Cobblers bring in former Leeds keeper Higgs
Northampton Town have signed the highly rated 34 year old former Leeds United goalkeeper Shane Higgs on an 18 month contract.
Higgs began his career as a trainee at Bristol Rovers, making 10 appearances for the Gas.
He was signed by Cheltenham Town for £10,000 in 1999. He spent nearly four years as reserve to Steve Book, making only a handful of appearances, before finally breaking into the first team in March 2003.
He then became the Robins first choice keeper, winning the club's Player of the Year award twice. Whilst at Cheltenham he gained two promotions and was a fixture in the first team for many years.
He joined Wolverhampton Wanderers on a month's loan in November 2008 and stayed at Molineux as cover until the end of the season. Wolves manager Mick McCarthy highly recommended Higgs to Leeds manager Simon Grayson and Higgs moved to Elland Road in July 2009. He started the 2009/10 season as first-choice goalkeeper after fierce competition from former number one Casper Ankergren.
He left Elland Road in the summer of 2011 after spending time as understudy to Kasper Schmeichel, his previous club before Aidy Boothroyd convinced the highly rated stopper to make the move to Sixfields. In all, Higgs has made well over 300 senior appearances in his career.
"Shane brings experience and quality with him," said boss Aidy Boothroyd. "He is someone who is used to winning football matches. He has won 2 promotions in his career and has played for one of the biggest clubs in the country.
"Shane is vocal, he has a lot of experience and is an excellent professional. He is a winner and someone who does not settle for second best. We need characters like that to come and join us and I am delighted he has agreed to be part of what we are trying to build."
Higgs is available to face Burton Albion at Sixfields on Boxing Day.
Posted by: Northampton Town Football Club
