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Peter Schmeichel
| Category: | Male Player |
| Year Inducted: | 2003 |
Extract from Football's Greatest Heroes by Robert Galvin. The official National Football Hall of Fame book:
Sir Alex Ferguson has described the £505,000 transfer fee Manchester United paid the Danish club Brondby for a goalkeeper whom he nicknamed ‘The Viking' as the buy of the century.
‘At his best, I don't believe a better goalkeeper than Peter Schmeichel has played the game,' Ferguson said. ‘He is a giant figure in the history of Manchester United and our debt to him will never be forgotten.'
When Schmeichel arrived at Old Trafford in 1991, United were still chasing their first championship title since 1967; when he departed seven years later, they were crowned the best team in Europe in what was his last game in their colours.
‘During most of his time with us, Peter was the best goalkeeper in the world, and it was fitting that his eight years with us should climax perfectly with the treble,' Ferguson said.
Roy Keane spoke approvingly of his ‘act' as a goalkeeper. In order to gee himself up, Schmeichel behaved like ‘a poser who fancied himself in a big way and played to the crowd'.
All the mannerisms, the finger-pointing and gestures of frustration directed at team-mates, were deployed as weapons in a psychological battle. ‘I want my opponents to feel intimidated simply by my presence between the posts,' he said.
‘Everything I do in goal is aimed at undermining the self-confidence of my opponents. Even a fraction of a second delay in shooting can make all the difference.'
As an outstanding handball player growing up in Denmark , Schmeichel was expert in the ‘star-jump', the spread-eagling of arms and legs by a goalkeeper facing a shot from close range.
It was a method that proved to be highly effective in one-against-one situations in football. ‘He blocks so much of the goal,' Alan Hansen said. ‘His ability in these situations must be worth 12 points a season. He's in a class of his own.'
Schmeichel played a vital role in helping Manchester United secure their historic treble – at both ends of the pitch.
In the last minute of normal time in the FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal, with the scores level at 1-1, Dennis Bergkamp stepped up to take a penalty. Schmeichel described it later ‘as one of the most important moments in my career'.
Bergkamp strode up and hit a firm shot, about waist high, to Schmeichel's left. ‘I gambled correctly and hit the jackpot.' United went on to win the game 2-1.
Then, in the dying seconds of the European Cup final and with United facing defeat against Bayern Munich in Barcelona , Schmeichel famously raced upfield for a corner.
Sitting on the bench at the Nou Camp Stadium, Ferguson turned to Steve McClaren, the assistant manager, and said: ‘What the hell is he doing?'
Schmeichel was acting on his own initiative. ‘I knew that my green goalkeeper's jersey would cause considerable confusion,' he recalled. ‘It was the kind of chaos defenders dread, and the ball eventually fell to Teddy Sheringham to score. We were never going to lose after that.'
In eight seasons at Old Trafford he played 292 League games, in more than 40 per cent of which he kept a clean sheet. After a spell in Portugal , Schmeichel had stints with Aston Villa and Manchester City .