Jimmy Rimmer, who guarded the nets for Aston Villa and Manchester United, died aged 78 [1, 2, 3].
Rimmer was on the bench for Manchester United’s 1968 European Cup final victory over Benfica but did not play [1, 2, 3]. He began his career at Manchester United but was mostly understudy to Alex Stepney before being sold to Arsenal in 1974 [2, 3]. At Arsenal, Rimmer won the player of the season award in 1974-75 [1].
He joined Aston Villa around 1977 and became their starting goalkeeper during a successful period. Rimmer played a key role in Aston Villa’s 1980-81 First Division title-winning season [1, 2, 3]. He made 229 league appearances and over 200 overall for Villa [1].
Rimmer started the 1982 European Cup final for Aston Villa but suffered a neck injury nine minutes in and was substituted for Nigel Spink, who kept a clean sheet as Villa won 1-0 against Bayern Munich with Peter Withe scoring the winner [1, 2, 3]. "Rimmer was one of the finest goalkeepers of his generation, and arguably one of the unluckiest when it came to big occasions," Aston Villa said in a statement, offering condolences to his family [2].
In 1983, Rimmer was sold to Swansea City after losing his starting spot at Villa [2, 3]. He earned one England cap in 1976 in a friendly against Italy [1, 2, 3].
Alex Stepney, former Manchester United goalkeeper and teammate, paid tribute on social media saying, "Such sad news to hear Jimmy Rimmer has passed away, rest in peace and lots of love to Jimmy's family x" [1].
Aston Villa said, "The thoughts of everyone at the club are with Jimmy’s family and friends at this incredibly difficult time" [2].
