I was in net for two of the most iconic Premier League goals ever… but I’ve quit football to become a DRIVING INSTRUCTOR
WHEN it comes to stats it is still all about passing for ex-keeper Neil Sullivan — but it has NOTHING to do with football.
It is because the 54-year-old has stepped away from the game and now works as a driving instructor.
He quit playing in 2013 and worked on the coaching staff at Leeds and then looked after the Under-18s at Hull until 12 months ago.
Sullivan said: “All I had ever known was football.
“The only thing I had done successfully outside playing was teach my kids to drive, so it seemed the perfect thing to do.
“I work for Learn Driving UK. I’ve been training for a year and I started properly last month.
“It’s a world away from what I have done in the past but it’s incredibly satisfying helping people pass and getting them out on the road.”
Despite playing 665 games for six clubs over 25 years, he will always be remembered for his involvement in two of the Premier League’s most iconic goals.
First, David Beckham’s halfway line stunner in 1996 at Selhurst Park and Paolo Di Canio’s astonishing off-the-ground volley at West Ham in 2000.
He said: “That’s the life of a keeper. For all the games, match-winning saves, clean sheets and penalty stops I made, the two matches that always come up are Becks and Di Canio.”
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Ironically, Beckham’s goal led to Sully’s international call-up for Scotland.
He added: “I did an interview with FourFourTwo magazine a few months after that goal and talked about my grandfather being Scottish.
“Then I got a call from Scotland manager Craig Brown, who either read it or someone showed him. I ended up playing 28 times for Scotland and went to the 1998 World Cup in France.”
Sullivan was first spotted as a 16-year-old playing for the Merton Borough team.
He added: “It was a pretty good side and a lot of our games were at Plough Lane, where I ended up playing for Wimbledon.
“We had a couple of players in that side that went on to enjoy careers in the game — Graham Stuart and Jason Cundy.”
Joining the Dons at 16, he made his debut in April 1991 in a 2-1 victory at Aston Villa.
But it was not until the 1994-95 season that he took over from Hans Segers as No 1.
He linked up with Segers again in 2000 at Tottenham where his old team-mate was a coach. And Sully still laughs about his first game with his new club.
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Sullivan said: “When I turned up at White Hart Lane someone took my car and parked it. I genuinely thought it was being nicked. It was completely different to Wimbledon.”
Then after one season at Chelsea, he joined Leeds in 2004 as they struggled financially.
He recalled: “There were a lot of player changes but still a good spirit and we got to the 2006 Championship play-off final.”
Sullivan also talks fondly about his final game in April 2013 when a clean sheet for Doncaster in a 1-0 win at Brentford clinched promotion from League One.
It would have been even better had he been able to celebrate with his Rovers team-mates — instead of being asked to do a random drugs test.
Sullivan said: “The most frustrating part is I could hear all the boys celebrating at Bees’ old Griffin Park ground, and I was desperately trying to do a sample.
“Of course, looking back, as it was my last game I could have refused and it wouldn’t have mattered if they had banned me for ten years.”