Goalkeepers

[Big H]

Ok This could be interesting and will probably be affected by the age of the correspondent.

Who in your opinion is the best goalkeeper ever to wear the bees shirt?


Big H

 

[TOMOGP]

Dave Mckellar

 

[rebus]

It's down to either Gerry Cakebread, Joe Crozier or Gordon Phillips I reckon over the past 100-odd years.

The best one in my time is Paul Smith.

 

[Big H]

Don't forget our Icelandic double international Ollie what's his name

 

[Brentford Bob]

Oli Gotskalkson at his best was very, very good.

Benstead was good before the back pass rule came in. That really f++ked him up.

 

[TOMOGP]

It's down to either Gerry Cakebread, Joe Crozier or Gordon Phillips I reckon over the past 100-odd years.

The best one in my time is Paul Smith.

Cakebread definitly top 3
I am to young to have seen Crozier lol

The other was the keeper we had on loan for 12 months cant remember his name

 

[rebus]

The other was the keeper we had on loan for 12 months cant remember his name

Steve Sherwood.

 

[maddogging]

to be honest I really don't have a favourite, all the goalies from my time had good and bad attributes, so I shall have to say a mixture of Bedstead/Dearden/Suckling/Oli Gott/Smith/Nelson.

 

[Whitton Borders Bee]

Len Bond

 

[JVT4000]

Len Bond

Could never really undertand why Paul Smith was rated that highly. Great shot stopper but not too hot on crosses or letting defenders know whose ball it is. I don't think Nelson is that disimilar in this respect.

 

[Downbeat Bee]

As stated above Benstead was a very good keeper until the backpass rule came in. The playoff season he seemed almost unbeatable - we seemed to go hours at home without letting in a goal.

With the exception of Ashley Bayes I reckon our keepers have been pretty decent.

 

[Ken Richardson]

Gerry Cakebread for me, but lets not forget Sonny Ignatios Feean (not sure if I spelled that correctly)

 

[Edmundo]

Len Bond, but maybe the distance of time is colouring my view. Paul Smith and Oli Gottskalksson were exceptionally good.

 

[Brentford Bob]

With the exception of Ashley Bayes I reckon our keepers have been pretty decent.

Andy Woodman wasn't the greatest. A bit of c++t to boot.

 

[HunsburyBee]

Gerry Cakebread, without a doubt

 

[exiledbee]

goalies

I would side with the Len Bond fans, very reliable number one. I also thought Paul Priddy was better than most people seemed to think. The worst I ever saw was the incompareable Paddy Roche. He would play a blinder about 1 in 5 and was absolute toilet the rest of the time. I seem to remember Gordon Phillips being pretty solid too, not far behind Len Bond, in my book.

 

[Jimbee]

We've been fairly lucky on the whole. Len Bond was my first and was fantastic.

McKellar was quality, Roche and Benno too.

Oli was superb initially but rightly lost his place to Paul Smith who made a disastrous career move to Southampton (more due to change of management than poor judgement) but should still make it to the top having taken the step back for this season.

Woodman was vastly over-rated and found out in the end. I thought Swinburne was better than a lot of others believed and the rest were never good enough to last for any extended period.

Nelson is top half of the table so far but has the ability to get into the play-offs with application.

 

[Simon W]

In my time in following The Bees .. it has to be Len Bond , I can still remember standing on the Royal Oak and seeing him fly through the air to make incredible saves up the Ealing Rd end !! and then in no particular order Sherwood , Smith and Oli ...

Would have loved to have seen Cakebread and Crozier .. 2 Bees legends

 

[Brain-dead Bee]

I'm another Len Bond supporter. Benstead was a similar level at first but went downhill a bit (I hadn't tied it in with the pas-back rule till someone mentioned it here, but that's probably right). Paul Smith was shaping up to be as good or better, but left before fully realising that promise

 

[jmcp]

From my memory Benstead was superb in his time at Brentford and it was very early in the season in whats now the championship against Southend i think that Jamie Bates ploughed into him and after that collison he never really recovered.

 

[Holysmit]

In my time the two who stand out are Paul Smith and Graham Benstead, both legends in my eyes.

 

[realladybee]

Mr Realladybee here
As with outfield players it is difficult to compare 'keepers from a different era to todays.
The first Bees custodian I saw as a very small boy was Alf Jefferies,Alf wore a big green roll neck woollen jersey.no gloves and a cheesecutter when facing the sun.Alf wasn't a bad 'keeper,he was replaced by Reg Newton,our keeper when we lost our (old) second division status in 1954 and was also in goal( I think) for our record defeat at Walsall 0-7 in 1957.I never rated Reg.
Sonny Feehan was next,he was very good but not as good as his successor Gerry Cakebread (IMHO Gerry was the best of the 50's and 60's keepers)>His deputy was Fred Ryecraft,who as mentioned elsewhere in this thread was real heart attack material.Finally Chic Brodie although not a big man was very agile and fairly safe, Chic had the dubious pleasure of finding a hand grenade in his goal after the 1965 game against Millwall (who else?) at Griffin Park.
memories___memories

 

[Edmundo]

We've been fairly lucky on the whole. Len Bond was my first and was fantastic.

