The England goalkeeper was signed from Norwich City on the eve of the 2006/07 campaign in a deal that could eventually rise to £2m.

The Chertsey-born No1 originally made his first-team debut for the Canaries in a goalless derby draw with Ipswich Town as a 19-year-old in April 1999, before going on to make almost 250 league and cup appearances for the Carrow Road club.

Green was an influential figure as City won promotion to the Premiership in 2004, and was rewarded for his performances in the top flight with a call-up to the full England squad - becoming only the sixth Norwich player in history to wear the Three Lions when he appeared as a substitute against Colombia in New Jersey, USA on 31 May 2005.

The imposing stopper remained a regular member of the full England squad, and was all set to travel to the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany as a possible understudy behind Paul Robinson.

But disaster struck at Reading's Madejski Stadium at the end of May, when Green suffered a ruptured groin, just minutes after replacing ex-Hammer David James as a substitute in a B international against Belarus.

That cruelly ruled him out of the June finals but after a summer of rehabilitation, he arrived at the Boleyn Ground and soon established himself ahead of Roy Carroll and Jimmy Walker.

Following his West Ham United debut at Tottenham Hotspur in October 2006, the fit-again Green went on to make 27 league and cup appearances, which included some truly outstanding performances during a nail-biting relegation battle that saw him keep clean sheets, against all odds, at both the Emirates Stadium and Old Trafford.

And just 12 months after arriving, Green put pen to paper on a new four-year deal that is scheduled to keep him in east London until 2011.

With Walker and new arrival Richard Wright pushing him all the way, Green went into the 2007/08 campaign determined to retain the No1 spot that will, hopefully, give him the opportunity to add to that solitary full England cap.