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Not all superheroes wear capes; some of them wear big gloves and daft goalkeeper kits and stand about doing nothing 75% of the time. But that’s Nigel Martyn; a player that was capable of repeated heroics on such a scale that it bordered on far-fetched comic book lampoonery.

Except it was all true, and we all saw it, on a consistently high basis that has led Martyn to become arguably one of the most popular ever Leeds United players, and uniquely valued in being voted – in 2006 – as the only non-Revie era player to be included in the club’s greatest-ever eleven.

While such an accolade benefitted somewhat from the sullied status of Gary Sprake, and his time between the sticks during that golden period being shared with David Harvey, it is testament to Martyn’s level of performance that he was considered at all, given the Revie side’s cast iron grip on the club’s most cherished memories and the fact that he wasn’t part of the only other side to win silverware for Leeds United in 1991/92.

Indeed, part of Martyn’s enduring allure amongst the Elland Road faithful are his performances in almost singlehandedly keeping Leeds away from the gaping abyss of the relegation trapdoor, and while such memories might not be so fond, their significance is not forgotten.

Nigel Martyn was a keeper that ticked every box; a rare specimen with no obvious flaw or deficiency and a footballer able to package his attributes up and put them on display week in week out. Mixing agility and bravery with authority, presence, decision-making and skilful handling, Martyn became a hugely important figure as Leeds’s team progressed from relegation fodder, through fledgling marauders to trophy-hunting thoroughbreds. Martyn was always there, behind it all, with a calm assurance that spread a rare sense of serenity and confidence throughout the team, and it was never lost on the Elland Road faithful what he delivered, even though that team ultimately only delivered unfulfilled promise amongst some spectacular memories.

When Howard Wilkinson signed Martyn from Crystal Palace for a British record fee for a goalkeeper of £2.25million in July 1996, we didn’t know that Wilko’s magical era was coming to an end. And we also didn’t know then, that Wilkinson had left us with a parting gift; a selection of players that would set us up for the next decade, or at least they should have done. In amongst the youngsters emerging from the newly-opened Thorp Arch, Wilkinson procured Nigel Martyn and Lee Bowyer before he was sacked in September, and while the squad had an imbalanced air about it, those two signings in particular would play a big part in shaping what happened next.

Depending on which way you look at it, George Graham gets either the blame or the praise for the relentless, attritional perversity of the 1996/97 season. In what felt like a nine month-long attempt to extract a troublesome wisdom tooth, Leeds adopted a suffocating safety first approach, scoring just 28 goals and recording nine 0-0 draws in somehow escaping relegation. Graham’s tactics and his assorted defensive henchmen took most of the plaudits, but Martyn himself kept an astonishing 20 clean sheets during that turgid campaign, and in a habitual display of defiance was instrumental in doggedly applying Graham’s ‘thou shalt not pass’ mantra to the letter.

Goalscorers rightly get all the headlines, but Martyn won as many points for Leeds that season, and his steadying influence helped the team develop over the next few years. This included five consecutive years of European football, and saw the quietly-spoken Cornishman appreciated by his fellow professionals and voted into the PFA Team of the Year three seasons running between 1997/98 and 1999/00.

It was Martyn’s unerring consistency that probably caught the eye of his opponents; that unfailing ability to never make a high-profile blunder and never let his standards drop. It propelled Leeds further than they ever imagined, and an astonishing individual display in a goalless first leg UEFA Cup tie against AS Roma in 1999/00 put Martyn on a European stage. Leeds beat the Italian giants in the second leg, in a victory that gave the whole club the belief that their right to be on that stage was undeniable. And what followed spoke for itself.

There are too many match-winning saves and breathless displays of bloody-minded persistence to mention, and with youngster Paul Robinson breathing down his neck, competition was a genuine factor in keeping Martyn on his toes. And for someone at the top of their game, but who failed to crack the international scene – due to the dominance of Arsenal’s David Seaman – it was in equal parts ironic and galling that England duty ultimately did for Martyn’s Leeds United career.

Terry Venables was once again the catalyst for a crowd favourite being cast aside, as Martyn returned from a summer in Japan and South Korea at the 2002 World Cup, and asked to be excused from Leeds’s immediate pre-season tour back to the Far East. Venables froze Martyn out and promoted Robinson to number one, with subsequent manager Peter Reid eventually selling Martyn to Everton the following summer.

Martyn was to have one more significant appearance at Elland Road, however, and was rewarded with a moment that proved his imperious popularity prevailed above everything else held sacred in the game. With Leeds deep in the relegation quagmire but on the back of two straight wins, Everton visited Elland Road for a midweek fixture in April 2004 that Leeds had to win.

But Martyn’s inherent professionalism led to a supreme goalkeeping display that restricted Leeds to a devastating 1-1 draw, and they didn’t win again all season. Yet the final whistle triggered a uniform reaction and spontaneous applause from the sell-out crowd, who stood to recognise not just this display, but six consecutive seasons as an unmoveable force, which Martyn’s unceremonious exit had denied them the chance to acknowledge.

Leeds United nostalgia Remember the good old days? Whether it's the Revie Era, Sgt Wilko's last champions or O'Leary's young guns, we've created a Facebook Group to share you memories of all things Leeds United. Join the group here and take a trip down memory lane.

14 years on and what would Leeds fans give for a fraction of that consistency between the sticks, as they have routinely failed to establish a first choice goalkeeper beyond one season. It proves that great goalkeepers are a precious commodity, and when you get one like Nigel Martyn, you don’t forget them easily.

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