Peter Shilton

About

Peter is one of England’s greatest goalkeepers who played in over 1000 league games. At the time of his retirement, at age 47, he was the fifth oldest player ever to have played in the Football League or Premier League. He holds the all-time record for the most competitive appearances in world football, and is widely regarded as a legend of the game.

Peter Shilton (Peter Leslie Shilton OBE) had an extraordinary career, in his 30 years as a top professional he played for eleven different clubs. He also played in three World Cups, two European Cup finals and amassed more than 1,000 competitive matches. He has the rare distinction of having played over 100 league games for five different clubs. Shilton did not make his World Cup finals debut until the age of 32 but he played in 17 finals matches and shares the record 10 clean sheets in World Cup finals with French keeper Fabien Barthez.

During his time at Nottingham Forest he won two European Cups, a UEFA Super Cup, the First Division championship, the Football League Cup and many other honours.

Shilton also holds the all-time record for the most competitive appearances in world football.

He left club-side Derby in February 1992 on accepting an offer to become player-manager of Plymouth Argyle – a turbulent era that is documented in the 2009 book, Peter Shilton’s Nearly Men.

With 996 Football League matches to his name, Shilton was anxious to reach the 1,000 mark and this he did when he joined Leyton Orient in November 1996, in an exchange deal for 39-year-old Les Sealey. His thousandth League game came on 22 December 1996, against Brighton & Hove Albion, which was screened live on Sky Sports and was preceded by the presentation from the Football League of a special edition of the Guinness Book of Records to Shilton. He played five more matches before retiring on 1005 league games at the age of 47. By the time of his retirement, he was the fifth oldest player ever to have played in the Football League or Premier League.

Shilton was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) and later an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) during his playing career for services to football. In 1990, following his retirement from international football, he was awarded the Order of Merit by the PFA and a year later he received the Football Writers’ Tribute Award.

Shilton was made an Inaugural Inductee of the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002.

He also features in football games FIFA 10, FIFA 11 and FIFA 12 in the Classic XI squad.

He took part in the 2010 series of BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing.

One of the most respected figures in footballing history, Peter Shilton is in demand as an after dinner speaker and event host.