The latest instalment of our new analysis show comes after the Euro 202 qualifiers in the October international break. Focus on:

Jordan Pickford in Bulgaria
Kasper Schmeichel hitting 50
Cristiano Ronaldo reaching 700
Michel Vorm back at Spurs
Keeper Capers: Aldo Simoncini
Petr Cech's new career

The latest instalment of our new analysis show comes after Matchday Eight in the Premier League. Focus on:

Hugo Lloris' elbow error
West Ham without Fabianski
Simon Sluga's Luton life
Changes in the Championship
Keeper Capers: Tomas Koubek
Farewell Tim Howard

This week’s guest is a goalkeeper who enjoyed the first chunk of his career as a Blade with Sheffield United.

Whilst at Brammall Lane he became the youngest goalkeeper to ever appear for the club and earned call-ups to the England U18, 20 and 21 sides, the latter coming not too long after a spell of eight clean sheets in nine games across three months in 2013.

Now very much Hull City’s No1 in the Championship, George Long joins GKU to talk through his early life between the sticks and future aspirations of playing for England.

The latest instalment of our new analysis show comes after Matchday Seven in the Premier League. Focus on:

A weekend to forget for England's goalkeepers
Neville vs Pickford
Dean Henderson bouncing back
Hugo Lloris from zero to hero
Huddersfield Town's Kamil Grabara

The latest instalment of our new analysis show comes after Matchday Five in the Premier League. Focus on:

Arsenal playing out from the back
Dubravka's Mane mix up
Inswinging 50/50 free-kicks
Bettinelli's apology

From unexpected England call-ups to ghost goals, personality clashes and penalty saves galore.

Straight talking Scott Loach says it how it is.

Derby County's No1 details his route from PSV to the Championship, via Nuneaton Town.

Fascinating perspective from a modern pro on improving his game and bouncing back from play-off Final heartache.

The latest instalment of our new analysis show comes after Matchday Four in the Premier League. Focus on:

Bernd Leno's parry in the NLD
Rui Patricio and Conor Coady at Everton
MLS action with Quentin Westberg
Keeper Capers: Jojo Wollacott versus Newport County

The third instalment of our new analysis show comes after Matchday Three in the Premier League. Focus on:

David de Gea's injury time spill against Palace
Jack Butland on the bench
Sam Johnstone's tale of two penalties
Fraser Forster returning to Celtic
Keeper Capers: Kepa against Norwich

Goalkeeping meets psychology.

Prepare for a deep dive into the thought processes adopted by David Forde throughout a turbulent career between the sticks.

After his recent retirement announcement, we speak to the Galway man about how he dealt with demons and made it to the top despite a number of setbacks.

The second instalment of our new analysis show comes after Matchday Two in the Premier League. Focus on:

Adrian's Super Cup and Southampton
Ederson against Tottenham
Heaton's hairy homecoming
Jack Butland's next move
The return of Keeper Capers

One of the all-time Premier League greats touches on some of his career highs and lows, plus his current coaching role at Derby County.

It's good to be back.

We’re back. Well, sort of. Sadly, no pre-season for the first time in 20 years completely confused David Forde’s immune system, thus putting his appearance on the show on hold for a few days. Get well soon, sir. In other news, we decided to record a first sister pod of the season. Yep, this season we will attempt two pods a week – one for our feature interviews and another strictly for goalkeeping analysis with Richard Lee. Welcome to the first of the bunch. Let us know what you think.

GKU returns for a quick look at some of the pre-season drills doing the rounds on social media, while also casting an eye over the key ins and outs in the goalkeeper world so far this summer.

And Season One is done.

Richard Lee reviews guests and top performers in the 30th and final episode of the current campaign.

From Dibble to Steele, Heaton, Hart and beyond... Thank you for listening.

We'll be back in a few months!

Finally, we've landed the big one.

Speaking from a balcony in Mallorca, Stephen Bywater takes us on a journey through his footballing career and, more importantly, his unique mindset.

What a man.

Mini, micro, maxi and mega mistakes. The Black Box.

These are all terms and methods of training created and adopted by Bristol City goalkeeper coach, David Coles.

After bagging his big break at Southampton, Colesy has since become one of the go-to goalkeeper coaches. In this podcast, he discusses his progression from low-level goalkeeper to top-flight coach and delves into his diary to tell tales of David James, Robert Green, Asmir Begovic and a whole host of others.

