Editing Peter Bonetti (section)

==Club career==
===Chelsea===
Chelsea signed him from the [[Reading F.C.|Reading]] youth team after his mother had written to manager [[Ted Drake]], requesting that he give her son a trial. Whilst a Chelsea junior, Bonetti made five appearances for [[Croydon Amateurs F.C.|Croydon Amateurs]] in the [[Surrey Senior League]] thanks to youth team coach Albert Tennant who was also coaching Croydon at that time.<ref>{{cite news |title=Celebrating 60 years of Croydon FC |url=http://www.croydonadvertiser.co.uk/Celebrating-60-years-Croydon-FC/story-19762019-detail/story.html |access-date=4 March 2015 |newspaper=Croydon Advertiser |date=9 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402103908/http://www.croydonadvertiser.co.uk/Celebrating-60-years-Croydon-FC/story-19762019-detail/story.html |archive-date=2 April 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He made his first team debut in 1960, and a few weeks later helped the Chelsea youth team win the [[FA Youth Cup]]. From the [[1960-61 in English football|1960–61]] season onward he was Chelsea's first-choice goalkeeper, a position he held more-or-less constantly for the next nineteen years.

Chelsea were relegated in Bonetti's second full season, which saw the appointment of [[Tommy Docherty]] as manager. Bonetti emerged as a key figure in a talented young team which included [[Bobby Tambling]], [[Terry Venables]], [[John Hollins]] and [[Barry Bridges]].<ref name=bbccat>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52263959 |title='Peter Bonetti – Chelsea's 'cat' with brilliant athleticism and flamboyance' |website=BBC Sport |date=12 April 2020}}</ref> The team went into the penultimate match of the season needing to beat promotion rivals [[Sunderland A.F.C.|Sunderland]] to have a chance of going up. Chelsea won 1–0, with Bonetti making a brilliant last minute save to deny [[George Mulhall]] and maintain his team's promotion chances; a 7–0 win over [[Portsmouth F.C.|Portsmouth]] secured instant promotion back to the [[Football League First Division|First Division]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2019/03/30/my-blue-days--john-boyle |title=My Blue Days: John Boyle |work=ChelseaFC |publisher=Chelsea F.C.}}</ref>

[[File:1965–66 Fairs Cup - AC Milan v Chelsea FC - Rivera scores.jpg|thumb|upright|Bonetti (no. 1) playing for [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]] in 1966]]

The new Chelsea team challenged for honours during the 1960s, with Bonetti a key figure throughout, although more often than not the team narrowly missed out. The club won the [[EFL Cup|League Cup]] in [[1965 Football League Cup Final|1965]] with a 3–2 [[aggregate score|aggregate]] victory over [[Leicester City F.C.|Leicester City]]. Leicester put Chelsea under heavy pressure in the second leg at [[Filbert Street]], but an inspired performance from Bonetti helped secure a 0–0 draw, and thus the trophy for his team.<ref name=bbccat/> For most of that season Chelsea were on course to add both the league title and the [[FA Cup]], but ultimately missed out. They were beaten by [[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]] in the FA Cup;<ref name=bbccat/> meanwhile, their title challenge ended with a few matches left, following a bust-up between Docherty and several of his first-team players (though not Bonetti). The disunity behind the scenes meant that a much-weakened team was fielded in a key match against [[Burnley F.C.|Burnley]], in which Bonetti conceded six goals.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Burnley v Chelsea - 24/04/1965 {{!}} Stamford-Bridge.com The History of Chelsea FC |url=https://www.stamford-bridge.com/match.php?mid=2639&opp=Burnley |access-date=2022-06-22 |website=www.stamford-bridge.com}}</ref>

