England keeper Nigel Martyn pledges to the Edge

Former England goalkeeper Nigel Martyn has signed up to support the Eden Project’s bid for £50 million to build its next great phase the Edge.

The Edge is one of four projects competing in the Big Lottery Fund’s: the People’s £50 Million Contest. It will be a visionary new building meeting the challenges of climate change. Its scale and ambition will make it an international icon of sustainability.

The winning project will be decided by a public vote. Internet voting is now open at www.edenproject.com/vote and phone voting is due to take place between December 7 and 10.

Nigel said: “As a local boy and proud of my roots, I would like to add my rock-solid support to the Eden Project’s bid to bring £50 million to the area and to Cornwall. We should all get behind the bid and vote for the Edge, the next exciting phase of Eden.”

Nigel was born in Bethel, St. Austell, a few miles from the hamlet of Bodelva where the Eden Project is based in a former china clay pit. His father worked in drilling and blasting in the pits and his brother still works in the industry. 

Nigel played for St. Blazey AFC, whose home ground is just two miles away from Eden, before turning professional and signing for Bristol Rovers. He later moved on to Crystal Palace, Leeds United and Everton.

He made his debut for England in 1992 and earned 23 caps, being part of the squad for the World Cup in 1998 and 2002 and the European Championships in 2000.

Nigel was the first keeper in England to command a £1 million transfer fee when he signed for Palace and set the record for most expensive keeper in England for a second time when he joined Leeds in 1996 for £2.25 million.

He remains a well-loved figure at his former clubs, being named in Palace’s Centenary XI in 2005 and being voted into Leeds’s all-time best eleven by fans – the only player since the Don Revie era to be included. Everton manager David Moyes called Nigel his "greatest ever signing" on the goalkeeper’s retirement in 2006.

Nigel is now goalkeeping coach at Bradford City.

Nigel joins an illustrious list of Edge supporters including fellow sporting superstar and captain of the England rugby team Phil Vickery. Also getting behind the Edge are the UN, Oxfam and Christian Aid as well as television presenter Alan Titchmarsh, acclaimed author Philip Pullman and survival expert Ray Mears.

The Edge represents the next great phase at Eden. It will be a testament to one-planet living, built to the lowest possible carbon footprint and designed to last. Inside there will be amazing desert, oasis and water gardens on a scale never attempted undercover.

The building will be a model of cutting-edge architecture and technology, harvesting water and energy from the sun, wind, and rain to show how we all might live in the future.