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Schmeichel: The Autobiography
First published in 1999, Schmeichel talks in details about his time in English football, his decision to quit while still at the top, the secrets of United's success, and about individuals such as Sir Alex Ferguson, Cantona and Beckham. He also sets the record straight over the headline-grabbing confrontations with Ian Wright.
- GenresSports
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
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59 people want to read
About the author
Peter Schmeichel
4 books5 followersPeter Bolesław Schmeichel MBE (born 18 November 1963) is a retired Danish professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and was voted the "World's Best Goalkeeper" in 1992 and 1993. He is best remembered for his most successful years at English club Manchester United, whom he captained to the 1999 UEFA Champions League to complete The Treble. He was a key member of the Denmark national football team that won Euro 92.
Born in Gladsaxe, Copenhagen, Schmeichel is famous for his intimidating physique (he is 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) tall and wears specially-made size XXXL football shirts) and his attacking threat. During his career, Schmeichel scored 11 goals, including one for the Danish national team, a great feat for a keeper. He is also the most capped player for the Denmark national team, with 129 games between 1987 and 2001. Apart from Euro 92, he played for his country at the 1998 FIFA World Cup and three additional European Championship tournaments. He captained the national team in 30 matches.
Schmeichel is also known for his trademark shouts at his defence. He would often yell out at the defenders in charge of helping him defend the goal for blunders and poor defending and would occasionally single out various individuals in the defence to make his feelings heard.
Today, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of football. The IFFHS ranked Schmeichel among the top ten keepers of the 20th century in 2000, and in 2001, Schmeichel won a public poll held by Reuters, when the majority of the 200,000 participants voted him as the best goalkeeper ever, ahead of Lev Yashin and Gordon Banks. In 2003, Schmeichel was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his impact on the English game. In March 2004, he was named as one of the "125 greatest living footballers", at the FIFA 100 celebrations.
He holds the record for the greatest clean sheets-to-games ratio in the Premier League with 42% of the games he played in the league ending without his team conceding.
His son Kasper is also a goalkeeper and currently plays for Manchester City.
Born in Gladsaxe, Copenhagen, Schmeichel is famous for his intimidating physique (he is 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) tall and wears specially-made size XXXL football shirts) and his attacking threat. During his career, Schmeichel scored 11 goals, including one for the Danish national team, a great feat for a keeper. He is also the most capped player for the Denmark national team, with 129 games between 1987 and 2001. Apart from Euro 92, he played for his country at the 1998 FIFA World Cup and three additional European Championship tournaments. He captained the national team in 30 matches.
Schmeichel is also known for his trademark shouts at his defence. He would often yell out at the defenders in charge of helping him defend the goal for blunders and poor defending and would occasionally single out various individuals in the defence to make his feelings heard.
Today, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of football. The IFFHS ranked Schmeichel among the top ten keepers of the 20th century in 2000, and in 2001, Schmeichel won a public poll held by Reuters, when the majority of the 200,000 participants voted him as the best goalkeeper ever, ahead of Lev Yashin and Gordon Banks. In 2003, Schmeichel was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his impact on the English game. In March 2004, he was named as one of the "125 greatest living footballers", at the FIFA 100 celebrations.
He holds the record for the greatest clean sheets-to-games ratio in the Premier League with 42% of the games he played in the league ending without his team conceding.
His son Kasper is also a goalkeeper and currently plays for Manchester City.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 22, 2018
Despite being better written than many footballers' bios, I give this book a low rating because Mr. Schmeichel comes off as such a jerk, with zero self-reflection or honesty.
When I read this book I thought I was a fan, but I was not by the end of the book.
Yes it was a while ago but I remember it so vividly, hence the review.
His account of what happened re: his racial abuse of Ian Wright is not credible; his professed motives & explanation make no logical or chronological sense & his comments actually indict him more definitively.
Later in the book he proudly describes an incident where swears crudely at a female teacher whose class of young school kids had the temerity to interrupt his golf game, what a gentleman!
Finally, it's quite creepy when he describes the pleasure he feels when his (then-young) daughter cries, even today this seems such a scary & telling comment.
Hard not to feel real revulsion towards this guy, despite the mass worship of him.
So, decent prose written by a man who reveals that he is quite ugly inside.
When I read this book I thought I was a fan, but I was not by the end of the book.
Yes it was a while ago but I remember it so vividly, hence the review.
His account of what happened re: his racial abuse of Ian Wright is not credible; his professed motives & explanation make no logical or chronological sense & his comments actually indict him more definitively.
Later in the book he proudly describes an incident where swears crudely at a female teacher whose class of young school kids had the temerity to interrupt his golf game, what a gentleman!
Finally, it's quite creepy when he describes the pleasure he feels when his (then-young) daughter cries, even today this seems such a scary & telling comment.
Hard not to feel real revulsion towards this guy, despite the mass worship of him.
So, decent prose written by a man who reveals that he is quite ugly inside.
March 28, 2021
A great career feels oddly skimmed over. The Cantona kung-fu kick, the Ian Wright episode, a screaming match with Alex Ferguson...these things are covered but I pined for more detail, more reflection. Schmeichel is a Danish legend but he struggled with a prominent Danish tabloid who misquoted him in headlines. The guy is a winner but he's also arrogant in places - calling a schoolteacher a bitch for interrupting his golf game is a low-light. He talks about players not really having much relationship outside of the club...though he seems to be speaking for himself here.
October 15, 2009
If you're a Peter Schmeichel fan, you will probably like this book as I did. However, if you aren't mad crazy about Schmeichel or aren't familiar with the impact he had at Manchester United in the '90s, you may not find this book as enjoyable. The book is well-written, but lacks a lot of in depth, revealing information. It does shed some light on Schmeichel's personality and the true grit he showed on the pitch, which I found to be of interest.
From a coaching perspective, one of the latter chapters would provide an interesting read to young goalies in soccer. It highlights what Schmeichel feels are important characteristics of a good keeper. My view is that he is spot on with his comments and the perspective would enlighten any aspiring keeper.
Overall, the book is mildly informative, marginally revealing and somewhat entertaining. If I didn't know of Schmeichel as one of the greatest keepers in European soccer, I probably would have tossed the book to the side without finishing. However, if you have any interest in learning of, or learning a little more, about Peter Schmeichel this book may be a good read for you.
From a coaching perspective, one of the latter chapters would provide an interesting read to young goalies in soccer. It highlights what Schmeichel feels are important characteristics of a good keeper. My view is that he is spot on with his comments and the perspective would enlighten any aspiring keeper.
Overall, the book is mildly informative, marginally revealing and somewhat entertaining. If I didn't know of Schmeichel as one of the greatest keepers in European soccer, I probably would have tossed the book to the side without finishing. However, if you have any interest in learning of, or learning a little more, about Peter Schmeichel this book may be a good read for you.
November 8, 2010
He's my childhood hero so I really wanted this to be an amazing book but actually it is very bland and he doesn't seem very interesting
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews