Team of the Decade 2000's - Achterberg Seals Keeper Spot

After a week of voting, the first place in the Total Tranmere Team of the Decade for the 2000's can be revealed as Dutch goalkeeper John Achterberg eases to victory in the poll against four other past goalkeepers.  Here we bring a look at his career and in particular his time at Tranmere......

After a week of your votes, the time has come to reveal the winner of the Goalkeeper of the Decade in the first installment of our Tranmere Team of the Decade for the 2000's and the result this time around will come as no surprise to most fans.

Dutch goalkeeper John Achterberg took the place in goal for the team with a massive 96% of the votes beating competition from Danny Coyne, Gavin Ward, Luke Daniels and Joe Murphy. The results were as follows:

Goalkeeper John Achterberg started his career in his native Holland, where he played firstly for local team F.C. Utrecht. However, "Achto" failed to make a first team appearance with the Dutch club and after six years moved on to N.A.C Breda, where he made nine appearances in three seasons.

In 1996, Achterberg was on the move again, this time joined Eindhoven (not P.S.V.) on a free-transfer, signing a two-year contract with the club.

At the time, Eindhoven where a Second Division side in Holland but during him time at the club, they reached the play-offs to get to the First Division.

"Achto" was the Eindhoven first choice goalkeeper in his two year spell with the club, making 38 appearances in two seasons. However, in 1998, after his contract had expired with the club, he chose to move on.

Possibly the biggest move of his career was to come next.  Following the departure of Steve Simonson, a goalkeeper with huge potential to Everton, for a quoted club record fee, Actherberg came to England after being offered a trial at Tranmere Rovers by then manager John Aldridge.

The goalkeeper impressed whilst on trial, so much so that he signed a two-year contract with the club at the age of 27.   Over the next eleven years, Achterberg established himself as a brilliant figure in the Prenton Park dressing room and was much loved by his fellow players, the Tranmere coaching staff and the Rovers fans.

John Achterberg made his Tranmere Rovers debut against Swindon Town on September 25th 1998 in Division One, and he started as he meant to go on, keeping a clean sheet in an otherwise unremarkable 0-0 draw at Prenton Park.  Other players in the team that day included some other players who would either go on to make or already had made a big name for themselves at Prenton Park, including Johnny Morrisey, Alan Mahon, Andy Parkinson, John McGreal, Clint Hill, Jason Koumas, Kenny Irons, Dave Challinor, Georges Santos and Liam O'Brien.

For Achterberg, the was the first of 312 appearances for Tranmere Rovers, and he is one of very few people since the turn of the century who have played (but not necessarily made their debut before) over 300 games for Tranmere, with other names including Ian Goodison and Gary Jones.

In his time on the Wirral, Achterberg not only had a highly successful career but he has become a much loved character. First choice goalkeeper for four Rovers managers (Aldridge, Watson, Mathias and Little), Achterberg has made an impressive 307 starts for Tranmere Rovers over an eleven year period, though the final few years of his playing career at Prenton Park were blighted by injury.

Achterberg had a number of quite brilliant moments in his Tranmere career. He was part of the Tranmere team that reached the League Cup Final in 2000, although he was unceremoniously dropped for the final which Rovers lost 2-1 to Leicester City at Wembley stadium due to a contract dispute, whilst during the 1999/2000 and 2000/01 seasons, Achterberg also helped Tranmere to two F.A. Cup Quarter Finals.

During these three cup runs, Achterberg was part of the teams that beat Premier League sides Everton (3-0), Middlesbrough (2-1), Coventry City (5-1), Sunderland (1-0) and of course that infamous Fifth Round F.A. Cup replay in the 2000/01 season, when Tranmere came back from a 3-0 half-time deficit to beat Southampton 4-3.

Of course, later that season Tranmere were sadly relegated from Division One, but that did not stop the cup runs, as in 2003/04 Rovers reached their third F.A. Cup Quarter Final in five years, a run in which Achterberg was again pivitol.  He was in goal for Rovers as they beat Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium and kept a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw away to Millwall, a game in which Achterberg saved a Kevin Muscat penalty.

Achterberg was also a key player in the Tranmere side that reached the 2004/05 League One play-offs, but sadly Rovers lost to Hartlepool on penalties after a 2-2 draw on aggregate.

In the 2003/04 season, Achto kept a personal best 20 clean sheets, not a bad effort for one season by any means, and in his entire Tranmere career, he kept 85 clean sheets.

As alluded to earlier, however, Achterberg's final few hours at Prenton Park were severely hit by injury. Firstly, he picked up a knee injury during a 6-1 defeat for Tranmere at Hull during the 04/05 season, whilst injury against Swansea on November 26th 2005 spelled the end of Actherberg's season.  Indeed, it wasn't until October 2006 that he played again, by which time Ronnie Moore had taken charge of the club.

The injury problems though had not been shaken off, and in February 2007 in a match against Yeovil Town, Achterberg again injured his knee, which would keep him out of the remainder of the season.

