Profile of Bruce Grobbelaar on Famous Like Me

Bruce Grobbelaar (born October 6, 1957 in Durban, South Africa) was a football goalkeeper for Zimbabwe and a number of clubs, most notably Liverpool F.C.

Career

He joined Liverpool in 1981 from the Vancouver Whitecaps of the North American Soccer League, and played 627 first team games. At Liverpool, he became famous for his eccentric and flamboyant style. In 1984, the European Cup final between Liverpool and A.S. Roma finished 1-1 after extra time, and went to kicks from the penalty mark (penalty shootout). Before Roma's Francesco Graziani took his kick, Grobbelaar famously wobbled his legs in mock terror. Graziani missed, and Liverpool won the shootout 4-2. Grobbelaar remained at Liverpool for another 10 years, collecting trophies by the skip-load. Whilst criticism is often aimed at him for his sometimes erratic performances, Grobbelaar was retained by 3 of Liverpool's greatest managers; Paisley, Fagan and Dalglish. They all recognised that whilst the Zimbabwean was an eccentric showman, he was also one of the outstanding goalkeepers of his generation. He made breath-taking saves, and was capable of leaping up in to the top corners of his goal, and not merely palming the ball away, but catching it. The 1986 FA Cup Final demonstrated his great agilty. As Grobbelaar approached the edge of his penalty box to collect the ball, Alan Hansen inexplicably intercepted, and inadvertently played the ball up in the air, leaving his 'keeper stranded. Everton's Graeme Sharp leapt on the edge of the 18 yard box to head in to the open goal, only to be denied by a wonderful tip-over from Grobbelaar, who leapt backwards to recover his position.

Grobbelaar left Liverpool in 1994, transferring to Southampton. However, the same year he was accused by the British tabloid newspaper The Sun of match fixing during his time at Liverpool to benefit a betting syndicate, after being caught on videotape discussing match-fixing. He was charged with conspiracy to corrupt, along with the Wimbledon goalkeeper Hans Segers and Aston Villa striker John Fashanu, and a Malaysian businessman, Heng Suan Lim.

Grobbelaar pleaded not guilty, claiming he was only gathering evidence with the intent of taking it to the police. After two successive trials, in both of which the jury could not agree on a verdict, he and his co-defendants were cleared in November 1997. Grobbelaar later sued The Sun for libel and was awarded £85,000. The Sun appealed, and the case was eventually taken to the House of Lords. The Lords slashed his award to £1, the lowest libel damages possible under English law, and ordered him to pay The Sun's legal costs, estimated at £500,000. Grobbelaar was unable to do so and was declared bankrupt. He has since moved back to South Africa.

Teams

• Vancouver Whitecaps
• Crewe Alexandra F.C.
• Stoke City F.C.
• Liverpool F.C.
• Southampton F.C.
• Plymouth Argyle F.C.
• Lincoln City F.C.
• Northwich Victoria F.C.
• Oldham Athletic A.F.C.
• Bury F.C..

He later coached and managed in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Honours

• Six League titles
• European Cup (1984)
• Three FA Cup titles
• Three League Cup titles

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