Peter Schmeichel
Encyclopedia
Peter Bolesław Schmeichel MBE (born 18 November 1963) is a retired Danish professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and was voted the "World's Best Goalkeeper" in 1992 and 1993. He was best remembered for his most successful years at English club Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

, whom he captained to the 1999 UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

 to complete The Treble
The Treble
The term treble or Treble is used in association football to refer to a team winning three trophies in a single season. Honours usually considered to contribute to a treble are the top-tier domestic league competition, domestic cup competitions, and continental tournaments; although this depends to...

, and for winning UEFA Euro 1992 with Denmark
Denmark national football team
The Denmark national football team represents Denmark in association football and is controlled by the Danish Football Association , the governing body for the football clubs which are organized under DBU...

.

Born in Gladsaxe, Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

, Schmeichel was famous for his intimidating physique (he is 1.93 metre tall and weighed about 105 kilogram during his playing days. He wore specially made size XXXL football shirts. Unusually for a goalkeeper, Schmeichel scored 12 goals during his career, including one for the national team. He is also the most capped player for the Denmark national team, with 129 games between 1987 and 2001. In addition to Euro 92, he played for his country at the 1998 FIFA World Cup
1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...

 and three additional European Championship
UEFA European Football Championship
The UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA . Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current...

 tournaments. He captained the national team in 30 matches.

The IFFHS ranked Schmeichel among the top ten keepers of the 20th century in 2000, and in 2001, Schmeichel won a public poll held by Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...

, when the majority of the 200,000 participants voted him as the best goalkeeper ever, ahead of Lev Yashin
Lev Yashin
Lev Ivanovich Yashin nicknamed as "The Black Spider", was a Soviet-Russian football goalkeeper, considered by many to be the greatest goalkeeper in the history of the game. He was known for his superior athleticism in goal, imposing stature, amazing reflex saves and inventing the idea of...

 and Gordon Banks
Gordon Banks
Gordon Banks, OBE is a retired English football goalkeeper. The IFFHS named Banks the second best goalkeeper of the 20th century – after Lev Yashin and ahead of Dino Zoff ....

. In 2003, Schmeichel was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame
English Football Hall of Fame
The English Football Hall of Fame is housed at the National Football Museum, currently being relocated to Manchester, England. The Hall aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of the all-time top English footballing talents, as well as non-English players and managers who have become...

 in recognition of his impact on the English game. In March 2004, he was named as one of the "125 greatest living footballers", at the FIFA 100
FIFA 100
The FIFA 100 is a list of the world-renowned Brazilian striker Pelé's choice of the "greatest living footballers". Unveiled on 4 March 2004 at a gala ceremony in London, the FIFA 100 marked part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Fédération Internationale de...

 celebrations.

He holds the record for the greatest clean sheets-to-games ratio in the Premier League with 42% of the games he played in the league ending without his team conceding.

He also represented Gladsaxe Hero, Hvidovre
Hvidovre IF
Hvidovre IF is a Danish football club, founded on 15 October 1925 in Hvidovre.- Current squad :As of 2011-03-21...

, Brøndby
Brøndby IF
Brøndby IF is a Danish professional football club based in Brøndbyvester, Brøndby, on the western outskirts of Copenhagen and is the biggest football club in Denmark with almost 2000 members. The club is also known as Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening, or Brøndby and BIF for short...

, Sporting CP, Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...

 and Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...

 in a career that lasted from 1981 until 2003. His son, Kasper
Kasper Schmeichel
Kasper Peter Schmeichel is a Danish professional football goalkeeper, and son of Peter Schmeichel. He plays in the Npower Championship for Leicester City. He played 17 games for the Denmark under-21 national team...

, is also a professional football goalkeeper and plays for Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...

.

Early years

Born in Søborggård parish, Gladsaxe, Denmark to a Polish father and a Danish mother, Peter Schmeichel held Polish citizenship until 1970 when he, his father, and his siblings became Danish citizens. He inherited his second name – Bolesław – from his great-grandfather. He spent his early years growing up in the town of Buddinge
Buddinge
Buddinge is a suburb 10 km. North-West of Copenhagen. The suburb was formerly a small village, but was by the 1960s reach by nearby suburban areas, and then also became a suburb. The suburb is part of Gladsaxe municipal and is connected with S-Train with 2 stations Buddinge and Kildebakke....

, Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

, and began his football career playing for a team in the adjacent suburb of Høje-Gladsaxe
Høje-Gladsaxe
Høje Gladsaxe is a large housing project, approximately 10 km northwest of central Copenhagen, Denmark. The project contains five 15-story blocks and two 8-story blocks containing around 6,000 apartments. The project was finished in 1966...