Another one for the purists, this.

This week’s guest is a man who, in achieving promotion with Burnley in 2014, became part of an elite band of goalkeepers to have played in all four tiers of English professional football.

He began under Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United and moved to Cardiff and Bristol City before his big switch to Turf Moor where he now resides as club captain.

Tom Heaton opens up to GKU on how he's adopted the mindset to reach the top and continually improve.

An honest, insightful chat with a belter of a goalkeeper.

This week’s guest is more than just a goalkeeper.

After spells with Luton, Wimbledon and Sunderland, he joined Southampton in 2006 and has been at the club ever since.

From player to captain to Football Development Executive to First Team Assistant Coach and, for a very brief period earlier this season, Caretaker Manager, his name is woven into the fabric of St Mary’s furniture.

Kelvin Davis talks success at the Saints, bowing out with the Black Cats and the craziest of gangs under the stewardship of Egil Olsen.

This week’s guest is a man who made his debut as a 16-year-old at Preston under the tutelage of David Moyes.

He’s since racked up more than 400 games as a goalkeeper with clubs including Leeds, Bolton, Wolves, Fulham and now Middlesbrough – and he's yet another of the Goalkeepers' Union to have found himself on the scoresheet during the early stages of his career.

Andrew Lonergan discusses the half-volley, bouncing back from two years out of the game and how he came so close yet so far to a dream Premier League move.

Honest and insightful. You've got to love Lonners.

This week’s guest is a goalkeeper currently plying his trade in the Championship with Bristol City.

He’s enjoyed successful loan spells at Wycombe, Northampton and Rochdale where he helped the club to a first promotion in more than 40 years in 2010, and he was known early on in his career for a surprise call-up to Fabio Capello's first England squad after the disastrous World Cup campaign that same year.

Frankie discusses the highs and lows of life as a goalkeeper, including a recent bout of viral meningitis and giving back to the community.

This week’s guest is a man who made nearly 800 appearances and kept in excess of 250 clean sheets in a 24-year career.

He played in all four tiers of English football, he went to a World Cup with Ireland and he once apprehended a pitch-invading dog while playing for York City.

Dean Kiely reveals in a refreshing honesty what it was like being a player under the likes of Alan Curbishley and Harry Redknapp, while also touching on why sports psychology is crucial in aiding a goalkeeper's development.

Top chat with a top bloke.

Elsewhere on the show, Rich runs the rule on the week's action and we chat with David Kross - the actor who portrays Bert Trautmann in recent cinematic release, The Keeper.

This week’s guest grew into goalkeeping via one of football’s finest foundations.

He’s shared a changing room with global superstars, he’s played more more than 400 games over the course of a 27-year career, he’s a man Robbie Savage once referred to as a “gentle giant” and, more importantly, at the tender age of 45, he is the last remaining member of the celebrated Class of '92 to still be playing.

Kevin Pilkington stood alongside David Beckham and co as the man between the sticks when Manchester United won the FA Youth Cup in 1992.

He tells stories of his time at Old Trafford, from being offered a contract by Sir Alex Ferguson to playing behind the likes of Bruce, Pallister and, er, William Prunier.

This week's guest is the man who made Richard Lee.

Following 13 years and four major cup finals with Chelsea, Kevin Hitchcock finished his career at Watford where he then became goalkeeper coach to GKU's very own No1.

Hitch recalls his time tutoring Rich at Vicarage Road, but it's his stories of Hoddle, Gullit, Zola et al that really capture the imagination of a transitional time in West London.

Just like Jimmy Walker last week, Kevin has some top tales to tell.

Anything you'd like to hear the team discuss? Drop us a line on hello@goalkeepersunion.net.

Jimmy's driving in his car… And he's telling us some top tales on his journey.

Wacka reveals what it was like to share a room with Stephen Bywater at West Ham, how referee Andy D'Urso helped endear him to the hearts of Hammers fans and why Heurelho Gomes is the greatest goalkeeper he's ever worked with.

Bear with him. By his own admission, Jimmy likes to talk!

Anything you'd to hear on the GKU podcast? Drop us a line on hello@goalkeepersunion.net.

This week’s guest is yet another man who enjoyed a colourful career between the sticks. He crossed divides in East Anglia and the Midlands, he played in an FA Cup Final and he bagged a taste of Europe in the UEFA Cup.

