Kevin Pressman
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Kevin Pressman (born 6 November 1967 in Fareham, Hampshire) is an English football goalkeeper, who currently plays in Northern Ireland for Portadown FC. He is best remembered as the longtime goalkeeper of Sheffield Wednesday, where he spent 19 seasons, playing 478 matches in all competitions including the UEFA Cup and finishing second in Wednesday's post-war appearance list. Pressman signed his first professional contract for the Owls on his 18th birthday in 1985 and made his debut versus Southampton on 5 September 1987. Kevin had supported Wednesday since childhood after moving to Dronfield on the outskirts of Sheffield at a young age. Pressman's career was nearly wrecked on New Year's Day 1990 when he suffered cruciate knee-ligament damage which sidelined him for over 8 months.
In his prime, Pressman was considered one of the better goalkeepers in the Premiership. He was never capped at senior level even though he was called up to the senior squad on numerous occasions, but did play for England at Under-21 level as well as winning three "B" caps between 1994-1998. Kevin was a sensational shot-stopper and his handling and kicking abilities were fantastic. He had a tendency to play particularly well in Steel City Derby games, much to the frustration of Blades fans. He also became known for both saving and scoring penalties, most notably the winner in a shoot-out against Watford in the FA Cup in 1998. Pressman showed great resilience to fend off many fellow goalkeepers for the number 1 shirt at Hillsborough, outlasting Chris Turner, Chris Woods and Pavel Srníček to name just a few. His last game for the Owls came on the final day of the 2003-2004 season at Hillsborough against QPR.
In the twilight of his career, Pressman was signed by Mansfield Town, at the time managed by his former Sheffield Wednesday teammate Carlton Palmer, in the summer of 2005 and was first-choice goalkeeper for the majority of the 2005-2006 season. In addition to Sheffield Wednesday and Mansfield, Pressman has also played for Stoke City (on loan) and Leicester City.
Pressman announced his retirement from the game in July 2006 after being released by Mansfield Town although there were some rumours that he would return to Wednesday in a coaching role. He is now a member of Sheffield Wednesday's Masters team and is rightly considered to be a legend at Hillsborough where he was affectionately know as 'Big Kev'.[1]
At the end of September 2006 Kevin had signed a short-term deal with Northern-Irish side Portadown FC, who turned to Pressman when the club had a goalkeeping crisis. Kevin has impressed Ports fans with some impressive displays between the sticks despite his age of 39 and helped the club in their rise up the league table. Pressman signed a contract extension with Portadown FC in late December 2006 that will keep him at the club until the end of the current season. He was beaten in a penalty shootout against rival goalkeeper Amir Munaf, who is ironicly a supporter of Shefield United football club, at a charity fund raising event held in doncaster. Munaf later went on to save penalties from Chris Brunt, Mark Crossley, Kevin Davies, Wayne Rooney and Robbie Keane.