. His first match came on 7 August 1972 at the age of 8. After a two-and-a-half-year unbeaten run, Schmeichel was approached by Hero, a team from a few divisions above Høje-Gladsaxe and with one of the largest youth football schemes in Denmark. Hero later merged with Gladsaxe to form Gladsaxe-Hero BK, and Schmeichel was presented with the opportunity to play for the Zealand FA's junior representative team.

Eventually graduating to the Gladsaxe-Hero senior squad, Schmeichel met his first mentor in Svend Aage Hansen, the first team coach at the club, and later to become his father-in-law. With Gladsaxe-Hero already relegated from the Danish Third Division with three games to go, Hansen promoted Schmeichel and six others from the youth team for a match against Birkerød. The team lost 1–0, but Schmeichel received mentions in local newspapers for his personal performance. At the end of the season, Hansen explained to Schmeichel his plan for the future, which involved Schmeichel spending two more seasons with Gladsaxe-Hero before moving on to Hvidovre
Hvidovre IF
Hvidovre IF is a Danish football club, founded on 15 October 1925 in Hvidovre.- Current squad :As of 2011-03-21...

, playing for the Danish national team
Denmark national football team
The Denmark national football team represents Denmark in association football and is controlled by the Danish Football Association , the governing body for the football clubs which are organized under DBU...

, and eventually having a successful career abroad. Schmeichel admits that he had received an offer to play for B1903
Boldklubben 1903
Boldklubben 1903 or B 1903 is a football club founded in 1903, located in Copenhagen, Denmark. Seven times winner of the Danish championship in 1920, 1924, 1926, 1938, 1969, 1970 and 1976 and twice winner of the Danish Cup in 1979 and 1986...

's youth team, but he turned it down as the club "seemed a bit boring".

The following season Gladsaxe-Hero needed only to avoid defeat to Stubbekøbing to prevent relegation from the Danish National League. In the end, Schmeichel played one of the games of his career and Gladsaxe-Hero won the match. At the end of the game, Hansen's daughter, Bente, ran onto the pitch and hugged Schmeichel. The two ended up going out as a couple, and they eventually got married.

Before becoming a professional footballer, Schmeichel had to work a number of jobs to make ends meet. His first job came in the dyeing department of a textile factory, but his concerns with the factory's policy on safety eventually forced him to hand in his notice. He then spent 12 months as a cleaner at an old people's home, before taking up an office job with the World Wildlife Fund
World Wide Fund for Nature
The World Wide Fund for Nature is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States...

. He originally worked in the organisation's shops, but three weeks after he joined, the store manager quit and Schmeichel was promoted to the position of sales manager. Soon after, Schmeichel was called upon to do his four weeks of compulsory military service. However, this coincided with Hvidovre's summer training camp in Portugal, which he was permitted to go on with the proviso that he completed his military service the following month. Nevertheless, the delicate organisational situation that arose between the WWF, the Danish defence department and Hvidovre prompted Schmeichel to give up working for the WWF. A job with his father-in-law's flooring firm came next, until he realised that his knees could not support his 15 stone frame for eight hours a day, and he was offered a job with the advertising firm owned by Hvidovre's chairman, Niels Erik Madsen. This was to be his last job outside football, as he was offered a contract with Brøndby
Brøndby IF
Brøndby IF is a Danish professional football club based in Brøndbyvester, Brøndby, on the western outskirts of Copenhagen and is the biggest football club in Denmark with almost 2000 members. The club is also known as Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening, or Brøndby and BIF for short...

 the following spring.

Brøndby

Despite the fifth best defence in the league, conceding 40 goals in 30 games, Schmeichel and Hvidovre finished in 14th place and were relegated in 1985. After only a single season, the club bounced right back to the 1st Division, but Schmeichel was lost by Hvidovre to Danish runners-up Brøndby IF
Brøndby IF
Brøndby IF is a Danish professional football club based in Brøndbyvester, Brøndby, on the western outskirts of Copenhagen and is the biggest football club in Denmark with almost 2000 members. The club is also known as Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening, or Brøndby and BIF for short...

 before the 1987 season. Winning the Danish league in his first year, he joined a club which he helped turn into a success. He debuted for the Danish national team in May 1987, under national manager Sepp Piontek, and was selected for the Euro 88
1988 UEFA European Football Championship
The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany. West Germany won the right to host the tournament with five votes ahead of a joint bid from Norway, Sweden and Denmark, who gained 1 vote, and a bid from England. It was the eighth European Football...

 tournament, where he eventually became Denmark's starting goalkeeper.

