Peter Bonetti

Chelsea

Chelsea signed him from the Reading youth team after his mother had written to manager Ted Drake, requesting that he give her son a trial. Whilst a Chelsea junior, Bonetti made five appearances for Croydon Amateurs in the Surrey Senior League thanks to youth team coach Albert Tennant who was also coaching Croydon at that time. He made his first team debut in 1960, and a few weeks later helped the Chelsea youth team win the FA Youth Cup. From the 1960–61 season onward, he was Chelsea's first-choice goalkeeper, a position he held more-or-less constantly for the next nineteen years. Chelsea were relegated in Bonetti's second full season, which saw the appointment of Tommy Docherty as manager. Bonetti emerged as a key figure in a talented young team which included Bobby Tambling, Terry Venables, John Hollins and Barry Bridges. The team went into the penultimate match of the season needing to beat promotion rivals Sunderland to have a chance of going up. Chelsea won 1–0, with Bonetti making a brilliant last minute save to deny George Mulhall and maintain his team's promotion chances; a 7–0 win over Portsmouth secured instant promotion back to the First Division.

The new Chelsea team challenged for honours during the 1960s, with Bonetti a key figure throughout, although more often than not the team narrowly missed out. The club won the League Cup in 1965 with a 3–2 aggregate victory over Leicester City. Leicester put Chelsea under heavy pressure in the second leg…

Bonetti's England career is largely remembered for one match – the 1970 FIFA World Cup quarter-final against West Germany in Mexico. He was thrust into the starting line-up at only around an hour's notice, as a replacement for Banks who was suffering from severe food poisoning. England relinquished a 2–0 second-half lead and lost 3–2 after extra time. Bonetti received a large amount of blame from the public, as he was considered to have let in two easy goals in normal time, and never played for England again. In the 1966 World Cup final, only the 11 players on the pitch at the end of the 4–2 win over West Germany received medals. Following a Football Association-led campaign to persuade FIFA to award medals to all winning squad members, Bonetti was presented with his medal by prime minister Gordon Brown at a ceremony at 10 Downing Street on 10 June 2009.

Bonetti was born in Putney, southwest London. His family moved to Worthing, Sussex in 1948. His parents ran a café on the seafront next to the Dome Cinema. They were Swiss-Italian emigrants from Ticino. Bonetti attended St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Worthing. He shone at an early age, playing for Worthing.

Chelsea Youth

FA Youth Cup: 1959–60 Chelsea

Football League Second Division promotion: 1962–63, 1976–77 FA Cup: 1969–70; runner-up: 1966–67 Football League Cup: 1964–65 European Cup Winners' Cup: 1970–71 St. Louis Stars

North American Soccer League Central Division: 1975 England

FIFA World Cup: 1966 Individual

North American Soccer League All-Star First team: 1975