Classic Arsenal Players - Part 9 - John Lukic
DON'T GO JOHNNY
ANFIELD, MAY 1989. Arsenal are 1-0 up but need another goal to snatch the title away from Liverpool. There are just seconds remaining. Kevin Richardson rolls the ball back to his goalkeeper, John Lukic. The rest is history.
Lukic, to Dixon, forward to Smith, to Thomas, charging through the midfield. It's up for grabs now...
That late title success at Anfield was the highlight of Lukic's 13 year Arsenal career that was spread over two different spells.
A much underrated goalkeeper, Lukic is one of only four players in history to have played top flight football in England in four separate decades.
Jovan Lukic was born on 11 December 1960 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire to Yugoslav parents.
There was a rumour that his mother had survived the Munich Air Disaster while pregnant with John but this was proved to be false. Although there was indeed a Mrs Lukic on the plane, who was saved by Harry Greig, this was a full two years before John was born.
Lukic joined Leeds as a schoolboy in 1975 and after signing as an apprentice in December 1978, he made his debut the following year.
Lukic, a 6ft 4in goalkeeper with great handling and distribution, became a regular in the Leeds side while still a teenager as successor to the great David Harvey, and in a four year stay at Elland Road he made just short of 200 appearances.
Leeds was relegated to Division Two in 1982 and a year later, Lukic, then aged 22, joined Terry Neill's Arsenal for £75,000 as the long term replacement to Pat Jennings.
Lukic had to bide his time for a chance but following an injury to Jennings in a match at Coventry City in March 1984 he was given his debut the following week, a 3-1 home win over Stoke City.
He remained in the side for the next three matches, a 3-2 home win over Tottenham Hotspur and draws at Everton and Birmingham City, before Jennings was back for the remainder of the season..
Lukic began the 1984/85 season still as second choice but following a poor run of form from Jennings, including a nightmare at Oxford United in the Milk Cup, a game featured here, he stepped in for a match away at Manchester United in November.
Although the team lost 4-2 and Jennings was back for the following three matches, Lukic took over as first choice in December 1984 after a 3-1 win home win over Luton Town and he barely missed a match over the next five and half years.
It was a time of transition for the Gunners and the 1985/86 season was one of huge disappointment for the club. However Lukic kept 21 clean sheets in 51 appearances and was building a reputation for being a very reliable goalkeeper in front of a young defence including teenagers Martin Keown and Tony Adams.
Lukic must have been delighted when George Graham took over in the summer and 1986 and began to build the 'famous back five', although Lukic was one of several players on a week-to-week contract throughout the campaign as Graham assessed his squad.
That season saw Lukic win his first trophy with the club, the Littlewoods Cup, and he kept 20 clean sheets in 49 appearances. In the summer of 1987 he signed a new two year contract.
Over the next three seasons Lukic did not miss a single match, starting 143 consecutive games in all competitions, keeping 56 clean sheets.
He played in the 1988 Littlewoods Cup final final defeat to Luton Town before being ever-present in the 1988/89 title winning season. Indeed in the title decider at Anfield it was Lukic's throw to Lee Dixon that started the move from which Arsenal scored the dramatic last minute winner.
The following 1989/90 season proved to be Lukic's last at the club, at least until a surprise return six years later.
In the summer of 1990 Graham angered the Arsenal fans by buying David Seaman from Queens Park Rangers for a record fee of £1.3million.
The irony was that Seaman had been understudy to Lukic at Leeds and now he was taking his place at Arsenal.
During the final match of the 1989/90 season, away at Norwich City, the Arsenal fans showed Lukic great support as rumours of the impending arrival of Seaman were now in full swing, but Graham was not one to be swayed by sentiment.
In total Lukic had made 277 appearances for Arsenal, conceding 268 goals and keeping 106 clean sheets.
Lukic rejoined Leeds in the summer of 1990 for £1million and in his second season back at Elland Road ij 1991/92, he won his second league title, one of a select band of players to win the title with two different clubs and the first goalkeeper to do so since before the Second World War.
Despite his domestic success, Lukic was never called up to the senior England side, although he did make seven U21 and one England B appearance.
Due to his parentage, Lukic was considered for selection by the Yugoslav side during the peak of his Arsenal career in the late 1980s but he rejected the offer.
Lukic was in the Leeds side that lost the 1996 League Cup final 3-0 to Aston Villa at Wembley and at the end of the 1995/96 season the Peacocks bought Nigel Martyn as his replacement so Lukic left to re-sign for Arsenal.