In all, Schmeichel and Brøndby won four championships in five seasons. The climax of his Brøndby career would come in the European 1991 UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...

 competition, which saw Schmeichel as an important part of the team that reached the semi-finals. The club was eliminated by AS Roma with a last-minute goal by Rudi Völler
Rudi Völler
Rudolf 'Rudi' Völler is a German former international football striker, and a former manager of the German national team...

. Following the tournament, Schmeichel was voted 10th in "The World's Best Goalkeeper 1991" poll by the IFFHS.

Manchester United

Following his showings on the international scene, Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

 bought him in 1991 for £530,000, a price which was described in 2000 by Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson
Alex Ferguson
Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986...

 as the "bargain of the century." Schmeichel played the bulk of his career for United, eight years in total. With United, Schmeichel won five FA Premier League titles, three FA Cups, one League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...

, and the UEFA Champions League.

Manchester United finished as runners-up in Schmeichel's first season (also winning the Football League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...

 for the first time in the club's history), but it was on the international stage that Schmeichel enjoyed his biggest success that year. In the Danish national team under new national manager Richard Møller Nielsen
Richard Møller Nielsen
Richard Møller Nielsen , nicknamed Ricardo, is a Danish former football player and football manager. His greatest triumph came when he coached the Danish national football team which surprisingly won the 1992 European Championship tournament. In 1995, he was knighted as Knight 1st Degree of the...

, Schmeichel was Denmark's starting goalkeeper at the Euro 92 tournament which they won. He saved a penalty kick
Penalty kick
A penalty kick is a type of direct free kick in association football, taken from twelve yards out from goal and with only the goalkeeper of the defending team between the penalty taker and the goal.Penalty kicks are performed during normal play...

 from Marco van Basten in the semi-final, and held a cross with one hand in the final. He made a string of important saves during the tournament, and was elected "The World's Best Goalkeeper 1992".

In the 1992–93 season, 22 clean sheets from Schmeichel helped United win the Premier League championship for the first time in 26 years. Schmeichel was once again named "The World's Best Goalkeeper" in 1993. In January 1994, Schmeichel fell out with Ferguson, as United had squandered a 3–0 lead to draw 3–3 with Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...

. The two had a row where Schmeichel "said the most horrible things", and he was subsequently sacked by Ferguson. A few days later, Schmeichel made an improvised apology to the other players. Unknown to him, Ferguson was eavesdropping on this, and he let Schmeichel stay at Manchester United. Schmeichel and United repeated the Premier League championship win at the end of the season.

Despite being a goalkeeper, he would run into the attack on corner kicks if his team was behind. The sight of him going up for the corner was a great distraction to opposing defenders. He scored a goal in this fashion, for Man United, in a 1995 UEFA Cup match against Rotor Volgograd. He scored in the last minutes of the game, though United were eliminated from the tournament on the away goals rule.

In April 1996, during a game against Coventry City
Coventry City F.C.
Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...

, Coventry defender David Busst
David Busst
David Busst is a former English footballer and current football community manager and coach. Busst played all of his professional career at Coventry City before suffering a broken leg during a match which ended his career. His injury is often considered as the most horrific in the history of the...

 collided with United defender Denis Irwin
Denis Irwin
Denis Joseph Irwin is a former Irish football player who is best known for his long and successful stint at Manchester United, where he established himself as one of the most important players in the United team that won a host of domestic and European trophies in his time there between 1990 and...

 and suffered a compound fracture of the leg. The break was so bad that the bone pierced through the skin and blood had to be cleared off the pitch. Schmeichel, who witnessed the incident, reportedly vomited at the sight and had to receive counselling afterwards.

Schmeichel played for Denmark at the Euro 96
1996 UEFA European Football Championship
The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by England, who won the right to host the tournament ahead of bids from Austria, Portugal and the Netherlands. It was the tenth European Football Championship, which is held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. It was the first to use the...

 hosted by England. The defending European Champions went out in the preliminary group stage, despite delivering results equivalent to the Euro 92 tournament.

Following a February 1997 match against Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

, Schmeichel was accused of racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...

 by Arsenal striker Ian Wright
Ian Wright
Ian Edward Wright, MBE is a retired English footballer turned television and radio personality.Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal, spending six years with the former and seven years with the latter. With Arsenal he has lifted the Premier League title and both major...

. During the game, Schmeichel and Wright had a number of controversies, and at the end of the game, the two players confronted each other on their way off the pitch. After the game, news emerged of a police inquiry into a November 1996 match between the two clubs, where it was alleged that Schmeichel had made a racist remark. After months of politicising by The FA and The PFA, who wanted a "converted" Schmeichel as their posterboy of the "Kick Racism out of Football" campaign, no evidence was found and the case was dropped.

Under new national manager Bo Johansson, Schmeichel was a part of the Danish squad at the 1998 FIFA World Cup
1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...

