In association football, the goalkeeper occupies a position that represents the last line of defence between the opponent's offence and his own team's goal. The primary role of the goalkeeper is to defend his team's goal and prevent the opposition from scoring a goal. The goalkeeper is the only player who is permitted to touch the ball with his hands or arms in open play (within his own penalty area). Each team is required to have a goalkeeper on the field at all times during a match. If a goalkeeper is forced to leave the field due to injury or being sent off, another player must occupy the post, even if the team has no substitute goalkeeper available and/or has used up its allotted substitutions.
Goalkeeper is often abbreviated GK in lineup cards, match reports, and TV captions. The terms keeper and goalie are also commonly used. This position is colloquially referred as 'custodian' or 'the man between the posts'.
When assigning numbers to players on the team, if a squad number system is not in use, the number 1 shirt is usually reserved for the goalkeeper. Notable exceptions include Argentine Ubaldo Fillol, who wore the numbers 5 and 7 at the 1978 and 1982 FIFA World Cups, and Vítor Baía, the Portuguese keeper who wore 99 in the latter part of his career.
Football, like many sports, has experienced many changes in tactics that have generated positions, as well as made positions disappear. Goalkeeper is the only position which is certain to have existed since the creation of the rules of the sport. Even in the early days of organised football, when systems were limited or non-existent and the main idea was for all field players to attack and defend, teams had a designated member to play as the goalkeeper.
The earliest account of football teams with player positions comes from Richard Mulcaster in 1581; however, he does not specify goalkeepers. The earliest specific reference to keeping goal comes from Cornish Hurling in 1602. According to Carew: "they pitch two bushes in the ground, some eight or ten foot asunder; and directly against them, ten or twelve score off, other twayne in like distance, which they term their Goals. One of these is appointed by lots, to the one side, and the other to his adverse party. There is assigned for their guard, a couple of their best stopping Hurlers". Other references to scoring goals begin in English literature in the early 16th century, for example in John Day's play The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green (performed circa 1600; published 1659): "I'll play a gole at camp-ball" (an extremely violent variety of football, which was popular in East Anglia). Similarly in a poem in 1613, Michael Drayton refers to "when the Ball to throw, And drive it to the Gole, in squadrons forth they goe". It seems inevitable that wherever a game has evolved goals, some form of goalkeeping must also be developed. David Wedderburn refers to what has been translated from Latin as to "keep goal" in 1633 (however, contrary to media reports in 2006 he does not refer to the noun "goalkeeper". This is important as being a goalkeeper implies a fixed position throughout a match, whereas "keeping goal" suggests a temporary, fluid position accorded to whichever player or players find themselves nearest the goal. Wedderburn provides no evidence of such a fixed position on the field. It is not clear that what he meant by a goal was the same as modern usage; his word "metum" in the original Latin means the object to mark the end of a chariot race).
Initially, goalkeepers typically played between the goalposts and had limited mobility, except when trying to save opposition shots. Throughout the years, goalkeeping has evolved, due to the changes on systems of play, to be a more active role. The original Laws of the Game permitted goalkeepers to handle the ball anywhere in their half of the pitch. This was revised in 1912, restricting use of the hands by the goalkeeper to the penalty area and goal box.
In the mid-20th century, goalkeepers like Amadeo Carrizo pioneered a playing style that involved more mobility. He also helped introduce new techniques and strategies that would become a standard for the position. Carrizo was the first goalkeeper to wear gloves, the first one to leave the penalty area to defend his goal and the first one to use goal kicks as a strategy to start counter attack plays.
In 1992, the International Board made changes in the laws of the game that affected goalkeepers - notably the back-pass rule, which prohibits goalkeepers from handling the ball with their hands when receiving a deliberate pass from a teammate that is made with their feet (the pass can be made with all the others parts of the body except hands). As a result, all goalkeepers were required to improve controlling the ball with their feet.
The goalkeeper position is the most specialised of all positions on the field. Unlike other players, goalkeepers may touch the ball with any part of their body while in their own penalty area. Outside of their penalty area, goalkeepers have the same restrictions as other field players. They are also "protected" from active interference by opponents within their own goal area, an action punishable by fouling.
The tactical responsibilities of goalkeepers include:
Although goalkeepers have special privileges under the laws of the game, they are otherwise subject to the same rules as any other player. The goalkeeper is often the tallest member of the team, and most stand over 183cm (6ft) tall in western countries, with many well-known keepers standing particularly tall at 193 cm (6 ft 4 inches).
