sport.wikisort.org - Athlete

Keith Welch (born 3 October 1968) is an English-born footballer who played as a goalkeeper in the Football League between the 1980s and 2000s, notably with Rochdale and Bristol City.[1]

Keith Welch

Personal information
Date of birth	(1968-10-03) 3 October 1968 (age 53)
Place of birth	Bolton, England
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Youth career
1986–1987	Bolton Wanderers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1987–1991	Rochdale	205	(0)
1991–1999	Bristol City	273	(0)
1999–2002	Northampton Town	117	(0)
2002	Tranmere Rovers	2	(0)
2002	Torquay United	3	(0)
2003	Mansfield Town	9	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He started with Bolton Wanderers as a trainee, but moved to Rochdale in 1987[1] and made his Football League debut with them, going on to play 205 League games for the club.[2] He transferred to Bristol City in 1991 for £200,000 and went on to play 321 times for them before moving on in 1999.[1]

He spent the next three seasons at Northampton Town making 127 appearances before leaving in 2002. As of January 2010 he had the third-longest spell for consecutive minutes keeping a clean sheet at Northampton, having managed 467 minutes in 2000.[3]

He signed for Tranmere Rovers in Summer 2002, primarily to act as cover for John Achterberg, but he suffered a groin injury on his opening-day debut against Port Vale.[4] He made his second Tranmere appearance on 21 September 2002 against Crewe Alexandra, but he dislocated his shoulder in the game, and was substituted for Tranmere's goalkeeping coach Eric Nixon.[5] This was to be his final appearance for Tranmere although he went on to have further short spells that season with Torquay United and Mansfield Town.[1] He made his final Football League appearance on 29 March 2003, for Mansfield against Peterborough United,[6] and he was subsequently released by Mansfield that summer.[7]

References

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