. He was one of the leading members of the Danish campaign, which ended in a 3–2 quarter-final defeat to Brazil
Brazil national football team
The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international men's football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation , the governing body for football in Brazil. They are a member of the International Federation of Association Football since 1923 and also a member of the...

.

Schmeichel ended his Manchester United career on the highest note, when Schmeichel and United won the Treble
The Treble
The term treble or Treble is used in association football to refer to a team winning three trophies in a single season. Honours usually considered to contribute to a treble are the top-tier domestic league competition, domestic cup competitions, and continental tournaments; although this depends to...

, the FA Premier League title, FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 and UEFA Champions League, in the same season. In that year's FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

, Schmeichel saved a penalty kick
Penalty kick
A penalty kick is a type of direct free kick in association football, taken from twelve yards out from goal and with only the goalkeeper of the defending team between the penalty taker and the goal.Penalty kicks are performed during normal play...

 by Dennis Bergkamp
Dennis Bergkamp
Dennis Nicolaas Bergkamp , is a former Dutch professional footballer who is currently the assistant manager to Frank de Boer at Ajax. At club level he played for Ajax, Internazionale, and Arsenal, and also represented the Netherlands at international level...

 in the last minutes of the game, to send the game into extra time. In the absence of the suspended Roy Keane
Roy Keane
Roy Maurice Keane is an Irish former footballer and manager. In his 18-year playing career, he played for Cobh Ramblers in the League of Ireland, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United, before ending his career at Celtic in Scotland....

, he captained United in the UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

 final in May 1999. German opponents Bayern Munich
FC Bayern Munich
FC Bayern Munich , is a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional football team, which is the most successful football club in Germany, having won 22 national titles and 15 cups....

 had a 1–0 lead until the dying minutes of the game, when United received a corner kick. Schmeichel ran into the attack attempting to cause confusion, and Teddy Sheringham
Teddy Sheringham
Edward Paul "Teddy" Sheringham MBE is a retired English footballer, and the father of footballer Charlie Sheringham. Sheringham played as a striker, and had a successful career at the club level, winning almost every domestic honour available with his clubs, most notably the Treble with Manchester...

 scored the equalising goal. A few seconds later, Ole Gunnar Solskjær
Ole Gunnar Solskjær
Ole Gunnar Solskjær is the manager of Norwegian first division side Molde. He is better known as a former footballer who spent most of his career playing for Manchester United. Often dubbed "the baby-faced assassin," he played 366 times for the Red Devils and scored 126 goals during a very...

 scored the 2–1 winner for United to ensure that Schmeichel's United career ended on the highest possible note. In an unforgettable celebratory moment, Schmeichel was shown cartwheeling gleefully in his area after Solskjær's winning goal.

With his departure, Manchester United had trouble finding a replacement for him, going through several high-profile goalkeepers including Mark Bosnich
Mark Bosnich
Mark Bosnich is a retired Australian football player and football pundit. He represented Australia 17 times and played for English Premier League clubs Aston Villa, Manchester United and Chelsea.-Manchester United :...

, Massimo Taibi
Massimo Taibi
Massimo Taibi is a retired Italian football goalkeeper, who played for several clubs, mostly in Italy's Serie A, B, and C1.-Italy:...

, Fabien Barthez
Fabien Barthez
Fabien Alain Barthez is a former French footballer goalkeeper who won honours with Manchester United and the French national team, with whom he won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000 and reached the final of the 2006 World Cup. He shares the record for the most World Cup finals clean sheets...

, Tim Howard
Tim Howard
Timothy Matthew Howard is an American soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for English club Everton and the United States national team....

 and Roy Carroll
Roy Carroll
Roy Eric Carroll is a Northern Irish footballer who is currently playing for Greek Superleague club OFI Crete. He is a goalkeeper and is best known for his spells at Wigan Athletic and Manchester United, where he won the 2004 FA Cup...

 before finally buying Edwin van der Sar
Edwin van der Sar
Edwin van der Sar OON is a former footballer who played as a goalkeeper for AFC Ajax, Juventus, Fulham and Manchester United. He is the most capped player in the Netherlands national football team's history...

, who Sir Alex Ferguson considers the best goalkeeper to have played for the club since Schmeichel.

