One of Derby County’s favourite sons has announced his retirement from the game at 37 years of age. Mart Poom will be remembered with affection by Rams fans for his service during 146 games for Derby County.
The 6ft 4 inch Estonian International came to pride Park in 1997 from Portsmouth for half a million pounds but the fee was worth every penny for an Internationally recognised goalkeeper, gaining 119 Caps.
Mart will now take over duties as Assistant goalkeeping coach at Arsenal after a career which saw him play 365 league games.
Ironically in those games Mart scored on only one occasion, against Derby County when playing for Sunderland. With time running out for the Black Cats, Poom went up for a corner. He rose like a salmon and sent a thumping header into the Rams goal to earn Sunderland a draw, but it will be the saves he made whilst playing for the Rams that will remain in the memory of fans who were privileged to see ‘Poooooooom’ in action...