6 October: Grobbelaar and the spaghetti legs of Rome

Bruce Grobbelaar

From Africa to Anfield

He was born in South Africa and grew up in the former Rhodesia, today's Zimbabwe, whom he later played for. Before becoming a professional footballer he did military service in the middle of the Rhodesian civil war, something he has often spoken about. He tried his luck in Canada, with the Vancouver Whitecaps, and at modest Crewe Alexandra, until in 1981 Liverpool signed him to replace Ray Clemence.

His first months were a catalogue of errors and the Kop doubted him, but the team won the league that season and the next two.

Rome, 30 May 1984

The 1984 European Cup final was played at Rome's Olympic Stadium against Roma, on their own ground. It finished 1-1 and went to penalties. When Italy's Bruno Conti stepped up, Grobbelaar started wobbling his legs on the line as if they were made of rubber, pretending they were buckling with fear. Conti sent it over the bar.

He repeated the act for Graziani, who also missed. Liverpool won their fourth European Cup, and on the pitch, without taking a penalty, was another man born around this date: the Brazilian Falcão, the star of that Roma side.

The trick that came back in Istanbul

In 2005, in the Istanbul final against Milan, Liverpool also went to a shoot-out. Before it started, Jamie Carragher went up to the goalkeeper, the Pole Jerzy Dudek, and told him to do a Grobbelaar. Dudek danced on his line, Milan missed three penalties and Liverpool were European champions for the fifth time.

Grobbelaar stayed at Anfield until 1994, with two more FA Cups and the 1990 league title, the club's last for thirty years.

🔴⚪ Sporting Gijón players born this day

They played for Sporting Gijón and were born on this same day. There is only their data here: we would rather name them than leave them out, and rather give the bare facts than invent a story.

Another 45 internationally known footballers were born on this day. We do not list them for the sake of it: only those with a story to tell make it here.

Dates, clubs, individual awards and photos come from Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons, under free licences, and update themselves. Ages are not written anywhere: they are calculated the moment you open the page, so this page always shows the right age, this year and twenty years from now. If any of these players signs for another club or wins an award, their profile picks it up on its own. What is written by hand is the story and the judgement: who the day belongs to, and why.