Sporting CP

Schmeichel decided to leave English football at the end of the 1999 season, as the gruelling 60 game league and cups season, which came with playing with a successful club, was threatening to undermine his high standards at the age of 36. Seeking a slower pace of football, he moved to Sporting Clube de Portugal, where he won the 1999–2000 Portuguese Liga
Portuguese Liga
The Primeira Liga , formerly called Primeira Divisão, currently named Liga ZON Sagres after their main sponsors, is the top professional association football division of the Portuguese football league system...

 title in his first season with the club. He scored his only goal for the Danish national team, a penalty kick against Belgium, in a June 2000 warm-up match for UEFA Euro 2000. He represented Denmark at Euro 2000, where the team was eliminated in the group stage. He retired from the national team in April 2001, when he played a planned farewell match against Slovenia
Slovenia national football team
The Slovenia national football team is the national football team of Slovenia and is controlled by the Football Association of Slovenia. The team played their first match in 1992 after the split of Yugoslavia in 1991....

.

His second year with Sporting would be remarkable in that it was the first time in 14 years, since his Hvidovre days, that Schmeichel's club would finish below second place in the domestic league competition. Schmeichel stated his wish to activate a contract option of a further year at Sporting in January 2001, but eventually decided to leave the club when his contract ran out in June 2001. He considered a number of options for the future, before deciding to keep on playing.

Aston Villa

He returned to England with Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...

 in July 2001. On 20 October 2001, Schmeichel became the first goalkeeper to score a Premier League goal, in a 3–2 defeat away to Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...

. A goalkeeper scoring in the Premier League is a feat only repeated twice, by Blackburn Rovers'
Blackburn Rovers F.C.
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....

 Brad Friedel
Brad Friedel
Bradley Howard Friedel is an American soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League....

 on 21 February 2004, also from a corner kick, and by Tottenham Hotspur's Paul Robinson
Paul Robinson (goalkeeper)
Paul William Robinson is an English footballer who plays for Blackburn Rovers as a goalkeeper in the Premier League. He had also been an England international and he earned 41 caps between 2003 and 2007 before his retirement from international football in August 2010.He joined Leeds United at 16...

 from a free-kick on 17 March 2007. Schmeichel failed to complete his single season at Villa due to a clause in his contract stipulating that he would get to play in every game that he was fit for. Villa and Schmeichel decided to terminate Schmeichel's contract in order to let Schmeichel leave.

Manchester City

Schmeichel played his last active year for Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...

 during the 2002–03 season. Schmeichel's record in the Manchester derby
Manchester derby
The Manchester derby is the name given to football matches between Manchester City and Manchester United. The local derby centres on the City of Manchester and Greater Manchester with approximately four miles separating the clubs with City based in east Manchester at the City of Manchester Stadium...

 is exceptional, in that he was never on the losing side. During his nine years with Manchester United, they were unbeaten against Manchester City, while in his single season with City, they won at Maine Road
Maine Road
Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England that was home to Manchester City F.C. from its construction in 1923 until 2003...

 and drew at Old Trafford.

Retirement

In December 1999, Schmeichel became the club owner of his childhood club Hvidovre IF. He withdrew from the club in June 2002. He worked as a pundit for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 after retiring, being a regular analyst on Match of the Day
Match of the Day
Match of the Day is the BBC's main football television programme. Typically, it is shown on BBC One on Saturday evenings during the English football season, showing highlights of the day's matches in English football's top division, the Premier League...

 until 2005. He then began hosting live UEFA Champions League matches on Danish television channel TV3+
Viasat
Viasat is a DBS distributor and TV broadcaster, owned by the Swedish media conglomerate Modern Times Group. Broadcasting from London, the target markets are in the Nordic and the Baltic Countries...

, with Preben Elkjær
Preben Elkjær Larsen
Preben Elkjær Larsen , known as Elkjær, is a retired Danish professional footballer who played as a striker.Amongst others, he played with Hellas Verona in Italy, helping it to the only major title of its history, the 1985 Serie A...

 and Brian Laudrup
Brian Laudrup
Brian Laudrup is a Danish former football player and current football commentator, pundit and analyst on TV3+. Along with former international goalkeeper Lars Høgh, Laudrup manages a football academy for marginalized youth...

 the studio pundits. However, he still works occasionally as a pundit for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

. Most recently, Schmeichel appeared as a pundit during the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 Third Round match between two of his former clubs, Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

 and Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...

 on 5 January 2008 alongside host Gary Lineker
Gary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker, OBE , is a former English footballer, who played as a striker. He is a sports broadcaster for the BBC, Al Jazeera Sports and Eredivisie Live...

, and pundits Alan Hansen
Alan Hansen
Alan David Hansen is a Scottish former football player and BBC television football pundit. He played as a central defender for Partick Thistle, Liverpool and Scotland...

 and Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer OBE, DL is a retired English footballer. He played as a striker in the top level of English league football for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and for the England national team...

. Schmeichel's tough line of punditry has often been praised by critics and fans alike.

