Liverpool's wandering goalkeeper, European Cup winner, and the inventor of the spaghetti legs
FootballBruce Grobbelaar was not like other goalkeepers. He came off his line, joined in with attacks, walked along the crossbar in training, and wobbled his knees in a 1984 European Cup Final until Roma's penalty takers forgot what they were doing.
Born in South Africa and raised in Rhodesia, Grobbelaar arrived at Liverpool in 1981 with a CV that already included national service in the Rhodesian Bush War and a spell at Vancouver Whitecaps. Over the next thirteen seasons he played more than 600 games for the club and collected six league titles, three FA Cups, three League Cups and one European Cup, most famously saved by those spaghetti legs in Rome.
His story is a novel. Born under one flag, capped by another, he won trophies in an era when Liverpool expected to win everything, and his acrobatic, extroverted style changed how English football thought about goalkeepers. He later had spells at Southampton, Stoke, Plymouth and a long list of non league and African clubs, still keeping goal into his mid forties.
Controversies came and went. He was tried and acquitted in a high profile match fixing case in the 1990s, a chapter he addresses openly with audiences. What remains is an enormous personality, a rich catalogue of stories from the golden Anfield years, and a sense of humour that has made him one of the most entertaining figures on the speaking circuit.
At Steam Wine Bar he brings the lot, from Bush War patrols to Rome penalties to a life lived on three continents, told with the kind of mischief that made Joe Fagan shake his head and smile.
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