Anthony Joseph Norman (born 24 February 1958) is a Welsh 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 ...

for Hull City,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

and

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

. He holds the record for consecutive appearances for Hull City, playing 226 consecutive League games between August 1983 and September 1988 (255 consecutive games in all competitions). Norman joined Hull from Burnley in February 1980 and made his debut in a 1-0 victory at home against

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

where he dislocated his finger but carried on playing. In 2005, as part of the club's centenary celebrations, a poll was carried out to name the top 100 Tigers, and Norman was the highest-placed goalkeeper at number six. During his time at Boothferry Park, Hull completed a swift climb from the Fourth Division to the Second, and in 1986 finished sixth – their 2nd highest finish (they finished 5th in 1971) until they finally won promotion to the top flight 22 years later. On leaving Hull City in December 1988, he signed for

for a then club record fee. During his time at

Roker Park Roker Park was a football ground in Roker, Sunderland, England, which was the home of Sunderland from 1898 to 1997, before the club moved to the Stadium of Light. Its final capacity was around 22,500, with only a small part being seated; it h ...

, he helped them win promotion to the top flight in 1990 and also played at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

in the 1992 FA Cup final, where they lost 2–0 to Liverpool. He played a starring role in that cup run, including Man of the Match displays away to West Ham and at home to Chelsea. He is the only goalkeeper to have played for Sunderland at the old Wembley Stadium twice. He departed from Sunderland in the summer of 1995 to sign for

Brian Horton Brian "Nobby" Horton (born 4 February 1949) is an English former footballer and manager. He spent 16 years as a professional player and 22 years as a manager, making 689 appearances and managing 1,098 matches. In addition to this, he spent four ...

(who had been his manager at Hull City) at

. He remained in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

for two seasons until he finally called time on his playing career in 1997 at the age of 39. During his lengthy career he played one season of top-flight football, when in 1990–91 he kept goal for a Sunderland side that suffered relegation on the final day of the season from the penultimate pre-Premiership First Division. He made 5 international appearances for

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, usually serving as deputy to the legendary

Neville Southall Neville Southall (born 16 September 1958) is a Welsh Manager (association football), football manager and former international association football, footballer. He has been described as one of the best Goalkeeper (association football), goalk ...

. Since retiring from professional football Norman has been diagnosed with a rare heart condition called

cardiomyopathy Cardiomyopathy is a group of primary diseases of the heart muscle. Early on there may be few or no symptoms. As the disease worsens, shortness of breath, feeling tired, and swelling of the legs may occur, due to the onset of heart failure. A ...

. In 2005, he undertook a 190-mile charity walk in aid of the Children's Heart Federation. In August 2008 Norman returned to Sunderland AFC as Academy Goalkeeping Coach. He was appointed Goalkeeping Coach at Darlington 1883 in June 2012. Norman was appointed goalkeeping coach at

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

on 21 July 2013.

External links

On Cloud Seven: 578 Tony Norman

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norman, Tony 1958 births Living people Welsh men's footballers Wales men's international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers English Football League players Hull City A.F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. non-playing staff Gateshead F.C. non-playing staff Association football goalkeeping coaches