Shaun Goater

Leonard Shaun Goater MBE (born 25 February 1970) is a Bermudian former professional footballer, coach and pundit who currently works as a youth coach at Manchester City.

His introduction to English football came in April 1987 when he was invited to join the Saltus Grammar School football and basketball tour.

He spent two weeks playing against various English high school teams, including the Leicester City youth team.

At the age of 17, he left home to further his education in the United States, where he had a soccer scholarship at Columbia High School, New Jersey.

Whilst home in Bermuda during his Thanksgiving break, Goater was spotted by scouts from Manchester United, who invited him to England for a trial.

With encouragement from his mother, who was a former football player herself, Goater accepted, forfeiting his scholarship by doing so.

At this time, Goater did not play as a striker, but instead played as a creative midfielder.

Goater's trial resulted in the offer of a professional contract, but he did not break into the first team.

Goater's first professional club was Manchester United, but he did not reach the first team, making his League debut in 1989 after moving to Rotherham United.

In 1989, Goater signed for Rotherham United in order to play first team football.

At this time, Goater suffered homesickness, finding it difficult to adapt to the English climate: "It took me a good two years to get used to life in England. At first I thought the sun never shone and it wasn't for me."

As a player he was a striker for a number of English clubs in the 1990s and 2000s.

A 1992 League Cup tie against Everton gave Goater his first experience of playing against a Premier League team.

In the first leg, Goater scored the only goal of the game as Rotherham won 1–0.

However, Everton won the return leg 3–0 and Rotherham were eliminated.

In 1993, Goater also had a brief loan spell at Notts County, though he made only one appearance for the Nottingham club due to a work permit problem.

Towards the end of the 1995–96 season, Goater had a disagreement with Rotherham manager Archie Gemmill, and decided his future lay elsewhere.

In the 1995–96 close season, Goater received offers from Spanish club Osasuna and newly formed South Koreans Suwon Samsung Bluewings, but having recently married, he decided to stay in England.

Shortly after, he moved to Bristol City for a fee of £175,000.

Goater's Bristol City debut came against Gillingham.

Goater scored, but Bristol City lost 3–2.

City finished the season in fifth, qualifying for the playoffs, but lost to Brentford.

The following season Bristol City were pushing for promotion into the First Division, and Goater scored regularly, eventually being named in the PFA Team of the Year for the division.

In a little under two years with Bristol City, he scored 45 goals in 81 appearances.

He played for Rotherham for seven years before moving to Bristol City in 1996.

Two years later he moved to Manchester City for a fee of £400,000.

However, he gradually got used to living in England, and over the course of seven seasons at Rotherham he gained a reputation as a reliable lower division striker, scoring 86 goals in 262 appearances, with a winner's medal for the 1996 Football League Trophy the highlight.

Goater scored three goals in the seven remaining matches of the 1997–98 season, but this was not enough to prevent the club from being relegated to the third tier of English Football for the first time ever.

Fans were initially sceptical as to Goater's ability, but as goals were scored supporters were gradually won over, creating a song in his honour, "Feed The Goat And He Will Score" (to the tune Cwm Rhondda).

He is most well known for his time at Manchester City, where he scored over 100 goals between 1998 and 2003, finishing as the club's top scorer for four consecutive seasons.

On 26 March 1998, transfer deadline day, Goater signed for Manchester City, who paid Bristol City £400,000 for his services.

Goater joined Manchester City at a turbulent point in their history, with newly appointed manager Joe Royle battling to save the club from relegation to the Second Division.

The 1998–99 season saw Goater score 21 goals, finishing the season as Manchester City's top goalscorer.

The last of these was the winning goal in a play-off semi-final against Wigan Athletic, sending Manchester City to Wembley Stadium for a playoff final which saw City promoted after a penalty shootout.

The 1999–2000 season was even more successful for Goater.

He was the club's top goal scorer again, this time with 29 goals, and was named Manchester City's Player of the Year by the supporters after Manchester City were promoted for the second successive year.

In the summer, Goater was awarded the freedom of Bermuda, with 21 June declared as "Shaun Goater Day" on the island.

After leaving City, Goater had spells with Reading, Coventry City and Southend United, before retiring in May 2006.

He represented Bermuda 36 times, scoring 32 goals.

Goater was born in the Bermudian capital Hamilton, living with his mother Lynette, his grandmother and two aunts.