David_Felgate_(footballer)

David Felgate (footballer)

David Felgate (footballer)

Welsh footballer (born 1960)

David Felgate (born 4 March 1960) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.[3] Due to his stature, many supporters affectionately nicknamed him "the fat goalie".[4] Felgate had a long professional career from 1978 to 1995, making a total of 612 Football League appearances. Of the league appearances, 238 came with Bolton Wanderers and he also turned out for league sides Rochdale, Crewe Alexandra, Lincoln City, Grimsby Town, Cardiff City, Chester City, and Wigan Athletic.[5]

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He also had spells with Bury and Wolverhampton Wanderers without making any league appearances for these clubs, and Felgate later continued to play non-league football for clubs including Leigh RMI,[6] Hyde United, and Bacup Borough until he was in his mid-40s.[7]

Felgate is perhaps best known for his performance in net for Leigh RMI against Fulham in the 1998–99 FA Cup at Craven Cottage.[4] Non-league Leigh achieved a 1–1 draw against the southwest London side, and thereby attention of the British media. In particular, Felgate, who was then 38 years old, received widespread plaudits for his performance in the match, which prompted then-Fulham boss Kevin Keegan to declare that Felgate's goalkeeping was "the best I've ever seen at any level."[8]

Felgate won a solitary full Welsh international cap in 1983,[3] having earlier played for his nation's schoolboys team. The keeper came on as a substitution for the legendary Neville Southall in a friendly against Romania.[7] Felgate would have had an additional international cap had Wales's scheduled match against Northern Ireland two years earlier in 1981 not been cancelled to Bobby Sands's hunger strike.[9]

After his retirement from playing, Felgate first acted as Manchester City's Academy Goalkeeping Coach and later became the assistant manager for the semi-professional Rossendale United club. He was then employed by Stockport County's as first team Goalkeeping Coach in League One.[10]

In January 2009 he left Stockport County to rejoin Manchester City as their academy goalkeeping coach.[11]

Honours

Bolton Wanderers

Leigh RMI

References

  1. [1]
    "David Felgate". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  2. [2]
    Dunk, Peter (20 August 1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. Queen Anne Press. p. 70. ISBN 978-0-3561435-4-5. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  3. [3]
    Courtney, Barrie (20 May 2004). "Wales – International Results 1980–1989 – Details". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 8 August 2007. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
  4. [4]
    "Meat pie, sausage roll, hefty Dave's great in goal!". The Bolton News. 18 November 1998. Archived from the original on 22 October 2008. Retrieved 3 October 2007.
  5. [5]
    "Goalkeeper Coaching in Lancashire". Just4Keepers. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
  6. [6]
    "Ex-Wales keeper Felgate jumps on RMI bandwagon". The Bolton News. 16 August 1996. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  7. [7]
    "Bacup feeling safe in keeper Felgate's hands". Lancashire Telegraph. 18 September 2004. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
  8. [8]
    "Felgate's finest hour". The Bolton News. 16 November 1998. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2007.
  9. [9]
    Longmore, Andrew (8 November 1998). "Football: Bring on the aristocrats". The Independent. Archived from the original on 22 February 2008. Retrieved 8 October 2007.
  10. [10]
    "Felgate takes full-time job at Stockport". Rossendale Free Press. 6 March 2006. Archived from the original on 14 March 2007. Retrieved 4 October 2007.
  11. [11]
    "Luca released". Stockport County F.C. Official Website. 12 January 2009. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
  12. [12]
    Powell, David (29 May 1989). "Happy days return to Burnden Park" (reprint). The Times. NewsBank. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  13. [13]
    "Leigh clinch promotion glory". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 28 June 2000. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  14. [14]
    "Leigh RMI 2 Lancaster City 1". TheBoltonNews.co.uk. Newsquest (North West) Ltd. 12 August 2000. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
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