Emi Martinez became the first former Oxford player to win the World Cup yesterday with an outstanding performance that also helped him win the Golden Glove award as the tournament’s top goalkeeper.
Amazing to think that Emi’s professional career started with a 3-0 defeat in goal for the U’s away at Port Vale.
United’s Goalkeeping Coach Wayne Brown takes up the story:
“We were going well that season, 2011/12, and in with a chance of the play-offs. Ryan Clarke was in really good form and I was his back-up keeper, with Alan Hodgkinson coaching us both. Alan had been a wonderful goalkeeper and travelled to two World Cups with England and then became the first goalkeeper coach in the country so he had amazing contacts all through the game.
“At the end of the season Clarkey needed an operation on a shoulder injury - he had been struggling with it a while- so I took over in goal for a few games but then I needed an operation as well on a knee injury. Max Crocombe was the youth team keeper and although Max has gone on to prove himself an excellent keeper and carve out a great career neither Alan or Chris Wilder, the Manager, thought he was quite ready for the First Team. I saw a tweet from Max the other day about it and he said “Still seething”!
“But those were two big games- we were on a bad run but two wins and we would have been in the play-offs
“So we decided on an emergency loan for a game against Southend and a young keeper called Conor Ripley came down from Middlesbrough. Again, nice lad and an England under 19 player who has had a really good career, but in his one game for us he conceded two and Chris wasn’t happy with the first so they started looking for another keeper for the final game, away at Port Vale.
“Hodgy got in touch with Arsenal and they recommended Emi. He was only very young and he came down to join us and was just a bag of bones really. He had great reflexes and something about him, and he had already trained with the Argentina full squad, but that’s a tough ask to make your professional debut, knowing it’s one game and you don’t really know any of your teammates, who haven’t won in five anyway!
“He conceded three, we lost, and when we got back off the bus that was the last we saw of him! But he went back to Arsenal, he had a few more loans and he stayed patient and obviously what he has done in the Word Cup is amazing.
“Another ex Oxford keeper, Neil Cutler, is a good friend of mine and he did a lot of work with him as Goalkeeping Coach at Villa. He deserves far more credit than us for how Emi has developed but I guess telling people that a World Cup winner took my place in the team is a nice thing to be able to say.”