There are no union meetings, subs or walkouts, but goalies do share a sense of solidarity
![The goalkeepers’ union: why do they stick up for each other?](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/e921edaad3cf6e26bcda311297b19192d8a08bc7/677_727_17684_10609/master/17684.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=4b9419dcf2b1022ce928e96131a1cfdb)
By Will Magee for When Saturday Comes
James Shea tells a story that captures the fraternal spirit among goalkeepers. Back when he was a novice at
Arsenal – before his meandering path from the wilds of non-league took him to his current club, Luton Town – new gloves felt like a luxury and, on an academy keeper’s salary, were still a significant expense. Shea asked Lukasz Fabianski if he could borrow a pair for training. A few days later, Fabianski turned up with a big box full of gloves with Shea’s name emblazoned on them.
It was far from a one-off act of kindness. There are many goalkeepers with similar stories.
Football is so often a dog-eat-dog environment but many keepers testify to a different moral code. There is even a term for this tendency towards mutual support: the goalkeepers’ union. There are no subs, no union meetings and no walkouts, but many will bear witness to the sense of solidarity between the sticks.