Top facts about David Seaman, “Safe Hands”

David Andrew Seaman is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Seaman was born on September 19, 1963 meaning that

David Seaman's age

is 58.

Seaman played a mighty total of 958 times for clubs and 75 times for England, the second most-capped keeper after Brexit’s Peter Shilton, not retiring until he was 40 years old.

His final act as an

player was to lift the FA Cup, his eighth major trophy. David played in goal for Arsenal more times than anyone else, and is second only to the Ginger Pele that is Ray Parlour in all-time Premier League appearances chart for Arsenal, with 325 on the board.

When he began to make a name for himself, he was one of, if not the tallest, goalie in the league. Today, you don’t get the gig unless you’re 6’ 3” minimum, preferably 6’ 6” or taller.

But it wasn’t uncommon in the 80s and early 90s to find keepers around the six foot mark. David, as broad as he was tall, absolutely filled the net and must’ve been an intimidating sight to have him running out of his goal at your feet.

In 1999, Seaman received his 50th cap for England but injured his hand in the 1-1 draw against Hungary at Wembley. Therefore, he missed Euro 2000 qualifying games against Poland and

due to a recurring calf injury plaguing him all season.

In 2000, he crashed his car but was not injured. He was also selected in Kevin Keegan's Euro 2000 squad.

The followings are some facts about David Seaman:

In 2004, the former Premier League goalkeeper, David Seaman, retired from playing professionally after a distinguished career both domestically with Arsenal and Manchester City and also internationally with 75 caps for England. Here you can find the top facts about the mustached Arsenal and England legend, David Seaman.

David Seaman early life

David Andrew Seaman, born 19 September 1963, is an English former professional footballer who played for Leeds United, Peterborough United, Birmingham City, QPR, Arsenal and Manchester City during his long club career.

The fact about

David Seaman's childhood

is that he was born in Rotherham, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. He attended Kimberworth Comprehensive School.

About

David Seaman's parents

, it should be mentioned that there is not exact information available about his parents.

Seaman grew up as a Leeds United fan and in 1981 he joined them to begin his career; however he was not chosen by then-manager Eddie Gray, who had been his favorite player, which was a quiet disappointment for him.

David Seaman personal life

The fact about

David Seaman's personal life

is that he has married three times; his first wife was Sandra Seaman.

Seaman’s first marriage ended when he admitted adultery with Debbie, then a receptionist at Arsenal, in 1995. He had been married to his first wife, childhood sweetheart Sandra, for 10 years, and they had two sons, Dan and Thomas.

In 1995, Seaman met his second wife, Debbie Rodgers. The couple were married in Castle Ashby in Northamptonshire on 15 July 1998; they separated in 2009 and were divorced in 2010.

He was famously nicknamed “Safe Hands,” but former England goalkeeper let a second wife slip through his fingers in 2010.

He left Debbie, his wife of 11 years, and started living with his Dancing On Ice partner Frankie Poultney in a £500,000 riverside apartment in Buckinghamshire.

The former Arsenal footballer, who appeared on the hit ITV1 show in 2006, and Ms Poultney, 36, became inseparable during a live Dancing On Ice tour and she also left her husband, Andrew.

Debbie, the mother of Seaman’s younger children Georgina and Robbie was entitled to up to half of his £4million fortune.

She said, “I’ve divorced David on the grounds of his adultery. He has not contested it. You don’t have to be a magician to work out who it is.”

Earlier, she had said, “Obviously we are devastated. But I have two beautiful children to protect. They’re my priority.”

In 2008, Seaman and Frankie Poultney met each other at Dancing on Ice which was a television series; Seaman declared their engagement in December 2013 and they married on 7 February 2015.

About David Seaman's children, it should be mentioned that he has four children.

David Seaman professional career

Starting his career at Leeds, he was soon offloaded to Peterborough, then in the old Division Four for £4,000. He played for Posh 91 times before being snaffled by Division Two Birmingham for £100K. He was part of their promotion side in 1984-85.

He played the next season in the top flight but they were relegated. However, Dave was offski again, this time to QPR and now commanding a fee of £225,000. He spent four seasons at Loftus Road, playing 175 games.

He played most of his club career in Arsenal and managed to play for England national team from 1988 to 2002. Former England goalkeeper was capped 75 times. His last international was against Macedonia in October 2002. He captained England for one game.

In January 2004, David Seaman, who was playing for Manchester City, retired from football because of a recurring shoulder injury.