He has a son named Kasper
Kasper Schmeichel
Kasper Peter Schmeichel is a Danish professional football goalkeeper, and son of Peter Schmeichel. He plays in the Npower Championship for Leicester City. He played 17 games for the Denmark under-21 national team...

 who plays as goalkeeper for Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...

. Kasper was called up for the Danish U19 squad in August 2003 and got his first experience of first team football on loan at League 2 side Darlington
Darlington F.C.
Darlington Football Club is a professional association football club based in Darlington, County Durham, currently playing in the Conference National. The club was founded in 1883, and originally played its games at Feethams, before moving to the Darlington Arena in 2003...

 in 2005.

His popularity in Britain is perhaps best measured by Chesney Brown
Chesney Brown
Chesney Brown is a fictional character in the UK television ITV soap opera, Coronation Street. Portrayed by actor Sam Aston, the character first appeared onscreen during the episode airing on 14 November 2003....

 on the Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

-based soap Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...

, naming his former dog (a Great Dane
Great Dane
The Great Dane , also known as German Mastiff or Danish Hound , is a breed of domestic dog known for its giant size...

) "Schmeichel".

He also took part in Soccer Aid
Soccer Aid
-Event schedule:*22 May 2006 – Start of the television coverage, presented by Ant and Dec. Rest of the World defeats England in a penalty shoot-out*23 May 2006 – Practice match: England 1–0 England Legends...

, and played for the Rest of the World team, who lost 2–1 after he was substituted at half-time. Schmeichel was a contestant on the 2006 series of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

's popular Saturday night TV programme Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly Come Dancing
Strictly Come Dancing is a British television show, featuring celebrities with professional dance partners competing in Ballroom and Latin dances. The title of the show suggests a continuation of the long-running series Come Dancing, with an allusion to the film Strictly Ballroom...

, but was voted out by the public on his 43rd birthday. He recently appeared on The Weakest Link
The Weakest Link
The Weakest Link is a television game show which first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and will end its run in 2012 when its host Anne Robinson ends her contract. The original British version of the show airs around the world on BBC Entertainment...

 in the UK, but he was voted off as the weakest link in the first round.

Schmeichel has not made any ventures into music, despite previously owning a recording studio in his garage and recording a single in Denmark for Euro 96.

On 31 August 2007, an investor group including Schmeichel announced their intention to invest 250 million DKK (
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

 33.5 million) in the football club Brøndby IF
Brøndby IF
Brøndby IF is a Danish professional football club based in Brøndbyvester, Brøndby, on the western outskirts of Copenhagen and is the biggest football club in Denmark with almost 2000 members. The club is also known as Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening, or Brøndby and BIF for short...

 and make Peter Schmeichel sports director. This was announced in a press conference in Danish at a hotel in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

. The offer fell through when Brøndby failed to accept the offer within the group's deadline.

In February 2007, he became the host in a new quiz, on TV3
TV3 (Denmark)
TV3 Denmark is a Danish television station.TV3 is one of the channels owned by the Viasat Corporation. The sister channel is TV3+. The channels shows a lot of American and British shows, such as: Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, NCIS, Las Vegas, Bones, Two And A Half Men, Prison Break, American Idol...

 named 1 mod 100 (the Danish version of 1 vs. 100
1 vs. 100
1 vs. 100 is a game show created by Endemol that is aired in several countries. The game pits one person against 100 others for a chance to win a large cash prize. The game first aired in the Netherlands as Eén tegen 100, sponsored by the Nationale Postcode Loterij .- General format :In all...

). In 2008, he became the host of the European version of the Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...

 programme, Dirty Jobs
Dirty Jobs
Dirty Jobs is a program on the Discovery Channel, produced by Pilgrim Films & Television, in which host Mike Rowe is shown performing difficult, strange, disgusting, or messy occupational duties alongside the typical employees. The show premiered with two pilot episodes in November 2003...

.

Career statistics

|-
|1984
|rowspan="3"|Hvidovre
Hvidovre IF
Hvidovre IF is a Danish football club, founded on 15 October 1925 in Hvidovre.- Current squad :As of 2011-03-21...


|rowspan="2"|1st Division
Danish 1st Division
The 1st Division has been the name of the second highest football league in Denmark since 1991. From 1945 to 1991 the 1st Division was the name of the highest level of football in Denmark...


|20||0|| || || || || || || ||
|-
|1985
|28||6|| || || || || || || ||
|-
|1986
|2nd Division
Danish 2nd Division
The 2nd Division is the third tier Danish football league, just after the 1st Division.It was founded in 1945, after World War II, as the second-best Danish football division. When the Danish Superliga was founded in 1991, the 2nd Division became the third level league...


