Born in Gladsaxe, Copenhagen, Schmeichel was famous for his intimidating physique (at 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) tall and weighing close to 100 kg (15 st 10 lb) during his playing days), and wore specially made size XXXL football shirts. A fierce competitor, he was known for his loud, unstinting criticism of mistakes he believed the defenders in front of him committed. Unusually for a goalkeeper, Schmeichel scored 10 goals during his career, including one for the national team. He is also the most capped player for the Denmark national team, with 129 games between 1987 and 2001. In addition to 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. He also represented Gladsaxe Hero, Hvidovre, Brøndby, Sporting CP, Aston Villa and Manchester City in a career that lasted from 1981 until 2003 and yielded 24 trophies.

Regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all-time, 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. His son, Kasper, is also a professional football goalkeeper, currently playing for Premier League side Leicester City and the Denmark national team.

Professional career:

Brøndby

Despite the fifth best defence in the league, conceding 40 goals in 30 games, Schmeichel and Hvidovre finished in 14th place and were relegated in 1985. After only a single season, the club bounced right back to the 1st Division, but Schmeichel was lost by Hvidovre to Danish runners-up Brøndby IF before the 1987 season. Winning the Danish league in his first year, he joined a club which he helped turn into a success. He made his debut for the Danish national team in May 1987, under national manager Sepp Piontek, and was selected for the Euro 88 tournament, where he eventually became Denmark’s starting goalkeeper, after initially serving as a back-up to Troels Rasmussen in Denmark’s opening 3–2 defeat to Spain; Denmark lost both of their remaining two matches 2–0 to West Germany and Italy, however, and were eliminated in the first round of the competition.

In all, Schmeichel and Brøndby won four championships in five seasons. The climax of his Brøndby career would come in the European 1991 UEFA Cup competition, which saw Schmeichel as an important part of the team that reached the semi-finals, keeping seven clean sheets in the competition.The club was eliminated from the tournament following a 2–1 away defeat to Roma with a last-minute goal by Rudi Völler. Following the tournament, Schmeichel was voted 10th in “The World’s Best Goalkeeper 1991” poll by the IFFHS.

Manchester United

Schmeichel in July 1991, just days after signing for Manchester United
Following his showings on the international scene, Manchester United signed Schmeichel on 6 August 1991 for £505,000, a price described in 2000 by Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson as the “bargain of the century.” It was mainly because at the time, Schmeichel was a relative unknown outside of Denmark, especially within the United squad members. Schmeichel played the bulk of his career for United, eight years in total. With United, Schmeichel won five FA Premier League titles, three FA Cups, one League Cup, and the UEFA Champions League.

Manchester United finished as runners-up in Schmeichel’s first season (also winning the Football League Cup for the first time in the club’s history), but it was on the international stage that Schmeichel enjoyed his biggest success that year. In the Danish national team under new national manager Richard Møller Nielsen, Schmeichel was Denmark’s starting goalkeeper at the Euro 92 tournament which they won. Although Denmark initially finished behind Yugoslavia in their qualification campaign for the final tournament, the latter nation were banned from the competition, while Denmark replaced them in the finals. Schmeichel made a string of important saves during the tournament, keeping a clean sheet in Denmark’s opening 0–0 draw against England, and producing decisive stops against Eric Cantona and Jean-Pierre Papin in a 2–1 win over France to advance to the last four. In the semi-finals against defending champions the Netherlands, following a 2–2 draw after extra time, he stopped a penalty kick from Marco van Basten – the only miss of the shoot-out – which enabled Denmark to advance to the final on a 5–4 victory. Schmeichel also made several decisive saves in the final, and even held a cross with one hand, keeping a cleansheet in his nation’s 2–0 victory over Germany. For his performances throughout the season, he was elected “The World’s Best Goalkeeper of 1992” by IFFHS.

In the 1992–93 season, 22 clean sheets from Schmeichel helped United win the Premier League championship, the first time the club had won England’s top trophy in 26 years. Schmeichel was once again named “The World’s Best Goalkeeper” in 1993. In January 1994, Schmeichel fell out with Ferguson, as United had squandered a 3–0 lead to draw 3–3 with Liverpool. The two had a row where Schmeichel “said the most horrible things”, and he was subsequently sacked by Ferguson. A few days later, Schmeichel made an improvised apology to the other players. Unknown to him, Ferguson was eavesdropping on this, and he let Schmeichel stay at Manchester United.Schmeichel and United repeated the Premier League championship win at the end of the season, also capturing the FA Cup. At international level, however, he suffered disappointment as Denmark failed to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

He played his 129th and last international against Slovenia in 2001. Naturally, he kept a clean sheet – something he had done, staggeringly, in 42 per cent of his appearances for Manchester United. But Schmeichel will be remembered as far more than being the greatest goalie in the history of De Rod-Hvide and the Red Devils.

Indeed, in a 2001 Reuters poll, he beat Lev Yashin and Gordon Banks to be named the finest keeper in football history.

Despite being a goalkeeper, he would run into the attack on corner kicks if his team was behind. The sight of him going up for the corner was a great distraction to opposing defenders. He scored a goal in this fashion, for Man United, in a UEFA Cup match against Rotor Volgograd at Old Trafford in September 1995. He scored in the last minutes of the game to tie the match 2–2, though United were eliminated from the tournament on the away goals rule.

Schmeichel played for Denmark at Euro 96 hosted by England. The defending European Champions went out in the preliminary group stage, despite delivering results equivalent to the Euro 92 tournament in the first round.