Bonetti played in every match of Chelsea's [[Inter-Cities Fairs Cup]] run the following season, putting in a series of impressive displays against the likes of [[A.S. Roma|Roma]], [[A.C. Milan]] and [[FC Barcelona|Barcelona]], though the team was eventually knocked out in the semi-final, as they were in the FA Cup for the second consecutive year. The signing of [[Alex Stepney]] at the end of that season briefly threatened his position as Chelsea's first-choice goalkeeper, and he considered putting in a [[Transfer (football)|transfer]] request, but Stepney ultimately made only one appearance for the club and was sold to [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]] a few months later. Chelsea eventually reached an FA Cup final in 1967, where they faced [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]], but the team got outplayed on the day and Bonetti could do little to stop Spurs winning 2–1.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jimmy Greaves: Tottenham Hotspur and England legend's life in pictures |url=https://news.sky.com/story/jimmy-greaves-tottenham-hotspur-and-england-legends-life-in-pictures-12411996 |access-date=2022-06-22 |website=Sky News |language=en}}</ref>

That was the closest he came to winning another trophy with Chelsea until 1970, by which time Docherty had been succeeded by [[Dave Sexton]]. In 1970, Chelsea again reached the [[1970 FA Cup Final|FA Cup final]] and this time faced reigning league champions [[Leeds United F.C.|Leeds United]]. Over the two fiercely contested matches, Bonetti had what was perhaps the finest moment of his playing career. Chelsea were outplayed for large spells in the first final at [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]] and he made a series of crucial saves to help them emerge with a 2–2 draw. Shortly into the replay at [[Old Trafford]], his left knee was badly injured after a challenge from Leeds' [[Mick Jones (footballer, born 1945)|Mick Jones]]. He returned to the field after treatment, but was effectively playing on one leg for the rest of the match and was powerless to stop Jones scoring the opener a few minutes later. In spite of the injury, and being targeted by the Leeds forwards, he made crucial saves throughout the match, denying both [[Peter Lorimer]] and [[Terry Cooper (footballer, born 1944)|Terry Cooper]], and resisted more pressure from Leeds after Chelsea had taken the lead in [[extra time]] to help secure a 2–1 win. Such were Bonetti's performances that season, he was voted runner-up in the [[FWA Footballer of the Year]] awards.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2020/04/12/peter-bonetti-1941-2020|title=Peter Bonetti 1941-2020 &#124; Official Site &#124; Chelsea Football Club|website=ChelseaFC}}</ref>

A year later, the team added the [[European Cup Winners' Cup]] after another replayed win in the final, this time over Spanish giants [[Real Madrid CF|Real Madrid]] in Athens. Chelsea took a 2–0 lead in the replay, but Real dominated for much of the second half and it was another inspired performance from Bonetti that helped them hold on for a 2–1 win.<ref name="Constable2014">{{cite book |author=Nick Constable |title=Match of the Day: 50 Years of Football |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nZS9AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT81 |date=15 September 2014 |publisher=Ebury Publishing |isbn=978-1-4481-4253-8 |pages=81–}}</ref>

That was his last trophy with the club, although they narrowly missed out on more in the following years, losing in the 1972 League Cup final to [[Stoke City F.C.|Stoke City]] and in the semi-final of the same competition to [[Norwich City F.C.|Norwich City]] a year later.<ref name=bbccat/> Financial and disciplinary problems within the club prevented them from building on their success.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jensen |first=Neil Fredrik |date=2021-12-08 |title=Chelsea: Half a century of Europe's bravest football stand |url=https://gameofthepeople.com/2021/12/08/chelsea-half-a-century-of-europes-bravest-football-stand/ |access-date=2022-06-22 |website=GAME OF THE PEOPLE |language=en}}</ref>

===St Louis Stars===
Bonetti left on a [[free transfer (soccer)|free transfer]] in 1975, joining the [[St. Louis Stars (soccer)|St. Louis Stars]] of the [[North American Soccer League (1968–1984)|North American Soccer League]]. That year, he made 21 appearances for the team and helped them top the Central Division that summer and reach the play-off semi-final.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}

===Return to Chelsea===
He then returned to Chelsea, where his experience proved invaluable in helping new manager [[Eddie McCreadie]]'s young team gain promotion in [[1976-77 in English football|1976–77]]. Two years later, in May 1979, he played his final appearance for Chelsea, a 1–1 draw with [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]], having made a total of 729 appearances for the club in nineteen years – only [[Ron Harris (English footballer)|Ron Harris]] has made more – and kept over 200 [[clean sheet]]s. He conceded one goal or less in two-thirds of his appearances for Chelsea.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}