There can hardly be any players to have played so few
times for Dale, yet had such a major impact on the club
as goalkeeper Stephen Bywater.
He began his career as a footballer with Dale's
school of excellence, that was run by his father Dave,
and it soon became clear to everyone that we had a major
find on our hands. So much so, that he became Dale's
first international when he turned out for England
schoolboys on regular occasions.
By the time he became 16, the big clubs had taken
notice of him, and there was plenty of talk of a big
money move to Premiership side Blackburn Rovers, despite
the fact that he had still to play for the first team at
Spotland.
It was during this time that he made his full debut
for Dale, when he appeared in an AWS 6-1 defeat away to
Carlisle. Saying that, he could not be faulted with any
of the goals on the night.
It wasn't long before, there were offers on the
table, and Dale accepted an offer from West Ham for the
teenage keeper. The fee consisted of a £300,000 down
payment, with the rest dependent on various clauses up
to a maximum of £2.3 million.
Of course to reach that full figure, he'd have had to
have scored the winning goal in the World Cup final for
the Democratic Republic of West Ham or something along
those lines. We did make more money as he made an
increasing number of appearances for the Hammers but it
wasn't enough to retire to the Bahamas on.
He spent four years at Upton Park, making around
sixty appearances during this time, plus a handful of
loan spells at all corners of the country.
He made a reappearance in the Premiership with Derby
County in 2007-8 but having conceded 43 goals in 19
appearances and a less than savoury appearance on Sky's
Soccer Sunday, he lost his place in the side and spent
the remainder of the season on loan at Ipswich Town.
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