McKellar was quality, Roche and Benno too.

Oli was superb initially but rightly lost his place to Paul Smith who made a disastrous career move to Southampton (more due to change of management than poor judgement) but should still make it to the top having taken the step back for this season.

Woodman was vastly over-rated and found out in the end. I thought Swinburne was better than a lot of others believed and the rest were never good enough to last for any extended period.

The Flying Pig lasted a few seasons. Never elegant or graceful, but a pretty decent keeper all things considered.

 

[Gee Bee]

For a short but sweet cameo performances Mike Pollitt was exceptional imho.

Longer term, I have to go with a very brave Len Bond.

 

[rebus]

For a short but sweet cameo performances Mike Pollitt was exceptional imho.:

 

[Davee]

Bill Dodgin's a gambler
Rides around in a Rambler...

With Len Bond in the back.

 

[jmcp]

One of the best performances by a Brentford keeper i have seen was Gerry Payton away at Bristol City on the last day when we were relegated.

 

[Downbeat Bee]

I thought Peyton looked less than agile at the end of our 'League One' season

 

[Col T]

Although he didn't play too often I always thought Jason Pearcey was quality, never understood how he was no.2 to Woodman!?

 

[difford]

Best, Dave McKellar.
Worst, Paul McCullough

 

[Paul O'Brien]

As others have said, we've had some really great keepers.

Top three:

1. McKellar - usually unshowy, but did everything well.
2. Ollie Gott - a couple of foulups with Ingar, but I always felt he was excellent in the air and made great one on one stops. Also very agile.
3. Paul Smith - like Ollie Gott, possibly even better at acrobatic and instinctive saves but not great on crosses.

I never saw Brodie or Cakebread - the first I saw were Phillips (who was pretty good) and Priddie.

Other standouts - Bond and Sherwood; I also agree that Pearcey was better than Woodman; Pollitt wasn't too bad. Never convinced about Benstead. Dearden too small to be a top class keeper, but did ok.

Thought at first that Julian would be better than Smith - one of his early saves (a shot which was deflected and was going over his head) was an absolute stunner. Sadly, he turned out to be a flash in the pan.

Worst - leaving out Ashley Bayes and Tamar Fernandes/Aouf...

Roche and Borotra (on the basis of the couple of friendlies he played for us)

 

[hanworthbee]

All Nelson has to do is improve his judgement on crossing and he would be up their with the best, cant fault anything else about his game.Other than that Benstead, remember the 3 saves V Wrexham in the penalty shoot out?

 

[Les Beeavinu]

Paul Priddy or Dave McKellar.

 

[jmcp]

All Nelson has to do is improve his judgement on crossing and he would be up their with the best, cant fault anything else about his game.Other than that Benstead, remember the 3 saves V Wrexham in the penalty shoot out?

Without being too harsh you could fault Nelson's judgement on coming off his line!

 

[Ken Richardson]

Mr Realladybee here
As with outfield players it is difficult to compare 'keepers from a different era to todays.
The first Bees custodian I saw as a very small boy was Alf Jefferies,Alf wore a big green roll neck woollen jersey.no gloves and a cheesecutter when facing the sun.Alf wasn't a bad 'keeper,he was replaced by Reg Newton,our keeper when we lost our (old) second division status in 1954 and was also in goal( I think) for our record defeat at Walsall 0-7 in 1957.I never rated Reg.
Sonny Feehan was next,he was very good but not as good as his successor Gerry Cakebread (IMHO Gerry was the best of the 50's and 60's keepers)>His deputy was Fred Ryecraft,who as mentioned elsewhere in this thread was real heart attack material.Finally Chic Brodie although not a big man was very agile and fairly safe, Chic had the dubious pleasure of finding a hand grenade in his goal after the 1965 game against Millwall (who else?) at Griffin Park.
memories___memories

Thanks for reminding me, Alf Jefferies was also my first memory.

 

[BRbee]

We've been fortunate over the years to have had some really good keepers. The best was Cakebread (England B international and only part time !) followed by Phillips and Bond.
Paul Smith had the makings of a great keeper and Nelson is good in many respects but has too many failings decision wise on crosses etc and misunderstandings to rate alongside the greats above. Is he ever going to solve these problems?

