Petr ฤech
Czech
20 May 1982
goalkeeper
is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and current ice hockey player who plays as a goaltender for Oxford City Stars. He has been described as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, and, by some, as the greatest goalkeeper, alongside Peter Schmeichel, in Premier League history.
ฤech began his senior career at Chmel Blลกany in 1999, where he played sporadically for two seasons prior to relocating to Sparta Prague in 2001. At age 19, ฤech became a first team regular, and his single campaign with the club saw him register a league record of not conceding a goal in 903 competitive minutes. This led to his first move abroad, when he relocated to France to join Ligue 1 side Rennes for a fee of โฌ5.5ย million (ยฃ3.9ย million) in 2002.
In France, ฤech starred in an under-performing team, and was the subject of a then club-record transfer for a goalkeeper when he moved to Premier League side Chelsea for a fee of ยฃ7ย million (โฌ9.8ย million) in 2004. In his eleven-year spell at Chelsea, ฤech made 494 appearances in all competitions, making him the club's seventh most capped player of all time. He also helped the club win four Premier League titles, four FA Cups, three League Cups, one UEFA Champions League title, and one UEFA Europa League title. ฤech also holds Chelsea's all-time record for clean sheets, with 228. ฤech departed Chelsea in 2015 to join city rivals Arsenal for a fee of ยฃ10ย million, where he won another FA Cup before retiring in 2019.
A Czech international, ฤech made his debut with the Czech Republic in 2002, and is the most capped player in the history of the Czech national team, with 124 caps. He represented his country at the 2006 World Cup, as well as the 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 European Championships. He was voted into the Euro 2004 All-Star team after helping the Czechs reach the semi-finals, and served as the team's captain, prior to retiring from international competition in 2016. ฤech also holds the record for the most Czech Footballer of the Year and Czech Golden Ball wins.
ฤech holds a number of goalkeeping records, including the Premier League record for fewest appearances required to reach 100 clean sheets, having done so in 180 appearances, the most clean sheets in a season (24), as well as the record for the most clean sheets in Premier League history (202). ฤech is also the only goalkeeper to have won the Premier League Golden Glove with two separate clubs, and has won it a joint record four times; in the 2004โ05, 2009โ10, 2013โ14 and the 2015โ16 seasons. He was voted the IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper in 2005, received the award of Best Goalkeeper in the 2004โ05, 2006โ07 and 2007โ08 editions of the UEFA Champions League, and went 1,025 minutes without conceding a goal in the 2004โ05 season, a league record. He has the third most clean sheets since 2000 among all goalkeepers.
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