Thursday, August 09, 2007

Liverpool's Reina Wins Barclays Golden Glove Award


Liverpool's Spanish goalkeeper Jose Manuel 'Pepe' Reina has won the Barclays Golden Glove Award for the second successive season after keeping 19 clean sheets in the 2006-07 Barclays Premier League campaign.

Reina's nearerst rival was across Stanley Park at Goodison, where Everton's Tim Howard recorded 14 shut-outs. Reading's Marcus Hahnemann followed with 13 clean sheets in his first Barclays Premier League season.

Previous Barclays Golden Glove winner Petr Cech, and Manchester United's Edwin van der Sar, were two of five goalkeepers who racked up 12 games without conceding.

Reina Fact-File:

Jose Manuel Reina was born on 31st August 1982 in Madrid, but began his career with Barcelona and made his debut for the Catalan side at the age of 18, also playing against Liverpool in the 2001 UEFA Cup semi-final.

Reina signed for Liverpool in July 2005 from Villarreal for £6 million.

During the 2006-07 season, he made 34 League appearances and registered 19 clean sheets. He now holds the Liverpool club record for successive clean sheets since the Barclays Premier League began, overtaking the five games in a row achieved by David James in the 1996/97 season.