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Former Chelsea and England goalkeeper Peter Bonetti has died, his former club have announced. He was 78.<\/p>\nFormer Chelsea and England goalkeeper Peter Bonetti has died, his former club have announced. He was 78.<\/p>\n
Bonetti made 729 appearances for the Blues, keeping 208 clean sheets, from 1960 to 1975, with a second spell following from 1977 to 1979.<\/p>\n
Chelsea said in a statement: \u201cOur former goalkeeper had been suffering from long-term illness. All at Chelsea wish to send our heartfelt and deepest condolences to Peter\u2019s family and friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bonetti was nicknamed \u2018The Cat\u2019 for his outstanding reflexes and agility.<\/p>\n
He made his Chelsea debut as an 18-year-old, keeping a first clean sheet in March 1960.<\/p>\n
His shutout record was only surpassed by Petr Cech in 2014, while only Ron Harris, with 795 has made more appearances for the Blues.<\/p>\n
Harris and Bonetti were long-time team-mates, as was Bobby Tambling, who scored 202 Blues goals, a record only beaten by Frank Lampard in May 2013.<\/p>\n
His Chelsea spells were punctuated by a brief stint in the United States with St Louis Stars. He also had spells with Dundee United and Woking.<\/p>\n
Bonetti made seven appearances for England, including in the 1970 World Cup finals, but Gordon Banks was always preferred.<\/p>\n
He was in the 1966 World Cup-winning squad, but did not play, belatedly receiving a winners\u2019 medal in June 2009.<\/p>\n
Bonetti was twice promoted to the First Division with Chelsea and won the 1964-65 League Cup, 1970 FA Cup and the UEFA Cup Winners\u2019 Cup in 1971.<\/p>\n