Top 5 Greatest Millwall Goalkeepers

This is the first in a series of “Top 5′s” for Millwall greats.

Now, when  you think of great goalkeepers it’s not always about longevity with a club, but rather the quality time spent with the club, no matter how long that may have been. Many times it’s the great keepers that fetch an expensive price tag in the transfer market and some tend to bounce around clubs and leagues. With that being said, we’ll attempt to list off the 5 best netminders in Millwall history. Listed in reverse order

5. Paul Sansome (1982-1987)

Paul Sansome had a very successful career with Millwall, appearing in 156 games, winning the Football League Trophy in 1983, promotion from Division 3 in 1985 and winner of Player of the Year award in the same season. In 1988 Sansome was sold to Southend and went on to record another 300 appearances for the Shrimpers.

4.  Tony Warner  (1999-2004)

“Denzil, Denzil what’s the score? Denzil what’s the score.” That was the chant supporters at the Den churned out for their favorite keeper. The T&T National joined Millwall from Liverpool and was named Player of the Year for the 2002/03 season. He spent 5 years stuffing strikers and deflecting penalty shots before leaving for Cardiff on a “free” in 2004.

3.  Bryan King  (1967-1975)

The goalkeeper that set the record for the most games played in the position at 302, Bryan King is a Millwall Hall of Famer and regarded with legendary status among fans at the Den. He transferred to Conventry City in 1975, but suffered a career-ending injury just 23 games into the campaign.

 2.  Alex Stepney  (1963-1966)

Regarded by many as Millwall’s greatest keeper, Alex Stepney was a fixture in the starting eleven for 156 games before being sold to Chelsea for then, an unheard of 50,000.  After one year with Chelsea he moved on to Manchester United where he featured in goal for the Red Devils for 12 glorious years. He was named one of the greatest keepers of the generation.

1.  Kasey Keller (1992-1996)

One of the most storied US National players, Kasey Keller began his professional career at Millwall straight out of college in Portland. He averaged over 13 clean sheets per season in the 4 year stretch as Millwall’s regular between the posts. Millwall couldn’t afford to keep Keller in the end and sold him to Leicester in 1996 for 900,000.

Do you think there are other greats missing from this list? Have your say…

Interview with Joe Amphlett of Lions Live

MillwallPride.com interview with Joe Amphlett of the Lions Live show on South London’s 107.3FM and available for podcast download at http://lionslive.podbean.com/ .

Joe, Thanks for taking the time to talk with us here at MillwallPride.com.  We are a US based site focused on bringing everything Millwall to our readers in North America and around the world.

MP: Joe, first let me ask, did you realize that Millwall had a consortium of supporters around the globe?

Joe : I’ll be honest, I am very surprised about how much support Millwall have all over the globe, we have a Canadian listener, which really surprised me at first, just glad our podcast is available for Lions fans anywhere in the world to listen.

MP:  How long has ‘Lions Live’ been on the air, and how would you describe the format or content that makes up the show?

Joe: It’s been on the air since November 2007, the original presenter was a Charlton fan, but they moved quickly to get me in and sort that out. The format is loose, every show is different it really is, we never know which direction the show will take. It’s just like we are down at the pub having a drink really.  We have a great chemistry with each other and it just really is so much fun to do.

MP:  The Lions have seen an unlucky run of form in their last few matches. Now with key injuries to Robbo and Grabban, what do you think the likelihood is of staying in the hunt for promotion?

Joe: If im honest I think the chances of automatic promotion are over. However I am confident we will keep winning and a playoff place is in mind a certainty. Losing the captain is a massive blow, and grabban has been our most creative player all season so it’s bound to affect us.

MP:  How would you rate the performance of the current Millwall Board, and what improvements to the club do you foresee in the future?

Joe: We seem to have a chairman, who is very willing to give us money for players, which is promising. Also, people like Andy Ambler, have the best interests of the club at heart, so I would say the business side of things seems in good hands.

MP:  What was the greatest moment in Millwall history from your perspective?

Joe: To reach an FA Cup final is the obvious one, but that game at Old Trafford in the semi is the day that lingers in the mind, just the fact that we had got there. That was more special in a way.

MP:  Who is your favorite Millwall player of all-time?

Joe: When I was young it was Alex Rae, but over all it has to be Rhino, I was over the moon when he became manager, sadly he didn’t get more time to prove himself.

MP:  Should Neil Harris stay with the club beyond this season?

Joe: Yes I think he should. Neil has proven he can come back time and again and be a valuable member of the squad. I would like to think he will eventually become part of the coaching staff, Millwall is in his blood.

MP:  We are based in Seattle, Washington, home of new Seattle Sounder Kasey Keller. He played for MFC  from  1992 to 1996. Would you consider Keller to be one of the best keepers to ever play for the club?

Joe: In my life time yes. I was gutted when we lost him, but he was a premier league keeper so wasn’t going to stay after we were relegated.

MP:  One last question for you Joe.  This is your freebie.  You’ve got 30 seconds to address all of the Millwall supporters around the world. What do you want to tell them?

Joe: Just keep coming to the den and supporting the team. I think the more people get down there the better we will play. And I know Millwall fans get a bad press, but the fans I know and socialize with are good decent proper south London people as are the majority of proper millwall fans.  There’s something about south London people that makes them different from any other people, a warmth and kindness that gets overlooked.

Thank you Joe Amphlett and the rest of the Lions Live Crew; George, Ted and Graeme.  We would also like to thank South London’s 107.3FM and the Millwall Supporters Club.

No one likes us…..We don’t Care!