Former Liverpool goalkeeper accepts new role as player-coach

Former Liverpool goalkeeper Andy Lonergan has taken his first steps into coaching after accepting a new role as player-coach at Wigan Athletic.

The Latics will be the 40-year-old’s 16th club of his professional career, which spans 24 years with the veteran boasting 402 appearances to his name to date.

He will primarily act as Wigan’s first team goalkeeping coach, but has also been registered as a player to serve as cover for Sam Tickle and Tom Watson.

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Lonergan will play alongside Liverpool loanee Calvin Ramsay this season, after the young Scot joined the Latics on a temporary basis following Luke Chambers’ successful stint at the club earlier this year. Meanwhile, James Carragher - son of Reds legend Jamie - will be another one of his team-mates at the Brick Community Stadium.

“I’m absolutely buzzing to be here,” Lonergan told the club after his appointment. “Shaun Maloney didn’t need to convince me because of the things I heard about him as a manager and a person.

“I’d never come across the gaffer before, but from the first meeting, I felt a really good vibe and he was someone I wanted to work with.

“This is my first coaching role. I’ve done a lot of qualifications and feel like I know a lot about goalkeeping, but to be a first yeam goalkeeper coach at this age is incredible and the gaffer has shown massive faith.

“Two top young goalkeepers are coming through, and to have that group as a starting group for myself personally is fantastic. I want them to kick on, and help them improve on a daily basis."

In recent years Lonergan has acted predominantly as a back-up goalkeeper at Liverpool, West Bromwich Albion and Everton in the Premier League, and spent three years at Goodison Park prior to his switch to Wigan.

Prior to his time at Everton, he joined the Reds in the summer of 2019 following an injury to Alisson Becker, having already spent pre-season training with the club. And while he never made an appearance in his solitary season with Liverpool, he was a member of the squad that won the Premier League title and picked up winner’s medals in both the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.

Meanwhile, the Reds recently appointed a new head of first team goalkeeper coaching of their own following the departures of the long-serving John Achterberg and Jack Robinson this summer. Fabian Otte will join up with Liverpool from his current position as head of goalkeeping with the USA national team once their participation in the forthcoming Copa America comes to an end, with the 33-year-old previously serving at Borussia Monchengladbach after stints with Burnley, Hoffenheim Under-23s and the New Zealand Women’s national team.