“The phenomenon of keepers desperately going up for a corner in the final moments of a game is one of the most exciting things about football. But when did it start? Were amateur-era keepers doing this? Or did Peter Schmeichel invent it at Euro 96?” wonders Damian Kerr.
Ivan Provedel’s accomplished header for Lazio against Atlético Madrid last week was the latest example of a keeper stealing the show at the end of a game. But pinning down the origin is tricky: it’s not in Rothmans, there are no catch-all search terms you can use in the newspaper archives. We know that goalkeepers have been scoring goals since Moses wore short pants, but the likes of Charlie Williams (1900), Pat Jennings and Peter Shilton (both 1967) all did so by accident from goal-kicks.
