Kevin Pressman

Kevin Paul Pressman (born 6 November 1967) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper from 1987 until 2009. He is now a goalkeeping coach.

Kevin Pressman
Personal information
Full name Kevin Paul Pressman
Date of birth (1967-11-06) 6 November 1967
Place of birth Fareham, England
Playing position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
Scunthorpe United
(U23 assistant & goalkeeper coach)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–2004 Sheffield Wednesday 404 (0)
1992Stoke City (loan) 4 (0)
2004West Bromwich Albion (loan) 0 (0)
2004–2005 Leicester City 13 (0)
2005 Leeds United 0 (0)
2005 Coventry City 0 (0)
2005–2006 Mansfield Town 41 (0)
2006–2007 Portadown 43 (0)
2007–2009 Scunthorpe United 0 (0)
Total 505 (0)
National team
1988 England U21 1 (0)
1994–1998 England B 3 (0)
Teams managed
2008–2009 Belper Town (reserves)
2019– Scunthorpe United (U23 assistant)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

As a player Pressman made 588 appearances in English and Northern Irish league football for five different clubs over three decades, notably playing in the Premier League for Sheffield Wednesday. He played in the Football League for Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Leicester City, Leeds United, Coventry City, Mansfield Town and Scunthorpe United. He also played in Northern Ireland for Portadown.

Playing career

Sheffield Wednesday

Pressman is best remembered as the long-time goalkeeper of Sheffield Wednesday, where he spent 19 seasons, playing 478 matches in all competitions including the UEFA Cup. Pressman signed his first professional contract for the Owls on his 18th birthday in 1985 and made his debut against Southampton on 5 September 1987. He had supported Wednesday since childhood. Pressman's career was nearly wrecked on New Year's Day 1990 when he suffered cruciate knee-ligament damage which sidelined him for over eight months. He was unlucky not to play in the 1991 League Cup Final victory against Manchester United, as he had played in every round of the competition that year as well as a significant number of league matches until the quarter final stage where he was replaced by more senior goalkeeper and future Wednesday manager Chris Turner. Pressman was on the substitutes' bench at three further Wembley finals, all in 1993; the League Cup Final, FA Cup Final and FA Cup Final replay, all against Arsenal and resulting in defeats in both competitions for Wednesday.

In his prime, Pressman was considered one of the best goalkeepers in the Premiership. He had a tendency to play particularly well in Steel City Derby games. He also became known for both saving and scoring penalties, most notably the winner in a shoot-out against Watford in the FA Cup in 1998.[1] Pressman entered the record books on 13 August 2000 when he was sent off after just 13 seconds in a match against Wolverhampton Wanderers. The dismissal, given for handling outside the area, was the fastest ever in English football history. Sheffield Wednesday went on to draw 1–1.[2] It was bettered in late 2008 by David Pratt of Chippenham Town who was sent off three seconds into a game.[3] Pressman showed great resilience to fend off many fellow goalkeepers for the number 1 shirt at Hillsborough, outlasting Chris Turner, Chris Woods and Pavel Srníček to name just a few. His last game for the Owls came on the final day of the 2003–04 season at Hillsborough against QPR.[4]

Latter career

In the summer of 2005, Pressman was signed by Mansfield Town,[5] at the time managed by his former Sheffield Wednesday teammate Carlton Palmer, and was first-choice goalkeeper for the majority of the following season. In addition to Sheffield Wednesday and Mansfield, Pressman has also played for Stoke City on loan and Leicester City. After being released by Leicester, he was signed by Leeds United as cover for Neil Sullivan, but never made an appearance.

Pressman announced his retirement from the game in July 2006 after being released by Mansfield Town although there were some rumours that he would return to Wednesday in a coaching role. He is now a member of Sheffield Wednesday's Masters team and is considered a legend at Hillsborough, where he was affectionately known as 'Big Kev'. He came top in a poll to find Sheffield Wednesday's greatest ever keeper on the website Vital Football.

