He foiled Eusebio
When Spanish goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga joined Chelsea from Athletic Bilbao in 2018, he became the most expensive goalkeeper of all time. The money Chelsea paid for him was a world record fee for a goalkeeper — £71 million. Yes, that’s million!
Compare that with the fee Chelsea got in 1966 for goalkeeper Alex Stepney when they transferred him to Manchester United — £55,000! And that was a world record at that time.
Busby had been searching for the missing pieces to complete his dream of European glory. Stepney was the goalkeeper he wanted, and got.
In 1968 United played Benfica at Wembley in the European Cup Final. With seconds to go, the score 1 – 1, and the legendary Eusebio through on a one-on-one with Stepney, Benfica looked odd-on to win it. Eusebio unleashed a low shot, but Stepney got down to it, saved it, and clung to it. The rest, as they say, is history.
I met Alex in the Texas Stadium in Dallas. I was doing a ball control exhibition, booked to do the pre-match and half time entertainment at a game between Dallas Tornado and New Cosmos. After the game I was invited into the Dallas Tornado dressing room. At that stage of his career, Alex Stepney was playing for them in the North American Soccer League.
The accompanying photograph shows me sitting next to Alex Stepney. We had a good chat, mainly about the differences in various levels of the sport as played in the USA and in England.
He told me he was enjoying his time in the States, apart from the long trips they had to make over many thousands of miles. About his time with Manchester United, he said he felt so lucky to have played alongside all of United’s greatest players, including Denis Law, George Best, Bobby Charlton, and so many others.
His greatest memory, he said, was undoubtedly winning the European Cup. He very clearly remembered making that save against Eusebio, and why wouldn’t he, this very soft-voiced speaker who, despite all the dressing room noise and chat, listened carefully, and wished me luck with the remainder my tour. He was one of the genuine nice guys.