Andy Marshall, currently goalkeeper coach at Charlton Athletic, possesses a wealth of knowledge on what it takes to be professional goalkeeper. He tells GKU why and how he's now passing that on to potential stars of the future.

Elsewhere, Rich dissects all the key talking points of the week, starting with the aftermath of the seven-day Kepa/Sarri show.

Have you ever seen anything quite like it in a major domestic cup final?

Rich runs the rule on the moment of "misunderstanding" which caused calamitous confusion between Chelsea goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga, and his manager Maurizio Sarri prior to their shootout defeat to Manchester City at the weekend.

Meanwhile, this week's guest is another Chelsea goalkeeper – WSL star Carly Telford. The England stopper lifts the lid on national boss Phil Neville, sexism in football and how goalkeeper coach Stuart Searle is breaking boundaries in the women's game.

Anything you'd like to hear on GKU? Drop the team a line on hello@goalkeepersunion.net.

This week’s guest is a goalkeeper currently playing his trade between the sticks for Championship side, Stoke City.

He burst on the scene with nine clean sheets in his first 15 games as a professional on loan at Cheltenham and at the age of 19 years and 158 days he became the youngest goalkeeper to ever make a senior appearance for England.

Jack Butland joins the Goalkeepers’ Union to discuss his path into professional football and where he sees his future in the game.

Anything you'd like to hear the team discuss? Drop us a line: hello@goalkeepersunion.net.

This week’s guest is a man who played more than 800 games in a 25-year career.

He racked up eight seasons as an ever-present with Colchester, Luton and Watford and, having played for all three Merseyside league clubs, he can tell a tale or two about Neville Southall, David James and, er, Eric Nixon.

Alec Chamberlain joins the Goalkeepers' Union in between a look at who Gareth Southgate should plump for between the sticks in England's next squad selection and a review of weekend's key goalkeeping talking points with Rich and Matt.

Anything you'd like to hear the team discuss? Drop us a line: hello@goalkeepersunion.net.

He was the first goalkeeper to save a penalty in the FA Cup Final, the first goalkeeper to captain his side to FA Cup glory and the first goalkeeper to be tackled by a bottle of salad cream.

There isn't a whole lot Dave Beasant hasn't seen in football.

From the Crazy Gang to coming out of retirement at the age of 56, this is his story.

This week's guest is a man who saved two penalties to help Tottenham win the UEFA Cup in 1983.

Tony Parks competed with Ray Clemence at Spurs before enjoying spells at Brentford, Falkirk and a host of others in a 22-year playing career.

His work as a renowned goalkeeper coach saw him return to White Hart Lane to oversee the signing of Hugo Lloris, as well as spells with Aston Villa, Watford and Norwich.

Some great tips in this one for any current or aspiring goalkeeper coach.

Anything you'd like to hear the team discuss? Drop us a line on hello@goalkeepersunion.net.

Three is the magic number.

This week's guest on the Goalkeepers' Union podcast is Manchester United's No3, Lee Grant.

From spending 14 years in the second tier of English football to finally earning his big Premier League break with Stoke City at 33, Grant reflects on his journey to the top and the moment he received that unexpected call to work alongside David de Gea at Old Trafford.

He discusses life at one of the biggest clubs in the world, facing Paul Pogba penalties in training and the recent transition which saw the man who signed him, Jose Mourinho, replaced by current boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Anything you'd like to hear the team talk about? Drop us a line on hello@goalkeepersunion.net.

This week's guest on the Goalkeepers' Union podcast is Frans Hoek – a pioneer of goalkeeper coaching and a man who has helped shape the careers of past, present and potential future greats of the position.

Frans reflects on his time at the World Cup with Holland, introducing new techniques to Edwin van der Sar at Ajax and how working with David de Gea at Manchester United has seen him become one of the world's best.

Anything you'd like to hear the team discuss? Drop GKU a line on hello@goalkeepersunion.net.

This week the GKU team are joined by Cardiff City goalkeeper Neil Etheridge. Quite the story, this one.

Neil reflects on his hugely eventful career thus far, from sofa surfing on £200 a week at Oldham to equalling a Premier League record of saving two penalties in his first two top-flight games.

As per, Rich also takes a look at the key goalkeeper talking points from the weekend's action - this time it's the FA Cup Third Round.

