When Andy Goram told Fergie to ‘f*** off’ and nine other left-field keepers signed by big clubs…

With the sad news of the death of former Manchester United stopper Andy Goram (he played a bit at Rangers too…), we’ve reminisced over 10 keepers who became unlikely signings for the big clubs. Some became heroes; some made cameos; and some just hung around a bit…

Les Sealey – Man Utd
Nobody could have predicted what would happen when Sir Alex Ferguson signed the 32-year-old back-up keeper on loan from Luton Town in December 1989. It was the same month that the infamous ‘Three years of excuses and it’s still crap. Ta ra Fergie’ banner was unfurled on the Stretford End. Six months later, after only two First Division appearances, Sealey was thrust into the spotlight for the FA Cup final replay against Crystal Palace after Ferguson dropped Jim Leighton.

Palace players thought this new keeper could be rattled. They gave him plenty of stick in the tunnel – “Being a profound and deep-thinking person, I told them to f*** off,” said Sealey – and tried to break him, literally, on the pitch. It didn’t work. Sealey was flawless in victory, and Ferguson was off and running.

Sealey kept his place the following season, when he kept goal during United’s 2-1 win over Barcelona in the European Cup Winners’ Cup final. He played in Rotterdam with a heavily-strapped knee after receiving a deep cut during the League Cup final a few weeks previously. It penetrated through to the bone but Sealey made it absolutely clear he wasn’t going off. He hobbled through the last 12 minutes before collapsing in the airport heading back to Manchester. The wound had become infected and, had he got on the plane, doctors believe he would have lost his leg, and perhaps even his life.

Sealey left United upon Peter Schmeichel’s arrival but he returned to Old Trafford barely a year later to offer cover again, winning a couple of Premier League titles and the FA Cup as substitute. He made only a couple of first-team appearances during that second spell, meaning his final four games for United were a League Cup final, European Cup Winners’ Cup final, FA Cup quarter-final, and another League Cup final.

Jim Leighton – Arsenal
After being unceremoniously dropped for Sealey at the end of his second season at Old Trafford, Leighton saw his Manchester United career hit the skids. After Wembley, he played only once more for the Red Devils, against bottom-of-Division-Four Halifax Town at the Shay in the…