However, before that injury, Achterberg made six appearances in the season. One of these was as a substitute against Huddersfield Town in a Boxing Day match at the Galpharm Stadium. Tranmere goalkeeper Gavin Ward was forced to leave the field thanks to an injury, and Achterberg came on to the pitch to a quite stunning reception from the Tranmere fans.

For five minutes, they chanted the name of their hero goalkeeper, who has several terrace songs, a reception which I'm sure made the hairs stand up on the back of Achterberg's neck like they did on mine. It was a quite emotional and memorable day for the Rovers 'keeper and on a personal level I can say I've never seen or heard a player get such a good reception on entrance to the pitch.

Achterberg did however get back into the frame during the 2007/08 season having managed to keep the injury troubles away, making six first team appearances when first choice goalkeeper Danny Coyne has been injured our away on international duty before making a further eight appearances during the 08/09 season due to injury to Coyne.

At the end of the 2008/09 season, Achterberg retired from football, finishing his Tranmere Rovers career next to the player he started it with: Danny Coyne.

Achterberg did briefly leave the club at the end of the 2006/07 season however.  After his contract with the club had expired, Achterberg was released. This caused uproar with the Rovers fans, with over 3,000 of them signing a petition to get their hero a testimonial.  However, just a matter of days after Achterberg had been released, he re-signed for the club on a new two-year contract as a coach/player, a move that delighted Rovers fans.

Achterberg retired from football aged 38 at the end of the 2008/09 season, moving to Liverpool as goalkeeper coach after an illustrious career at Prenton Park.  He had many fond memories to look back on, and enjoyed a number of testimonial celebrations in his final year at Prenton Park, including a legends game where a number of famous names from Tranmere's past returned to show their friendship and value for the giant Dutch 'keeper.

His final game for Tranmere came in a 1-1 draw against Northampton Town on 7th March 2009 at Sixfields Stadium, whilst his final competitive game at Prenton Park saw him keep a clean sheet as Tranmere beat Swindon Town 1-0 on February 28th 2009.

He has continued to make some appearances for Tranmere, playing in Rovers' hugely successful Masters squad (regional winners in 2008, 2009 and 2010, national winner 2009, runner up 2010), with Rovers fans continuing to chant his name in each of the six tournaments he has played in so far.

Achterberg did however get back into the frame during the 2007/08 season having managed to keep the injury troubles away, making six first team appearances when first choice goalkeeper Danny Coyne has been injured our away on international duty before making a further eight appearances during the 08/09 season due to injury to Coyne.

At the end of the 2008/09 season, Achterberg retired from football, finishing his Tranmere Rovers career next to the player he started it with: Danny Coyne.

Achterberg did briefly leave the club at the end of the 2006/07 season however.  After his contract with the club had expired, Achterberg was released. This caused uproar with the Rovers fans, with over 3,000 of them signing a petition to get their hero a testimonial.  However, just a matter of days after Achterberg had been released, he re-signed for the club on a new two-year contract as a coach/player, a move that delighted Rovers fans.

Achterberg retired from football aged 38 at the end of the 2008/09 season, moving to Liverpool as goalkeeper coach after an illustrious career at Prenton Park.  He had many fond memories to look back on, and enjoyed a number of testimonial celebrations in his final year at Prenton Park, including a legends game where a number of famous names from Tranmere's past returned to show their friendship and value for the giant Dutch 'keeper.

His final game for Tranmere came in a 1-1 draw against Northampton Town on 7th March 2009 at Sixfields Stadium, whilst his final competitive game at Prenton Park saw him keep a clean sheet as Tranmere beat Swindon Town 1-0 on February 28th 2009.

He has continued to make some appearances for Tranmere, playing in Rovers' hugely successful Masters squad (regional winners in 2008, 2009 and 2010, national winner 2009, runner up 2010), with Rovers fans continuing to chant his name in each of the six tournaments he has played in so far.

Actherberg had been building his coaching profile on the Wirral for sometime though.  Helping the likes of Joe Collister when he was younger at Tranmere, the Duthcman also spent much of his time coaching youngsters all around the Wirral and North Wales.   Achterberg had his own coaching academy, with sessions every night of the week, although due to contract reasons, he had to close this once he signed for Liverpool.

This showed the 'keepers wonderful work ethic, which was, comfortably, second to none, with Brian Little (Tranmere manager 2003-2006) describing the Dutchman as "the most professional player I have ever worked with". 

Indeed, it is this work ethic and his lovable charm that have made him such a popular character with not only Tranmere fans, but also the supporters of other clubs, both in England and Holland. Always happy to take time to speak to fans and sign a few autographs, Achterberg is one of those players who's attitude, friendliness and love for the club is now very much missed at Prenton Park and that make John a very fond character at the club.

Don't forget to return to Total Tranmere tomorrow for news of the next poll in the series which sees us ask you for your votes on the best left-back of the decade.