Following a match against Arsenal in November 1996, Schmeichel was accused of racism by Arsenal striker Ian Wright. During the game, Schmeichel and Wright had a number of controversies, and at the end of the game, the two players confronted each other on their way off the pitch. After the game, news emerged of a police inquiry into the incident, where it was alleged that Schmeichel had made a racist remark. After months of politicising by The FA and The PFA, who wanted a “converted” Schmeichel as their posterboy of the “Kick Racism out of Football” campaign, no evidence was found and the case was dropped.

Under new national manager Bo Johansson, Schmeichel was a part of the Danish squad at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. He was one of the leading members of the Danish campaign, which ended in a 3–2 quarter-final defeat to Brazil.

Schmeichel ended his Manchester United career on the highest note, when Schmeichel and United won the Treble, the FA Premier League title, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League, in the same season. In that year’s FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal, Schmeichel saved a penalty kick by Dennis Bergkamp in the last minutes of the game (which Schmeichel revealed he was unaware of time), to send the game into extra time. In the absence of the suspended Roy Keane, he captained United in the UEFA Champions League final in May 1999. German opponents Bayern Munich had a 1–0 lead until the dying minutes of the game, when United received a corner kick. Schmeichel ran into the attack attempting to cause confusion, and Teddy Sheringham scored the equalising goal. A few seconds later, Ole Gunnar Solskjær scored the 2–1 winner for United to ensure that Schmeichel’s United career ended on the highest possible note. In an unforgettable celebratory moment, Schmeichel was shown cartwheeling gleefully in his area after Solskjær’s winning goal.

With his departure, Manchester United had trouble finding a replacement for him, going through several high-profile goalkeepers including Mark Bosnich, Massimo Taibi, Fabien Barthez, Tim Howard and Roy Carroll before finally buying Edwin van der Sar, who Sir Alex Ferguson considered the best goalkeeper to have played for the club since Schmeichel.

Sporting CP

Schmeichel decided to leave English football at the end of the 1998–99 season, as the gruelling 60-game season, which came with playing with a successful club, was threatening to undermine his high standards at the age of 36. Seeking a slower pace of football, he moved to Sporting CP, where he penned a two-year contract. In his first season with the club, he won the 1999–2000 Primeira Liga title, putting an end to the team’s 18 years without a championship. He scored his only goal for the Danish national team, a penalty kick in a 2–2 draw against Belgium, in a June 2000 warm-up match for Euro 2000. He represented Denmark at Euro 2000, where the team was eliminated in the group stage. He announced his retirement from the national team in February 2001, and played his final match (his 129th international appearance) two months later, captaining the side in a 3–0 friendly win over Slovenia at Copenhagen’s Parken Stadium; he was substituted in the 65th minute to a standing ovation, replaced by long-time back-up Peter Kjær.

His second year with Sporting was remarkable in that it was the first time in 14 years, since his Hvidovre days, that Schmeichel’s club had finished below second place in the league. Schmeichel stated his wish to activate a contract option of a further year at Sporting in January 2001, but eventually decided to leave the club when his contract expired in June 2001.

Aston Villa

Schmeichel returned to England with Aston Villa in July 2001, signing a one-year contract with the option to extend it by a further year. On 20 October 2001, Schmeichel became the first goalkeeper to score a Premier League goal, in a 3–2 defeat away to Everton; this feat has been repeated only four times: by Blackburn Rovers’ Brad Friedel on 21 February 2004, also from a corner kick; by Tottenham Hotspur’s Paul Robinson from a free-kick on 17 March 2007; by Everton’s Tim Howard on 4 January 2012; and by Stoke City’s Asmir Begović on 2 November 2013. Schmeichel left Aston Villa after one season after he fell behind Peter Enckelman in the club’s pecking order under new manager Graham Taylor, who had replaced John Gregory in February 2002.

Manchester City

In 2002, Schmeichel completed a move to Manchester City on a free transfer. He played only one season, in 2002–03. Schmeichel’s record in the Manchester derby is exceptional, in that he was never on the losing side. During his nine years with Manchester United, they were unbeaten against Manchester City, while in his single season with City, they won at Maine Road and drew at Old Trafford.

Retirement:

Schmeichel announced his retirement from football in April 2003.

In December 1999, Schmeichel became the owner of his childhood club Hvidovre IF, but withdrew from the club in June 2002.

Schmeichel worked as a pundit for the BBC after retiring, being a regular analyst on Match of the Day until 2005. He then began hosting live UEFA Champions League matches on Danish television channel TV3+, with Preben Elkjær and Brian Laudrup the studio pundits. However, he still works occasionally as a pundit for the BBC.

His popularity in Britain is perhaps best measured by Chesney Brown on the Manchester-based soap opera Coronation Street, naming his former dog (a Great Dane) “Schmeichel”.

He also took part in Soccer Aid, and played for the Rest of the World team, who lost 2–1 after he was substituted at half-time. Schmeichel was a contestant on the 2006 series of the BBC’s popular Saturday night TV programme Strictly Come Dancing, but was voted out by the public on his 43rd birthday. He also appeared on The Weakest Link in the UK, but he was voted off as the weakest link in the first round.

On 31 August 2007, an investor group including Schmeichel announced their intention to invest 250 million DKK (€33.5 million) in the football club Brøndby IF and make him sports director. This was announced in a press conference in Danish at a hotel in Copenhagen. The offer fell through when Brøndby failed to accept the offer within the group’s deadline.

In February 2007, he became the host in a new quiz, on TV3 named 1 mod 100 (the Danish version of 1 vs. 100). In 2008, he became the host of the European version of the Discovery Channel programme, Dirty Jobs.