Goalkeepers are not required to stay in the penalty area. They may get involved in play anywhere on the pitch, and it is common for them to act as an additional defender during certain passages of the game. Colombia's René Higuita, Mexico's Jorge Campos and Liverpool's Bruce Grobbelaar were notable for their foot skills and their constant play outside the penalty area.
Some goalkeepers have even scored goals; a number of goalkeepers have scored by rushing up to the opposite end of the pitch in order to create an advantage in numbers. This rush - nicknamed a "goalie run" - is risky, and is normally only done late in the game, in order to score a last-minute goal if the goalkeeper's team is losing (and only then, in situations where goal difference is unimportant). Similarly, goalkeepers will "come up" for a corner or attacking free kick, as many goalkeepers are tall, often taller than all the outfield players, and can often connect with a header.
The action very rarely succeeds, although players like Michelangelo Rampulla, Peter Schmeichel, Mart Poom, Marco Amelia, Andrés Palop, Jens Lehmann, Brad Friedel, Massimo Taibi, Jimmy Glass, Paul Robinson, Federico Villar and Mark Crossley have been able to score in these situations at the top level. Palop's case might be the most notable, because the goal he scored sent the match to an extra time where his team, Sevilla, won, and thanks to this, went on to win the UEFA Cup 2006-07.
In some even rarer situations, goalkeepers have even scored goals unintentionally, when a ball punted downfield has caught the opposing goalkeeper out of position. Paul Robinson and Pat Jennings have both scored under such circumstances. In the final of the 2003 CAF African Champions League, El Ahly goalkeeper Essam El Hadary scored a goal by driving a free kick from near his penalty box into the top bar of opponents goal; the ball then hit the back of the goalkeeper going into the net. Vitoria de Guimaraes' Palatsi also scored in that situation against Moreirense on a game for the Portuguese Liga. Serbian goalkeeper Dragan Pantelić and, more recently, Colombian "Neco" Martínez and Michael Petkovic have also scored goals the same way.
Some goalkeepers, such as Rogério Ceni and José Luis Chilavert, go forward to take their team's attacking free kicks and even penalties. Ceni has scored over 80 goals in his career, more than many outfield players.
Goalkeepers must wear clothing that distinguishes them clearly from other players and match officials, as this is all that the FIFA Laws of the Game require. Some goalkeepers have received recognition for their match attire, like Lev Yashin of the Soviet Union who was nicknamed the "Black Panther" for his distinctive all-black outfit, Klaus Lindenberger of Austria who designed his own variation of a clown's costume and Jorge Campos of Mexico, who was popular for his colourful attire.
Most goalkeepers also wear goalkeeper gloves to improve their grip on the ball, and to protect themselves from injury. There are now gloves that have features designed to prevent injuries such as sprained fingers. Gloves are not mandatory; however, due to the increased grip they give, it is very rare for a goalkeeper to play without them in professional matches.
Czech republic and Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Čech wears a head guard, after having fractured his skull in an English Premier League game against Reading, and a few goalkeepers, most notably Miguel Calero, wear baseball style caps to shield their eyes from the sun. Calero has also worn a bandana while keeping goal for Pachuca.
The most expensive goalkeeper of all time is currently Gianluigi Buffon (following his €52.29 million transfer to Juventus from Parma), followed by Angelo Peruzzi (€17.9 million from Inter Milan to Lazio). The British record is held by Scottish goalkeeper Craig Gordon, who signed for Sunderland A.F.C. from Scottish club Heart of Midlothian for £9m on August 7 2007.
The quickest goal scored by a goalkeeper is Nottingham Forest's Paul Smith after 23 seconds, on September 18 2007, when Leicester City agreed to give Forest a 'free goal' in the Football League Cup second round after the original tie was abandoned when City's Clive Clarke collapsed at half time when Forest were 1-0 up. Forest lost the game 3-2.
A few goalkeepers have become notable at taking set pieces; for example, José Luis Chilavert is the only goalkeeper to score a hat trick (3 goals in a game), doing so through penalty kicks. He also was a free kick-expert. Rogério Ceni has scored the highest amount goals for a goalkeeper, having scored 83 times (as of December 3 2008) through free kicks and penalty kicks.
The following are the top 20 goalkeepers on the IFFHS poll for "The World's best Goalkeeper of the 20th century."
The following is a list of goalkeepers selected by the IFFHS every year since 1987 as "The World's best Goalkeeper."