Petr Cech – Chelsea FC’s Greatest
By Lee Fraser
Big Pete has been amongst the first names on every manager’s team sheet when available during his first 10 years at Chelsea FC. Only with the arrival of another 22 year old in Thibaut Courtois has a Chelsea manager had to think about whom to stick between the posts.
Petr Čech was signed as a 22 year old to be the understudy to Carlo Cudicini by Claudio Ranieri, but during the pre season Carlo suffered a shoulder injury and up stepped Petr into the #1 position for the 2004/05 season.
And what a first season!
As part of the title winning defense he only conceded 15 goals, kept 24 clean sheets and picked up the Barclay’s Golden Glove award for the season. He also set a record for the longest run without conceding a goal in the Premier League, 1024 minutes. Petr has said that the only time he thought about the personal record was when he was 3 minutes away from breaking the previous record and Paul Dickov stepped up to take a penalty, Petr saved it and the record was his!
Over the following years Petr kept up his remarkably consistent record leading to him eventually breaking Peter Bonetti’s Chelsea FC clean sheet record with his 209th away to Hull City on 11th January 2014.
Petr Čech’s individual awards during his time with Chelsea FC are numerous and include:
Premier League Golden Glove: 2004/05, 2009/10, 2013/14
Chelsea FC Player Of The Year: 2011
EUFA’s Most Valuable Goal Keeper: 2005, 2007, 2008
Czech Footballer Of The Year: 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
Golden Ball Trophy for the Best Czech Footballer: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013.
Awards and trophies always serve as visual reminders when players look back on their careers but comments from their own peers also serve as a reminder of a player’s true greatness and Petr has received many from within the game and particularly from within the “Goal Keepers Union”
Gianluigi Buffon wrote for the Chelsea FC match day programme after he broke Peter Bonetti’s record: “Dear Petr, A goalkeeper can prove his talent even by just one save, but in order to be a true champion he needs commitment, perseverance, passion and self-sacrifice. In the end, this is the real meaning of your record: being a good player isn’t enough to achieve it, it’s also necessary to be a great man. And this must make you especially proud. Congratulations, champion!”
Peter Bonetti himself wrote: “Petr has been brilliant to do what he’s done – he’s one of the best goalkeepers I’ve seen and his record speaks for itself. I admire him greatly, he’s been incredible and still has a long time to go. He is relatively young and could still go on to break more records.”
Mark Shwarzer got in on the act too with: “To have played the amount of games he has, and to have kept so many clean sheets, is a remarkable accomplishment and it’s testament to his dedication and his professionalism. Hopefully, there will be more success in the future; in my books, he’s still a spring chicken! You can only admire and take your hat off to such dedication.”
Christophe Lollichon, Petr’s long time coach and goalkeeping coach at Chelsea FC was quoted as saying after breaking the record: “We are very proud of this record and Petr is very happy. His level is regular and that is one of the most important qualities we need for a goalkeeper – the consistency. A keeper can be a guy who makes fantastic saves – but Petr’s focus is also tactical, technical, and physical and, because he is a perfectionist, he analyses everything to be performing for the team, not just for himself.”
Frank Lampard referred to Petr’s contribution to Chelsea FC’s European Champions League triumph when he said: “I think Pete’s been one of the best goalkeepers for many, many years. He’s unbelievable, particularly in the year we won the Champions League, looking back on the final and the games towards the final and how much he saved us. I don’t think he got enough recognition for it on a world scale. People talk about other goalies in Spain and Italy, but nobody was in Pete’s class that year.”
I will leave the last word from Petr’s peers with Chelsea FC’s other current legend, our Captain John Terry, when in 2014 after the record was broken he said: “This is Big Pete’s 10th season at Chelsea and he has been world class from the moment he arrived here in 2004. As well as being his 209th clean sheet in all competitions, he can now go on to break David James’ Premier League record.”
John Terry raised the question of can Petr Čech beat David James’ Premier League record of 170 clean sheets. Presently Petr has 166 with only 2 games of the season remaining, so unless Big Pete decides to stay with Chelsea FC, or go to another Premier League club that is one record that unfortunately cannot be added to his personal tally.
Next: Petr Čech – The Summary.