Patrick Anthony Jennings
OBE (born
June
12,
1945 in
Newry,
Northern Ireland) is a former
football player. He played 119 games for his country as a
goalkeeper, a figure which at the time was a world record, in an
international career which lasted for over 22 years. Jennings is
considered one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time. During his
career Jennings played in over 1000 top level games for club and
country, he even managed to score a goal in the
1967
Charity Shield match.
Jennings began his playing career with his hometown side
Newry Town as a 16 year old. After impressing with the team he moved to
English
Third Division side
Watford
in May 1963.
Jennings again impressed in his first season in English football, during which
he played every league game for his club, and was bought by
Tottenham Hotspur for £27,000 at the end of it. Jennings spent 13 years at
White Hart Lane, during which time he played in 472 league games for Spurs.
During his time with Spurs he won the
FA Cup in
1967, the
League Cup
in 1971 and
1973, and the
UEFA Cup in
1972. In 1973 the
Football Writers' Association named him as its footballer of the year, three
years later he won
PFA's version of the
award.
In August 1977,
he was sold to Tottenham's arch-rivals,
Arsenal.
During his eight years with the Gunners Jennings appeared in 237 league games.
Whilst at
Highbury he helped Arsenal to three successive FA Cup finals, in
1978,
1979, and
1980. However,
Arsenal only managed to win the second of these finals, a 3-2 victory against
Manchester United.
Jennings made his
Northern Ireland debut as an 18 year old, whilst playing for Watford. This
game was on
April 15, 1964,
and was a
British Home Championship match against
Wales, Northern Ireland won the game 3-2. He played his final international
game on his 41st birthday, having returned to Tottenham Hotspur 6 months
earlier, playing in their reserve side to maintain his match sharpness. This
game was Northern Ireland's final group game in the
1986 World Cup, and was against
Brazil, Brazil won the game 3-0. This was Jennings's second World Cup, he
had previously played in the
1982 World Cup.
Following his retirement Jennings has worked as a goalkeeping coach. He has
worked at Tottenham in this capacity since
1993. His son, also
called Pat, is also a professional soccer player, although he is far less
successful. He has played for
Eircom League clubs
UCD and
Derry
Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year
1973 |
PFA Players' Player of the Year
1976 |