Catching up with... Neil Sullivan

Former goalkeeper Neil Sullivan was a welcome guest at Wembley Stadium, connected by EE, for our Premier League victory over Crystal Palace on Sunday.

The Sutton-born stopper, capped 28 times by Scotland, joined us from Wimbledon in 2000 and made 81 appearances in our colours before leaving for Chelsea in 2003. He also played one game on loan at Palace in 1992 and later represented Leeds United, Doncaster Rovers and AFC Wimbledon.

Soaking up the atmosphere pitchside with his son on Sunday, Neil smiled: “It’s good to be back at the club. I’ve not been to many games to see the team live to be honest but every report you get is about how wonderful the football is, how great they play, how they move the ball, break teams down and when you see it live, it’s different to watching on TV.

“It’s nice to see them at Wembley and it’s nice to see them winning. My lad wanted to come down to Wembley and have a look around, so it’s great to see them live at a stadium like this.”

These days, Neil works for former club Leeds as Academy Goalkeeping Coach.

“I work with about four regular keepers in the Under-23s and Under-18s, then we get the 13- and 14-year-olds coming in on day release so it’s quite busy,” said the 47-year-old.

“Typically I do a matchday with the Under-23s on a Friday and then a matchday with the Under-18s on a Saturday. I’ve been there for five years now, since I stopped playing, and I really enjoy it. Leeds have obviously got their own ambitions to try to get back in the Premier League to hopefully come and play teams like Spurs. The fan base is still fantastic and the atmosphere they generate is brilliant.”