Article submitted by Andy from Spurs for Life, a site dedicated to covering all things Tottenham. Cover photo belongs to PA Photos
In the summer of 2011, Brad Friedel arrived at Tottenham with a wealth of experience, going on to make 50 league appearances for the club over the next five years. The 42-year-old veteran shot-stopper joined Spurs from Aston Villa, keeping up his record of consecutive Premier League appearances. He reached 310 league matches in a row before Hugo Lloris arrived and momentarily knocked him out of the team in October 2012. But the competition between Friedel and Lloris was far from over.
Friedel started the next match in a season where Lloris had to fight to prove his worth against a tried and tested goalkeeper. Eventually, experience gave way to youth; Friedel retired in 2014 as the oldest player to play in the Premier League, with the most appearances in the league from the Americas.
Friedel named “Man of the Match” in a win over the Canaries
A key flashpoint in the Lloris vs Friedel encounter, the American played a blinder in September 2012 against Norwich City. Friedel’s performance outshone what was an awful start to the season for Spurs; the Lilywhites had made their worst start in the Premier League for four years. He may have conceded a late equalizer by Robert Snodgrass, but his saves ensured that Spurs at least came away with a point.
Ex-teammate Seb Bassong was quick to compliment Friedel who he faced on the day. "Uncle Brad was magic, I've never doubted his quality. He is one of the best in the Premier League," he said. "He's a terrific player and there's going to be a tough competition between him and Hugo. They finished fourth last year and [Friedel] played a big part in that."
Friedel in Europe
Friedel eventually took on a supporting role at Tottenham, limited to playing in just the Europa League matches. Again, he set a record for the oldest player in the UEFA Cup or Europa League at 42-years-old but he was still going strong in Europe. In the 2013/14 season he was particularly impressive, with 2.17 PPG in the matches he was between the sticks. This included a clean sheet away at Tromso in late November, in a 2-0 victory that helped Spurs reach the top of Group K.
He made his final Europa league appearance for Spurs against Benfica. The Lilywhites were already chasing an aggregate score of 1-3 and would go on to draw 2-2 at Benfica but it made for one of the most dramatic matches that Friedel was a part of. The American could not keep out a very late penalty from Lima dos Santos on 90+5 minutes and there was little Friedel could do for the first goal conceded in the first half.
Spurs eventually found a response in the 78th minute and it all began with Brad Friedel. He picked out a young Harry Kane, whose flick to Nacer Chadli sent him on his way to fire past Jan Oblak. Sadly Tottenham couldn’t hang on, but it was another historic appearance for the club in Europe in which Friedel starred.