By our reckoning, substitute extraordinaire Pegguy Arphexad played a grand total of 47 senior games in his entire 16 year career, so could easily be considered a Forgotten Footballer.
The goalkeeper from Guadeloupe played for both Leicester City and Liverpool in the Premier League, and the term played really is used loosely in this context. Considering he spent so much of his time on the career, he did well to win six major trophies during his time in England. In fact if you included the Charity Shield he has seven medals from 35 games for the two teams. A record that will take some beating.
Arphexad spent five years at Lens before a move to Lille in the summer of 1996. He had developed a reputation an excellent shot-stopper, but was still second fiddle, which made his move to Leicester City the following season all the more surprising.
He struggled to establish himself as a regular at Filbert Street with England international Tim Flowers ahead of him in the pecking order. His undoubted high point came in the successful Worthington Cup winning campaign of 2000 and his penalty-saving exploits against Arsenal in the FA Cup.
He came on as a substitute for the injured Flowers in penalty shootout win over the Gunners in the fourth round replay. He saved penalties from Lee Dixon and Gilles Grimandi as Leicester progressed and that was his penalty-saving reputation carved right there and then. It’s not like he had many opportunities to enhance it from that point onwards.
An inspired performance at Anfield in May 2000, which denied the Reds a crucial three points in their failed quest for a Champions League position was enough to persuade Gerard Houllier to take Arphexad to Merseyside in a move that raised a few eyebrows.
In three years he would win six medals, all as an unused substitute as he spent his time picking splinters out. He just couldn’t move up the Pegg-ing order and the perennial sub seemed content with his familiar role in a more successful club.
More medals than appearances with Liverpool
After being released from Liverpool he had spells at Stockport County, Coventry, Notts County and finally Marseilles, where you guessed it, Pegguy spent nearly all his time on the sideline.
After retirement he took up acting, which seems a natural progression. You could say his entire football career was an act in itself, and rumours have it he is one of the biggest actors Guadeloupe has ever produced. Not that we could possibly verify such a thing.
Pegguy Arphexad, possibly the luckiest goalkeeper of all time.
