Jimmy Montgomery BEM (born 9 October 1943) is an English retired

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 played 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 ...

. He made a record 627 appearances for his hometown club Sunderland with 537 of these appearances being in the league, after joining the club as a youngster in 1960. In June 2015, Montgomery was awarded the British Empire Medal for his services to football in the Queen's

birthday honours list The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are presen ...

Football career

He made his debut aged only 18 against

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

, going on to serve 17 years at the club. Montgomery featured for Sunderland in the

1973 FA Cup Final The 1973 FA Cup Final was the 92nd final of the FA Cup. It took place on 5 May 1973 at Wembley Stadium and was contested between Leeds United, the previous season's winners and one of the dominant teams in English football at the time, and Sund ...

, where they beat

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

1–0 to win the

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 ...

for only the second time in their history. His most memorable contribution in that match was a double save from Trevor Cherry and

Peter Lorimer Peter Patrick Lorimer (14 December 1946 – 20 March 2021) was a Scottish professional footballer, best known for his time with Leeds United and Scotland during the late 1960s and early 1970s. An attacking midfielder and the club's youngest-ever ...

which prevented Leeds from equalising. This was described in an internet article in 2012 as the greatest double save ever. Montgomery also played for

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

and

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

. After he retired as a player Montgomery returned to Birmingham City and Sunderland as a goalkeeping coach.

Personal life

He is related to James Montgomery, also a footballer. In October 2020, a mural of Montgomery celebrating the 1973 Sunderland FA Cup win was unveiled on The Times Inn public house overlooking the River Wear at Wear Street, Sunderland.

Honours

Club

Sunderland *

: 1972–73 * Football League Division Two: 1975–76 Nottingham Forest * European Cup: 1979–80

Individual

* PFA Division Two Team of the Year: 1975–76 * British Empire Medal: 2015

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montgomery, Jimmy 1943 births Living people Footballers from Sunderland English footballers England under-23 international footballers Sunderland A.F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Association football goalkeepers United Soccer Association players English Football League players Vancouver Royals players Recipients of the British Empire Medal English expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate soccer players in Canada English expatriate footballers FA Cup Final players