Mart Poom

Mart Poom (born February 3, 1972 in Tallinn; in English) is an Estonian Football (soccer) goalkeeper. He currently plays for Watford F.C.. He holds both British and Estonian citizenship.

Club career

Early career

Poom started his football career in the clubs "Lõvid" ("Lions") in the former Soviet Union and FC Flora Tallinn in his home country, before a brief stint at Finland club KuPS and Switzerland club FC Wil. In 1994 he moved to England club Portsmouth F.C., but only played seven games and was loaned back to his former club Flora Tallinn.

Derby

In 1997 Poom moved to Derby County F.C., making his Premier League debut against Manchester United F.C. at Old Trafford (football).

Sunderland

After Derby's relegation to the Football League First Division in the summer of 2002, Poom moved to Sunderland in November of that year. On 20 September 2003, he headed a 90th minute equaliser for Sunderland against his former club at Pride Park Stadium. It was described on BBC Radio Five Live as "The best headed equaliser by a goalkeeper against his former club in the last minute. Ever!", and earned him the nickname "Poominator".

Poom's career at Sunderland was beset by several injuries, and he spent much of 2003–04 recovering.

Arsenal

Poom was signed by Arsenal in August 2005 as temporary cover for Jens Lehmann and Manuel Almunia, before the deal was made permanent in January 2006. He was Arsenal's third-choice keeper, and did not play a single match in the 2005-06 in English football season, although he became the first Estonian to receive a Champions League medal (albeit a runners-up medal) after Arsenal lost to FC Barcelona. Poom did not play nor did he make the substitutes' bench for the final, but was a member of Arsenal's 25-man European squad, each of whom won a silver medal.

He finally made his debut for Arsenal on 8 November 2006 in a Football League Cup match against Everton F.C., replacing an injured Manuel Almunia at half-time; Arsenal won 1-0 with an Emmanuel Adebayor goal. His first and only appearance for Arsenal in the Premier League came on the last day of the Premier League 2006-07 against Portsmouth F.C., in a 0-0 draw.

Watford

Poom signed for Watford F.C. on 26 May 2007 for an undisclosed fee, becoming surplus to requirements with Arsenal as they signed Poland international goalkeeper Łukasz Fabiański from Legia Warsaw. He started the new season as Watford's first choice but went on to lose his place to Richard Lee (footballer). He is now injured for 6 months after dislocating his arm

International career

Poom has represented Estonia national football team on 119 occasions, making his debut in a 1992 (while playing for KuPS in Finland) international friendly against Slovenia national football team. In November 2003, he was UEFA Jubilee Awards by the Estonian Football Association as the country's greatest player of the last 50 years.Image:Mart Poom warming-up.JPG|thumb|right|Mart Poom before an Estonia-England game in June 2007

Personal

He is married to Lissel (b. 1975), with whom he has two sons named Markus (b. 1998) and Andreas (b. 2003).