Petr Čech

Early career

Čech started playing football aged seven for Škoda Plzeň (later known as Viktoria Plzeň). In his early days, he played as a striker, although he moved to the goalkeeper position after breaking his leg at age ten. Čech joined Czech First League team Chmel Blšany in June 1999 and made his league debut at the age of 17 in October 1999, in a 3–1 loss against Sparta. Čech signed a five-and-a-half-year contract with Sparta Prague at the age of 18 in January 2001, although he remained at Blšany until the end of the 2000–01 season. In November 2001, Čech broke the record formerly held by Theodor Reimann for the longest time elapsed without conceding a goal in the Czech professional league, stretching his run to 855 minutes. His clean sheet record finally ended when he was beaten by a goal from Marcel Melecký of Bohemians on 17 November 2001, ending his record at 903 consecutive minutes without conceding. Despite Čech not winning the league title in the spring of 2002 with Sparta, he attracted interest from English clubs including Arsenal due to his international performances. Due to difficulties in obtaining a work permit, however, a proposed deal with the Gunners fell through.

Rennes

In July 2002, Čech moved to French club Rennes, signing a four-year contract for a transfer fee reported as CZK150 million (€5.5 million). During his first season in France, he was awarded man of the match in a 0–0 draw against Paris Saint-Germain by L'Équipe. In May…

Youth

Čech started playing for the Czech Republic at youth level. He made a combined total of 34 appearances for age groups between under-15 and under-18 between 1998 and 2000. In 2000 he moved up to the under-20 and under-21 teams, making a total of 22 appearances across those teams. Čech first came to prominence at the age of 20 at the 2002 U-21 European Championships, when he conceded only one penalty in a penalty shoot-out victory over France in the final, earning the Czech Republic their first title at youth level.

Senior

Čech debuted for the senior squad in February 2002 against Hungary. After establishing himself as the first choice goalkeeper, Čech was selected in the Czech Republic's squad for UEFA Euro 2004, where he was named in the all-star team as best goalkeeper at the tournament.

UEFA European Championships

On 17 October 2007, Čech captained the Czech Republic team in their Euro 2008 Group D qualifier against Germany. He kept a clean sheet and the Czechs defeated Germany 3–0 away to book their place for the finals in Austria and Switzerland. In the last group game of the final tournament, Čech was beaten three times in the final 15 minutes as Turkey overcame a two-goal deficit to knock the Czechs out. Čech had a cross slip through his hands, allowing Nihat Kahveci to score Turkey's equalising goal. On 29 May 2012, Čech was named in the Czech Republic's squad for Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. In the Czech Republic's group match…

In June 2019, Čech returned to former club Chelsea as a technical and performance advisor. In October 2020, Čech was included in Chelsea's 25-man Premier League squad for the 2020–21 season. The club announced that Čech was included as an emergency goalkeeper and as a non-contract player, and that this was a precautionary move due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He made one appearance for Chelsea's under-23 team in the Premier League 2. During a protest against the proposed European Super League outside Stamford Bridge on 20 April 2021, Čech approached fans who were blocking the team bus and could be heard saying "give us time". The fans did move and the team bus was able to enter after a short delay. Later that day, Chelsea were among the first clubs to withdraw from the league. In June 2022, Čech left Chelsea after Todd Boehly took over the club.

On 9 October 2019, Čech signed for ice hockey side Guildford Phoenix of the National Ice Hockey League Division 2 (level 4 of British hockey) as a goaltender. He chose to wear number 39 jersey in honour of Dominik Hašek. Čech said he would continue his role as a technical and performance advisor at Chelsea whilst playing ice hockey in his spare time. He was named the man of the match on his ice hockey debut on 13 October, after stopping two penalty shots in a shoot-out victory, and making several other crucial saves. After winning a treble with Guildford Phoenix in the 2021–22 season, Čech signed for the National Ice Hockey League Division 1 side Chelmsford Chieftains in November 2022. In June 2023, after one season with Chelmsford, he signed for fellow Division 1 side Oxford City Stars. In the 2023 off-season, Čech played for the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) defending champions, Belfast Giants, in a charity match to support the continuation of ice hockey in Ukraine (amid the Russo-Ukrainian War), raising £65,000. In November 2023, he joined the club on loan as temporary emergency cover. In an interview with the Belfast Telegraph, Čech revealed that he used to play youth ice hockey in addition to football, but equipment costs forced him to play the significantly cheaper sport of football. He also stated that ice hockey was his preferred sport as a child. Čech made his first and only appearance for the Giants during his initial loan spell in a 5–1 win over the Glasgow Clan…