I've been trying to think of a way to highlight the top women's goalkeepers of all-time. There is a surprisingly (or maybe not) small amount of information on a number of goalkeepers from the 20th century so it's been a little bit of a grind finding relevant info. After digging around, I stumbled on the idea of retroactively "inducting" the best retired goalkeeper starting at 1990 into a goalkeeping hall of fame. Every "year" after 1990, I would add another goalkeeper all the way up until 2019 and continue doing so in the future. I'm still working on bios for every goalkeeper (Wikipedia has a shockingly small amount of information readily available for most goalkeepers) but here is what I came up with: https://everybodysoccer.com/even-the-goalkeepers-like-to/2020/6/12/goalkeeper-hall-of-fame (I know it's a little presumptuous to take the name "hall of fame" but seeing as there's so little coverage on these goalkeepers, I don't think I'm stepping on anyone's toes.) I tried to balance international and club achievements, as well as how dominant they were during their playing days. It's difficult finding any video on most of the early goalkeepers, unfortunately, but the World Cup recaps have been helpful. Some goalkeepers I expect to "induct" after they retire are Hedvig Lindahl, Erin McLeod, Karen Bardsley, Miho Fukumoto, Ingrid Hjelmseth (just retired last year), and Sarah Bouhaddi, in case anyone was wondering. Would love to hear some opinions on goalkeepers that were included (or missed!).
It is difficult to judge for me many of the inductees because of the low television presence of women`s football in previous years but I fully agree with your selection of German goalkeepers (Isbert, Goller, Rottenberg, Angerer) . I don`t know how it was possible for Bouhaddi to be the No.1 goalkeeper of France and Lyon for so many years. She makes too many blunders.
I like very much your idea. Only problem is that I wasn't really following women's football yet in the '90s, so choosing one GK (or some GKs) for me would be little more than name recognition (especially for those who transitioned through the 2000s and that I actually saw play). So, I would be a very intersted viewer of the process, but I am afraid I can't give any relevant contribution for the earliest years of this Hall of Fame. By the way, I obvioulsy agree with the names you mentioned or GK currently playing (or just retired) that you expect to induct somewhere along the way, but of course it's because I know these ones and I saw them play.
Yeah there is a problem with a lack of video for those early gks. But it's not a dissimilar problem on the men's side, tbh. So identifying which national teams and domestic leagues were relevant / respected is a big part of it. Sweden, Italy, and Denmark all had success early on (70s-80s), both internationally and domestically. Norway, Germany, and England soon after. As for Bouhaddi, I wonder if the lack of competition + age has caught up to her. I think if we look back to her in 2014 (when she was 27) we see an almost totally different goalkeeper. She's more mobile, less error-prone. I don't think the 2019 WC performance (or the last couple years) have really showcased her talents as much as the previous years did. But it's rare that goalkeepers on the women's side play past 30, although it's becoming more common.
Ty : ) Part of the reason behind the project was to highlight those early pioneers. I think if you can get a name in the same conversation with Solo + Angerer, it carries a lot more weight than just saying "they were one of the best!" You mention a lack of seeing these goalkeepers, which is a fair and difficult point. On the men's side, you have goalkeepers like Ricardo Zamora who is considered not only one of the greatest goalkeepers of his generation, but one of the best ever by many historians. There's not much video on him and most people didn't watch him play. There's also not a lot of video of Lev Yashin either, who's also considered one of the greatest. So relying on (and finding) trusted resources is key. But one thing I have noticed is that when there is a lack of agreement on who the best actually are when people can't see worldwide. Everyone thinks they had the greatest goalkeeper on their team when they don't watch the rest of the competition (which part of this lack of accessibility, of course). Consider how fast Endler rose from decent goalkeeper (pre-2019 WC) to one of the best in the world over just three games. So it's tricky getting any agreement but I think with doing a yearly "induction", it'll be hard to miss the right goalkeepers. I think going forward, it will be a lot easier with available video. Definitely agree there.