Petr Čech

Petr Čech (born 20 May 1982) is a retired Czech football player who is the technical and performance advisor as well as an emergency backup goalkeeper for Chelsea. He is thought by some players, journalists and managers as the greatest goalkeeper in the history of the Premier League  and, by many, as the greatest goalkeeper to have played for Chelsea. Currently, he plays as a goaltender for the London based ice hockey club Guildford Phoenix.

Čech was thought to be one of the best goalkeepers in the world. He had the record of the least losses in his first season playing for Chelsea and in the same season, he helped Chelsea to win the title of Premier League. He also helped Chelsea to win the same title the next year.

His first club was in his native country of Czech Republic. He stayed there for two years before moving to Sparta Prague. He stayed there for one season. His first overseas club was Rennes of Ligue 1. He played there from 2002 to 2004 before moving to Chelsea. He became a Chelsea player in June 2004. After a very successful 11-year career at Chelsea, he joined Arsenal in June 2015. He retired after playing for four years with Arsenal in 2019. Afterwards, Čech re-joined Chelsea as their Technical and Sporting Director.

He won many titles during his career which consists of: four English Premier League, five FA Cup, one UEFA Champions League and one UEFA Europa League title. Due to these achievements, he is also named amongst one of the most successful goalkeepers in football history.

 Personal life 
Petr Čech was born as a triplet (due to which he had a weak skull) to father Václav Čech and mother Libuše Čechová. They were both retired athletes.

In his childhood, he was an actor rather than an athlete and also played the role of Honza in the Czech TV series - The Territory of White Deer around 1991. He also had interest in ice hockey but his family could not afford the gear (equipment) required to play it, and hence he switched to football. At the start of his career, Čech played as a forward (left winger) but after suffering a leg fracture at the age of 10, he turned towards goalkeeping.

In 2003 he married Martina Čechova, whom he met while he was in high school. Petr and Martina have two children named Adéla and Damián. Adéla was born in 2008 and Damián in 2009.

Outside football, Čech has interests in Rock music, Ice Hockey, Gardening, Table Tennis, Tennis, Drumming, Acting etc. He has an account on YouTube through which he publishes videos of his drum covers of various rock songs from rock bands like Coldplay, Incubus, Foo Fighters, Radiohead etc. This  led Čech to provide percussion for the Czech Republic's official Euro 2016 tournament anthem. Further, he has also released a charity single with Queen's drummer Roger Taylor for the Bob Wilson Foundation. On being quizzed later about how he learned drumming, Čech told that he learned it by playing Rock Band and Guitar Hero (video games) with his goalkeeping friend Carlo Cudicini, in an interview. He is, currently, a drummer for the London-based folk rock band Wills and the Willing.

Career statistics
Football
Club

+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupLeague cupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsBlšany1999–2000Czech First League2010———302000–01Czech First League25000———250Total27010———280Sparta Prague2001–02Czech First League27030—120—420Rennes2002–03Ligue 13704000——4102003–04Ligue 13303010——370Total7007010——780Chelsea2004–05Premier League3500020110004802005–06Premier League340000070104202006–07Premier League200602080003602007–08Premier League260103090104002008–09Premier League3506010120005402009–10Premier League340200060104302010–11Premier League380300090005002011–12Premier League3407020130005602012–13Premier League3605030150406302013–14Premier League3401000100104602014–15Premier League7020403000160Total33303301701030804940Arsenal2015–16Premier League340101050104202016–17Premier League350200000003702017–18Premier League340000030103802018–19Premier League70202011000220Total11005030190201390 Career total567049021013401007810

International

+ Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsCzech Republic20027020038020041302005100200610020078020089020097020106020111002012100201380201460201560201660Total1240

Ice hockey

ClubLeagueSeasonSOGAGuildford PhoenixNIHL – Division 2 South(Tier 4)2019–2062002020–21colspan="4"2021–2214400Total20600Chelmsford ChieftainsNIHL – Division 1 South(Tier 3)2022–2312000Oxford City Stars2023–245000

Honours
Football
Chelsea
Premier League: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2009–10, 2014–15
FA Cup: 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12
Football League Cup: 2004–05, 2006–07, 2014–15; runner-up: 2007–08
FA Community Shield: 2005, 2009
UEFA Champions League: 2011–12; runner-up: 2007–08
UEFA Europa League: 2012–13
FIFA Club World Cup runner-up: 2012

