Bob Catlin

Bob Catlin
Personal information
Full nameRobert Catlin
Date of birth22 June 1965
Place of birthWembley, England
Playing positionGoalkeeper
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1984–85APIA-Leichhardt22(1)
1987–92Marconi Fairfield140(0)
1992Warringah Dolphins1(0)
1992–94Notts County3(0)
1993Birmingham City (loan)8(0)
1994–97Marconi Fairfield69(0)
1997–98Sydney Olympic26(0)
1998Leichhardt Tigers10(0)
1998–2000Newcastle Breakers61(0)
2000–01Newcastle United25(0)
2001–02Marconi Stallions2(0)
2002–03APIA-Leichhardt25(0)
2003–04Canterbury-Marrickville22(0)
2004Manly-Warringah Dolphins11(0)
Teams managed
2011–Newcastle Jets (Goalkeeping Coach)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Robert "Bob" Catlin (born 22 June 1965) is an English-born Australian former professional football (soccer) player who played in the Football League for Notts County and Birmingham City[1] and played more than 300 games in the Australian National Soccer League.[2] He played as a goalkeeper.

Career

Catlin was born in Wembley, London and raised in Australia.[3] He began his football career in Australian domestic football, playing for APIA-Leichhardt and 140 games and scoring one goal in the National Soccer League (NSL) for Marconi Fairfield before deciding to try his luck in England.[2] Catlin and compatriot Shaun Murphy joined Notts County in August 1992 for a total fee of £137,000.[4] Catlin conceded eight goals in his first three appearances for the club, In March 1993 he joined Birmingham City on loan, but after his first game it transpired that the club had mistakenly signed him instead of the Notts County youth goalkeeper they had watched.He went on to play 8 games for Birmingham after which Birkmingham tried to make the move permanent, only for Notts to recall him from his loan spell.ref name=Matthews78/> In November 1993, Notts County were fined £20,000 for irregularities in the transfer of Catlin and Murphy, relating to payments made to a third party other than the players' clubs.[5]

In 1994 Catlin returned to Australia where he played out a long career with numerous clubs.[2] He holds the record for appearances by a goalkeeper in Australia's national competitions.[6] In December 2000, he became the first NSL keeper to record 100 clean sheets when Newcastle United held league leader South Melbourne to a 0–0 draw in his 325th national league match,[7] going on to set a record of 105 clean sheets which in 2003 was beaten by Jason Petkovic.[8]

He represented Australia at schoolboy international level in 1981, but never played a full international for his adopted country, though he was chosen for two representative matches against visiting European club sides, Torpedo Moscow in 1990 and Vitesse Arnhem in 1993.[2]

Bob recently won the 2014 manly warringah football association coach of the year award for guiding manly vale football club out of a relegation battle and pushing them towards the finals, winning six of the nine matches he was in charge.

References

  1. "Notts County : 1947/48–2007/08". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. Retrieved 27 May 2009.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Australian Player Database CA". OzFootball. Retrieved 27 May 2009.
  3. Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
  4. Stapleton, David (10 May 1993). "Super Notts Win The First Battle" (reprint). Nottingham Evening Post (Up The Maggies). Retrieved 27 May 2009.
  5. "Football: Butcher sacked by Sunderland". The Independent. 27 November 1993. Retrieved 27 May 2009.
  6. Warry, Glenn (July 2007). "My Football Career – a Life of Transition and Achievement" (PDF). The Marston (Australian Professional Footballers' Association) 12: 18.
  7. Maddaford, Terry (19 December 2000). "Soccer: Carlton financial woes rebound on leaders". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  8. "Archived News : November–December 2003". FootballWA.net. 14 December 2003. Retrieved 28 May 2009.