Graham Souness was seeking to replace Dave Beasant in the Southampton goal and turned towards to the unlikely setting of Colorado where the experienced England international (43 caps), Chris Woods was prolonging an already lengthy career.

A loan deal was thrashed out with a view to making the move permanent but in only his sixth game Chris broke a leg and he returned to the States to recuperate. He eventually recovered to join Everton in 1998 and remained at Goodison for 15 years, taking over the goalkeeping coach responsibilities.

He followed David Moyes to Old Trafford in the summer of 2013 and then on to West Ham but sandwiched in between he coached the USA squad and was with them during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Aged 18 he had collected a winners’ medal when deputising for the Cup-tied Peter Shilton when Nottingham Forest won the 1978 League Cup Final in 1978. He was never likely to make a League appearance, however, so long as Shilton remained fit, so he embarked on a career away from the City Ground that had, by the time he arrived at The Dell, accumulated nearly 400 games in the Football League-cum-Premiership and another 173 in the SPL.