Ranking the 5 best Manchester United goalkeepers in history

5. Alex Stepney

Alex Stepney was Manchester United’s starting goalkeeper from 1966 to 1978 after a brief spell at Chelsea, and he ended up playing over 400 games in the English top flight for the Red Devils.

Although Stepney’s name doesn’t come up as often when discussing the great Manchester United goalkeepers, he won the league, FA Cup, and European Cup with the club, producing an acclaimed save in that European Cup Final at Wembley against Benfica.

The save game from short-range to stop a scorcher from Benfica striker Eusebio, who is widely regarded as one of the best players in world football history. In fact, Stepney’s save was so remarkable that Eusebio himself applauded the Manchester United goalkeeper.

Stepney recalled, “I saw it on telly afterwards and what had happened was that Eusébio had stood there applauding. Well, that’s the kind of man he was: the respect he gave to me and to football was tremendous.”

4. David de Gea

Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea was a phenom at Atletico Madrid for two seasons, starting in goal for the Rojiblancos as a teenager before Manchester United sign him and turned him into a global superstar.

At his peak, de Gea was the top-performing goalkeeper in the world, even outshining Thibaut Courtois and Manuel Neuer with jaw-dropping saves and reflexes that even bested the Bayern Munich goalkeeper, who is quite possibly the greatest of all time.

That’s how brilliant de Gea was. He once saved over 80 percent of the shots he faced and actually had back-to-back seasons with a save percentage above 77 at Manchester United when he first joined the Premier League giants.

De Gea only won the Premier League once, but that’s because he spent most of his career starting in goal for a Manchester United side that had fallen into its infamous “Football Heritage” era post-Sir Alex Ferguson.

Despite actually posting save percentages above 70 in his final two seasons, Manchester United scapegoated de Gea, who had lost all confidence by then after spending years saddled by putrid coaching, defending, and midfield play at Old Trafford.

Now, Manchester United fans are regretting treating de Gea so harshly, as he’s started life at Fiorentina brilliantly, saving two penalties in one game as the Viola upset AC Milan 2-1 in Serie A in October.

3. Gary Bailey

Peter Schmeichel called Manchester United goalkeeper Gary Bailey his inspiration and favorite goalkeeper of all time, and it’s important for fans outside of Old Trafford to understand just how great of a keeper Bailey was.

He never won the Champions League or even a league title with Manchester United, but he was a two-time FA Cup winner and even a former U-21 European Champion with the England national team.

Bailey spent nearly a decade with Manchester United from 1978 to 1987, starting over 200 league matches before his legendary career was cut short by a serious injury, leading to his departure from Man United to the Kaizer Chiefs in South Africa.

2. Edwin van der Sar

A symbol of longevity in this millennium of world football, Edwin van der Sar succeeded and surpassed Fabien Barthez. He started in goal for Manchester United from 2005 to 2011 after dominating the 1990s with legendary Ajax sides and then spending a couple of seasons with another European giant in Juventus.

But the Dutch shot-stopper is actually most synonymous with Manchester United, winning four Premier League titles in a span of five seasons while hoisting the Champions League once and reaching two more finals with the Red Devils.

Van der Sar is legitimately one of the best goalkeepers in world football history, taking home the Best European Goalkeeper award twice in his career with those victories separated by nearly 15 seasons.

That last statistic speaks to van der Sar’s longevity and dominance over time. He was so good that his Manchester United teammates commented that by the end of his career, the club would allow him to train minimally because he knew and they knew that he would always be ready on gameday.

A leader and the epitome of professionalism, van der Sar helps encapsulate an era of greatness at both Ajax and Manchester United in which dominance was an expectation.

1. Peter Schmeichel

There are five legitimate goalkeeping titans in Manchester United history, yet nobody disputes that Peter Schmeichel is the greatest of all of them – and he’s turned into quite the brilliant pundit, too.

An incredibly athletic and intelligent goalkeeper, Schmeichel is one of the greatest goalkeepers in world football history and was probably the most dominant goalkeeper of the 1990s, making 292 league starts for Manchester United from 1991 to 1999.

In total, Schmeichel won five Premier League titles, three FA Cups, and the 1998/99 Champions League with Manchester United as the bedrock of the most dominant Premier League side of the decade.

Individually, Schmeichel was a three-time UEFA Goalkeeper of the Year and took home the Premier League Player of the Season award in the 1995/96 campaign, which is an incredibly rare feat for a goalkeeper.

One of the best penalty specialists in history and a great sweeper keeper, Schmeichel is one of the most complete goalies of all time. His acrobatics in goal are often credited with his handball past, as Schmeichel had a unique shot-stopping style that allowed him to cover saves that no other keeper of his time could.

Ahead of his time as a distributor, too, Schmeichel was famous for starting counterattacks with a strong throw or a well-placed pundit, and he was very comfortable with the ball at his feet under pressure.

Of course, Schmeichel’s greatest accomplishment was one that didn’t involve Manchester United, as he was instrumental in leading Denmark to an improbable 1992 European Championship triumph, making the Team of the Tournament as the clear star player of a team that absorbed pressure and utilized Schmeichel seemingly more than the outfield players.