A GOALKEEPER expects to put his body on the line.

But when Andy Dibble suffered horrific burns to his upper body playing for Barry Town, it was a sacrifice too far.

The Accrington Stanley goalkeeper coach received the awful injuries when he dived to save a ball and was burned by the hydrated lime used to mark the penalty spot playing against Carmarten Town in 1998.

Dibble won £20,000 in a landmark legal case but he still bears the scars, mental and physical, to this day and he fully admits the two weeks he spent in the burns unit at the Morriston Hospital put his life and football career into perspective.

He said: "It was very wet that day. I slid out to get the ball on the penalty spot and I came off at half time in serious pain down my arm and down my right side. I managed to finish the game but when I took my shirt off my body was completely burned.

"It was horrific. I thought that my career was over but thankfully I managed to come back - but I was left with scars I'll have for the rest of my life."

He added: "I was hoping to go the United States and that was in the process of being sorted out. I was playing at Altrincham at the time and went out on loan to Barry Town. I was only planning on staying for a month before going to the States.

"By the time I came back the American deal had fallen through and I was off to Hartlepool.

"It really put things into perspective for me. My injuries were bad but they were a pin-prick compared to some of the things I saw in the burns unit. I saw some horrific things.

"I've had some nasty injuries during my career but I wanted to carry on playing - even if it was for a pub team on a Sunday morning."

That was the worst time in a glittering career which has seen him play for over 20 clubs the length and breadth of Great Britain, winning three Welsh caps in the process.

"I've won promotion at Luton, Cardiff and Man City but probably the highlight was at Luton when we won the Littlewoods Cup in 1988 at Wembley. We beat Arsenal 3-2 that day. It was a massive day for me and the club."

In front of 95,732 fans, Dibble saved a Nigel Winterburn penalty and Brian Stein's last-gasp goal gave The Hatters their first major trophy.

"To beat Arseanal at Wembley in front of nearly 100,000 was amazing and something I will never forget," he added.

"I was only 21 at the time and it was an amazing experience. The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff is a great stadium but the old Wembley was a fabulous place to play."

But for most punters, Andy Dibble's name is inextricably linked with Man City and Gary Crosby.

Crosby was the cheeky Forest player who headed the ball out of Dibble's hand in a Forest v Man City clash in 1990. The incident became infamous and is now a pub quiz question favourite.

"Even now I'm never allowed to forget about it," he said. "It was an incident that was publicised all over the world.

"The ball came in from the right hand side. I caught it on the edge of the six-yard box, went to ground and he ran past me and ended up jumping over the advertising hoardings.

"I got up and was about to throw the ball out and he came behind me and headed the ball out of my hands and scored. I was flabbergasted when it happened to be honest and the publicity it got for the next week or so was unbelievable.

"The goal stood but now, that would be a sending off offence. It set a precedent and it brought about a change in the laws."

In Scotland, Dibble is remembered for a very different reason. "Probably one of the biggest things I remember is when I made my debut for Rangers against Celtic.

"I turned up at the game and I thought that I had a blue suit on but it turns out it was green! I took a load of stick from the likes of Ally McCoist, Richard Gough and Ian Durrant - they wanted me to go to the game in my underpants!

"You can imagine what would have happened if we'd have lost, I would have been in for a hell of a ride, but we won the game 1-0.

"

But that's in the past and for now Dibble is hoping to help Stanley back into the Football League.

Dibble was in Spain in the summer working with a Spanish third division side.

But after returning to the UK, the veteran stopper almost re-joined Wrexham but he couldn't agree a deal and a call from John Coleman saw him move back to the North West.

He said: "From what I've seen so far we've got a good chance.

"It's disappointing that we've conceeded some poor goals but at the end of the day if we can be a bit more ruthless we can hopefully take the next step."