In his second spell at Elland Road, Lukic made a further 265 league appearances.
Aged 35, Lukic was brought back to Highbury as cover for Seaman, their careers coming full circle, but due to injury to Seaman, Lukic actually made 17 appearances in all competitions that season, keeping five clean sheets.
Although he remained at the club for the following four seasons, Lukic did not appear in the first team again until October 2000 in a Champions League group match against Lazio. At 39 years and 11 months he became the oldest player ever to appear in the Champions League, a record that has since been broken.
Lukic then made a further three Premier League appearances that season, the first of which against Manchester City saw Lukic become only the fourth player in history to appear in the English top flight in four separate decades.
Lukic made his final appearance for the club against Derby County in November 2000, just a month shy of his 40th birthday, keeping his 114th clean sheet for the club on what was his 298th appearance.
At the end of the 2000/01 season Lukic retired from playing and began working as a freelance goalkeeper coaching, which he continues to this day. Lukic is also a successful after dinner speaker.
Lukic's son, also called John, had a brief football career as a goalkeeper at Nottingham Forest, Grimsby Town and Barnsley but is now a doctor working in the NHS.
I always thought Lukic was one of the most underrated goalkeepers in the country. How he never got selected for England I will never know.
When you consider Chris Woods, nowhere near as consistent or successful as Lukic, played over 40 times for England between 1985-1993, it really was a scandal that Lukic was not selected at least once.
Funnily enough my first memory of Lukic was actually when he had a nightmare playing for Leeds against Arsenal in 1980.
I was 11 years old at the time and when I saw the game on television I remember thinking who on earth is this goalkeeper, as he threw a cross into own net and then let another soft shot slip through his legs.
Imagine my delight therefore when we signed him three year later, although thankfully Lukic would prove that was a one-off.
I remember the match at Carrow Road in 1989 when we knew George was going to buy Dave Seaman. The reaction we gave Lukic that day was a strong message about our feelings towards him.
I guess George was proved right in the end though as Seaman was not too bad, was he? Although Lukic proved his own point by winning the title with Leeds in 1992.
It was great to see him back at the club in the late 90s and he proved he could still do a job, professional to the end. While Lukic is probably best remembered for his time at Arsenal he actually played more matches for Leeds in his 23 year career, the whole of which split between the two clubs.
Coming up next time I look back at a match Lukic played in for us, the notorious FA Cup 5th round tie against Manchester United in February 1988. Now that is one not to be missed.
ANFIELD, MAY 1989. Arsenal are 1-0 up but need another goal to snatch the title away from Liverpool. There are just seconds remaining. Kevin Richardson rolls the ball back to his goalkeeper, John Lukic. The rest is history.
Lukic, to Dixon, forward to Smith, to Thomas, charging through the midfield. It's up for grabs now...
A much underrated goalkeeper, Lukic is one of only four players in history to have played top flight football in England in four separate decades.
Jovan Lukic was born on 11 December 1960 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire to Yugoslav parents.
There was a rumour that his mother had survived the Munich Air Disaster while pregnant with John but this was proved to be false. Although there was indeed a Mrs Lukic on the plane, who was saved by Harry Greig, this was a full two years before John was born.
Lukic joined Leeds as a schoolboy in 1975 and after signing as an apprentice in December 1978, he made his debut the following year.
Lukic, a 6ft 4in goalkeeper with great handling and distribution, became a regular in the Leeds side while still a teenager as successor to the great David Harvey, and in a four year stay at Elland Road he made just short of 200 appearances.
Leeds was relegated to Division Two in 1982 and a year later, Lukic, then aged 22, joined Terry Neill's Arsenal for £75,000 as the long term replacement to Pat Jennings.
Lukic had to bide his time for a chance but following an injury to Jennings in a match at Coventry City in March 1984 he was given his debut the following week, a 3-1 home win over Stoke City.
Lukic began the 1984/85 season still as second choice but following a poor run of form from Jennings, including a nightmare at Oxford United in the Milk Cup, a game featured here, he stepped in for a match away at Manchester United in November.
Although the team lost 4-2 and Jennings was back for the following three matches, Lukic took over as first choice in December 1984 after a 3-1 win home win over Luton Town and he barely missed a match over the next five and half years.