|30||0|| || || || || || || ||
|-
!align=right colspan=3|Total
!78!!6!! !! !! !! !! !! !! !!
|-
|1987
|rowspan="5"|Brøndby
Brøndby IF
Brøndby IF is a Danish professional football club based in Brøndbyvester, Brøndby, on the western outskirts of Copenhagen and is the biggest football club in Denmark with almost 2000 members. The club is also known as Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening, or Brøndby and BIF for short...


|rowspan="4"|1st Division
Danish Superliga
The Danish Superliga is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest association football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams to be relegated, which proves to be one of the...


|23||2|| || || || ||2||0|| ||
|-
|1988
|26||0|| || || || ||4||0|| ||
|-
|1989
|26||0|| || || || ||2||0|| ||
|-
|1990
|26||0|| || || || ||2||0|| ||
|-
|1991
|Superliga
Danish Superliga
The Danish Superliga is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest association football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams to be relegated, which proves to be one of the...


|18||0|| || || || ||10||0|| ||
|-
!align=right colspan=3|Total
!119!!2!! !! !! !! !!20!!0!! !!

|-
|1991–92
|rowspan="8"|Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...


|First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....


|40||0||3||0||6||0||4||0||53||0
|-
|1992–93
|rowspan="7"|Premier League
|42||0||3||0||2||0||1||0||48||0
|-
|1993–94
|40||0||7||0||8||0||4||0||60||0
|-
|1994–95
|32||0||7||0||0||0||3||0||43||0
|-
|1995–96
|36||0||6||0||1||0||2||1||45||1
|-
|1996–97
|36||0||3||0||0||0||9||0||49||0
|-
|1997–98
|32||0||4||0||0||0||7||0||44||0
|-
|1998–99
|34||0||8||0||0||0||13||0||56||0
|-
!align=right colspan=3|Total
!292!!0!!41!!0!!17!!0!!43!!1!!398!!1

|-
|1999–2000
|rowspan="2"|Sporting CP
|rowspan="2"|Portuguese Liga
Portuguese Liga
The Primeira Liga , formerly called Primeira Divisão, currently named Liga ZON Sagres after their main sponsors, is the top professional association football division of the Portuguese football league system...


|28||0||2||0||0||0||2||0||32||0
|-
|2000–01
|26||0||0||0||0||0||4||0||30||0
|-
!align=right colspan=3|Total
!54!!0!!2!!0!!0!!0!!6!!0!!62!!0

|-
|2001–02
|Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...


|Premier League
|29||1||1||0||2||0||4||0||36||1
|-
!align=right colspan=3|Total
!29!!1!!1!!0!!2!!0!!4!!0!!36!!1
|-
|2002–03
|Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...


|Premier League
|29||0||1||0||1||0||0||0||31||0
|-
!align=right colspan=3|Total
!29!!0!!1!!0!!1!!0!!0!!0!!31!!0
197||8|| || || || || || || ||
350||1||43||0||20||0||47||1||460||2
50||0|| || || || || || || ||
597||9|| || || || || || || ||
|-
|1987||5||0
|-
|1988||11||0
|-
|1989||12||0
|-
|1990||10||0
|-
|1991||7||0
|-
|1992||12||0
|-
|1993||9||0
|-
|1994||7||0
|-
|1995||8||0
|-
|1996||10||0
|-
|1997||6||0
|-
|1998||10||0
|-
|1999||11||0
|-
|2000||10||1
|-
|2001||1||0
|-
!Total||129||1
|}

Club

Brøndby
  • Danish 1st Division
    Danish 1st Division
    The 1st Division has been the name of the second highest football league in Denmark since 1991. From 1945 to 1991 the 1st Division was the name of the highest level of football in Denmark...

     (3): 1987, 1988, 1990
  • Danish Superliga
    Danish Superliga
    The Danish Superliga is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest association football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams to be relegated, which proves to be one of the...

     (1): 1991
  • Danish Cup
    Danish Cup
    The Danish Cup is the official "knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955...

     (1): 1989


Manchester United
  • Premier League (5): 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99
  • FA Cup
    FA Cup
    The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

     (3): 1993–94, 1995–96
    1996 FA Cup Final
    The 1996 FA Cup Final was the 51st to be held at Wembley Stadium after the Second World War and was held between two of the biggest rivals in English football, Manchester United and Liverpool.- Build-up :...

    , 1998–99
    1999 FA Cup Final
    The 1999 FA Cup Final took place on 22 May 1999 and was played at the old Wembley Stadium. It was contested between Manchester United and Newcastle United. Manchester United had finished as champions and Newcastle 13th in the Premier League that season. The Final was a one-sided affair, Manchester...

  • Football League Cup
    Football League Cup
    The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...

