Antony Nigel Martyn (born 11 August 1966) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
He notably played in the Premier League for Crystal Palace, Leeds United and Everton, having initially played in the Football League with Bristol Rovers. His move to Palace saw him become the first £1 million goalkeeper in British football and was a member of the Palace side that lost the 1990 Cup Final and won the Full Members Cup in 1991. An ankle injury forced him to retire in 2006. He won 23 England caps between 1992 and 2002 and was a member of the national squad at four major tournaments.
Following retirement, Martyn briefly held a role as goalkeeping coach for Bradford City but has not returned to the sport since 2009.
Club career
Early career
Martyn started his career as a midfielder until invited to play as a goalkeeper for his brother's works team when he was 17. He started by playing amateur football for Cornish sides Heavy Transport FC, Bugle and St Blazey while working in a plastics factory and for a coal merchant, before beginning his professional career with Bristol Rovers in 1987 after apparently having been "spotted" by Rovers' tea lady Vi Harris, whilst she was on holiday.
Crystal Palace
Martyn was transferred to Crystal Palace for a fee of £1 million in 1989, becoming the first goalkeeper to attract a million-pound transfer fee in English football. He remained at Palace for seven seasons, appearing 349 times for his club, including the 1990 FA Cup Final, where Palace were beaten by Manchester United in a replay, and the 1991 Full Members' Cup final, where Palace beat Everton. In 1996, he signed with Leeds United, setting another record fee for a goalkeeper of £2.25m.
In 2005, Palace supporters voted Martyn into their Centenary XI.
Leeds United
Martyn was signed by boss Howard Wilkinson in the summer of 1996/97, along with another high-profile capture in the form of Britain's most expensive teenager, Lee Bowyer. Martyn's form for United, both at home and on the continent in European competition was outstanding – most notably in a man-of-the-match display at the Stadio Olimpico v AS Roma in the 1999/2000 UEFA Cup campaign, when Leeds reached the semi-finals. Martyn was also a huge part of the squad that eliminated illustrious clubs such as Barcelona, Lazio and Deportivo La Coruna in the following season's UEFA Champions League campaign, leading them to the last four.
In total, Martyn played as Leeds' first-choice goalkeeper for six seasons and his consistency was such that years later at a supporters' dinner, the Cornishman was named officially as United's greatest ever goalkeeper, beating off competition from the likes of Gary Sprake and John Lukic – men who both won championship medals at Elland Road.
However, it was a disagreement with new Leeds manager Terry Venables, combined with the increasingly good form of youngster Paul Robinson, that kept him from playing any games in Leeds' 2002–03 season and after a string of unused substitute appearances, Martyn was told he could find new employers.
On 10 April 2006, he was voted as part of Leeds United's greatest team being the only player from after the Revie era to be part of the team. He is still well regarded by the Leeds United fans and was involved in the "Back the Bid Leeds" campaign for Leeds to be one of the host cities in England's World Cup 2018 bid.
Everton
In the middle of 2003, Leeds were approached by Chelsea and Everton with offers to sign Martyn. Both clubs were offering the out-of-favour goalkeeper a backup post: at Chelsea, he would understudy Carlo Cudicini; at Everton, the first-choice was Richard Wright. Martyn chose to move to Everton, and six games into the season, an injury to Wright gave him his Everton debut. His performances for the first team during Wright's recovery were such that Martyn remained Everton's first-choice goalkeeper even after Wright returned from injury.