Former Wales and Everton goalkeeper Neville Southall visited Colchester Garrison recently to give local lad, Liam Dobson, a football coaching session he’ll never forget as part of FA Cup Sponsor E.ON’s Great Saves campaign which celebrates special goalkeeping performances across the Country’s parks in search of the nation’s unsung goalkeeping heroes at all levels of the game.
Dobson has been Wormingford Wanderers FC’s hero this season, conceding just 18 goals as the Worms have risen to the top of the Kent Blaxill Essex & Suffolk Border League Division One. But Liam’s attitude to fitness training - the young ‘keeper prefers the warmth of the dressing room to running laps - has his club Manager Rob Batten and coach Shaun Gascoyne tearing their hair out!
E.ON teamed up with the Army’s elite Parachute Regiment, based at Colchester, and legend Neville Southall to arrange a punishing fitness session from physical training instructors followed by a goalkeeping master class by the ex-Everton shot-stopper. Dobson endured a 15-lap warm-up and some gruelling circuit training before facing the Garrison’s army assault course littered with obstacles including a 12 foot wall, monkey bars and high ropes. After a short break, attention turned back to goalkeeping as Southall held a private one-to-one coaching session with Liam.
Unsung Heroes forms part of E.ON’s wider Great Saves campaign, celebrating the art of goalkeeping and great saves on the pitch as well as encouraging fans and their families to log-on to www.eongreatsaves.com and share their energy-saving tactics in return for a host of FA Cup and Football League benefits. Wanderers coach Gascoyne said: “Liam’s been brilliant this season but I can’t say the same for his work off the pitch - he’s a lazy toe-rag and that’s why we nominated him! I’ve enjoyed watching the army boys put him through his paces. Hopefully, some of that discipline will rub off on him at training!”
Dobson added: “I’m exhausted. The PTIs really pushed me to my limit but I’ll be cutting down on the curries from now on and I’m going to make a promise to myself to put a bit more effort into my fitness training. The session with Neville was awesome. He’s given me some advice on my positioning at set pieces as well as my shot-stopping that I’m really looking forward to putting into practice. He’s a legend. He been there and done it all, so to pick-up some tips from him has been great.”
Phil Boas, Head of Sponsorship and Events at E.ON, said: “This season we’re celebrating Great Saves – great energy saves at home and great goalkeeping saves on the pitch - and part of that is about rewarding the guys that turn out week in, week out for their team to take up the loneliest position on the pitch. So as well as giving people like Liam a day to remember, we’re also rewarding great energy saves with fantastic FA Cup prizes like VIP tickets and the chance to walk out with the Cup finalist at Wembley in May.”
By logging on to www.eongreatsaves.com, fans can nominate their Unsung Heroes, win FA Cup and Football League prizes, pick-up top tips from campaign ambassador David James and watch him make great saves – blindfolded, as well as find out more information on all Great Saves activities and events and share and learn energy saving tactics.