Anthony Leonard Godden (born 2 August 1955) is an English 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 le ...

who played as a goalkeeper 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 ...

for West Bromwich Albion, Luton Town, Walsall, Chelsea, Birmingham City,

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

and Peterborough United.

Career

Godden was born in

Gillingham, Kent Gillingham ( ) is a large town in the unitary authority area of Medway in the ceremonial county of Kent, England. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham, Rochester, Strood and Rainham. It is also the largest town in the ...

, and began his career with Kent non-league club

Ashford Town (Kent) Ashford United F.C. are an English football club based in Ashford, Kent. The 'new' United was formed in 2011, resurrecting the name used by the town's football club between 1891 and 1907. Following the demise of the original Ashford United cl ...

. He then joined West Bromwich Albion in 1977. He made 267 league appearances for the Midlands club, in addition to brief loan spells with Luton Town in 1982-83 and Walsall in 1983-84. He joined Chelsea after his time at West Brom. During his time at Chelsea he is most remembered for saving two penalties in a 1–0 win against

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 ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

in September 1986. Both penalties were awarded within minutes of each other but Godden saved both; the first from Jesper Olsen and the second from Gordon Strachan. He dropped down a division to sign for Birmingham City for £35,000 in July 1987, and subsequently had spells with

(on loan) and Peterborough United, before dropping into

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

. He became goalkeeping coach for Rushden & Diamonds in 2006, and also had brief spells as their caretaker manager following the departures of Paul Hart and later Graham Westley. In February 2009 he joined Brighton & Hove Albion following the exit of goalkeeping coach

Paul Crichton Paul Andrew Crichton (born 3 October 1968) is an English football coach and former association football, footballer. He is he goalkeeper coach of National Women's Soccer League club Orlando Pride. Aa a player he was a Goalkeeper (association f ...

to Norwich City.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Godden, Tony 1955 births Living people Sportspeople from Gillingham, Kent English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers English Football League players Ashford United F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Bury F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players English football managers King's Lynn F.C. managers Bury Town F.C. managers Rushden & Diamonds F.C. Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. non-playing staff