The ex-Aston Villa goalkeeper remembered the infamous blunder in his career during his stint in B6.

Aston Villa had just picked a rather disappointing result this weekend. They were unable to snatch a win over Fulham despite leading one goal to nil. 

What’s hurtful was The Cottagers’ equalizer did not come from their spectacular attempt but a gift from Villa. It was an own goal from their goalkeeper, Zion Suzuki. The goalie who has been praised for his fine form since joining The Lions suddenly became the antagonist yesterday. His failure to catch or punch the ball away from Alex Iwobi’s corner kick instead of losing the grab and diverting it over the goal line cost his team’s potential three points. 

Fortunately, Emery did not want to blame him as it was part of football. Yet, it does not mean that he might tolerate another unforced error in the future.

When it comes to the infamous blunder in The Clarets and Blue history, there was no other shot stopper who suffers criticism even long after his playing years in Aston Villa than Peter Enckelman. The former Finland international made a costly error in the Second City Derby versus Birmingham City in 2002 at St Andrew’s. It led them to Villa’s 2-0 loss against their rival across the city.

Enckelman recalled that incident as reported in Birmingham Mail and how the reaction stunned him. 

“I took a lot and it was scary how many mentions there were of that game, what I have learned is that it isn’t the person that people hate, it’s the goalkeeper.”

What he remembered on that incident

When he was inquired about that particular incident, he could not be certain whether he touched the ball from Olof Mellberg’s throw in. 

“The actual truth is I’m not 100 per-cent sure. I’m 90 per-cent sure I didn’t touch the ball, but I couldn’t swear I did.Steve Staunton asked me if I did and I said no, so he said it should be a corner. I saw Robbie Savage harassing the linesman, and then they gave the goal.” 

What happened afterwards was even more vital to his career when Birmingham City fans invaded the pitch to mock him. Luckily, he did lose control when facing him.

“I just told myself to not move or do anything. If I had physically done something, I was at the wrong end of the stadium to get to the dressing room.” 

Enckelman’s form in B6

The former goalie who is currently working for DHL Express after his retirement joined The Lions in 1999. He was initially signed as David James’ understudy. He began to play regularly in the 2002/03 season under Graham Taylor. 

He had some fine form like when he helped Villa hold Arsenal and Newcastle 1-1 and beat Chelsea 2-1 despite being blamed for that incident, Enckelman never took it personally. Overall, he made 67 appearances with 21 clean sheets. 

He was then sold to Blackburn in 2004 but rarely hit the pitch. The shot stopper with 12 international caps then switched sides to Cardiff City, Scotland outfits, St Johnstone and Hearts before returning to his home soil.