# Bert Slater > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bert_Slater > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bert_Slater.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Slater > Source revision: 1270414900 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Robert Slater** (5 May 1936 – 21 July 2006) was a Scottish professional [footballer](/source/Association_football) who played as a [goalkeeper](/source/Goalkeeper_(association_football)). Slater played for [Falkirk](/source/Falkirk_F.C.), [Liverpool](/source/Liverpool_F.C.), [Dundee](/source/Dundee_F.C.) and [Watford](/source/Watford_F.C.) during the 1950s and 1960s. He also played once for the [Scotland under-23](/source/Scotland_national_under-23_football_team) team. ## Life and playing career Born in [Musselburgh](/source/Musselburgh), [East Lothian](/source/East_Lothian), Scotland, Slater started his career as a 17-year-old at [Falkirk](/source/Falkirk_F.C.). He won a [Scottish Cup](/source/Scottish_Cup) winners medal in 1957 and made his debut in front of a 90,000 predominantly [Rangers](/source/Rangers_F.C.) crowd. [Liverpool](/source/Liverpool_F.C.) signed him in exchange for [Tommy Younger](/source/Tommy_Younger) on 12 June 1959. He made his debut two months later at [Ninian Park](/source/Ninian_Park) on 22 August, [Cardiff City](/source/Cardiff_City_F.C.) spoiled his day beaten the reds 3–2, Cardiff actually provided all 5 goals as City's [Danny Malloy](/source/Danny_Malloy_(footballer)) scored 2 own goals both being only 4 minutes apart. He kept his first clean-sheet on 12 December 1959 at the [Eastville Stadium](/source/Eastville_Stadium), [Bristol Rovers](/source/Bristol_Rovers_F.C.) were the side that were unable to break down the Reds defence as Liverpool won 2–0. Slater was small for a goalkeeper standing at just 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) and was nicknamed "Shorty" but he was immediately put into the Liverpool goal upon his arrival in 1959 after a disastrous start to the season the No.1 shirt was handed to Doug Rudman, but when [Bill Shankly](/source/Bill_Shankly) arrived Bert got his place back and went on to clock-up 30 appearances in all competitions. He followed this up by being an ever-present during the 1960/61 as Liverpool, incredibly finished 3rd (top 2 gained promotion) for a fifth straight season. Shankly rallied his troops and also brought in [Ron Yeats](/source/Ron_Yeats) and [Ian St John](/source/Ian_St_John) to strengthen his side, it worked, Liverpool won the division by 8 points and were promoted to the top tier of English football after an 8-year break, Slater played his part by appearing 29 times, but he now had serious competition as Shankly had signed James Furnell from [Burnley](/source/Burnley_F.C.). Things got worse for Slater, [Tommy Lawrence](/source/Tommy_Lawrence), signed in 1957 as a 17-year-old, was beginning to mature and was starting knock on the first team door, Slater was now considered to be lower than the under-12 goalkeeper in the pecking order, according to Bill Shankly, and thus was deemed surplus to requirements. Bert moved to [Dundee](/source/Dundee_F.C.) in July 1962, which meant that he was sold by Bill Shankly and signed by brother [Bob](/source/Bob_Shankly). Bob's Dundee had just won the [Scottish league championship](/source/List_of_Scottish_football_champions) in 1961/62 and were about to embark on a [European Cup](/source/UEFA_Champions_League) campaign. Bob had rated Slater highly ever since a friendly between the two brothers' clubs in 1960 so when he became available Bob made sure he got his man paying £2,500 for Slater's services. Slater first introduction to European football was at [Dens Park](/source/Dens_Park) against [Cologne](/source/1._FC_K%C3%B6ln), Dundee were 5 up by half-time and went on to win 8–1, Cologne only got the 1 because of an own-goal by Alex Hamilton. Cologne lost their keeper to injury at half-time. However, the Cologne players thought the challenge was a bad one and, rumour has it, were targeting Slater for reprisal in the 2nd leg. If they were by the 27th minute they got their man, Slater took a boot to the head which opened up, he was replaced by Andy Penman, an inside-forward, there were no subs back then. Cologne pulled the aggregate score back to 8–4 when a bandaged Slater returned to the game as a left winger, Cologne pushed forward and got another, this was too much for Slater who went back into the Dees goal, Dundee held on for a famous victory. They also beat [Sporting Clube de Portugal](/source/Sporting_Clube_de_Portugal) and [Anderlecht](/source/Anderlecht) to reach the European Cup semi-final, here they came up against cup favourites [A.C Milan](/source/A.C._Milan) who proved to be too strong for Dundee, Milan went on to lift the trophy at [Wembley Stadium](/source/Wembley_Stadium). In 1965 he moved to [Watford](/source/Watford_F.C.), where he was the first choice goalkeeper for three years. Early in the [1968–69](/source/1968%E2%80%9369_in_English_football) season [Mike Walker](/source/Mike_Walker_(Welsh_footballer)) was bought and he replaced Slater as first-choice goalkeeper. Slater also became a coach and assistant manager at [Vicarage Road](/source/Vicarage_Road) before he retired from football. Slater represented [Scotland at under-23 level](/source/Scotland_national_under-23_football_team). After hanging up his boots Bert worked for a company that designed golf courses and scouted for [Dundee](/source/Dundee_F.C.). Slater died in [Brechin](/source/Brechin) on 21 July 2006.[citation needed] On 2024, Slater was inducted into Dundee's [Hall of Fame](/source/Dundee_F.C.#Hall_of_Fame), being awarded the Golden Era Award.[2] ## Career details - **Falkirk F.C.** (1953–1959) – ? appearances - Scottish Cup winners medal (1957) - **Liverpool F.C.** (1959–1962) – 111 appearances - [Division Two](/source/Football_League_Second_Division) (level 2) championship winners medal (1962) - **Dundee F.C.** (1962–1965) – ? appearances - **Watford F.C.** (1965–1973) – 152 appearances[3] ## References 1. ["Dundee Football Club of Facebook"](https://www.facebook.com/dundeefcofficial/posts/pfbid031HBiDyXeXhA3uQQjCjNCwMfFAep76zdhWf2ayptBVGgghsNBo1vPLVwfZ4wq25fvl). *facebook.com*. 23 October 2024. Retrieved 15 November 2024. 1. Including [League Cup](/source/EFL_Cup) and [FA Cup](/source/FA_Cup) appearances. ## External links - [Official past players at Liverpoolfc.tv](https://web.archive.org/web/20060926141233/http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/team/past_players/players/slater/) - [Player profile at LFChistory.net](http://www.lfchistory.net/player_profile.asp?player_id=411) - [Obituary at Scotsman.com](http://news.scotsman.com/obituaries.cfm?id=1082032006) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bert Slater](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Slater) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Slater?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.