One of the most successful football clubs in the English Premier League is Manchester United also known as The Red Devils. United have won the most premier league titles. It is rather sad that their glory days are far behind them. In their most recent derby match in the premier league, we saw a massacre. Manchester City thrashed them with a scoreline of 4:1. However, in the middle of their destruction by Pep Guardiola's men, David de Gea, United's goalkeeper somehow impressed.
The role of a goalkeeper in a football team cannot be over-emphasized but it is very critical. In the number of years that Manchester United enjoyed trophies and victories, goalkeepers did contribute immensely. Here, we'll be looking at some past and present United goalies. However, this post will only mention Manchester United goalkeepers featured in the Premier League.
Peter Schmeichel
First on the list is Peter Schmeichel. This is one of Manchester United's all-time best goalkeepers, if not the best. He is the club's legend who made a lasting contribution to the team during his days between the sticks. Peter Schmeichel joined the Red Devils in 1991 and stayed till 1991 and stayed till 1999.
In the inaugural year (1992/1993) of the premier league, Peter the Great helped Manchester United lift their first title after 26 years without a league title. In that football season, he kept 22 clean sheets in the EPL. Consequently, he won the award for “The World’s Best Goalkeeper of 1992 & 1993” by IFFHS.
Watch this video to see some of Peter's heroics while he was United's No.1
In total, Peter Schmeichel made 398 appearances for Manchester United while he kept a total of 112 clean sheets. Legendary Peter won the following trophies with the Red Devils: 5 Premier Leagues titles, 3 FA Cups, 1 League Cup, 4 Charity Shields, 1 UEFA Cup, and 1 Champions League. He retired from playing professional football in 2003.
Gary Walsh
He made more of his United's appearances before the Premier League. Gary couldn't feature most of the time in the EPL due to the presence of Peter Schmeichel. He could only make about 10 Premier League appearances for the Red Devils and this was when Peter had injury problems. He was at the team since 1984 and parted ways in 1994 to Middlesbrough. Not much of a legend.
Another mention is Kevin Pilkington. The youngster was the Red Devils' third-choice goalkeeper who made only 6 appearances between 1992 and 1998. He couldn't do much because of the lack of experience and the presence of Peter Schmeichel.
Raimond van der Gouw
The retired Dutchman was born on March 24, 1963. He joined Manchester United on a free transfer in 1996 and was a reliable back-up/ supporting goalkeeper to Schmeichel for years. Meaning, he never got enough opportunity to play.
However, following the departure of Peter the Great in 1999, He made 14 appearances in 1999/2000 season and 10 appearances in 2000/2001 and won two back-to-back Premier League titles. He eventually played 60 times for Manchester United in all competitions. He parted ways with United in 2002 on a free transfer to West Ham United.
Nick Culkin
Nicholas James Culkin is mostly known as the man with the shortest-ever premier league career. Nick made only one premier league appearance for the Red Devils and this was an injury-time substitution for Van der Gouw in a match against Arsenal in 1999. What a record to show how bad his premier league career was. He left United in 2004.
Another man with a terrible Premier League and Manchester United career was Massimo Taibi. He made only 4 appearances for United and was never seen again because of the multiple blunders he committed in just 4 games for the club.
Who remembers Taibi’s howler to allow Matt Le Tissier’s shot to hilariously roll through his legs?
Watch here👇
Also to note is that, in his fourth and final league appearance for the Red Devils, he conceded 5 goals against Chelsea. He joined the club in 1999 and left on a free transfer in 2001.
Mark Bosnich
He first played for Manchester United in 1989 before leaving for Australia because Peter Schmeichel came into the picture. However, following the departure of the same Peter, he came back to United in 1999. Mark made only 23 Premier League appearances as United won the EPL title in 1999/2001.
Sadly, things didn't favour him anymore when Fabien Barthez was signed in the year 2000. Mark was relegated to the third-choice goalkeeper which led to his departure in 2001 to Chelsea.
Let's call this the 'Part 1' as the other United goalies will be mentioned and discussed in a subsequent post.