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Nigel Martyn
Player
Profile
Nigel Martyn (born August 11, 1966 in St. Austell, Cornwall) is
an English former football goalkeeper who have played more than
500 competitive matches in English football. He most prominently
played seven seasons each for Crystal Palace and Leeds United. An
injury forced him to retire in 2006, following three seasons for
Everton.
Martyn made his debut for the England national side in Moscow in
1992, becoming one of the few Cornishmen to play for England.
Since then, he earned only 23 caps for his national side,
spending the peak of his career as second-choice goalkeeper
behind David Seaman.
Although best-known as a goalkeeper, Martyn typically played as a
midfielder until invited to play in goal for his brother's works
team when he was sixteen. He began his professional career with
Bristol Rovers in 1987, and 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.
It was at Crystal Palace
that Nigel first gained international recognition with a call up
to the full England side. He remained at Palace for seven
seasons, appearing 349 times for his club, including the 1990 FA
Cup final (where Palace were beaten by Manchester United on a
replay, and the 1991 Zenith Data Systems Cup final (where Palace
beat Martyn's future team Everton). In 1996, he signed with Leeds
United, setting another record fee for a goalkeeper of £2.25m.
Martyn played as Leeds' first-choice goalkeeper for six seasons
and his consistency was a large factor in their strong run in the
Champions League. It was a disagreement with new Leeds manager
Terry Venables,[1] combined with the increasingly good form of
youngster Paul Robinson, that kept him from playing any games in
Leeds' 2002-03 season.
In the Summer 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 ever finish in the Premier League
of 4th. He remains a favourite, affectionately known as "Big
Nige" (High praise indeed as it recalls the nickname the
Everton fans gave to Neville "Big Nev" Southall
arguably the finest keeper of his generation), and joins a long
list of Goodison legends.
In 2005, Nigel was voted in Palace's Centenary XI.
On 8 June 2006, Martyn announced his retirement from football due
to an ankle injury. David Moyes said that he would miss Martyn as
he was his "greatest ever signing".
