201: Mart Poom, Derby County, Merlin’s Premier League 98 Official Sticker Collection

Last month’s final World Cup qualifiers provided all the drama one could hope for from international football. Scotland overcame Denmark in a game for the ages proving that Scott McTominay was robbed for this year’s Ballon d’Or and providing the Tartan Army with yet another crack at getting past the group stage in a major international tournament. Having snuck past the mighty Liechtenstein to set up a winner takes all/a play-off spot showdown with North Macedonia, Wales went on to obliterate their opponents 7-1 only to see Belgium inflict similar violence on the aforementioned microstate to deny them top spot. Even San Marino raced into the lead against Romania, no doubt traumatising Stuart Pearce, before receiving their traditional shellacking but there was far more exciting news for the more successful minnows with Curacao, Cape Verde and Uzbekistan securing their slots at their first ever World Cup finals. Then the worst double act since Dick and Dom in da Bungalow hiked the ticket prices to abhorrent levels and threatened to ban anyone entering the USA if they’d said the country was currently run by a despotic, racist narcissist. Still, fun while it lasted I guess.

Heading back to the qualifiers there were some familiar names in amongst the matchday squads across the UEFA fixtures. Wales included Lewis Koumas, son of Jason, on the bench for the aforementioned demolition of North Macedonia while Khephren Thuram, son of Lilian, turned out for France against Azerbaijan. Iceland included two of Eidur Gudjohnsen’s three footballing offspring in their 2-0 defeat to Ukraine while Sergio Conceicao’s lad Francisco scored the final goal in Portugal’s 9-1 win over Armenia. Former Tottenham Hotspur keeper Erik Thorstvedt’s son Kristian sat in the Norwegian midfield against Italy behind the relentless goalscoring automaton Erling Haaland, whose old man Alf Inge famously wound up an injured Roy Keane with a few repercussions. A few days earlier the Manchester City forward was on target against an Estonian side featuring Markus Poom whose father Mart is a national hero for his goalkeeping heroics over twenty years at home and abroad.

Mart Poom was born in Tallinn in 1972 when Estonia was part of the USSR and made his professional debut at the tender age of sixteen for hometown side Tallinna Lovid, latterly known as Flora Tallinn, before moving to the remarkably straightforwardly named Sport Tallinn in 1989. After 59 appearances, and the collapse of the Soviet Union, he moved to Finland with KuPS where he failed to win any cups and endured relegation before returning to his first club. He was chosen in goal for Estonia’s first post-independence international, a 1-1 draw with new boys Slovenia, and more or less kept a vice like grip on the jersey for the next seventeen years. After a short spell in Switzerland he first arrived in England with Portsmouth but only made seven appearances in two years and, in fact, played more on loan with old club Flora where he broke the club’s record for consecutive clean sheets. In March 1997 he moved to Derby County for £595,000 following an impressive performance against Scotland in one of the oddest replays ever played.

The two sides had meant to play in Tallinn’s Kadrioru Stadium in October 1996 but Scotland raised objections about the quality of the temporary floodlighting. The kick off time was moved forward much to the chagrin of the hosts who decided to arrive for the original evening start. When the Estonian team arrived they found the ground empty as Scotland had kicked off at 3pm and heard the full time whistle blow three seconds later. While the visitors expected to be awarded a 3-0 walkover win they were instead instructed to replay the fixture in Monaco where they found Mart Poom in inspired form and departed with a point from a 0-0 draw. The rest, as they say, is history and the Estonian keeper made his debut in a famous 3-2 victory against Manchester United and established himself as Derby’s first choice over the next five seasons. He was the club’s Player of the Season for 1999/2000 and was later named their player of the decade for the ‘noughties’. He moved to Sunderland where he joined the elite club of goalscoring goalkeepers with a last minute equaliser against, of all teams, Derby in 2003. Arsenal brought Poom in as emergency cover for Jens Lehmann in 2005 and, despite not playing a single match for the Gunners in his first season, finished it with a Champions League runners up medal by virtue of being part of their 25-man squad for the tournament. He was only called upon twice during his time in North London but kept two clean sheets before closing out his career at Watford.

In his relatively short career Markus Poom has earned 32 caps for Estonia, scored against Chelsea in the Europa Conference League and won five league titles in his homeland and the Republic of Ireland. He still has a fair way to go to eclipse his father’s achievements mind. Mart Poom was named the greatest Estonian player of the preceding fifty years in 2003, earned 120 caps and was named the nation’s Footballer of the Year on six separate occasions. He was the first Estonian to play in the Premier League, win a Champions League runners up medal and, to paraphrase the commentary from the time, first Estonian goalkeeper to score against his former club in the last minute. It’s not fair to compare father and son to make cross-generational comparisons but it’s a hell of a lot to live up to. Luckily he’ll have plenty of company across his international opponents.