At the end of September 2006 Pressman signed a short-term deal with Northern Ireland side Portadown FC, who had a goalkeeping crisis. He impressed Ports fans with his displays between the sticks, despite his age of 39, and helped the club in their rise up the league table. Despite training in Doncaster during the week and flying to Northern Ireland for matches, Pressman signed a contract extension with Portadown in late December 2006 that kept him at the club until the end of the 2006–07 season. At the end of that season he decided to call time on his impressive career after winning Portadown's 'Player of the Season' award.

International career

Pressman was never capped at senior level even though he was called up to the senior squad on numerous occasions,[6][7] but did play for England at under-21 level as well as winning three "B" caps between 1994 and 1998.

Coaching career

Pressman holds an FA A coaching licence. In May 2007 he was appointed as goalkeeping coach under Nigel Adkins at Championship side Scunthorpe United[8] and even featured on the substitutes' bench during a goalkeeping crisis at the club. He then progressed to his most high-profile coaching role, again at Scunthorpe, as assistant manager to Ian Baraclough. Both men, however, lost their jobs in March 2011 after a string of poor results left the Iron deep in relegation trouble.

In May 2008 he also became joint manager of Belper Town reserves.[9]

On 20 August 2011 Bradford City announced that Pressman would be the new goalkeeping coach, replacing Tim Dittmer, who – with the club's blessing – left to take up a position at Premier League side Manchester City. On 21 June 2012 Pressman moved to the same role at Millwall.

On 1 June 2018, Pressman left Millwall, after six years. [10] In July 2019, Pressman returned to Scunthorpe United as assistant manager of the U23 team and goalkeeper coach.[11]

Personal life

Pressman is a big fan of Sheffield Wednesday football club from his youth days and spent 19 years there as a professional.[12] He is the brother of BBC Radio Sheffield presenter Howard Pressman. He is married to Joanne and has three children, Tom - who is also a goalkeeping coach[13] - Danny and Sophie.

Career statistics

Source:[14]

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other[A] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Sheffield Wednesday 1987–88 First Division 110000000110
1988–89 First Division 90001000100
1989–90 First Division 150002020190
1990–91 Second Division 230006010300
1991–92 First Division 1000000010
1992–93 Premier League 3000201060
1993–94 Premier League 320406000420
1994–95 Premier League 340304000410
1995–96 Premier League 300104000350
1996–97 Premier League 380402000440
1997–98 Premier League 360302000410
1998–99 Premier League 150102000180
1999–2000 Premier League 190002000210
2000–01 First Division 390105000450
2001–02 First Division 400106000470
2002–03 First Division 380002000400
2003–04 Second Division 210300030270
Total 4040210460704780
Stoke City (loan) 1991–92 Third Division 4000002060
Leicester City 2004–05 Championship 130101000150
Mansfield Town 2005–06 League Two 410302000460
Career Total 4620250490905450
A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Full Members Cup, Football League Trophy and UEFA Cup.

References

  1. "Pressman's penalty skills save Wednesday". Independent. 15 January 1998. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  2. "Pressman sent for earliest ever bath". BBC Sport. 13 August 2000. Retrieved 11 December 2007.
  3. "Pratt sets 'record' for red card". BBC Sport. 29 December 2008. Retrieved 29 December 2008.
  4. "Sheff Wed 1-3 QPR". BBC. 8 May 2004. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  5. "Stags offer contract to Pressman". BBC Sport. 18 July 2005. Retrieved 10 December 2007.
  6. "Football: Reformed Parlour wins England reward". Independent. 17 March 1998. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  7. "Hoddle keeps options open". BBC. 14 April 1998. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  8. "Pressman is new Iron keeper coach". BBC Sport. 25 May 2007. Retrieved 11 December 2007.
  9. "Reserves Management Team Announced". 5 May 2008. Archived from the original on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 22 October 2008.
  10. https://www.millwallfc.co.uk/news/2018/june/pressman-leaves-millwall/
  11. Kevin Pressman returns to the club, scunthorpe-united.co.uk, 9 July 2019
  12. "Pressman Hangs Up His Boots". swfc.co.uk (PTV). 15 July 2006. Retrieved 11 December 2007.
  13. "New staff appointments for Blades women". Sheffield United Women. 6 August 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  14. Kevin Pressman at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.