Nigel Martyn

Early career

Martyn started his career as a midfielder until invited to play as a goalkeeper for his brother's works team when he was 17. He started by playing amateur football for Cornish sides Heavy Transport FC, Bugle and St Blazey while working in a plastics factory and for a coal merchant,^[2] before beginning his professional career with Bristol Rovers in 1987 after apparently having been "spotted" by Rovers' tea lady Vi Harris,^[3] whilst she was on holiday.^[4][5]

Crystal Palace

Martyn was transferred to Crystal Palace for a fee of £1 million in 1989, becoming the first goalkeeper to attract a million-pound transfer fee in English football.^[6] He remained at Palace for seven seasons, appearing 349 times for his club,^{[citation needed]} including the 1990 FA Cup Final, where Palace were beaten by Manchester United in a replay,^[7] and the 1991 Full Members' Cup final, where Palace beat Everton.^[8] In 1996, he signed with Leeds United, setting another record fee for a goalkeeper of £2.25 million.^{[citation needed]}

In 2005, Palace supporters voted Martyn into their Centenary XI.^[9]

Leeds United

Martyn was signed by boss Howard Wilkinson in the summer of 1996–97, along with another high-profile capture in the form of Lee Bowyer.^[10] Martyn's form for United, both at home and on the continent in European competition was skillful – most notably in a man-of-the-match display at the Stadio Olimpico against Roma in the 1999-2000 UEFA Cup campaign, when Leeds reached the semi-finals. Martyn was also a large part of the squad that eliminated illustrious clubs such as Barcelona, Lazio and Deportivo La Coruna in the following season's UEFA Champions League campaign, leading them to the last four.

In total, Martyn played as Leeds' first-choice goalkeeper for six seasons and his consistency was such that years later at a supporters' dinner, the Cornishman was named officially as United's greatest ever goalkeeper, beating off competition from the likes of Gary Sprake, David Harvey, and John Lukic – all three being men who won championship medals at Elland Road.

However, it was a disagreement with new Leeds manager Terry Venables,^[11] combined with the increasingly good form of youngster Paul Robinson, that kept him from playing any games in Leeds' 2002–03 season and after a string of unused substitute appearances, Martyn was told he could find new employers.^[12]

On 10 April 2006, he was voted as part of Leeds United's greatest team; he was the only player from after the Revie era to be selected.^[13] He is still well regarded by the Leeds United fans and was involved in the "Back the Bid Leeds" campaign for Leeds to be one of the host cities in England's 2018 FIFA World Cup bid.

Everton

In the middle of 2003, Leeds were approached by Chelsea and Everton with offers to sign Martyn. Both clubs were offering the out-of-favour goalkeeper a backup post: at Chelsea, he would understudy Carlo Cudicini; at Everton, the first-choice was Richard Wright. Martyn chose to move to Everton, and six games into the season, an injury to Wright gave him his Everton debut. His performances for the first team during Wright's recovery were such that Martyn remained Everton's first-choice goalkeeper even after Wright returned from injury.

Martyn was one of Everton's best performers in the 2004–05 season when they achieved their best Premier League finish of fourth. Many fans believed that Martyn almost single-handedly stopped them from slipping down the table after Thomas Gravesen's departure.^[14] He produced some of the best form of his career, despite being 38 years of age, to the delight of the Everton fans, with whom he remains a favourite. In his final season at Everton he was picking up many injuries and missed the remainder of the season. His final appearance for Everton was his 100th game for the club against Chelsea in an FA Cup tie at Goodison Park which ended 1–1, making numerous excellent saves. He was nicknamed "Big Nige" by Everton fans, a play on Neville Southall's "Big Nev" nickname.^[15]

On 8 June 2006, Martyn announced his retirement from football due to a stress fracture in his ankle that had sidelined him since January and failed to heal properly.^[16] David Moyes said that he would miss Martyn and described him as his "greatest ever signing".^[17]

Club

International