Jimmy Rimmer, the goalkeeper who won the European Cup with both Manchester United and Aston Villa, has died at the age of 78, prompting tributes from across English football for a career that made him one of the rare players to lift the continent’s top trophy with two different clubs.
Jimmy Rimmer, the former Manchester United and Aston Villa goalkeeper, has died at the age of 78, prompting an outpouring of tributes from across English football. Rimmer enjoyed a distinguished playing career spanning more than two decades, during which he became one of the few footballers to be part of two separate European Cup-winning squads with two different English clubs. Tributes from both Manchester United and Aston Villa carry particular significance given Rimmer’s direct involvement in each club’s continental triumph.
Early career and rise through Manchester United
Born in Lancashire, Rimmer progressed through Manchester United’s youth system as a teenager before eventually breaking into Sir Matt Busby’s first-team squad. He went on to make 146 first-team appearances for the club during his time at Old Trafford.
Rimmer was part of United’s squad during the club’s historic 1968 European Cup triumph, when the side defeated Benfica 4-1 after extra time at Wembley to become the first English club ever to win the competition. He served as substitute goalkeeper for that final, with Alex Stepney starting in goal, but remained on the bench throughout the landmark victory as part of the winning squad.
Later success at Aston Villa
Rimmer later moved on from Manchester United and went on to enjoy the defining success of his career at Aston Villa. In 1982, he started in goal for Villa in the European Cup final against Bayern Munich in Rotterdam, helping the club to a 1-0 victory secured by a goal from Peter Withe. During the match, Rimmer produced a crucial early save to deny Dirk Hamer before Villa went on to claim the trophy.
That victory, coming fourteen years after his involvement with United’s triumph in 1968, made Rimmer an exceptionally rare figure in English football: a player who had been part of two European Cup-winning squads with two different clubs, spanning two distinct generations of English success in the competition.
Other clubs and international recognition
Beyond his time at United and Villa, Rimmer also had spells with several other clubs during his playing career, including Arsenal, Swansea City and Sheffield Wednesday. He was also recognised at international level, receiving call-ups to the England squad during the 1970s, though he never established himself as the country’s first-choice goalkeeper.
Life after playing
Following his retirement from playing, Rimmer remained closely involved in football, including work in coaching and goalkeeping instruction, passing on his experience and expertise to younger players in the years that followed.
His death marks the loss of one of the few footballers in English football history who could genuinely claim to have been a European Cup winner with two separate clubs, a distinction that has ensured his lasting place in the histories of both Manchester United and Aston Villa.
