2022 World Cup.

pendodave said:
I have no stats to back this up....(!) But I'd be willing to bet that when the dimensions of the goals were first formalised, the average male was quite a bit shorter than they are now, and probably not much different to the size of the women currently playing in goal.
It's not that women's goals need to be smaller, it's that men's need to be bigger.

Even a generation ago (think Jennings, Shilton, Clemence) 'keepers were several inches shorter with a significantly lesser wingspan.
Click to expand...

Current goal dimensions are from the late 1800s. Men were quite a bit smaller then.

I don’t know how true this is. I was told that they were designed around a player being 5’6”. Which seems a bit small but, at 5’6” you can jump and touch the crossbar.
 
Lord Tyrion said:
Come on, Pat Jennings had the wingspan of a golden eagle, or did it just seem that way :D

I just googled those 3 incidentally. They were all 6ft dead on. Modest by today's standards but not short (Pickford is 6,1", Lloris is 6,2", average PL is 6,3")
Click to expand...
Wow, that's quite amazing actually. I'd say 6'0 is definitely short for a keeper nowadays. Even a centre back you'd want them to be 6'0 minimum. I've always heard talk about Jennings being a big feller as well.
 
BiMGuy said:
Current goal dimensions are from the late 1800s. Men were quite a bit smaller then.

I don’t know how true this is. I was told that they were designed around a player being 5’6”. Which seems a bit small but, at 5’6” you can jump and touch the crossbar.
Click to expand...

You are forgetting that the tape crossbar sagged a bit so made it easier :ROFLMAO:
 
Casual name drop, but Pat is a member at my club and I quite often interact with him.
He's smaller tham me (I'm a hair over 6ft) and when I've chatted with him about keeping, he's mentioned that he would never be considered nowadays because of his size.
Food was scarce in the 60s, we just didn't grow as big.
And Shilts was never 6ft. I'd give him 5.10 max.
 
pendodave said:
Casual name drop, but Pat is a member at my club and I quite often interact with him.
He's smaller tham me (I'm a hair over 6ft) and when I've chatted with him about keeping, he's mentioned that he would never be considered nowadays because of his size.
Food was scarce in the 60s, we just didn't grow as big.
And Shilts was never 6ft. I'd give him 5.10 max.
Click to expand...

Is height only more important now because the ball is mental .. I mean it moves so quickly (because it's so light and designed to move around a lot in the air)
 
Swango1980 said:
But, a goal is a goal. Surely it is simply a matter of fact.

If there was an award for most clean sheets, they don't ignore penalties. If I put a bet down that a team will get a clean sheet, the betting company won't pay out if keeper concedes a penalty. They will pay out if my first goal scorer gets a penalty. If anyone put a bet on Di Maria to score the first goal last night, they cannot claim any winnings by saying Messi's penalty should not count.

A goal is a goal. If you are a top goal scorer, and really desire to win the Golden Boot, then being the teams nominated penalty taker would help. If you are not the nominated penalty taker, then maybe you are not really a truly great goal scorer anyway. If James Milner or a goalkeeper was preferred on penalty duty, maybe the striker does not deserve to be top of the goal scoring charts?

Out of interest, how many of the worlds truly great goal scorers of all time did not take penalties?
Click to expand...
Yes you are entitled to your view.
But it’s just the golden boot I was talking about. Nothing else.
It’s just the way I see it.
 
Orikoru said:
Wow, that's quite amazing actually. I'd say 6'0 is definitely short for a keeper nowadays. Even a centre back you'd want them to be 6'0 minimum. I've always heard talk about Jennings being a big feller as well.
Click to expand...
I remember he had massive hands.
Keepers played without gloves as well then.
But he did look massive.
 
pauljames87 said:
Is height only more important now because the ball is mental .. I mean it moves so quickly (because it's so light and designed to move around a lot in the air)
Click to expand...
Bit like the Messi Best debate.
Keepers now are lightning quick they need to be as in the old days players could not hit the ball at speeds they do now.
That’s before it moves in the air,
Must be a nightmare as that can make you look very silly.
 
clubchamp98 said:
Bit like the Messi Best debate.
Keepers now are lightning quick they need to be as in the old days players could not hit the ball at speeds they do now.
That’s before it moves in the air,
Must be a nightmare as that can make you look very silly.
Click to expand...

What world cup / euros was it where the ball was complained about by all the keepers? As it was just designed to go all over the shop
 
pendodave said:
I have no stats to back this up....(!) But I'd be willing to bet that when the dimensions of the goals were first formalised, the average male was quite a bit shorter than they are now, and probably not much different to the size of the women currently playing in goal.
It's not that women's goals need to be smaller, it's that men's need to be bigger.

Even a generation ago (think Jennings, Shilton, Clemence) 'keepers were several inches shorter with a significantly lesser wingspan.
Click to expand...
Yes I agree with this .
But I think keepers now save shots that older keepers could not get to.
Might be the height but more the reactions and speed.
I remember meeting David James he was massive but quite slim it’s an aura thin I think he just looked huge.
 
pendodave said:
Casual name drop, but Pat is a member at my club and I quite often interact with him.
He's smaller tham me (I'm a hair over 6ft) and when I've chatted with him about keeping, he's mentioned that he would never be considered nowadays because of his size.
Food was scarce in the 60s, we just didn't grow as big.
And Shilts was never 6ft. I'd give him 5.10 max.
Click to expand...
Always comes across as an absolute gent and a colossus as a keeper. One of the very best of his era, all without gloves as well.

I guess he was big amongst the other players of that time and if they were equivalent, in terms of growth and build, then it is just how he looked.

I googled the heights, they could quite easily be incorrect. The one thing you could say, Shilton was massively hunched in his posture. Perhaps if he stood straight up for the tape he might actually be 6ft? He could also just as easily be 5'10 as you say.
 
Lord Tyrion said:
Come on, Pat Jennings had the wingspan of a golden eagle, or did it just seem that way :D

I just googled those 3 incidentally. They were all 6ft dead on. Modest by today's standards but not short (Pickford is 6,1", Lloris is 6,2", average PL is 6,3")
Click to expand...
I think they don’t look that tall with the size of modern players
 
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