The Premier League is inarguably one of the hottest and most followed football leagues globally. We love the breathtaking goals, the tasty dribbles, and the daring goalkeeper saves.
So endearing is the Premier League that top bookmakers like bookmaker.xyz regularly provide exciting odds on Premier League fixtures.
Of course, the Premier League has seen its fair share of excellent goalkeepers. When thinking about outstanding goalies who have saved different clubs over the years, several names come to mind.
The Premier League, as we all know, is home to players of different nationalities. This article will highlight the top 5 English goalkeepers with the highest clean sheets in Premier League history.
These Englishmen have, in the course of their respective careers, distinguished themselves and made indelible contributions to the world of football.
Let’s take a look at our top five and the respective number of clean sheets they kept in the Premier League.
- David James (169)
Top of our list is David James. James is an English former goalkeeper from Welwyn, Garden City. He has a clean sheet of 169, which is second only to Petr Cech (202) in Premier League history. James is also the goalie with the most appearances, having 572 premier league matches under his belt.
In the course of his career, he played for several premier league clubs, including Liverpool (72), Aston Villa (21), Manchester City (19), Portsmouth (39), and West Ham (18).
He started his career at Liverpool in the 1992/1993 season, with a large part of his clean sheets there. He retired as a goalkeeper in 2014, though his last premier league outing was in 2010 at Portsmouth.
- David Seaman (141)
Seaman is an Englishman from Rotham, Yorkshire. He began his professional career in 1981, and it lasted till 2004. He is the second goalkeeper with the highest saves in England.
He also has the second most clean sheets for a single club. In his premier league appearances, he had 141 clean sheets. Of the 141 saves, 137 were for Arsenal FC.
Popularly known as “Safe Hands”, Seaman spent most of his football career at Arsenal. However, he brought in an additional four clean sheets during his brief period at Man City.
Seaman is a well-decorated footballer who won several championships at Arsenal FC. He was also awarded the MBE in 1997 for his important services in football.
- Nigel Martyn (137)
Nigel Martyn is another goalie of British origin who was exceptional during his active years. Starting his career at Bristol Rovers, he achieved 137 clean sheets from 1992 to 2006.
In addition, Martyn is famous for setting a record as the most expensive goalkeeper in England. He was the first netminder to be signed at £1m when he moved to Crystal Palace in 1989.
Martyn made another record-breaking transfer from Crystal Palace to Leeds United at £2.5m. He spent six seasons at Leeds and recorded most of his clean sheets (82) at the club.
From Leeds, he moved to Everton, where his career ended after an ankle injury. Martyn had an impressive outing at Leeds and remarkably improved Everton’s performances during his time there.
He and Seaman played in England and the Premier League at about the same time. Some sports enthusiasts believe that he could have had a much more impressive career if he was not kept on the side many times due to Seaman.
- Joe Hart (127)
Joe Hart is the first British goalkeeper on our list who is still actively playing in the Premier League. Starting his career in Manchester City, he played a major role in the club’s establishment as a Premier League force.
Hart’s career was a bit slow to the start, and he was loaned out severally at Man City to get some game time. He was loaned out to Tranmere Rovers, Blackpool and Birmingham City at different times. However, after his brief spell at Birmingham, he began to prove himself in Man City matches.
Hart was awarded “man of the match” in his first game after his return. He also went on to win the Premier League Golden Glove award in the 2010/11 and 2011/12 seasons. He has 127 clean sheets to his name so far.
- Ben Foster (91)
Foster is the only goalkeeper on our list with less than 100 clean sheets. The 39-year-old has played in several Premier League clubs. He started his career at Watford in 2006/2007 and made appearances at Man U, Birmingham, and West Brom.
At 91 clean sheets, we hope he enters the triple figures before the end of his career.
There you have it. The top 5 English goalkeepers with the highest clean sheets in Premier League history. What do you think about our list?
Do you think there’s someone who should be on the list but isn’t? Kindly comment below and share on your social media.