Arsenal
FA Cup: 2016–17
FA Community Shield: 2015, 2017
EFL Cup runner-up: 2017–18
UEFA Europa League runner-up: 2018–19

Czech Republic U21
UEFA European Under-21 Championship: 2002

Individual

UEFA European Under-21 Championship Golden Player: 2002
Best Goalkeeper of French League: 2003–04
Czech First League Most clean Sheets: 2001–02
UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 2004
Premier League Golden Glove: 2004–05, 2009–10, 2013–14, 2015–16
PFA Team of the Year: 2004–05 Premier League, 2013–14 Premier League
Czech Footballer of the Year: 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016
Golden Ball (Czech Republic): 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018
IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper: 2005
Best European Goalkeeper: 2005, 2007, 2008, 2012
UEFA Club Football Awards Best Goalkeeper: 2005, 2007, 2008
UEFA Team of the Year: 2005
ESM Team of the Year: 2004–05, 2005–06
Premier League Player of the Month: March 2007
Chelsea Player of the Year: 2011
NIHL 2 South Player of the Month: January 2020
Premier League Hall of Fame: 2023

Ice hockey
Guildford Phoenix
NIHL Division 2 South Regular Season: 2021–22
NIHL Division 2 South Playoffs: 2021–22
NIHL Division 2 South Cup: 2021–22

Orders
Honorary Silver Medal of Jan Masaryk: 2019List of the award-winning personalities on the occasion of the National Day reception 2019, Czech Embassy London Facebook post, 1 October 2019.

Records
Most Premier League Golden Glove awards: 4 (shared with Joe Hart)
Most Premier League clean sheets: 202 clean sheets.
Most Premier League clean sheets at one club: 162 with Chelsea.
Most Premier League clean sheets in a season: 24 in 2004–05.
First Premier League goalkeeper to reach 200 clean sheets.
First Premier League goalkeeper to go 1000 minutes without conceding a goal.
Fastest Premier League goalkeeper to reach 50 clean sheets: 82 appearances.
Fastest Premier League goalkeeper to reach 100 clean sheets: 180 appearances.
Only goalkeeper to have won the Premier League Golden Glove with different clubs.
Most caps for Czech Republic national football team: 124 caps.
Most Czech Footballer of the Year wins: 9 wins.
Most Czech Republic Golden Ball wins: 11 wins.
Most Champions League appearances by a Czech player: 111 appearances. 
Most Premier League appearances for Chelsea by a foreign player: 333 appearances.
Most Premier League wins for Chelsea by a foreign player: 219 wins.
Most appearances for Chelsea by a foreign player: 494 appearances. 
Most penalty saves for Chelsea by a foreign player: 8 penalty saves.
Most starts for Chelsea in a season: 63 starts in 2012–13.
Most major cup final appearances for Chelsea: 14 (shared with Frank Lampard).
Most clean sheets for Chelsea: 227.
Most clean sheets in a season for Chelsea: 28 clean sheets in 2004–05.
Most consecutive clean sheets for Chelsea in all competitions: 7 in 2005–06 (shared record).
Most consecutive home league clean sheets for Chelsea: 9 in 2009–10 - 2010–11 (shared record).
Most consecutive home clean sheets for Chelsea in all competitions: 10 in 2009–10.
Most consecutive league clean sheets for Chelsea: 10 in 2004–05.
Most league clean sheets in a season for Chelsea: 24 in 2004–05.
Most away league clean sheets in a season for Chelsea: 11 in 2004–05 & 2005–06.
Most UEFA Best Club Goalkeeper Awards for a Premier League goalkeeper: 3 awards.
One of four goalkeepers to have made consecutive appearances in the ESM Team of the Year (shared with Angelo Peruzzi, Oliver Kahn, and Manuel Neuer).

Notes

 References 

Other websites



 Petr Čech profile  
  Petr Čech Official Youtube Channel
  Petr Čech Official Twitter
  Petr Čech Official Instagram
  Petr Čech Official Facebook

Category:1982 births
Category:Living people
Category:Czech association football goalkeepers
Category:Chelsea F.C. players
Category:Arsenal F.C. players
Category:UEFA Euro 2004 players
Category:UEFA Euro 2008 players
Category:UEFA Euro 2012 players
Category:UEFA Euro 2016 players
Category:2006 FIFA World Cup players