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Fullname: Peter William Latchford
aka: Peter Latchford
Born: 27 Sep 1952
Birthplace: Kings Heath, Birmingham, England
Signed: 1975
Position: Goalkeeper
First game : Hibernian away league 1-2 22 February 1975
Last game : Clydebank home league 6-0 29 October 1986
Internationals: England U23 (2caps)

Biog

Born in Kings Heath,Birmingham the Big Brummie Peter Latchford was signed by Celtic from West Bromwich Albion in February 1975, mainly on the recommendation of the then England manager Don Revie who was a personal friend of Jock Stein.
Signed initially on loan the keeper made his debut in a 2-1 league loss at Hibernian on February 22nd and by July he had agreed a permanent switch to Parkhead. A likeable and athletic character Latchford was prone to conceding the odd soft goal but for the most part he was a solid last line of defence who was capable of pulling off some truly astounding saves.

In Mach 1975 he lost a howler of a goal to Danny Kellachan of Partick Thistle and the fans wondered what had possessed Jock Stein to sign him. but by May 1975 he was Celtic's keeper in the 3-1 win against Airdrie in the 1975 Scottish Cup Final and by the end of 1975 he was well established as Celtic's number one, seeing of the challenges of Ally Hunter and Denis Connaghan in the process.

In the 1976/77 Peter was excellent, bolstered by the superb Stanton/MacDonald partnership in front of him. He had a magnificent game in the 2-2 draw at Ibrox in March 1977 which all but guaranteed the league. With minutes remaining Peter, who was limping because of injury, hurled himself across goal to turn away an Alex MacDonald shot much to the approval of the Celtic fans jammed behind his goal.

In 1978 he was named as the Celtic Supporters Association Player of the Year because of his heroics throughout the disastrous 1977/78 which would have been a lot worse had it not been for Latchford's consistent displays. Sadly the defence in front of him was an unmitigated disaster. In March 1978 against Hearts at Hampden in a League Cup semi final he made a breathtaking save, throwing himself at the feet of Malcolm Robertson as he looked set to score, helping Celtic to a 2-0 win.

In late 1978 he lost his place for a short period to Roy Baines but regained his spot and on May 21rst 1979 he was a hero in the 4-2 title winning game against Rangers though he had contributed greatly earlier in the season by saving a penalty from Rangers' Alex Miller in a 3-1 Celtic derby victory in September.

In March 1980 he was controversially fouled in the Bernabeau stadium against Real Madrid and could do nothing to prevent the 3-0 defeat that night. On May 10th 1980 he was a solid presence in an inexperienced Celtic defence when he won his third Scottish Cup Final medal when Celtic defeated Rangers 1-0. On the stroke of full time, after 120 minutes, Peter clutched not only a high ball but Mike Conroy also, and as the two of them disentangled the referee blew for full time with a happy Peter posing happily, still retaining the ball in his arms.

In the summer of 1980 Peter suffered a hand injury and Pat Bonner took over the keeper's role and would be Celtic's first choice until 1995. Peter surprisingly stayed until 1987 much to the detriment of his career as he could have been a first choice elsewhere, but he remained loyal to Celtic.

He had a rare appearance on October 1rst 1980 against Politechnica of Rumania and was again controversially fouled, causing the goal which eliminated Celtic.

In January 1986 he answered the call and helped the Hoops during an uncomfortable period when Bonner was injured. On January 11th 1986, ever the character, he chased Eric Black outside the area and performed a spectacular sliding tackle. He helped to stabilise the defence although Bonner returned in March and the title was won again in May.

Peter had a wonderful rapport with the Celtic fans and before each game they would chant - 'Peter Latchford, give us a wave' - to which Peter would wave and the fans would roar their approval. He was a likeable character and hugely popular with the fans throughout his Celtic days.

In the 1978/89 season Peter played in opposition to his brother Dave Latchford who was Motherwell's goalkeeper during Celtic-Motherwell games that season. His other brother was Bob Latchford, a hugely successful England international, who is mainly remembered for his period at Everton between 1974 and 1981.

His last game was as a losing finalist to Rangers in the Glasgow Cup on 7th May, 1987 when he was beaten by a Lex Baillie own-goal. On leaving Celtic he had two seasons with Clyde before retiring from playing at the age of 35. He went into Goalkeeper coaching and had spells with Forfar, Clyde and Hearts. He rejoined Celtic as Goalkeeping coach at the start of the 1997-98 season, when Pat Bonner left. He was sacked from that position by David Kells on the day that Kenny Dalglish and John Barnes were appointed, on 10th June 1999.

Latchford remains a popular figure among the Celtic support and he is a regular pundit on Celtic TV where he makes no attempt to hide his love for the Hoops.At his very best Peter was undoubtedly a first class keeper and there were several games that Celtic won or in the worst case had the points saved by him - the other side of the coin was that at his worst Peter could give the support nightmares with some shocking mistakes but over the piece he was a real character and well liked by the fans.

He is still goalkeeping coach with Queen of the South.

Playing Career

APPEARANCES	LEAGUE	SCOTTISH CUP	LEAGUE CUP	EUROPE	TOTAL
1975-87	186	27	39	23	275

Honours

Indicate any known awards (player of the year, etc)

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