Name: Petr Cech
Birthday: 20th May 1982, Plzen
Height: 6ft 3”
Position: Goalkeeper
Squad Number: 1
Clubs
FC Viktoria Plzen (1989-1999, trainee)
FK Chmel Blšany (1999-2001, 38 games)
AC Sparta Prague (2001-2002, 39 games)
Stade Rennes FC (2002-2004, 70 games)
Chelsea FC (2004-To Date, 260 games at end 2009/10)
Honours
FA Premier League Winner: 2005, 2006, 2010
FA Cup Winner: 2007, 2009, 2010
League Cup Winner: 2005, 2007
Community Shield Winner: 2005, 2010
Barclays Golden Glove Award: 2005, 2010
UEFA Best European Goalkeeper: 2005, 2007, 2008
UEFA Club Football Awards Best Goalkeeper: 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008
Czech Footballer of the Year: 2002, 2005, 2007, 2009
Background
Having shown early signs of Footballing aptitude our now world class stopper took his first steps in the game with Czech amateur youth progression club FC Viktoria Plzen. As with many young players Petr’s strongest position wasn’t apparent from the start, with Cech’s fledgling roles including winger, striker and fullback before finally being spotted by the coaches performing now familiar heroics between the sticks in a post-session kick around.
From there his progression was steady and progressive, culminating in appearing for his country at the European U16 Championship, being voted best goalkeeper for his exploits. A decision point came for Petr and his representatives following this achievement, with the young ‘keepers abilities marking him as destined for greater surroundings than those at Plzen. The choice was made to move on to DK Chmel Blšany of the Czech First League (essentially the equivalent of Watford).
A league debut for a new club is a nerve-wracking experience, for Petr this was also the case – on October 30th 1999 at the home of Sparta Prague.
Petr’s time with Blšany was the real kick-start to his youth international career, representing his country at successive levels from U16 upwards and, by the end of his second season, having wrestled the ‘keepers jersey from the previous incumbent.
Next, the big step – to Sparta Prague. Having marked himself as one of the hottest goalkeeping prospects in Czech football he was quickly snapped up by the nations largest club for over 20mill Czech crowns (£700k – he was moving from Championship level to Premiership level).
Events moved fast at Sparta. Having seen his side falter in the first three matches of the season, the Sparta manager decided to mix things up a little – one of his decisions was to replace the regular ‘keeper with Petr.
What followed next was a sequence of 10 games, 902 minutes of not conceding a goal. In his first 10 games for Sparta, Cech broke the Czech Elite Division record for longest sequence of clean sheets.
Partner this with Sparta’s impressive showings in the Champions League that season it is no surprise that Petr was to be called up to the senior World Cup qualification squad for 2002 – albeit sitting on the bench whilst his country were defeated in the play-off final to Belgium. The real highlight, though, was his participation in the U21 Championships - with the young Cech performing heroics in a penalty shootout against France in the final, shipping only one goal, and setting up interest from numerous European clubs including the letchy, slimy youth hoovers Arsenal FC.
International transfer laws being what they were the move to Arsenal thankfully didn’t materialize for the Petr, bearing in mind the embarrassing performances and development of goalkeepers at football’s very first franchise you have to ask yourself whether he’d at this very moment be in pre-season with Swansea City.
French law being more relaxed, however, saw Petr’s services quickly snapped up by Stade Rennes FC for a princely sum.
Having set the football world alight with his performances at U21 level and for Sparta it seemed an odd choice for the now towering young goalkeeper to move to the struggling Ligue 1 side – however it proved an excellent and pivotal move. His first season saw Cech guarding a net under siege, with the Brittany club narrowly avoiding relegation due in no small part to their goalkeepers exploits. The real change, though, was in Petr’s exposure to being a foreign player in a new country, and a goalkeeper in one of Europe’s top leagues. This exposure generally saw the transition from youth to senior player take place both on and off the pitch, helped along by Rennes coach Christophe Lochillon (now also of Chelsea). A more comfortable second season saw Cech once again called upon by his country, this time to be the No.1 keeper for the Euro 2004 qualification campaign – which saw the Czech Republic qualify unbeaten from their group.
As it turned out Cech’s transfer to Chelsea was agreed in January 2004, with the agreement the player would remain in France until the following summer – Petr’s exploits in Euro 2004 just served to further reinforce the view this was the right move, being heralded as the best goalkeeper of the tournament.
