Pat Mountain: The goalkeeping coach who made an impact at Wolves and Bristol City

He is also now past the 900 mark in all competitions at senior level, including over a century chalked up in the Premier League.

The bulk of those have come with his current employers, Bristol City, and at Wolves, where he spent nine years which featured two promotions, two relegations, and two top-flight survivals.  Riding the perennial Molineux rollercoaster!

On Saturday, Mountain’s past and present come into contact as Wolves travel to Ashton Gate for a High Noon showdown in the third round of the FA Cup.

It is a sign of longevity, and his ability not just in coaching but also in managing so many different goalkeepers of different ages and at different levels, that the Cardiff-born Mountain has spent so long at both clubs.

Surviving, or rather thriving, under so many different managerial regimes when offered the opportunity to prove himself following a change at the top.

Just using Wolves as an example, Mountain was one of several members of staff who worked under a total of eight different bosses from 2008 to 2017.  Providing stability amid the change.

“I have been fortunate at both Wolves and Bristol City, that when there have been changes, the club have always felt it right to give the staff an opportunity with a new manager,” he explains.

“Jez (Moxey) and Kevin (Thelwell) always tried to do that at Wolves, recognising the importance, when possible, of keeping some form of stability behind the scenes when there’s a change at the top.

“From my point of view, I think when a new manager comes in, they want as much information as possible, especially with how big football clubs are now, needing to know about all the different departments, and who does what.

“My philosophy has always been to help with that as much as I can, and also to feel that I can work with any manager.

“I always want to do my very best for the goalies to help them play at the highest level they can, and I’m pretty sure that’s what the manager wants as well.

“So given we want exactly the same, there is always every reason to be able to work well together.”

For 48-year-old Mountain, a hugely popular figure with all the clubs he has worked at, which includes Hull and Forest Green Rovers, it’s an approach that has served him well.

Always destined to operate at a higher level as a coach than he did as a player, it’s been quite the footballing journey, from being born in Pontypridd and starting his career with Barry Town, which included turning out in the UEFA Cup and proving the hero in a penalty shootout against Hungarian side BVSC Budapest.

Mountain later enjoyed a taste of Football League experience with a handful of appearances on a non-contract basis for Cardiff City, then becoming a huge success with over 200 appearances in non-league for Newport County, featuring a decent FA Cup run which ended in defeat against Blackpool.

Ultimately a succession of knee injuries ended his career at 27, by which time he had already made substantial progress towards his next chapter, in coaching.

He was the youngest at the time to have completed the ‘A’ license for both goalkeeping and outfield positions, and was always aware that his potential was greater to achieve more off the pitch than he had on it.

“I don’t think I could ever have done better as a goalkeeper than I did, certainly not without the sort of support that goalkeepers get now,” he admits.

“I wasn’t the most confident and didn’t have much faith in my ability, my kicking wasn’t great, and I wasn’t the biggest.

“I needed a good coach, which might have made a difference, but I always thought I would end up coaching at a much higher level than I had ever played at.”

Alongside studying for those coaching qualifications Mountain had built up valuable experience working on large-scale community schemes in schools and development programmes, and then with Cardiff’s Academy, and as a tutor with the Welsh FA.

He also coached with Wales Under-21s during the tenure of Glyn Hodges, looking after Lewis Price who, like Wolves Academy scholar Scott Brown whom he coached at Cheltenham, has since been in the opposition dugout to Mountain in the Championship.

Brown wasn’t the only Wolves connection who Mountain encountered as he made early strides within the game.

His part-time work with Cheltenham came when John Ward was manager and Keith Downing his assistant, and was coupled with similar part-time duties for Hereford, who had Graham Turner as boss and previous Wolves Academy coach John Trewick as number two.

Then, in the summer of 2008, the goalkeeping coach role became available at Wolves.

It was a tough act to follow – the departing Bobby Mimms was extremely popular – and was also a tough initiation process, a session with the keepers after initially impressing Mick McCarthy in an informal interview.