David Seaman

Seaman made his England debut in 1988 and appeared for the side in fifteen consecutive years, a national record, since equalled by Rio Ferdinand.

He earned his first England cap under Bobby Robson in a friendly against Saudi Arabia in November 1988. Robson selected him as England's third-choice goalkeeper behind Peter Shilton and Chris Woods at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, but after arriving in Italy he had to pull out of the squad due to injury and was replaced by Dave Beasant.

Seaman remained a member of the England squad under new manager Graham Taylor, although he was not selected for Euro 92. During qualification for the 1994 World Cup, Seaman played in the crucial game against the Netherlands, which England lost 2–0;[28] he also played in the final match against San Marino, in which Davide Gualtieri scored after 8.3 seconds before England recovered to win 7–1. England ultimately failed to qualify for the tournament.

Seaman cemented his place as the undisputed number-one keeper with the arrival of Terry Venables as manager, and played every minute of every match during Euro 96. Seaman saved two spot-kicks in the tournament; the first a penalty in normal play from Scotland's Gary McAllister in a group match, while England were 1–0 up (Paul Gascoigne scored soon after to make it 2–0). Then, after England's quarter-final against Spain ended scoreless, Seaman saved Miguel Angel Nadal's kick in the shootout to knock Spain out of the tournament. England eventually were eliminated in the semi-final by Germany on penalties, after Andreas Köpke saved the penalty taken by Gareth Southgate.[29] Seaman was named alongside Golden Boot winner Alan Shearer and winger Steve McManaman in the UEFA "Team of the Tournament".[30] Euro 96 sponsor Philips named him "Player of the Tournament".

Seaman remained the first choice under the management of Glenn Hoddle for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France. Seaman kept two clean sheets in the group stage as England finished second behind Romania.[31][32] In the round of 16 England faced Argentina. Seaman conceded a penalty as the game finished 2–2, before England lost on penalties.[33] Kevin Keegan selected him for UEFA Euro 2000,[34] where he started against both Portugal and Germany but sustained an injury in his warm-up exercises for the third game against Romania and was replaced by Nigel Martyn. England lost the match and went out in the first round.

Seaman was part of Sven-Göran Eriksson's 2002 FIFA World Cup squad and played every game as England reached the quarter-finals, turning back a second-half offensive to shut out arch-rivals Argentina 1–0 in the group stage after English captain David Beckham scored a penalty. However, in the quarter-final against Brazil, Seaman was caught off his line by Ronaldinho's long-range free kick, as England lost 2–1; he blamed himself for the error.[35]

The result led to a debate about whether Seaman should remain England's number one.[36] He remained England's first-choice goalkeeper until a Euro 2004 qualifier in October 2002 against Macedonia. In this match, he let in a goal directly from a corner kick by Artim Sakiri in a 2–2 draw and brought further press criticism.[37] This was Seaman's last appearance for the England national team, as Eriksson dropped him in favour of David James.

Seaman began working on his coaching badge with a view to coaching goalkeepers but decided to pause after learning that he would first need a badge in outfield coaching in which he had no interest.[38] His on-screen presence made him a popular choice for chat shows and televised appearances during his sporting career, and he can occasionally be spotted on British television. Whilst still a player, he acted in a cameo role in a BBC film based around the events of England's successful Euro 96 tournament, starring Rachel Weisz and Neil Morrissey, entitled My Summer with Des. He also became the spokesman for Yorkshire Tea during the early 1990s. He briefly replaced Gary Lineker as team captain on the television quiz They Think It's All Over before producers decided to drop him in favour of former Arsenal teammate Ian Wright.

In December 2004, following his retirement from professional football, he became one of the celebrities to take part in Strictly Ice Dancing, an ice dance version of Strictly Come Dancing, in which celebrities are paired with professional dancers. He joined the show at late notice, replacing Paul Gascoigne. With just eight days to prepare for the show, broadcast on BBC One on 26 December, Seaman and his professional partner Zoia Birmingham managed to win the competition. The other competitors spent a month in training for the show.

In late 2005 he had his trademark ponytail cut off on live television for charity, which ended negotiatory talks with such companies as L'Oréal who wanted to sponsor his hair as they had with David Ginola. He returned to the ice for another ice-dancing series, Dancing on Ice, broadcast on ITV. The series started on 14 January 2006, and Seaman ended in fourth place. He has also appeared on All Star Family Fortunes.

Seaman also hosts a "Safe Hands" charity golf event annually, and has released two football-themed DVDs entitled David Seaman's Goalkeeping Nightmares in 2003 and Jeepers Keepers in 2004. Seaman has also played in all six Soccer Aid matches for England.[39][40][41]

In 2008 The Lobbing of David Seaman, a poem in ballad form by Murray Lachlan Young about Nayim's 1995 goal, was included in the radio programme The Loneliness of the Goalkeeper.[42] It began with these lines:

Ah, come all ye teenage goalkeepers
And listen unto me,
I'll tell you of a goalie
Who went out to gay Paree;
The Gunners called him 'Safe Hands',
David Seaman was his name,
But that lonely night in Paris
Was his world consumed in flames....

