Gary Richard Bailey (born 9 August 1958) is a former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who made nearly 300 appearances in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

playing as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. Born in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, he grew up in South Africa, but went on to be

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

twice for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Playing career

Although born in England, Bailey grew up in South Africa and started his career with

Wits University The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...

in Johannesburg. In the late 1970s, Bailey paid his own fare to Manchester for a trial with

. He made his debut against Ipswich Town (who his father, Roy Bailey, had played for, and also his birthplace), on 18 November 1978. He went on to play 294 games for the Red Devils between 1978 and 1987. He established himself as United goalkeeper in the late 1970s following the retirement of Alex Stepney. He was considered to be one of the best goalkeepers in England in the early to mid-1980s. During his time with Manchester United, Bailey won

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

medals in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

and

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

. He played under three United managers:

Dave Sexton David James Sexton (6 April 1930 – 25 November 2012) was an English football manager and player. He was notable for managing Chelsea to their first ever major European trophy. Playing career Son of former professional boxer Archie Sex ...

Ron Atkinson Ronald Frederick Atkinson (born 18 March 1939), commonly known as "Big Ron" or "Mr. Bojangles", is an English former football player and manager. In the 1990s and early 2000s, he was regarded as one of Britain's best-known football pundits. Nick ...

, and

Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...

. He represented the England national team twice at senior level, but was unable to establish himself in the first XI due to the form of the more-experienced

Peter Shilton Peter Leslie Shilton (born 18 September 1949) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. His 30-year career included spells at 11 clubs and he has the distinction of playing over 1,000 league games, including in ...

and

Ray Clemence Raymond Neal Clemence, (5 August 1948 – 15 November 2020) was an England international football goalkeeper and part of the Liverpool team of the 1970s. He is one of only 31 players to have made over 1,000 career appearances, and holds the ...

. He was first capped against the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

on 26 March 1985, won by England 2–1, with his other international appearance coming on 9 June that year in a 1–0 loss against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. However, he developed a serious knee injury during training at the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia ha ...

and missed most of the 1986–87 season, after which he retired and returned to South Africa where he subsequently resumed his career with Kaizer Chiefs, before retiring in 1990.

Peter Schmeichel Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

said on '' BBC Match of the Day 3'' that Gary Bailey was his favourite goalkeeper of all time and he idolised him as a youngster growing up in Denmark.

Post-playing career

After retiring in the UK, Gary Bailey returned to South Africa, and after resting his knee, decided to return to play for glamour club Kaizer Chiefs with whom he won the league in 1989 and amassed five trophies in two years. He retired for a final time, and became a radio presenter on Talk

Radio 702 702 is a commercial FM radio station based in Johannesburg, South Africa, broadcasting on FM 92.7 and FM 106 to the greater Gauteng province. The station is also webcast via its website. It claims to be Johannesburg's number one news and talk ...

. He worked as a TV analyst and football presenter at SuperSport, where he spent 25 years as the face of English football to the continent of Africa. At the same time as living the dream of playing professional football, Gary completed a BSc in physics at Manchester Polytechnic (now Manchester Metropolitan University). Whilst working full-time at SuperSport, he managed to complete an MBA from Henley in Oxford. He was an ambassador in South Africa's successful bid to host the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

. Besides being a TV soccer expert, he was also a top keynote speaker on the subject of "Success under Pressure" and travelled the world speaking to many of the top companies such as Microsoft, IBM, Nike, Coca-Cola, Mercedes Benz and many more. He was recognised for his speaking success by being inducted into the Speakers Hall of Fame in 2010. He has written two books – Success under Pressure, with the foreword written by former manager

Sir Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all tim ...

, and a personal book to help society on divorce called "Putting the Kids first". He currently works for

BeIN Bein (German for ''leg'') is a German and Yiddish surname and may refer to: People * Alex Bein, Jewish scholar * Kazimierz Bein, Polish ophthalmologist, the founder and sometime director of the Warsaw Ophthalmic Institute * Uwe Bein, German footbal ...

sports TV in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, covering Spanish and French football, and also does commentary for USL games (USA 2nd division).

Personal life

He is the son of former

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

goalkeeper Roy Bailey. On returning to South Africa in 1987, Bailey married Kate Saunders in 1990 and had three children, Lara, Jenna and Ross. The couple divorced in 2006. He met his current wife

Michelle McLean Michelle McLean (born 31 July 1972) is a Namibian actress, writer, model and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 1992 at Thailand. McLean was 19 years old when she was crowned Miss Universe, and became the first Namibian woman to win th ...

( Miss Universe 1992) in 2010, married in March 2013, and then emigrated in December 2013 to USA and currently lives on

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...

Honours

Manchester United *

: 1982–83, 1984–85 * FA Charity Shield:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Gary 1958 births Living people Sportspeople from Ipswich English footballers English expatriate footballers England international footballers England under-21 international footballers England B international footballers Manchester United F.C. players 1986 FIFA World Cup players English expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Alumni of King Edward VII School (Johannesburg) Alumni of Rondebosch Boys' High School English Football League players Kaizer Chiefs F.C. players Association football goalkeepers Bidvest Wits F.C. players Expatriate soccer players in South Africa FA Cup Final players