{"id":52417,"date":"2025-04-26T15:17:16","date_gmt":"2025-04-26T15:17:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/52417\/"},"modified":"2025-04-26T15:17:16","modified_gmt":"2025-04-26T15:17:16","slug":"ex-england-star-58-unrecognisable-in-premier-league-debut-of-completely-different-sport-20-years-after-retiring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/52417\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-England star, 58, unrecognisable in Premier League debut of completely different sport 20 years after retiring"},"content":{"rendered":"

AN EX-England star has made his debut in the Premier League of an entirely new sport.<\/p>\n

Nigel Martyn is best remembered for spells at the likes of Crystal Palace<\/a> and Leeds during his two-decade career.<\/p>\n

\"Nigel<\/a><\/p>\n

6<\/p>\n

Nigel Martyn has swapped goalkeeping for wicketkeepingCredit: Knaresborough Cricket Club\"Cricket<\/a><\/p>\n

6<\/p>\n

He did not bat in the game but took the glovesCredit: YouTube @Sheriff Hutton Bridge Cricket Club\"Cricket<\/a><\/p>\n

6<\/p>\n

He helped the club win promotion last yearCredit: YouTube @Sheriff Hutton Bridge Cricket Club\"Nigel<\/a><\/p>\n

6<\/p>\n

Martyn spent time at Leeds United, Crystal Palace and Everton during his careerCredit: Getty Images – Getty<\/p>\n

Martyn<\/a>, 58, hung up his goalkeeping gloves in 2006 after picking up 23 caps for England<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now, nearly 20 years later he has got himself a new type of glove as a wicketkeeper for a ECB Yorkshire Premier League North side<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He made his first appearance of the season for Knaresborough CC<\/a> against Sheriff Hutton Bridge CC.<\/p>\n

Martyn had even taken the gloves ahead of Jonathan Tattersall, though he still managed to knock a half-century.<\/p>\n

The cricketer is a specialist wicketkeeper and is playing for Knaresborough following his exit from Yorkshire CCC where he had been captain.<\/p>\n

Knaresborough CC scored 176\/8 in their 50 overs while Martyn did not bat at Moor Farm Ground.<\/p>\n

Martyn started his footballing career back in 1986 at St Blazey in Cornwall.<\/p>\n

He joined Bristol Rovers in 1987 after reportedly being spotted by a club tea lady.<\/p>\n

JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET \u00a350 BONUS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Two years later, he made the move to Palace for a transfer fee worth \u00a31million.<\/p>\n

This made him the most expensive goalkeeper in English football<\/a> history.<\/p>\n

Jack Wilshere in race against time as he faces huge 350-mile commute from managerial debut to run London Marathon\"Nigel<\/a><\/p>\n

6<\/p>\n

He earned 23 caps for England in his careerCredit: Getty\"Nigel<\/a><\/p>\n

6<\/p>\n

He retired in 2006 after an ankle injuryCredit: Getty Images – Getty<\/p>\n

He played 349 times for the South London club but tasted defeat in the 1990 FA Cup<\/a> final to Manchester United.<\/p>\n

He then broke the previous transfer record in 1996 when he moved to Leeds United<\/a> for \u00a32.25m.<\/p>\n

He performed so well at Elland Road that he was voted as part of the club’s greatest ever team and the only player from after the Don Revie era.<\/p>\n

In 2003, he made the move to Everton<\/a> despite interest from Chelsea<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He retired in 2006 following a stress fracture in his ankle and was hailed by manager David Moyes<\/a> as his “greatest ever signing”.<\/p>\n

Martyn earned almost two dozen caps for the Three Lions but spent most of his career as the second-choice behind David Seaman<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Who are these famous footballers?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AN EX-England star has made his debut in the Premier League of an entirely new sport. Nigel Martyn…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":52418,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5008],"tags":[748,1925,393,11817,4884,2922,189,16,15,2302],"class_list":{"0":"post-52417","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-england","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-crystal-palace","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-everton","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-leeds-united","14":"tag-section-sportfootball","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-yorkshire"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114404933407654794","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52417\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}