It was a time of transition for the Gunners and the 1985/86 season was one of huge disappointment for the club. However Lukic kept 21 clean sheets in 51 appearances and was building a reputation for being a very reliable goalkeeper in front of a young defence including teenagers Martin Keown and Tony Adams.
Lukic must have been delighted when George Graham took over in the summer and 1986 and began to build the 'famous back five', although Lukic was one of several players on a week-to-week contract throughout the campaign as Graham assessed his squad.
That season saw Lukic win his first trophy with the club, the Littlewoods Cup, and he kept 20 clean sheets in 49 appearances. In the summer of 1987 he signed a new two year contract.
Over the next three seasons Lukic did not miss a single match, starting 143 consecutive games in all competitions, keeping 56 clean sheets.
He played in the 1988 Littlewoods Cup final final defeat to Luton Town before being ever-present in the 1988/89 title winning season. Indeed in the title decider at Anfield it was Lukic's throw to Lee Dixon that started the move from which Arsenal scored the dramatic last minute winner.
In the summer of 1990 Graham angered the Arsenal fans by buying David Seaman from Queens Park Rangers for a record fee of £1.3million.
The irony was that Seaman had been understudy to Lukic at Leeds and now he was taking his place at Arsenal.
During the final match of the 1989/90 season, away at Norwich City, the Arsenal fans showed Lukic great support as rumours of the impending arrival of Seaman were now in full swing, but Graham was not one to be swayed by sentiment.
In total Lukic had made 277 appearances for Arsenal, conceding 268 goals and keeping 106 clean sheets.
Lukic rejoined Leeds in the summer of 1990 for £1million and in his second season back at Elland Road ij 1991/92, he won his second league title, one of a select band of players to win the title with two different clubs and the first goalkeeper to do so since before the Second World War.
Due to his parentage, Lukic was considered for selection by the Yugoslav side during the peak of his Arsenal career in the late 1980s but he rejected the offer.
Lukic was in the Leeds side that lost the 1996 League Cup final 3-0 to Aston Villa at Wembley and at the end of the 1995/96 season the Peacocks bought Nigel Martyn as his replacement so Lukic left to re-sign for Arsenal.
In his second spell at Elland Road, Lukic made a further 265 league appearances.
Aged 35, Lukic was brought back to Highbury as cover for Seaman, their careers coming full circle, but due to injury to Seaman, Lukic actually made 17 appearances in all competitions that season, keeping five clean sheets.
Although he remained at the club for the following four seasons, Lukic did not appear in the first team again until October 2000 in a Champions League group match against Lazio. At 39 years and 11 months he became the oldest player ever to appear in the Champions League, a record that has since been broken.
Lukic then made a further three Premier League appearances that season, the first of which against Manchester City saw Lukic become only the fourth player in history to appear in the English top flight in four separate decades.
Lukic made his final appearance for the club against Derby County in November 2000, just a month shy of his 40th birthday, keeping his 114th clean sheet for the club on what was his 298th appearance.
At the end of the 2000/01 season Lukic retired from playing and began working as a freelance goalkeeper coaching, which he continues to this day. Lukic is also a successful after dinner speaker.
I always thought Lukic was one of the most underrated goalkeepers in the country. How he never got selected for England I will never know.
When you consider Chris Woods, nowhere near as consistent or successful as Lukic, played over 40 times for England between 1985-1993, it really was a scandal that Lukic was not selected at least once.
Funnily enough my first memory of Lukic was actually when he had a nightmare playing for Leeds against Arsenal in 1980.
I was 11 years old at the time and when I saw the game on television I remember thinking who on earth is this goalkeeper, as he threw a cross into own net and then let another soft shot slip through his legs.
Imagine my delight therefore when we signed him three year later, although thankfully Lukic would prove that was a one-off.
I remember the match at Carrow Road in 1989 when we knew George was going to buy Dave Seaman. The reaction we gave Lukic that day was a strong message about our feelings towards him.
I guess George was proved right in the end though as Seaman was not too bad, was he? Although Lukic proved his own point by winning the title with Leeds in 1992.
It was great to see him back at the club in the late 90s and he proved he could still do a job, professional to the end. While Lukic is probably best remembered for his time at Arsenal he actually played more matches for Leeds in his 23 year career, the whole of which split between the two clubs.
Coming up next time I look back at a match Lukic played in for us, the notorious FA Cup 5th round tie against Manchester United in February 1988. Now that is one not to be missed.
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