Peter David Grotier (born 18 October 1950) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

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 ...

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 ...

. In a senior career that started in 1969, he played for

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 ...

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

, Lincoln City and

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

, where he later became a coach and, briefly, caretaker manager.

Career

Born in Stratford, Grotier started playing as a goalkeeper at

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

but his early career was curtailed once he moved on to West Ham Tech (presumably South West Ham Technical School), with the presence of the West Ham Schools goalkeeper restricting him to the role of understudy. He was spotted by Clapton and played in various Sunday leagues in the local area, before being approached by

chief scout

Wally St Pier Stanley Walter St Pier (8 October 1904 – 1989) was an English association football, footballer and Scout (sport), scout. Career St Pier arrived at West Ham United F.C., West Ham United from Ilford F.C., Ilford in April 1929 making his senior ...

. After playing a game for the Hammers in the South East Counties League early in the 1966–67 season, he signed forms for a year-long

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...

on the day of his 16th birthday. After signing professional forms a year later, he was part of the West Ham A team which, as well as winning trophies in the

Metropolitan League The Metropolitan League was a football league in the south-east of England between 1949 and 1971.Southern Junior Floodlit Cup in 1967 and again in 1969, when they also won the South East Counties League Cup. Grotier made his first team debut for West Ham on 19 April 1969, a

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

encounter against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. The game was the culmination of an eight-day period in which he also played for the youth team and the 'A' team, as well as two reserve games. On 22 September 1970 Grotier played in an exhibition match in New York between West Ham and Santos of Brazil where he faced the legendary Brazilian striker, Pele. He played for the club until 1974, mostly as understudy to Bobby Ferguson. He went loan to

in 1973, and then spent a month at Lincoln City at the start of the 1974–75 season. West Ham were asking for at least £20,000 for his transfer and his stay at Lincoln was only made permanent after fans raised money for the fee. Grotier made a total of 263 League and cup appearances for Lincoln, including a run of 134 consecutive appearances, and was an ever-present during the 1975–76 season. His first two seasons at the club earned him spots in the PFA Division Four Team of the Year in both seasons. He signed for

for £25,000 in 1979, but made only 38 League appearances for the Welsh side before moving on to

in 1982. He later became reserve-team coach at the club, and had a spell as

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...

in 1985. He made an appearance for the Mariners in an

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 ...

game against

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

in 1986, at the age of 36.

Other appearances

Grotier appeared on BBC TV ''The Repair Shop'' (series 12, episode 9, 2023) asking for his programme from the West Ham vs Santos match, autographed by Pele, to be repaired.

Notes

References

External links

Lincoln City profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grotier, Peter 1950 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Newham People from Stratford, London English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers West Ham United F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Clapton F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. non-playing staff Grimsby Town F.C. managers English Football League players English Football League managers English football managers Association football goalkeeping coaches