 

[Stuardo]

the thing about a lot of Brentford keepers is that they have been awesome for 2 years and then gone downhill (Parks, Benstead and Dearden).

Pearcey was a good keeper whose career was ruined by injury (retired at 27 or something?).

Paul Smith was going to be a great goalkeeper. and looks like he might be back on track with Forest (sadly).

The save he made when he came on when Oli was injured in the 2nd leg of the LDV southern area final at GP from 6 yards out, full on volley was just awesome. he had no right to get anywhere near it!

 

[North London Bee]

McKellar was a real keeper, he was sound, solid, made good decisions and inspired his defence.

The others I have really rated since I started coming are

Chic Brodie

Steve Sherwood - great when onloan won POTY award

Len Bond

Graham Benstead - in his first season he got us to the Playoffs pretty much singlehanded

Kevin Dearden - again only in his first season 93-94 anyone remember Reading and Stockport?

Mike Pollitt - not here long enough but really good

Paul Smith - not the finished article with real weaknesses to go with his massive strengths too

Gerry Peyton & Perry Suckling 2 more excellent loanees

CRAP

Garry Towse

Graham Cox

Paul McCullough

Paul Priddy - except at Watford - magic

Bill Glazier - should have had a zimmer frame - cost us a draw at Man U

Trevor Swinburne - over the hill

Tony Parks - just awful, could not catch a cross

Tamar Fernandes - poor

Andy Woodman - what a let down after our or certainly my expectations

Alan Julian - reminde me of Pike - callow youth who will not make a real keeper until he understands that he might well have to get his face kicked in from time to time to keep the ball out

 

[rebus]

Paul Priddy - except at Watford - magic

Did you go to that? He got a free transfer days after saving two penalties in this game.

 

[North London Bee]

Did you go to that? He got a free transfer days after saving two penalties in this game.

Afraid so. He saved from I think Denis Bond and Tony Geidmintis, as they say every dog has his day and that was his but he really wasn't much kop but apparently has become a fine GK coach.

 

[ChinaBee]

Afraid so. He saved from I think Denis Bond and Tony Geidmintis, as they say every dog has his day and that was his but he really wasn't much kop but apparently has become a fine GK coach.

Yes he did, and has, as you say, built up a good reputation as a coach. Is Aldershots GK coach and worked with several other clubs. A nice guy also.

Unfortunately the Watford game didn't save us from relegation

Bond I think was the best for me, although Brodie is high up there

 

[Isleworth_Bee]

Paul smith great potential just a shame it couldnt be carried on with us

 

[exiledbee]

paul priddy

I believe Priddy also sold insurance after leaving the Bees. Looking back at the posts, I have to agree we've had some very good keepers. How anyone could rate Roche though is beyond me.

 

[nocoat]

CRAP

Garry Towse

Graham Cox

Paul McCullough

Paul Priddy - except at Watford - magic

Bill Glazier - should have had a zimmer frame - cost us a draw at Man U

Trevor Swinburne - over the hill

Tony Parks - just awful, could not catch a cross

Tamar Fernandes - poor

Andy Woodman - what a let down after our or certainly my expectations

Alan Julian - reminde me of Pike - callow youth who will not make a real keeper until he understands that he might well have to get his face kicked in from time to time to keep the ball out

errrrrr, have you missed someone out their NLB? Without him your post is nonsense

 

[Claire]

Paul Smith

 

[ChinaBee]

I believe Priddy also sold insurance after leaving the Bees. Looking back at the posts, I have to agree we've had some very good keepers. How anyone could rate Roche though is beyond me.

Now runs a corner shop in Sunbury

 

[North London Bee]

errrrrr, have you missed someone out their NLB? Without him your post is nonsense

I didn't think I really needed to mention him as we all took it for granted, but fair play to Ashley, he is still making a living out of the game and has done really well for himself since his Brentford horror days.


lol

 

[bees66]

Afraid so. He saved from I think Denis Bond and Tony Geidmintis, as they say every dog has his day and that was his but he really wasn't much kop but apparently has become a fine GK coach.

I think Andy Myers took one

 

[Travel Tavern Bee]

Len Bond.................Jason Pearcey could of been a legend.

Worst

Bayes
Cox
Mcullough


And some geezer we had on loan from Glasgow Rangers , played against Fulham away one year had a nightmare 1989/90 ish ???

 

[Jimbee]

All Nelson has to do is improve his judgement on crossing and he would be up their with the best, cant fault anything else about his game.Other than that Benstead, remember the 3 saves V Wrexham in the penalty shoot out?

lol Brilliant! His kicking is distinctly less than average and IMO he's been 100% on crosses so far this season. I'm so glad I don't see the World through your eyes.