Anything you'd like us to discuss? Drop us a line on hello@goalkeepersunion.net.

This week's podcast is our final episode of 2018.

Rich looks back on a year where the record fee for a goalkeeper was broken twice, while offering his top goalkeeper picks from the Premier League to League Two.

The team also assess the key moments from the opening two rounds of festive fixtures in the top flight.

0.00 - 18:40 Festive fixtures round-up 18:41 - 19:00 Keeper Capers 19:01 - 27:15 Premier League goalkeepers in 2018-19 27:16 - 31:10 Championship goalkeepers in 2018-19 31:11 - 37:04 League One and League Two 37:05 - Jordan Pickford v Jack Butland

Anything you'd like us to discuss? Drop us a line on hello@goalkeepersunion.net.

Bournemouth goalkeeper Asmir Begovic joins the team to discuss his second spell at the Vitality Stadium, working under Jose Mourinho and life away from football.

Joe, Rich and Matt also dissect all the key goalkeeping action from the past week, including Alisson following up his Champions League heroics with a blunder against Manchester United.

Got something you want the team to talk about? Drop us a line on hello@goalkeepersunion.net.

None other than Paul Robinson joins the GKU team for this week's podcast.

The ex-Leeds, Tottenham, Blackburn and Burnley stopper reveals what it was like to work under Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello during his England days, while reflecting on taking over from Nigel Martyn at Leeds to finishing his career at Burnley.

Robbo also casts an eye over the current crop of Premier League goalkeepers and recalls the time he put one in the opposite net. Twice.

Watford's Ben Foster joins the GKU team and tells tales of turning from full-time chef to full-time goalkeeper, how he dealt with that goal from fellow No1 Paul Robinson and why social media can be a dangerous tool for young players in the game.

Rich also analyses the key action from the weekend, including a trio of unfortunate incidents in the Championship and Jordan Pickford's late Merseyside derby drop.

Burnley's Joe Hart joins Joe, Rich and Matt to reflect on his start to life in the Premier League with Manchester City, an eye-opening experience in Italy with Torino and why he still believes there's an England shirt with his name on it.

In this week's episode, Richard Lee, Joe Forrester and Matt Beadle welcome a Premier League goalkeeping legend to GKU.

Brad Friedel reflects on his initial struggles to earn a contract in England followed by all the essential ingredients behind his longevity in the game and that record-breaking 310.

Now manager at New England Revolution, Brad also discusses what it takes to be a top boss and touches on the top goalkeeping talent currently plying their trade in MLS.

Elsewhere, Rich looks at how the Football League's emergency loan system can both help and hinder goalkeepers and the team discuss Jordan Pickford's potential rise into the list of current goalkeeping greats.

Enjoying the show? Send us your thoughts to hello@goalkeepersunion.net.

In this week's episode, Richard Lee, Joe Forrester and Matt Beadle discuss:

Ederson and Manuel Neuer conceding seemingly needless penalties in their respective fixtures for Manchester City and Bayern Munich
The general rule of thumb when it comes to players on the posts at set pieces
How playing in wet conditions can affect a goalkeeper's game

Ex-Manchester United goalkeeping coach, Eric Steele, also joins the gang to talk all things David de Gea and the standard of English goalkeeping at this present moment in time.

Enjoying the show? Send us your thoughts to hello@goalkeepersunion.net.

Rich takes a close look at how Bernd Leno fared in his first game against top six opposition, the team celebrate Goalkeepers' Union's first-ever piece of correspondence (Nick Brathwaite from Belper, thank you) and Brighton's David Button joins the debate as this week's studio guest.

Anything you'd like to hear on the show? Drop us an email at hello@goalkeepersunion.net.

Rich dissects the week's action with a special focus on how Inter's Marcelo Brozovic can help and hinder goalkeepers with the new, wall-protecting "crocodile" technique. Cardiff City goalkeeping coach Andy Dibble also joins that gang to reflect on an eventful 24-year career, including that Gary Crosby moment in 1990.

Joe, Rich and Matt discuss the key goalkeeping action from this weekend's Premier League games, including that Jordan Pickford penalty save from Crystal Palace's Luka Milivojevic. Joining the gang this week is ex-Liverpool stopper, Chris Kirkland, who talks highs, lows and locker room laughs.