Premier League Legends - Peter Schmeichel

Last time, we featured the striker who scored the first ever goal in the Premier League on the newly formed competition’s first matchday—15th August 1992. It is only fair then to now talk about the goalkeeper Brian Deane scored past, the first shot-stopper to ever concede in the top flight: Peter Schmeichel.

Humble Beginnings in Denmark

Peter Bolesław Schmeichel MBE was born on 18th November, 1963 in Gladsaxe, Copenhagen, Denmark. He began playing football at Høje-Gladsaxe in 1972, and moved to BK Hero in 1975.

Schmeichel broke into the first team at Gladsaxe-Hero—new club formed by the merger of Boldklubben Hero and Gladsaxe Boldklub in 1979—in the Danish Third Division in 1981, and made 46 appearances for the club.

Three years later, in 1984, he moved to Hvidovre IF and made 78 appearances, even scoring six league goals for the club. He suffered relegation with the club in 1985 but bounced straight back up to the 1st Division next season.

League Titles at Brøndby IF

However, before the 1987 season, Schmeichel moved to the previous season’s 1st Division runners-up Brøndby IF. Over the next five seasons, he made 139 appearances for the club, scored another two goals, and won the league title four times—1987, 1988, 1990, and 1991.

He was named Danish Football of the Year and Det Gyldne Bur [Goalkeeper of the Year] in 1990.

Stuff of Legends in Manchester

Manchester United signed Schmeichel from Brøndby in 1991, impressed with his international performances, for £505,000. Over the next eight seasons, Schmeichel kept 180 clean sheets in 388 appearances across all competitions for the Red Devils.

He won five league titles—including the 1998-1999 treble of Premier League, FA Cup, and UEFA Champions League—three FA Cups, one League Cup, one European Super Cup, and four FA Charity Shields.

He was named Danish Footballer of the Year twice more, in 1993 and 1999, during his time at Manchester United, and won several other honors, including UEFA Goalkeeper of the Year and IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper. In 2000, Sir Alex Ferguson described his signing as the ‘bargain of the century’.

Pastures New in Portugal

In the summer of 1999, having won the treble at United, Schmeichel moved to Sporting CP in Lisbon, Portugal. He won the last of his league titles during his first season with the club, and stayed for one more season—keeping 21 clean sheets in 57 total appearances.

A Unique Record and Return to Manchester

In July 2001, Schmeichel returned to England and the Premier League, signing for Aston Villa upon expiration of his contract at Sporting CP. He made 36 appearances for the Villans and kept 10 clean sheets but most notably, on 20th October 2001 away at Everton, he became the first goalkeeper to ever score a goal in the Premier League.

Next season, in 2002, he moved back to Manchester, having fallen behind in the pecking order at Villa to Peter Enckelman. However, it was to sign for the Red Devils’ local rivals Manchester City in a move which shocked the red-half of the city. He helped the Citizens win at Maine Road and draw away at Old Trafford to maintain his personal record of never losing in the Manchester derby—having never lost to City in his eight seasons at United.

In April 2003, Schmeichel announced his retirement from football, aged 39. He made 121 senior appearances for the Danish national football team, kept 51 clean sheets, and scored one goal.

Peter is the father of Kasper Schmeichel, Danish international goalkeeper and former Premier League winner with Leicester City [2015-16] who currently plays for Celtic FC, having moved to Scotland from Anderlecht in July 2024.

He was inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2022, and has also been named in both the Danish Football Hall of Fame and English Football Hall of Fame. In 2001, he was awarded an honorary MBE [Member of the Order of the British Empire] for services to football.