David Felgate

Who is David Felgate?

David Felgate is a retired Welsh football goalkeeper. Due to his stature, many supporters affectionately nicknamed him "the fat goalie". Felgate had a long professional career from 1978 to 1995, making a total of 612 Football League appearances. Of the league appearances, 238 came with the Bolton Wanderers and he also turned out for league sides Rochdale, Crewe Alexandra, Lincoln City, Grimsby Town, Cardiff City, Chester City, and Wigan Athletic.

He also had spells with Bury and Wolverhampton Wanderers without making any league appearances for these clubs, and Felgate later continued to play non-league football for clubs including Leigh RMI, Hyde United, and Bacup Borough until he was in his mid-40s.

Felgate is perhaps best known for his performance in net for Leigh RMI against Fulham in the 1998/99 FA Cup at Craven Cottage. Non-league Leigh achieved a 1–1 draw against the southwest London side, and thereby attention of the British media. In particular, Felgate, who was then 38 years old, received widespread plaudits for his performance in the match, which prompted then-Fulham boss Kevin Keegan to declare that Felgate's goalkeeping was "the best I've ever seen at any level."