David Seaman club career

The

fact about David Seaman

's club career is that he began his senior career with Leeds United in 1981.

As mentioned before, his coach at Leeds didn't want him which caused an early exit from the club for Seaman.

In August 1982, David Seaman went to join the Division 4 club, Peterborough United, for a £4,000 fee, where he started to make a name for himself.

After spending two seasons with Peterborough United, David Seaman was signed by the Second Division Birmingham City in October 1984, for a £100,000 fee.

Seaman and his side ended up winning promotion at the end of that campaign, but were relegated again at the end of the following season. Seaman was not to follow them back to Division Two, however.

Seaman joined the First Division side, Queens Park Rangers, in August 1986, for £225,000.

The fact about David Seaman's performance at QPR club is that, he represented great potential from himself and became a famous player; he also collected his first England cap in 1988, while playing for QPR.

Arsenal

In 1990, long before the running transfer window method had come to English football, there was still a transfer deadline a few weeks before the end of the season.

The 1989 league winners, Arsenal, wanted to sign David Seaman, but the agreement included Arsenal's keeper John Lukic heading the reverse way on loan.

John Lukic did not intend to do this, and the deal broke down and stayed not settled when the deadline passed.

As soon as the season ended and clubs were permitted to purchase players again, Arsenal coach, George Graham, returned for Seaman and signed him. Lukic who was very popular among Arsenal fans, left the club to rejoin Leeds United. 

The fact about David Seaman's transfer to Arsenal is that, he became the most expensive British goalkeeper at the time with £1.3 million transfer fee.

David Seaman's time at Arsenal coincided with one of the most successful eras in Arsenal's history.

The 1990–91 campaign saw Seaman concede only 18 goals when participating in every appearance of the 38-match season as Arsenal regained the Premier League trophy.

Arsenal achieved both the League Cup and the FA Cup in 1993 and supplemented this in the following year with collecting the European Cup Winners' Cup.

Seaman and his side began their successful League Cup campaign against Millwall and after two legs the match went to penalties. Seaman managed to save three of the four Millwall penalties from Colin Cooper, Malcolm Allen and Jon Goodman to help his side advance to next stage.

In 1995, Arsenal approached to be the first club to defend the Cup Winners' Cup, with Seaman earning an attribute as a penalty-saving expert after saving from Siniša Mihajlović, Attilio Lombardo and Vladimir Jugović in Arsenal's semi-final shoot-out against Sampdoria, all the while playing with two cracked ribs.

However, Seaman and his side lost the final match against Real Zaragoza, at the Parc des Princes in Paris, when Nayim scored a goal in the final minute of extra time with a 40-yard lob over Seaman.

In 1998, Seaman helped his side to collect the Premier League and FA Cup double. In the following season, Seaman played all 38 league appearances, conceding only 17 league goals as Arsenal came within one point of defending the Premier League title.

David Seaman and his teammates managed to reach the 2000 UEFA Cup Final, which Arsenal drew 0–0 with Galatasaray, but lost the match 4-1 on penalties.

David Seaman won the Premier League and the FA Cup again to complete his second career double in 2002, a highlight of this campaign was when Seaman dramatically saved a Gareth Barry penalty as his side won 2–1 against Aston Villa.

The 2002-03 season was Seaman's last at Arsenal. During that campaign he went on to captain the team during the 2003 FA Cup Final in the absence of injured Patrick Vieira and keep another clean sheet as his side defeated Southampton 1–0. This was Seaman's eighth major trophy with Arsenal.

The fact about David Seaman's spell at Arsenal is that, he played in goal for the club more times than anyone else, and is second after Ray Parlour in the all-time Premier League appearances chart for Arsenal, with 325 to his name.

Manchester City

In the summer of 2003, David Seaman joined Manchester City to play his last season as a player.

He missed most of the season due to shoulder injury and played in 26 matches in all competitions for the club.

Seaman's final act at Manchester City was to assist Keegan choose his successor in goal, David James-the man who had relived him as England's first-choice goalkeeper a little over a year earlier. Seaman declared his retirement in January 2004 at the age of 40.

David Seaman international career

David Seaman earned England under-21 call-up in 1984, when he played for Birmingham City.

The

fact about David Seaman

's senior international career is that he made his full international debut in November 1988 in a friendly match against Saudi Arabia.

