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Former Chelsea and England goalkeeper Bonetti dead at 78 – club
LONDON, April 12, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Former Chelsea and England
goalkeeper Peter Bonetti has died at the age of 78 following a
long-term illness, the Premier League club announced Sunday.
Nicknamed ‘The Cat’ because of his agility, Bonetti was a mainstay of
the west London side for close on 20 years throughout the 1960s and
1970s.
“Our former goalkeeper had been suffering from long-term illness,”
said a club statement.
“All at Chelsea wish to send our heartfelt and deepest condolences to
Peter’s family and friends.”
Bonetti made 729 appearances for Chelsea, keeping 208 clean sheets in
a Blues career that started in 1960 and finished in 1979, his two
spells at Stamford Bridge separated by a 1975 stint in the North
American Soccer League with the St Louis Stars.
It took until 2014 for Petr Cech to surpass Bonetti’s shut-out record.
Meanwhile only Bonetti’s former team-mate Ron Harris has made more
Chelsea appearances, with the defender playing in 795 games for the
Blues.
With Bonetti’s career overlapping those of Gordon Banks and Peter
Shilton, he made just seven appearances for England.
He was a member of England’s victorious 1966 World Cup squad, but such
was Banks’s form he did not play during the tournament.
It was not until 2009 that Bonetti received a winners’ medal, the
rules at the time meaning only the playing XI in the final were so
honoured.
Bonetti’s England career is destined to be remembered, however, for
one unfortunate match at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.
With Banks having suffered a case of food poisoning, Bonetti was
called up into the side beaten by West Germany in the quarter-finals.
Alf Ramsey’s team were 2-0 up but lost 3-2, with Bonetti criticised
for being at fault for the first two goals England conceded.
But at club level he helped Chelsea win the 1965 League Cup, the 1970
FA Cup — after the Blues beat bitter rivals Leeds United in a final
that went to a replay — and the 1971 European Cup Winners’ Cup.
One of the pioneers of specialist gloves for goalkeepers, Bonetti also
had spells with Dundee United and Woking.
He later became a goalkeeping coach, working with both Chelsea and the
England squad as well as Kevin Keegan at Newcastle, Manchester City
and Fulham.
BSS/AFP/MRU/2250hrs