Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech has announced he will retire at the end of the season.
The 36-year-old has lost his starting place to Bernd Leno at the Emirates Stadium this season and, after a 20-year playing career, has opted to quit.
In a statement on Twitter, he wrote: This is my 20th season as a professional player and it has been 20 years since I signed my first professional contract, so it feels like the right time to announce that I will retire at the end of the season.
Having played 15 years in the Premier League, and won every single trophy possible, I feel like I have achieved everything I set out to achieve.
I will continue to work hard at Arsenal to hopefully win one more trophy this season, then I am looking forward to seeing what life holds for me off the pitch.
— Petr Cech (@PetrCech)
Cech started his career at Chmel Blsany in his native Czech Republic and impressed sufficiently to earn a move to domestic giants Sparta Prague and then Rennes.
His form in Ligue 1 prompted Chelsea to offer him a trial which eventually became a transfer in February 2004, the player making the switch to England at the end of the 2003-04 season.
He swiftly established himself as Chelsea s number one, and went on to win four Premier League titles at Stamford Bridge.
The only blemish on his Chelsea career came in October 2006 when a clash with Reading’s Stephen Hunt left him with a fractured skull and a three-month absence.
24 kept 24 clean sheets for during the 2004-05 campaign the most any goalkeeper has kept in a single season in the competition. Safe.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe)
He returned sporting his now trademark headguard – something he was worn throughout the remainder of his career.
With Thibaut Courtois taking over the number one shirt at Chelsea for the start of the 2015-16 season, Cech opted to move across London to join Arsenal for a reported fee of £10million.
He won the FA Cup under Arsene Wenger in 2017 but struggled to replicate the dominant form he showed at Chelsea and in winning a Czech-record 124 international caps.
For your consummate professionalism, for being the perfect role model, for the 50 clean sheets, for your honesty, your integrity and for your inspiring work with , we want to say…
Thank you, !
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal)
