DOB: 20 May 1982
Age: 29
Place of birth/Nationality: Plzeň, Czechoslovakia
Squad Number: Goalkeeper
Position: 1
He is married to Martina Cechová who is also of Czech nationality. They have a daughter Adéla and a son Damián, both born in Prague.
Petr suffered a serious injury in October 2006, which cast big doubts over the future of his career, but he overcame a fractured skull that had required immediate surgery, 30 stitches and much rest to return just three months later.
To protect this injury from any future damage, Cech now wears a rugby style helmet in all competitive matches, and this helmet has become somewhat of a trademark of his.
In the early days, Cech started playing football at age seven in his native town. As a young boy, he played for FC Viktoria Plzeň and he first started as a striker due to him being tall at an early age.
Cech started as a goalkeeper in training, which saw goalkeeper coaches took note of his abilities.
By age 14, Cech grew from 180 cm to 196 cm. This drew him attention, not because of his height, but his talent as a goalkeeper.
Cech had a trial with Chelsea in 2003. It was Claudio Ranieri, then manager, who decided that Cech was his choice as understudy to Carlo Cudicini.
After the original bid was rejected, Rennes accepted a second in February. Petr Cech arrived in 2004 for £7 million, more than all the past goalkeepers in Chelsea history combined. He immediately caught the eye with his height, incredible reaction speed and confidence in leaving his goal-line and began his Chelsea career as Jose Mourinho’s first choice.
Awards/Key Moments:
Best Goalkeeper of French League: 2003–04PFA Team of the Year: 2005
IFFHS World’s Best Goalkeeper: 2005, 2011
Barclays Golden Glove: 2004–05, 2009–10
FA Premier League Player of the Month: March 2007
Czech Footballer of the Year: 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010
Golden Ball (Czech): 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008,[60] 2010.
UEFA Best European Goalkeeper: 2005, 2007
UEFA Club Football Awards Best Goalkeeper:2003, 2005, 2007, 2008
ESM Team of the Year: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08
World Football Challenge: 2009
Chelsea Player of the Year 2010-2011
Chelsea Special Achievement Award: Awarded for making it back against the odds from a serious head injury.
Previous Clubs
1999 – 2001 FK Chmel Blšany
2001 – 2002 Sparta Prague
2002 – 2004 Rennes
2004 – Chelsea
International Career:
At Under 21 international level, Petr was a major factor in the crowning of the Czech Republic as 2002 European Champions. Whilst at senior level, at Euro 2004 he made five clean sheets, a semi-final and a place in Uefa’s all-star squad of the tournament.
His reputation on the international stage continued to grow and he represented his country at both the World Cup in 2006 (Czech Republic’s first since splitting with Slovakia in 1993) and Euro 2008, where it was his unfortunate late error in the group stages that saw his country eliminated.
He bounced back to be named Czech Footballer of the Year for the fifth time in 2010 and although they failed to qualify for South Africa 2010, Petr continues as team captain.
Quotes from Player
“I am very pleased. When I joined Chelsea I just wanted to get in the team and win some trophies. I managed that last season and have been rewarded with a new contract already. Now I want to win some more trophies.”“We have the biggest ambitions in every season. Every season we enter with the aim of winning as many trophies as possible. This year we will be defending two which is not going to be easy. But we have an experienced team and I believe we will cope with it.”“Sometimes you can say its a good season and you end up trophyless but”“The championship starts all over again for us”
What the fans say…
@TheTomOfficial“Man, GoalKeeper, Legend”@garry_killer“Best goalkeeper in the world”@CFC_Aaron“Safest Hands in Premiership”@hassansalman“The Headgear Hercules!”
By Clare Smith
Twitter @chelsea4girls