The England head coach, Bobby Robson, selected Seaman as England's third-choice goalkeeper after Peter Shilton and Chris Woods at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, but after arriving in Italy he had to leave the squad because of injury and was replaced with Dave Beasant.

David Seaman stayed a member of the England squad under new coach Graham Taylor, although he was not picked for the final squad for Euro 1992.

Throughout the 1994 World Cup qualification, Seaman played in the very important match against the Netherlands, which England lost 2–0; he also participated in the final game against San Marino, in which Davide Gualtieri scored after 8.3 seconds before England regained to win 7–1. England eventually failed to qualify for the competition.

With the arrival of Terry Venables as head coach, David Seaman fixed his place as the undisputed number-one goalkeeper and played every minute of every appearance during Euro 96.

Seaman saved two penalties during the tournament; the first a penalty in normal play from Scotland's Gary McAllister in a group match, while England were 1–0 up. Then, after England's quarter-final match against Spain ended without goals, Seaman saved Miguel Angel Nadal's kick in the penalty shootout to knock Spain out of the tournament.

Seaman and his side were finally knocked-out in the semi-final by Germany on penalties, after Andreas Köpke saved the penalty taken by Gareth Southgate.

David Seaman was named alongside teammates, Steve McManaman and Golden Boot winner Alan Shearer in the UEFA "Team of the Tournament". Euro 96 sponsor Philips named Seaman "Player of the Tournament".

David Seaman defended his position in England national team and stayed the first choice under the management of Glenn Hoddle for the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France.

Seaman collected two clean sheets in the group stage against Tunisia and Colombia as his side finished second behind Romania in group G of the tournament.

England faced Argentina in the round of 16. Seaman conceded a penalty as the match ended 2–2, before England lost 4-3 on penalties.

David Seaman was a member of England team for the Euro 2000 tournament, where he started against both Portugal and Germany but suffered an injury in his warm-up exercises before the third match against Romania and was replaced by Nigel Martyn. They were defeated 3-2 and were knocked-out in the group stage.

Seaman was part of England's 2002 FIFA World Cup squad and played in all matches as they advanced to the quarter-finals.

In the first match Seaman conceded a goal against Sweden as the match ended 1-1, but in the following matches against Argentina and Nigeria he managed to keep his goal closed as they defeated Argentina 1-0 and their match against Nigeria ended in a 0-0 draw.

Seaman and his teammates continued their great form as they managed to defeat Denmark 3-0 in the round of 16.

However, in the quarter-final match against Brazil, Seaman was caught off his line by Ronaldinho's long-range free kick, as his side lost the match 2–1 to the eventual champions; Seaman blamed himself for the mistake.

The result against Brazil led to an argument about whether Seaman should stay England's number one goalkeeper.

David Seaman remained England's first goalkeeper until a Euro 2004 qualifier against Macedonia in October 2002.

In this game, Seaman conceded a goal straightly from a corner kick by Artim Sakiri in a 2–2 draw and caused extra press criticism.

The match against Macedonia was Seaman's last appearance for the England national team, as manager Eriksson dropped him in support of David James.

The fact about David Seaman's international stats is that he capped 75 times from 1988 to 2002 and appeared for the side in fifteen consecutive years, a national record, since equaled by Rio Ferdinand.

Seaman is the second most-capped goalkeeper (behind Peter Shilton who collected 125 caps) in the history of England national team.

Some quick facts about David Seaman:

About David Seaman's age it should be mentioned that he was born on 19 September 1963, this means that he's 58 years old.

The

fact about David Seaman

's play-style is that  he was known for his quick reflexes, agility, courage and excellent positional sense, as well as his credible handling and ability to judge the ball, which allowed him to come out and receive crosses and order his area efficiently, earning him the nickname "safe hands" in the media.

He was known for his cool gesture, authoritative attendance, and calmness in goal, as well as his leadership and ability to arrange his back–line, which motivated a sense of confidence in his teammates, Seaman was also expert at stopping penalties.

The fact about David Seaman's fame is that he is regarded as one of the greatest English goalkeepers of all time, as well as one of the best shot-stoppers in English football and Premier League history.

Extra to his goalkeeping capability, Seaman was also a highly identifiable player on the pitch due to his moustache and the ponytail hairstyle he wore for part of his career.

Seaman is famous for a series of bad haircuts culminating in a dreadful ponytail, which he had chopped off for charity. Brian Clough said of him, "That Seaman is a handsome young man but he spends too much time looking in his mirror, rather than at the ball. You can't keep goal with hair like that."

