Bruce Grobbelaar the first choice for bar
Liverpool's No 1 goalkeeper in the 1980s will re-live his career and the club's glory years at a Wolverhampton pub on Thursday night.
Bruce Grobbelaar will take to the stage at the Cleveland Arms Sports Bar on Stowheath Lane to talk about his glittering playing days,
The 32-cap Zimbabwe international won the richest prizes in world club football during his 14 years at Anfield from 1981 to 1995.
He first came to England in 1979, when he was offered a chance trial with West Bromwich Albion by then-manager Ron Atkinson.
'Big Ron' was keen to sign him, too, but the club encountered work permit difficulties and the move to the Hawthorns never materialised.
Grobbelaar, who was playing for Vancouver Whitecaps in the North American Soccer League at the time, instead joined Division Four side Crewe Alexandra on loan that December.
He returned to spend 1980 with the Whitecaps, succeeding former Wolves star Phil Parkes as the club's first choice.
His switch to Liverpool was completed for £250,000 in March 1981 and, later that year, long-term No 1 Ray Clemence left for Tottenham Hotspur.
Clemence is still the club's fourth record appearance maker with 641 games, but Grobbelaar would get to ninth after featuring 628 times.
His debut would come at Wolves on 28 August 1981, but would finish on the losing side after Mick Matthews scored the only goal of the game.
After a shaky start, he would make the berth his own and obtain his first winners medals in 1982, with a league title and League Cup double.
He famously put off Roma duo Bruno Conti and Francesco Graziani during the penalty shoot-out in the 1984 European Cup final, leading to them both missing spot kicks as the Reds won 4-2.
It made him the first player from an independent African nation to win a European Cup and many more trophies would follow in the years to come.
He survived four managers in Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan, Kenny Dalglish and Graeme Souness, leaving after Roy Evans took charge.
He's won more honours than any other Liverpool goalkeeper in history with six league titles, three League Cups, three FA Cups and a European Cup.
He remained in the Premier League after leaving Liverpool by joining Southampton, but his time with the Saints was marred by allegations of match-fixing.
He dropped down the pyramid to turn out for Plymouth, Oxford United, Sheffield Wednesday, Chesham United, Lincoln City and Northwich Victoria before returning to his native country.
Now aged 59 and living in Canada, he remains in the game as the goalkeeping coach for NASL outfit Ottawa Fury. He's also starred in reality television cooking show 'Hell's Kitchen,' on ITV.
Tickets are still available for the show but VIP passes, at £25, are sold out. Standard entry is £10, either in advance or on the door.
They can be purchased online, at either www.clevelandarms.com or www.sportstalkevents.co.uk. There will be photo opportunities on the night.
