After blowing out the candles he admitted he has no plans for retirement just yet. "It's a target I haven't set myself, but while I still feel I can maintain the standards I've set, I will continue playing. Being out training on days like today makes everything worthwhile.

"Anyway, I lie on my birth certificate; I'm not really that old, I just like to make out I am that old," quipped Beasant.

Watching him throw himself around in training with the enthusiasm of a first-year pro and you could easily believe that statement to be true, but the reality is that he's still playing at 44 because he has kept himself in such great condition physically throughout his career.

"Obviously the birth certificate doesn't lie," Beasant eventually admits. "I just love coming in training and love working hard."

It's a statement endorsed by his latest manager, Steve Coppell, who paid tribute to his goalkeeper's professionalism.

"It's an unbelievable achievement to be 44 and still playing professional football at such a high level. It just shows the years and years of good preparation and the way he's looked after himself. Even now he works very hard. He's single minded about everything he does."

 

Beasant - who had stints with Chelsea, Newcastle, Spurs, Nottingham Forest, Portsmouth and Southampton amongst others - is best remembered for his unforgettable Cup Final penalty save from Liverpool's John Aldridge in 1988. That save went down in FA Cup folklore, and effectively won the cup for Wimbledon's Crazy Gang, and then Beasant became the first goalkeeper captain to lift the famous trophy.

Two years later came another highlight. After David Seaman picked up an injury, he was called up as England understudy to Peter Shilton at Italia '90 - another respected goalkeeper who played League football well into his late forties - and while Beasant is unlikely to match Shilton's magnificent achievement of 1,000 League games, he has his sights set on playing at the highest level possible next season - and beyond.

"This isn't a swansong for him," says Coppell. "He sees this very much as a stepping stone towards another year."

Beasant explained, "Too many people have retired early and said you should play as long as possible. As long as I'm doing a good job for whoever I am playing for, and my standards don't slip - and I'll be the first to know if they do - then I'll carry on playing."

Brighton fans will bear that out. Beasant has been in terrific form for the south-coast club, keeping three clean sheets in his last three home games, but typically - and in true Crazy Gang style - he shifts most of the praise to his team-mates.

"I've settled really quickly here. There's a good bunch of lads around, and while they don't keep you sane, they keep you young! If I didn't enjoy it I wouldn't continue playing, but I love coming in each day with the boys."

Beasant's experience has been invaluable to Brighton in their fight against relegation from Division One, but surprisingly, for a man who's been in the game for a quarter of a century, he admits that he still suffers from pre-match nerves.

"People say 'do you still get nervous before a game?' and I do still get the butterflies, but if you lose that you become a bit complacent."