Kevin Pressman

Kevin Pressman
Personal information
Full name Kevin Paul Pressman
Date of birth (1967-11-06) 6 November 1967
Place of birth Fareham, England
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Playing position Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
Millwall (Goalkeeping 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 (Reserve Team)
2010–2011 Scunthorpe United (Goalkeeping Coach)
2011–2012 Bradford City (Goalkeeping Coach)
2012- Millwall (Goalkeeping Coach)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Kevin Paul Pressman (born 6 November 1967) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper from 1987 until 2009, he is currently employed as a goalkeeping coach at Millwall.

As a player Pressman made 588 appearances in English and Northern Irish league football for 5 different clubs over 3 decades, notably playing in the Premier League for Sheffield Wednesday. He also 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 versus 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 amount of league matches up 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, after going a goal down from the free kick concede.[2] It was bettered in late 2008 by David Pratt of Chippenham Town` who was sent off after a mere three seconds into the 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 team-mate 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, however he 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 rightly considered to be a legend at Hillsborough where he was affectionately known as 'Big Kev'. He came out 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-Irish 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 FC in late December 2006 that kept him at the club until the end of the 2006–07 season. At the end of that season Kevin 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, but did play for England at Under-21 level as well as winning three "B" caps between 1994–1998.

Coaching career

Pressman's most high-profile role as a coach was as Assistant Manager to Ian Baraclough at Scunthorpe United, Both men, however, lost their jobs in March 2011 after a string of poor results left The Iron deep in relegation trouble in the Football League Championship. Pressman had originally joined United as Goalkeeping coach under former boss Nigel Adkins and had even featured on the substitutes bench during a goalkeeping crisis at the club.

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 took up the same role at Millwall.

In May 2008 he also became joint manager of Belper Town Reserves.[6]

Personal life

Pressman holds an FA A coaching licence. In May 2007 he was appointed as goalkeeping coach at Championship side Scunthorpe United.[7] Pressman is a big fan of Sheffield Wednesday football club from his youth days and spent 19 years there as a professional.[8] He is the brother of BBC Radio Sheffield presenter Howard Pressman.

Career statistics

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. 2000-08-13. Retrieved 2007-12-11.
  3. "Pratt sets 'record' for red card". BBC Sport. 29 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-29.
  4. "Sheff Wed 1-3 QPR". BBC. 8 May 2004. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  5. "Stags offer contract to Pressman". BBC Sport. 2005-07-18. Retrieved 2007-12-10.
  6. "Reserves Management Team Announced". 2008-05-05. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
  7. "Pressman is new Iron keeper coach". BBC Sport. 2007-05-25. Retrieved 2007-12-11.
  8. "Pressman Hangs Up His Boots". swfc.co.uk (PTV). 2006-07-15. Retrieved 2007-12-11.
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