     (1): 1991–92
    1991 Football League Cup Final
    The 1991 Rumbelows Cup Final was a football match played on 21 April 1991 between Manchester United and Sheffield Wednesday. It was the first of two years that the competition was sponsored by Rumbelows....

  • FA Charity Shield
    FA Community Shield
    The Football Association Community Shield is English football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium. If the Premier League champions also won the FA Cup then the league runners-up provide the opposition...

     (4): 1993
    1993 FA Charity Shield
    The 1993 FA Charity Shield was the 71st FA Charity Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's Premier League and FA Cup competitions. The match was played on 7 August 1993 at Wembley Stadium and contested by Manchester United, who had won the 1992–93...

    , 1994
    1994 FA Charity Shield
    The 1994 FA Charity Shield was the 72nd FA Charity Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's Premier League and FA Cup competitions...

    , 1996
    1996 FA Charity Shield
    The 1996 FA Charity Shield was the 74th FA Charity Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's Premier League and FA Cup competitions...

    , 1997
    1997 FA Charity Shield
    The 1997 FA Charity Shield was the 75th FA Charity Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's Premier League and FA Cup competitions. The match was played on 3 August 1997 at Wembley Stadium and contested by Manchester United, who had won the 1996–97 FA...

  • UEFA Champions League
    UEFA Champions League
    The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

     (1): 1998–99
    1999 UEFA Champions League Final
    The 1999 UEFA Champions League Final was a football match that took place on Wednesday, 26 May 1999. The match was played at Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain, to determine the winner of the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League. The final was contested by Manchester United and Bayern Munich...

  • UEFA Super Cup (1): 1991


Sporting CP
  • Portuguese Superliga (1): 1999–2000
  • Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (1): 2000–01


Aston Villa
  • UEFA Intertoto Cup
    UEFA Intertoto Cup
    The UEFA Intertoto Cup, also abbreviated as UI Cup and originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition for European clubs that had not qualified for one of the two major UEFA competitions, the Champions League and the UEFA Cup. The competition was discontinued...

     (1): 2001

International

Denmark
  • UEFA European Football Championship
    UEFA European Football Championship
    The UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA . Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current...

     (1): 1992
    UEFA Euro 1992 Final
    The final of UEFA Euro 1992 was a football match played on 26 June 1992 at Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden to determine the winner of UEFA Euro 1992.-Match details:...


Individual

  • UEFA Goalkeeper of the Year
    Best European Goalkeeper
    The Best European Goalkeeper award is a football award given annually since 1990 to the most outstanding Goalkeeper in Europe, as voted by the UEFA magazine, in 2009 the ESM become the donor of the award .- List of winners :*1990 – Walter Zenga...

    : 1992, 1993, 1997, 1998
  • IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper
    IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper
    The IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper is a football award given annually since 1987 to the most outstanding goalkeeper as voted by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics . The votes, in 1996, were cast by IFFHS's editorial staff as well as experts from 89 countries spanning six...

    : 1992, 1993
  • UEFA Club Football Awards
    UEFA Club Football Awards
    The UEFA Club Football Awards are awards given by UEFA to the most outstanding performers of the European club football season. The awards were presented in August each year at a special gala in Monaco ahead of the UEFA Super Cup. Since 2005, the awards are presented at the UEFA Champions League draw...

    : 1997–98
  • Danish Football Player of the Year: 1990, 1993, 1999
  • English Football Hall of Fame
    English Football Hall of Fame
    The English Football Hall of Fame is housed at the National Football Museum, currently being relocated to Manchester, England. The Hall aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of the all-time top English footballing talents, as well as non-English players and managers who have become...

    : 2003
  • Det Gyldne Bur
    Det Gyldne Bur
    Det Gyldne Bur is an award given to the best goalkeeper in Danish football each year. The winner is found by votes among the goalkeepers in the two top divisions of Danish football; the Danish Superliga and Danish 1st Division. The award has been handed out by Danish sports paper TIPS-Bladet since...

     (Danish Goalkeeper of the Year): 1987, 1988, 1990, 1992
  • UEFA Champions League
    UEFA Champions League
    The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

     10 Seasons Dream Team (1992 to 2002): 2002
  • PFA
    Professional Footballers' Association
    The Professional Footballers' Association is the trade union for professional footballers in England and Wales. The world's oldest professional sport trade union, it has 4,000 members....

     England League Team of the Century (1907 to 2007): 2007
  • Premier League 10 Seasons Awards
    Premier League 10 Seasons Awards
    The Premier League 10 Seasons Awards were a set of English football awards which marked the first 10 years of competition in the Premier League, the top-level domestic league competition of professional football in England...

     (1992–93 to 2001–02)
    • Overseas Team of the Decade
    • Save of the Decade (vs. Newcastle, 21 December 1997)

External links

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