One of the most iconic goalkeepers in English football history, Dave Beasant was part of the Wimbledon team that shocked the country when they won the FA Cup in 1988. Beasant's playing career spanned a remarkable three decades, as he enjoyed spells at some of English football's most famous teams.
He began at Edgware Town FC outside of the football league before Wimbledon FC signed him at the age of 20. He soon established himself as a key player between the sticks, staying loyal as the club yo-yoed between the third and fourth divisions in the early 1980s. It was then that Wimbledon embarked on a fairytale rise to the peak of English football - with Dave Beasant one of the leading lights on that historic journey.
In 1983 the side won the fourth division title, before gaining promotion once more in 1984 to find themselves in the second division. It took just four years from 1983 to 1986 before Wimbledon FC were in the First Division of English football. And the remarkable rise didn't end there.
The club finished sixth and seventh in their next two seasons in the top flight, and Beasant captained Wimbledon to a place in the 1988 FA Cup Final, where he would save John Aldridge's penalty to secure a memorable 1-0 win of Liverpool FC and an FA Cup victory for Wimbledon to complete one of the most dramatic stories in footballing history.
The FA Cup final was the perfect send-off for Beasant - his final game for the club. After a decade at Wimbledon where Beasant wrote himself into the history books of the club and the FA Cup, he joined Newcastle United FC for £750,000 fee, a British record for a goalkeeper at the time. It was during this season that he would make his debut for the English National Football Team, stepping in for an injured David Seaman for the 1990 World Cup.
Beasant couldn't save the Magpies from relegation and in 1989 he promptly joined Chelsea FC, just a year later. He made 133 appearances for Chelsea before joining Southampton for a £300,000 fee in 1993. He made a further 88 appearances for the club and was their Southampton Player of the Season in 1995. He later made 139 appearances for Nottingham Forest FC after joining the club at the age of 38, becoming a crucial player in his four seasons at the club - where he became their oldest ever player at the age of 42.
He would then play briefly as a second or third choice keeper at Portsmouth FC, Tottenham Hotspur FC, Bradford City FC, Wigan Athletic FC, Brighton and Hove Albion FC and Fulham FC before retiring from professional football in 2004 at the age of 45.
He briefly came out of retirement 9 years later to play for North Greenwood United FC and Stevenage FC between spells as goalkeeper coach at Stevenage FC, Fulham FC, Northern Ireland FC, Bristol Rovers FC and The Glenn Hoddle Academy. His latest spell was between 2015 and 2018 when he was goalkeeper coach at Reading FC.
