Craig Forrest

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

Craig Forrest
Personal information
Full name Craig Lorne Forrest
Date of birth (1967-09-20) 20 September 1967
Place of birth Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada
Height 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1985–1997 Ipswich Town 263 (0)
1987–1988 → Colchester United (loan) 11 (0)
1997 → Chelsea (loan) 3 (0)
1997–2002 West Ham United 30 (0)
Total 307 (0)
National team
1988–2002 Canada 56 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

As a player, he was a goalkeeper from 1985 until 2002, playing his entire career in England. He made Premier League appearances for Ipswich Town, Chelsea and West Ham United, whilst also spending time on loan in the Football League with Colchester United. He made 56 international appearances, representing Canada. In 2012 as part of the Canadian Soccer Association's centennial celebration, he was named to the all-time Canada XI men's team.[1]

Club career

Ipswich Town

Born and raised in British Columbia, 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 Colchester United 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 Premier League by winning the old Football League Second Division. 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, 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 at Old Trafford in March 1995 (this record was equalled in October 2019, when Southampton lost 9–0 at home to Leicester and again in February 2021 when Southampton lost 9–0 away to Manchester United).

His goalkeeping helped Ipswich beat United (then in the early years of their period of dominance of English football) on two occasions in the first three seasons of the Premier League – a 2–1 win at Portman Road in February 1993 and 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 £2million 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.[2]

Forrest went on loan to Chelsea from Ipswich in 1997, playing in the same team with the likes of Gianluca Vialli and Gianfranco Zola under the guidance of manager Ruud Gullit. A permanent move to Chelsea was turned down by the Ipswich Board of Directors.

West Ham United

Forrest signed for West Ham United in the summer of 1997 for £500,000.[3] 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 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.[4]

International career

Forrest played at the 1987 FIFA U-20 World Cup[5] and made his debut for the Canada senior team in a May 1988 friendly match against Chile. 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 Canada win the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup, 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 only a month prior to the World Cup 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 on Sportsnet as well as Sportsnet's Soccer Central Matchday. Forrest is now the Canadian FIFA Ambassador for SOS Children's Villages.

Honours

Club

Ipswich Town

West Ham United

International

Canada

Individual

References
  1. Association announces All Time Canada Men's XI Canadasoccer.com
  2. "Canuck keeper shines for Ipswich". Toronto Star. 9 November 1994.
  3. "Craig Forrest"
  4. "Manchester United 7-1 West Ham United". BBC Sport. 1 April 2000. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  5. Record at FIFA Tournaments - FIFA
  6. "Intertoto win gives Hammers Uefa spot". BBC. 24 August 1999. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
  7. "Trinidad & Tobago And The Netherlands Antilles Will Kick Off The 2002 FIFA World Cup". CONCACAF. Archived from the original on 15 March 2005. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
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