Jimmy Rimmer, a goalkeeper who won the European Cup with English teams Manchester United and Aston Villa 14 years apart, has died. He was 78.
Villa announced the death of Rimmer on Friday without giving any more details. The club described him as “one of the finest goalkeepers of his generation, and arguably one of the unluckiest when it came to big occasions.”
Rimmer collected a European Cup winner’s medal with United in 1968 after being on the bench, as the backup to Alex Stepney, for its 4-1 win over Benfica in the final at Wembley Stadium.
In the 1982 final, Rimmer started for Villa in a 1-0 win over Bayern Munich in Rotterdam, Netherlands, but came off with a neck injury after nine minutes and was in tears in the locker room. He was able to join the post-match celebrations, though, after Peter Withe’s winner.
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Rimmer started all nine of Villa matches in the competition that season, after being an ever-present in its English league title-winning campaign the previous season.
He was at United from 1965-74 and then had three years at Arsenal before playing for Villa from 1977-83.
Rimmer played once for England — a friendly against Italy in 1976.
In a post on X, United said it was “deeply saddened” by Rimmer’s death, adding: “Our thoughts are with Jimmy’s loved ones at this difficult time.”
Published on Aug 14, 2026