In June 2012, Seaman joined Combined Counties League club Wembley as goalkeeping coach for their 2012–13 FA Cup campaign, as part of a television documentary following the club's attempt to play at Wembley Stadium. Former international players Graeme Le Saux, Ray Parlour, Martin Keown, Claudio Caniggia and Brian McBride joined the playing squad, with former England manager Terry Venables as technical advisor.[43]

At his peak, Seaman was regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world during the 1990s, earning praise from other goalkeepers such as Sepp Maier and Francesco Toldo.[44][45] A tall and well–rounded keeper, with a large frame, he was known for his bravery, quick reflexes, agility, and excellent positional sense, as well as his reliable handling and ability to judge the ball, which allowed him to come out and collect crosses and command his area effectively, earning him the nickname "safe hands" in the media;[46][47][48][49][50][51][52] although he was not particularly flashy in his style of goalkeeping, he was regarded as an efficient and generally reliable goalkeeper, who was known for his cool demeanour, authoritative presence, and calm composure in goal, as well as his leadership and ability to organise his back–line, which inspired a sense of confidence in his teammates.[44][51][52][53][54][55][56] He was also adept at stopping penalties.[57] However, despite his ability in his prime, and his overall longevity, he was also known for being inconsistent and prone to errors on occasion, in particular in his later career, following a series of injuries, and also due to his own advancing age, which ultimately led to his physical decline and a series of less convincing performances;[45][53][49][58][59][60] he also frequently struggled to deal with long–range shots throughout his career.[61][62] In 2014, when recounting his famous lobbed goal against Seaman in the 1995 Cup Winners' Cup final, Nayim stated that his attempt was premidated, as during his time in England, he came to learn that Arsenal usually played with a high defensive line, with Seaman essentially acting as a sweeper-keeper due to his tendency to stay off his line.[18] In 2006, The Irish Times described Seaman as a "serial choker," due to several high-profile errors he committed in key matches, in particular at international level, and described him as one of several unreliable keepers that played for England since the end of the "tradition of solid goalkeeping which seemed unbreakable through the era of Banks, Clemence, Shilton, etc.",[63] a notion with which Sriram Ilango of Bleacher Report concurred in 2009.[64] In 2018, Eurosport noted that: "Since the retirement of Peter Shilton, the position of England's goalkeeper has claimed plenty of casualties. Even the most stable of its occupants, David Seaman, will be remembered for the embarrassment caused when Ronaldinho sent a free-kick floating over his head at the 2002 World Cup."[65] Moreover, while Seaman possessed a deep goal kick and a long throw, which suited Arsenal's quick counter–attacking style of play under manager Arsène Wenger, he was not particularly adept with the ball at his feet, and his distribution was also not always reliable; as such he preferred to clear ball away when receiving back–passes, rather than attempting to play it out from the back.[47][55][66] Considered to be one of the greatest English goalkeepers of all time,[62][67][68] as well as one of the best shot-stoppers in Premier League and English football history,[50][55] he placed second in the IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper of the Year award in 1996, behind Andreas Köpke,[69] while he placed 32nd, alongside Enrico Albertosi, in the European Keeper of the Century vote, which was organised by the same organisation, the fourth–highest ranked English goalkeeper.[70] In 2013, James McNicholas of Bleacher Report described Seaman as: "the greatest goalkeeper in Arsenal's history."[71] Seaman is left-handed,[11] but threw the ball with his right arm, and also kicked with his right foot.[12] In addition to his goalkeeping ability, Seaman was also a highly recognisable figure on the pitch due to his moustache and the ponytail hairstyle he wore for part of his career.[48]

Seaman met his second wife, Debbie Rodgers, in 1995.[72] They were married at Castle Ashby House in Castle Ashby in Northamptonshire on 15 July 1998; the couple separated in 2009 and were divorced in 2010.[73] On 7 February 2015, Seaman married his Dancing on Ice partner Frankie Poultney.[74] Seaman announced their engagement in December 2013; the pair met in 2008, and had been in a relationship since 2009.[75][76] It was his third marriage. He has four children.[77]

Seaman's autobiography – Safe Hands – was released in 2000, published by Orion.[72]

Arsenal

• Football League First Division: 1990–91
• Premier League: 1997–98, 2001–02[80]
• FA Cup: 1992–93, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2002–03
• Football League Cup: 1992–93
• FA Charity/Community Shield: 1991 (shared), 1998, 2002
• European Cup Winners' Cup: 1993–94
• UEFA Cup runner-up: 1999–2000
• European Super Cup runner-up: 1994

Individual

• Premier League Player of the Month: April 1995[80]
• UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 1996[30]
• PFA Team of the Year: 1996–97 Premier League[81]
• Premier League 10 Seasons Awards (1992–2002):
  • Domestic Team of the Decade
  • Goalkeeper with most clean sheets (130)

• Seaman, David (2000). Safe Hands: My Autobiography. London: Orion. p. 256. ISBN 07-52831-83-6.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to David Seaman.

• Photos and stats at sporting-heroes.net
• David Seaman at Soccerbase
• Profile at UpThePosh! The Peterborough United Database
• David Seaman at IMDb
• David Seaman in the Goalkeeping Museum