Craig Lorne Forrest (born 20 September 1967) is a Canadian former professional soccer player and sports commentator. As a player, he was a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

from 1985 until 2002, playing his entire career in England. He made

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

appearances for Ipswich Town, Chelsea and

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

, whilst also spending time on loan in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

with

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

. He made 56 international appearances, representing

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. In 2012 as part of the

Canadian Soccer Association The Canadian Soccer Association (; branded as Canada Soccer) is the governing body for soccer in Canada. Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, the federation is a full member of FIFA and governs Canadian soccer at the international, professional, a ...

's centennial celebration, he was named to the all-time Canada XI men's team.

Early life

Born and raised in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Forrest began playing football at age 12. He first tried goalkeeping when a friend could not make it to a game and he decided to play as a replacement. He began playing with Coquitlam Bel-Aire City and also played for the BC U-16 and U-18 provincial teams. He was scouted by scouts from England and, in 1984, he travelled to England, signing a two-year apprenticeship deal with Ipswich Town at the age of 17 and soon after was training with the English national youth team.

Club career

Ipswich Town

Forrest joined English league side Ipswich Town in 1984 and remained with the club until 1997, making 263 league appearances. Forrest saw his first first-team action with 11 appearances on loan to

in the 1987–88 season. From 1988 to 1989 through to 1996–97, Forrest was in the Ipswich Town goal, including during the 1991–92 season when the club won promotion to the newly established

by winning the old

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

. Forrest was ever-present that season. He was also one of only 13 foreign players to play on the opening weekend of the FA Premier League along with John Jensen, Jan Stejskal, Anders Limpar, Peter Schmeichel,

Andrei Kanchelskis Andrei Antanasovich Kanchelskis (; ; born 23 January 1969) is a Russian professional Association football, football coach and former player who currently manages Russian Second League side FC Dynamo Bryansk, Dynamo Bryansk. During his playing c ...

, Robert Warzycha, Eric Cantona, Ronnie Rosenthal, Michel Vonk, Gunnar Halle, Roland Nilsson and Hans Segers. He was the goalkeeper for what was then the heaviest Premiership defeat in history when Ipswich lost 9–0 to

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

in March 1995. His goalkeeping helped Ipswich beat United (then in the early years of their period of dominance of English football) on one occasion in the first three seasons of the Premier League in a 3–2 victory there in September 1994 - as well as holding them to draws at Old Trafford in August 1992 and November 1993 - on the latter occasion he ensured that Ipswich were one of just three sides who visited United in the league without conceding a goal that season. He was voted Goalkeeper of the Month in the Premier League for October 1994, and around this time an offer of around £2 million from an unnamed club for Forrest's services was rejected by Ipswich. He remained loyal to the club despite their relegation at the end of that season, and stayed there for another two seasons. Forrest went on loan to Chelsea from Ipswich in 1997, playing in the same team with the likes of Gianluca Vialli and

Gianfranco Zola Gianfranco Zola (; born 5 July 1966) is an Italian football executive, Manager (association football), manager, and former Association football, footballer who played predominantly as a Forward (association football), forward. He is currently v ...

under the guidance of manager

Ruud Gullit Ruud Gullit (; born Rudi Dil; 1 September 1962) is a former Dutch Association football, footballer and subsequent manager. Regarded among the greatest footballers of all time, he was also noted for his Utility player#Association football, abili ...

. A permanent move to Chelsea was turned down by the Ipswich Board of Directors.

West Ham United

Forrest signed for

in the summer of 1997 for £500,000. Forrest played a number of first-team games in the FA Premier League in the late 1990s and early 2000s with the east Londoners, remaining at

Boleyn Ground Boleyn Ground, often referred to as Upton Park, was a football stadium in Upton Park, London, Upton Park, east London, England. It was the home of West Ham United F.C., West Ham United from 1904 to 2016, and was briefly used by Charlton Athletic ...

until his retirement from football in 2002. On 1 April 2000 he was again the goalkeeper for a big defeat by Manchester United. Although West Ham scored first, the game finished 7–1 to Manchester United. In 2001, Forrest was diagnosed with

testicular cancer Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system. Symptoms may include a lump in the testicle or swelling or pain in the scrotum. Treatment may result in infertility. Risk factors include an c ...

. He beat the disease, but was advised by his doctors that he would no longer be able to play, culminating in Forrest retiring in 2002.

International career

Forrest played at the 1987

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

and made his debut for the Canada senior team in a May 1988 friendly match against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. He earned 56 caps (excluding the May 1990 North American Championship match against the US), the most of any goalkeeper in the national team's history tied with Pat Onstad and earned the most clean sheets in the country's history before retiring from international football in 2002. The highlight of his international career was undoubtedly helping

win the

2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the fifth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), and the 15th overall CONCACAF tournament. It was held in Los Angeles, Miami, and San Diego ...

, in which Forrest was named tournament MVP and Most Valuable Goalkeeper for allowing a mere three goals and stopping two penalties in his side's five games. Also during his international career Canada had secured a 1–1 draw against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

only a month prior to the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

in the US in 1994. Forrest had further success against Brazil in 2001, recording a clean sheet in a 0–0 draw in the 2001 Confederations Cup in Japan. In 2012, Forrest was voted by the fans into the Canadian best XI in the CSA's first 100 years.

Media career

Forrest began working as a sports analyst with Rogers Sportsnet (now Sportsnet) upon his retirement from playing. He appears frequently as a broadcaster for the men's national team and

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language Discretionary service, discretionary sports broadcasting, sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture betw ...

as well as Sportsnet's Soccer Central Matchday. Forrest is now the Canadian

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

Ambassador for

SOS Children's Villages SOS Children's Villages is an independent, non-governmental, nonprofit international development organization headquartered in Innsbruck, Austria. The organization provides humanitarian and developmental assistance to families facing difficultie ...

Honours

Ipswich Town *

: 1991–92 West Ham United *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

Canada *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup () is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held every two ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

North American Nations Cup The North American Nations Cup was an association football competition organized by NAFU as its top regional tournament for men's senior national teams from North America. The tournament was held in 1990 and 1991. Canada, United States and Mexi ...

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

Individual * Canada Soccer Player of the Year: 1994, 2000 * Ipswich Town Player of the Year: 1994–95 * Ipswich Town Players' Player of the Year: 1994–95 *

Best Player: 2000 * CONCACAF Gold Cup Most Valuable Player: 2000 * CONCACAF Gold Cup Most Valuable Goalkeeper: 2000 * Aubrey Sanford Meritorious Service Award: 2005 * CONCACAF Gold Cup Best XI: 2000 * Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame: Inducted 2007 *

Order of Sport The Order of Sport is a national level award established in 2019 by Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. It is awarded alongside induction into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, and regarded as Canada's highest sporting honour. Overview Canada’s Sp ...

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canada, it serves as a hall of fame and mu ...

: Inducted 2015

References

External links

Forrest's West Ham page with career Premier and Football League statistics at ''Sporting Heroes.net''
* / Canada Soccer Hall of Fame
Craig Forrest Elected to Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Forrest, Craig 1967 births 1991 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup players Men's association football goalkeepers Canadian people of British descent Canada Soccer Hall of Fame inductees Canadian television sportscasters Canadian men's soccer players Canadian soccer commentators Canada men's international soccer players Canada men's youth international soccer players Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Chelsea F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players CONCACAF Gold Cup–winning players Expatriate men's footballers in England Ipswich Town F.C. players Living people Soccer players from Coquitlam Premier League players West Ham United F.C. players English Football League players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in England 20th-century Canadian sportsmen