Tim Flowers

In 2002 at the age of 35 Tim fulfilled a childhood dream by making his debut for the Sky Blues, the club he had supported as a boy. Roland Nilsson took the veteran Leicester City keeper on loan for a month after an injury to Magnus Hedman. Tim only played five games on loan but both he and the City fans, who took him to their hearts, remember his stay fondly.

Rejected by City as a schoolboy he joined Wolves as an apprentice in 1984 and quickly earned a reputation in the lower divisions. First Division Southampton moved in for him in 1986 and he became the regular custodian at the Dell in 1989 and played over 200 games for the Saints. In 1993 he won his first England cap in a 1-1 against Brazil in the US Cup in Washington and soon after joined Blackburn Rovers in a £2.4 million transfer. In his first full season at Ewood Park he won a Premier League championship medal with Kenny Dalglish’s team.

At his peak, he was as technically proficient as any other goalkeeper in the Premiership; strong, agile, quick to read danger, good handling and shot-stopping and a physical presence that all the top goalkeepers have.

Altogether he won 11 England caps, the last against Morocco just before the 1998 World Cup finals. In 1999 injuries cost him his Blackburn place and Tim joined Leicester City for £1.1 million, helping the Foxes to win the Worthington Cup in his first season with some outstanding displays.

Tim was on the winning side in all three home games during his spell at City but was on the losing side at Portsmouth and Manchester City. Once Hedman was fit Tim sat on the substitutes bench for two more games before being allowed to return to Filbert Street. Hopes of a contract at Coventry were dashed by the club’s financial situation with Tim’s personal terms proving to be beyond City’s budget.

The following season he went to Manchester City on a three-month loan as cover for Peter Schmeichel and after returning to Leicester and made an emotional 12-minute appearance in the final game of the campaign at Molineux before hanging up his boots. After a spell as goalkeeping coach at Manchester City under another ex-Sky Blue Stuart Pearce he joined City as assistant manager.