Fraser Charles Digby (born 23 April 1967) is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player who played as 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 ...

. He spent much of his career with

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

, for whom he played in the

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 ...

. In 2008, he found new fame through repeated references to "Fraser Digby's washbag" on

Danny Baker Danny Baker (born 22 June 1957) is an English comedy writer, journalist, radio DJ and screenwriter. Throughout his career he has largely presented for London's regional radio and television. Baker was born in Deptford to a working-class fa ...

's ''6–0–6'' programme on

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, Talk show, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadca ...

Playing career

Digby was a

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 ...

apprentice, making his League debut whilst on loan at

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

in 1985, joining

on a free transfer in December 1986 after two loan spells. Digby, who represented England schools, youth and under-21s, did not leave Swindon until 1998. He played in the 1993 play-off final against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, a match Swindon won, thereby securing a place in the

, and represented the club during their season at the top level of English football. In late 1992, he returned to Manchester United on loan as cover for

Peter Schmeichel Peter Bolesław Schmeichel (born 18 November 1963) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. During eight seasons at English club Manchester United, he won 15 trophies including five Premier League titles, three FA C ...

and was selected as a substitute on several occasions but never came onto the pitch. In August 1998, Digby signed for

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

, before moving on to

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

in 2001. He was released by QPR due to money shortages after which he played a handful of games for

non-league Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

Purfleet. He joined

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team competes in the National League North, the sixth level of the English football league system. Formed in ...

in 2003 on a game-by-game basis (non-contractual), while at the same time rejoining former club Swindon and taking on the two roles of commercial manager and goalkeeping coach under Andy King. Digby also played one game for Cirencester Town in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

in 2004, signed on an emergency deal as Cirencester had a 'keeper shortage, it was then known Digby was good friends with Brian Hughes, the Cirencester manager. The game was against Bognor Regis Town and finished 4–3 to Bognor, with Cirencester coming back from 3–0 down to 3–3 to make a thrilling finish. Digby played for a Manchester United legends team touring Ireland; his last appearance was in a friendly match against

Moyola Park Moyola Park is a country estate near Castledawson, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It was formerly the home of Lady Moyola and Lord Moyola, former Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. The estate is and is home to Moyola Park Golf ...

in July 2008. When Digby retired from professional football, he spoke out against the methods for earning coaching badges for goalkeepers:

The problem is that to obtain full goalkeeping coaching qualifications, you have to go through all the stuff for outfield players and I don't really want to do that.

Danny Baker on BBC Radio 5 Live

Digby has recently been the subject of many adaptations of popular songs, with lyrics written after a story from an anonymous correspondent to

's radio show. It emerged that during a tour of Swindon Town's football ground, someone had come across Digby's washbag in the changing room and taken a

tortoiseshell Tortoiseshell or tortoise shell is a material produced from the shells of the larger species of tortoise and turtle, mainly the hawksbill sea turtle, which is a critically endangered species according to the IUCN Red List largely because of its ...

comb as a memento, thus coining the phrase 'Fraser Digby's Washbag'. Baker saw that there was "music" in these words and latched onto it. The piece, entitled "Fraser Digby's Washbag", became a regular feature of Baker's Tuesday night slot on

's ''6–0–6'' programme for 29 weeks to the final episode on 26 May 2009, during which listeners sent in their own lyrics based on the story, which Baker would sing over karaoke versions of popular songs. In December 2008, Digby surprised Baker live on air, by appearing at the BBC studios to join the show and sang a "Fraser Digby's Washbag" song himself.

Honours

;Swindon Town *

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

: 1995–96 *

Football League Third Division play-offs The EFL League Two play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from fourth to seventh in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are part of the annual Engli ...

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

Football League Second Division play-offs The EFL League One play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL League One table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , the play-offs comprise tw ...

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 ...

Football League First Division play-offs The English Football League (EFL) Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-of ...

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Digby, Fraser 1967 births Living people Footballers from Sheffield English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers England men's under-21 international footballers Manchester United F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players Barry Town United F.C. players Premier League players Thurrock F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. non-playing staff