Dramatic Moment: Rare Event in English Football History"

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A Rare and Most Dramatic Moment In English Football History.

In football, moments of huge significance are often remembered in isolation. The trials and tribulations of the route to that point, the conditions and circumstances surrounding a particular event, or the legacy it ultimately procures are often somewhat overlooked.

Most who profess to have a reasonable knowledge of the English game will be familiar with the tale of Jimmy Glass. An on-loan emergency goalkeeper, shipped north from Swindon to the border city of Carlisle in their hour of need, would produce a 'moment' inscribed in footballing history.

Jimmy Glass made three appearances for Carlisle. Just three. But the last of those saw the on-loan goalkeeper keep the club in the Football League when he smashed the ball into the Plymouth Argyle net in the fifth minute of stoppage time on the final day of the 1998-99 season. Probably the greatest goal of all time.

Brief Intro.

James Robert Glass (born 1 August 1973) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

He is chiefly remembered for scoring the last-minute goal which kept Carlisle United in the Football League in 1999, while on loan from Swindon Town.

The drama of Glass's late goal, which came in one of only three games that he played for Carlisle, has since made it famous in English football at a level beyond.

Beyond the Carlisle goal, Glass's most notable time with a club was three seasons playing for AFC Bournemouth from 1996 to 1998, his only regular spell at a Football League club.

Early career

Jimmy started his career at Chelsea Academy before moving to Crystal Palace Academy at 15. He would develop through the academy, joining the youth setup and making a name for himself as a promising young keeper.

Glass had a journeyman's career in football, playing for many clubs, initially as a reserve keeper for Crystal Palace.

He never played a first-team game for the Eagles, but was an unused substitute several times, including the 1995 FA Cup semi-final replay against Manchester United, which Palace lost 2–0 at Villa Park. He was transferred to AFC Bournemouth a year later.

The closest he came to a trophy in senior football was reaching the final of the Football League Trophy with Bournemouth in 1998.

Later, Glass moved to Swindon Town in the summer of 1998, but after falling out with the manager, Jimmy Quinn, was unable to gain a regular place in the team.

The Making of a Legend

He moved to Carlisle United on loan from Swindon late that season (after goalkeeper Tony Caig was sold to Blackpool and Richard Knight's loan period had been cut short due to injury).

His moment of fame came on 8 May 1999, in the final match of the 1998–99 Third Division season against Plymouth Argyle, which Carlisle needed to win to avoid relegation.

With the score 1–1 with only ten seconds remaining, and Carlisle winning a corner, Glass came up from his own penalty area and promptly scored a last-minute goal. With the unbelievable goal he became the "Man of the Moment".

The Return

His route back into football was an unexpected one.

It was Eddie Howe, his old team-mate at Bournemouth, who gave Glass the opportunity to get back into the game as the Cherries' player liaison officer. He has now been doing the job for three years and has clearly made an impression on Howe all over again.

This was the club he'd spent the longest with as a player, making 109 appearances between 1996 and 1998.

That was the start of his return to the club, as a matchday host, a job he still does to this day. And once Bournemouth had established themselves in the Premier League, he realized there was scope to improve another area of the operation too.

For the first six years, he did all the team logistics, including arranging travel and hotels, as well as traveling with the side on matchday. This season he has focused on player liaison and hosting.

Are modern players spoilt by having someone to do all this? Glass doesn't see it like that.

Frustration and Retirement

His career at Swindon was well and truly over. He was without a club. From here multiple deals would fail to work out. Cambridge wanted to sign him but needed to sell their current keeper first. They were unable to offload him meaning Jimmy Glass was still without a club.

He would later go on trial with Exeter. After turning up, the very same keeper Cambridge had been trying to get rid of would be walking through the car park. He'd just signed for Exeter. Without hesitation, Jimmy turned around and drove home.

After football

Glass retired from professional football at the age of 27, and became an IT salesman. He later became a taxi driver in Dorset.

In an interview, Glass exclaimed that "It is quite tough because some go on to fame and fortune and some go on to driving a cab and living a normal life like me. It is quite difficult to understand your place in life from being this guy who will never be forgotten to being the guy worrying about your next bill. The goal was an amazing part of my life and is there to be enjoyed, and I will until people get bored of me. Someone on Saturday will be a hero and someone will be a villain. It is an incredible feeling."

In October 2011, it was announced that Glass joined Poole Town as the new goalkeeping coach, working on a voluntary basis. He also had a job in hospitality at AFC Bournemouth. In 2016, he returned to football as Player Liaison Officer with Premier League club Bournemouth.