In 2000 he released his book Safe Hands: My Autobiography in which he talks about his distinguished playing career as well as the off the pitch antics of the Arsenal side of the nineties.

His on-screen attendance made him a favorite choice for chat shows and televised appearances during his sporting career, and he can sometimes be spotted on British television.

Whilst still an active footballer, Seaman acted in a cameo role in a BBC movie based around the events of England's successful Euro 96 tournament, starring Neil Morrissey and Rachel Weisz, entitled ''My Summer with Des''. He also became the announcer for Yorkshire Tea during the early 1990s.

Following his retirement from professional football, David Seaman became one of the celebrities to participate in Strictly Ice Dancing in December 2004, an ice dance version of Strictly Come Dancing, in which celebrities are paired with professional dancers.

With just eight days to get ready for the show, Seaman and his professional partner Zoia Birmingham managed to win the competition.

David Seaman had his trademark ponytail cut off in late 2005 on live television for charity, which ended negotiatory conversations with such companies as L'Oréal who wanted to guarantee his hair as they had with David Ginola.

David Seaman joined Combined Counties League club Wembley as goalkeeping coach for their 2012–13 FA Cup campaign in June 2012, as part of a television documentary following the club's intent to play at Wembley Stadium.

Seaman started presenting his own podcast series Seaman Says, in 2021. The series followed England national team during the Euro 2020 tournament with a second series starting at the beginning of the new season in August.

David Seaman also hosts a ''Safe Hands'' charity golf contest annually, and has released two football-themed DVDs entitled David Seaman's Goalkeeping Nightmares in 2003 and Jeepers Keepers in 2004. He has also participated in all six Football Aid matches for England.

Seaman was awarded the MBE order of chivalry for services to football in 1997 while being an active player.

The fact about David Seaman's performance in Premier League is that, with 141 clean sheets, he is the fourth goalkeeper in list of Premier League goalkeepers with most clean sheets.

The fact about David Seaman's championship winnings is that he won 12 trophies with Arsenal between 1990 and 2003; the most important one of them was Premier League title which he won for three times.

David Seaman quotes

When we actually found out what it meant, ‘Spunky’ was my nickname at school. Carrying on that theme is ‘H’ for Harry, because of Harry Monk, which is rhyming slang for spunk. People call me ‘H’ or ‘goalie’. It’s hard to explain to little kids when they ask, “Why are you called H?”

Former Arsenal, Manchester City, and England goalkeeper, Seaman, played on until he was 40 and he admits he is concerned Cech may decide in future he has called time on his career too soon.

“Petr has had his own chat with people and he has his own thoughts as well. For him, it is the right time but I just thought it was a little bit early.

“I was ready. I was 40 and had been 22 years a pro, and really enjoyed myself. Petr’s 36 and I can’t help thinking he might feel ‘I could have gone on for another couple of years,” Seaman said.

Euro 96 goalkeeper once said that he was so proud of his former teammate and now England manager, Gareth Southgate. He is full of admiration for his one-time international teammate.

“He’s been brilliant on the field and now he’s showing how good he is off the field and how good his understanding is of every situation.

“Even down to making sure England take the knee. I’m totally behind that and he’s dealt with it really well.

“He’s not gone out there shouting, he sends his message in an eloquent, constructive manner. People are listening and that’s the main thing,” Seaman added.

David Seaman social media

About David Seaman social media, it should be mentioned that he has an Instagram page (

) and has more than 84K followers on Instagram. He mostly posts pictures from himself and his family and also his friends.

He also has a Twitter page (

) with more than 428k followers. He often posts new stuff on his page.

David Seaman body measurements

About

David Seaman body measurements

, it should be mentioned that he stands at a height of 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) tall. His weight is 93 kg (205 lb).

David Seaman net worth

Speaking about

David Seaman net worth

, it should be mentioned that it is estimated to be around $14 million in 2021. The goalkeeper is best known for his stint on Arsenal from 1990 to 2003 as well as his time on England's national team.

He was one of the best Premier League goalkeepers during his career and had many endorsement deals with famous brands and also he worked as a goalkeeping coach after his retirement.

Apart from his professional life, the Arsenal star managed to make headlines due to his personal life as well. Seaman grabbed media attention after marrying Frankie Poultney while training for Dancing On Ice back in 2008.

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