Fact file on Bruce Grobbelaar

Former Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar will be 61 tomorrow (born in Durban, South Africa on 6 October).

As a teenager he played cricket at school before becoming a footballer.

Served in the Inyazura Police force and the Rhodesian army, killing at least six rebels in the ‘bush war’.

Had a three-month trial with West Bromwich Albion in 1978 under manager Ron Atkinson.

Thereafter he played, in turn, for Bournemouth (trial), Vancouver Whitecaps, Crewe Alexandra (trial/loan/noncontract), Liverpool, Stoke City (on loan), Southampton, Plymouth Argyle, Oxford United, Sheffield Wednesday, Oldham Athletic, Chesham, Bury and finally Lincoln City.

He kept over 250 cleansheets in his 621 first-class appearances for Liverpool over a period of 13½ years, from March 1981 until August 1994, helping the Merseyside club win six League titles, three League Cup and three FA Cup finals, the European Cup (in 1984) and the FA Charity Shield

Won 34 international caps when representing for Rhodesia (one), Zimbabwe (32) and also Matabeleland (one).

Retired from football in the summer of 2000 with a total of 775 club appearances under his belt – one goal scored, a penalty for Crewe against York City in May 1990, which clinched a 2-0 win.

He retired as a player early in 1999 and later was ap- pointed coach for Manning Rangers FC in South Africa.

After two trials, he was cleared of match-fixing in 1997 but was declared bankrupt after failing to pay huge court costs.

Made appearances in TV programmes Brookside in 1994 and Hell’s kitchen in 2009.

And for the record… Grobbelaar in Dutch means ‘clumsy.’ He was certainly not that really!