Leighton, Jim

Leighton achieved the greatest success in his club career with Aberdeen under the leadership of Alex Ferguson in the 1980s. Then Aberdeen won the Scottish Cup four times, twice the Scottish League Cup , as well as the Cup Winners' Cup in 1983 and three Scottish titles.

Leighton's reliability at the last frontier of defense and his will to win were respected by many players and experts. So, the English goalkeeper Peter Shilton said about him: "Scotland has solved its problems with the goalkeeper." Even outspoken Brian Clough said: “Jim Leighton is a rare bird: a Scottish goalkeeper you can rely on.”

Alex Ferguson joined Manchester United in 1986, and two years later Leighton followed him. Jim's first season at Old Trafford was relatively successful, although United ended the season only in 11th place. Already in the second season of the Scot at United, he lost his form and began to speak less confidently. Ferguson even chose to put Les Ciley on goal to replay the 1990 FA Cup final against Crystal Palace , as in the first match Leighton conceded three goals (the match ended with the score 3: 3). Seeley lived up to Ferguson’s confidence by replaying a number of great saves and helping the club win 1-0.

The next season, Sealy retained his place at United, and Leighton had to go on a lease, first to Arsenal and then to Reading . After the 1990 FA Cup final, Leighton played only one match for United - in the Football League Cup match against Halifax Town on September 26, 1990. He eventually returned to Scotland, joining the Dundee Club in March 1992.

Leighton's transition to Hibernian in 1993 was successful: for this club, Jim spent more than 150 matches, having missed only one game in the championship in four seasons. Confident performance in the club restored his place in the national team.

In 1997, Jim returned to Aberdeen, and his last match was the 2000 Scottish Cup final, in which the Reds met with the Rangers . This match marked the end of Leighton's career, which was injured and was replaced just three minutes after the start of the match. Aberdeen did not have a spare goalkeeper, and striker Robbie Winters got into the goal. As a result, “Aberdeen” lost 4-0. Leyton’s last match in the championship in the 1999/2000 season was a record: playing in it, Jim became the oldest player to enter the field as part of the Scottish Premier League (then he was 41 years and 302 days). This record was broken in 2007 by Andy Millen. ^[one]

Leighton played for the national team for 16 years, from 1982 to 1998. He was included in the national team for the 1982 World Cup , although he did not play a single match on it. He made his debut for the national team in the match against the GDR national team on October 13, 1982. For two years, he became the main goalkeeper of the national team, and played in all matches of Scotland at the world championships in 1986 , 1990 and 1998 , despite fierce competition for a place in the goal with Andy Goram in the 1990s. In October 1998, Leighton completed his appearances for the national team at the age of 40.

In 2008, Leighton was inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame . He spent 91 games for the Scottish national team , second only to Kenny Dalglish in the number of matches for the national team.

• Soccerbase profile
• Soccer player profile on ScottishFA.co.uk
• Soccer Player Profile at London Hearts
• Soccer Player Profile at Sporting-heroes.net