413: Dave Beasant, Southampton, Merlin's Premier League 97 Sticker Collection

Once again I hand over the reins to my mate Richard Allinson for today’s blog. Rich and I once spent about six hours in a pub in Dulwich discussing 90s goalkeepers. It’s hard to say whether we made ourselves more unpopular by nearly forgetting to pay our tab on a quiet Tuesday night or by shouting “Frode Grodas!” excitedly at each other.

Dave Beasant always has been, and always will be, my footballing idol and quite honestly I have no real idea why. Growing up as a young goalkeeper in the late 1980s there were many bigger names I could have idolised such as Shilton, Grobbelaar or Southall but for some reason I was always drawn to Beasant. It must in part be owing to his penalty save from John Aldridge in the 1988 FA Cup final, a game in which Big Dave was the driving force behind, as John Motson so perfectly put it, the Crazy Gang beating the Culture Club

This was the last game he would play for the Dons before moving to Newcastle United for £850,000 that same summer. This was soon followed by a move to Chelsea and selection in the England squad for the 1990 World Cup finals. Life must have seemed very good at that particular point in time and I’m sure Dave would agree with me that if Bobby Robson had brought him on for the penalty shootout against the Germans we would have won. It is therefore curious what happened in the next couple of years.

Type ‘Dave Beasant’ into Google and the first video result that comes back is titled ‘Sky Sports Vault: Dave Beasant’s Blunders’. Why Rupert Murdoch’s Sports Minions felt it necessary to make this video of his error laden performance against Norwich I’m not so sure but sadly this game is what springs to a lot of minds when you mention his name. That and dropping a bottle of salad cream on his foot. Beasant was on the move not too long after the Norwich match and West London’s loss was North East Lincolnshire’s gain.

Dave Beasant’s loan move to Grimsby Town will, for most, be regarded as one of the most innocuous footnotes in footballing history (so much so his own Wikipedia page doesn’t even document it). However, for me, it was like a curly haired Messiah had strolled into town. In an ironic twist of fate Beasant’s debut was away at Newcastle United, the team that had spent big money on him only 4 years previously. Kevin Keegan’s Magpies were top of the league and unbeaten in 11. However, Jim Dobbin, with a foot like a traction engine, battered one into the top corner in injury time. 1-0 to the Mariners. Keegan didn’t love it.

Beasant’s home debut for Grimsby came against Portsmouth which, by sheer coincidence, was a game for which I was a GTFC mascot. Thankfully, this was back in the days when being a mascot gave you a bizarre level of involvement in a goalkeeper’s pre-match warm up rather than just standing around waving a flag like today. So here I was a knobbly kneed, ginger haired 10-year-old kid taking shots at my all time hero. Town won 3-0 that day and Beasant left Grimsby at the end of his loan 4 games later. He went on to enjoy a successful career at the top level once again, including notable long term stays at both Southampton and Forest before finally calling it a day aged 55 when he appeared on the substitutes bench for Stevenage. All in all it is a career that should be celebrated rather than remembered for a couple of clangers and a dropped condiment bottle.

And for the record I achieved something that John Aldridge couldn’t do and converted from 12 yards against the big man. I still have the VHS of this moment if you want a copy Dave?