On to Chelsea, then, for approximately £7million.
Having been agreed in the January (as with Arjen Robben), Cech’s signing can’t be grouped in with the opening influx of players onset by the Mourinho era per say, however it was the Portuguese mastermind's decision at the end of his first pre-season to utilise Cech ahead of long-term Chelsea and Premier League outstanding ‘keeper Carlo Cudicini that catapulted Petr truly into the big-time.
2004-2005 is a season golden in the memory of all Chelsea supporters for many reasons, one of which may well be the 1025 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal set by Chelsea’s new stopper – a then Premier League record.
Winning the title at Bolton, crashing out of the Champions League against Liverpool and celebrating a League Cup at the Millennium Stadium were the highlights of the season that saw Cech replace Gianluigi Buffon as the contemporary choice of ‘best goalkeeper in the world’.
2005-2006 saw a dominant Chelsea romp to another league title, crash out of the Champions League once again but Cech continue to perform at the very highest level as an individual. Very much an extension of what had become a bit of a golden era for the club and player.
2006-2007. The next season is a well documented one for several reasons. After surgery in the summer to rectify long-term shoulder issues, Petr worked his way back to fitness for club and country with a string of outstanding displays leading into the autumn of 2006.
October 14th, 2006 – Reading FC vs Chelsea at the Madejski stadium. Without getting embroiled in a subject flogged to its bones long ago, a clash with the knee of the onrushing Stephen Hunt results in a depressed skull fracture for Cech which saw him hospitalised and unavailable to play until January 20th 2007. After three months out a slightly different Petr Cech took to the field against Liverpool FC in a 2-0 defeat.
The striking addition to Cech’s appearance was the wearing of a head-guard more associated with Rugby. Approved by the FA and FIFA’s medical teams the head protection is still part of Cech’s match day ensemble now, and will be for the rest of his career.
Cech’s injury that season and the form of the emerging talent of Ronaldo at Manchester United are widely recognised as the reasons Chelsea relinquished their seeming vice-like grip on the Premier League title in 06/07, and crashing out of the Champions League once again to Liverpool on penalties.Winning the FA Cup and League Cup served as means of consoling the supporters, however the injustices remained long in the memory of players and fans like.
2007 – 2008. Jose Mourinho’s departure in September 2007 saw his replacement with Israeli coach Avram Grant, who in not wanting to rock the boat had no intention of making squad changes. That being said Petr suffered injuries to his hip and calf that would see him out of action for a significant period in that season, yet still able to celebrate the birth of his first child in January 2008. A league cup final defeat to Tottenham Hotspur and Champions League final heartache on penalties against Manchester United served to wrap up a season no-one wants to remember.
2008 – 2009. That summer saw Chelsea replace the sacked Grant with Luiz Filipe Scolari – World Cup winning coach and big personality in the game. A strong start saw Cech and Chelsea surge into a Premier League lead with a series of scintillating performances perforated by the odd set-piece lapse in which Cech came in for his first real criticism in England – indecisiveness in controlling his 18-yard box. What is now seen as symptomatic of Scolari’s implementation of zonal marking, Petr suffered a crisis of confidence during the dark November-January period of this season he has only now truly shaken off.
After a series of poor results and even poorer performances Scolari was sacked as Chelsea manager, being replaced by the temporary excellence of Dutchman and Russia manager Guus Hiddink.
An immediate upturn in form saw Chelsea close out the season with an FA Cup win and a new lease of life, Cech prominent in both.
2009 – 2010. Reporting for pre-season in the July of 2009, Petr was greeted by yet another new manager at Cobham – AC Milan legend Carlo Ancelotti. No change in keeper was announced and Petr took to the Wembley pitch once again in the defeat of Manchester United in the Community Shield in what would turn out to be the most successful domestic season in the clubs history – recording Premier League and FA Cup victories with a new flowing, attacking system that saw record victories of 7-0, 7-1, 8-0 yet put more pressure on the defensive unit.
All in all Cech’s career for Chelsea to date has seen excellence, turbulence and paradigm change from the ultra defensive to the attack minded. Petr has dealt with each obstacle with world class form and professionalism and, aged 28, will continue to do for many years to come.
Player Valuation: £30million