Peter Schmeichel won ten league titles, three FA Cups and nine other major trophies in a club career spanning 19 years, 748 games and - because he was no ordinary goalkeeper - ten goals. Its crowning moment came in 1999 when he captained Manchester United to victory in an unforgettable Champions League final. He was a key figure in United's successes during the 1990s, starting with their first domestic league title in more than a quarter of a century. Sir Alex Ferguson, having paid just £505,000 to sign him in 1991, hailed him as 'the bargain of the century'.On the international stage, he was voted both world and European goalkeeper of the year while helping Denmark to a miraculous triumph at Euro 92 and won a record 129 caps for his country. Named by Pelé, on behalf of FIFA, as one of the 100 greatest living footballers and by Match of the Day as the Premier League's best ever No 1, perhaps only Gordon Banks and Lev Yashin are his rivals to the status of greatest goalkeeper of all time.Jonathan Northcroft, who collaborated with Peter Schmeichel on the writing of One: My Autobiography, is Football Correspondent of the Sunday Times and author of three books, including Fearless: The Amazing Underdog Story of Leicester City, which was shortlisted at the Cross Sports Book Awards in 2017. A regular guest on Sky Sports and Premier League Productions television programmes, and on The Game and BT Sport Football Writers podcasts, he won the inaugural Jim Rodger Memorial Award for young sports writers in Scotland and has been shortlisted for Football Writer of the Year and Feature Writer of the Year at the Sports Journalists' Association awards.

It's comforting to know that one of the football heroes of my formative years is every bit the role model that I always thought him to be

Peter Schmeichel won ten league titles, three FA Cups and nine other major trophies in a club career spanning 19 years, 748 games and - because he was no ordinary goalkeeper - ten goals. Its crowning moment came in 1999 when he captained Manchester United to victory in an unforgettable Champions League final. He was a key figure in United's successes during the 1990s, starting with their first domestic league title in more than a quarter of a century. Sir Alex Ferguson, having paid just £505,000 to sign him in 1991, hailed him as 'the bargain of the century'.On the international stage, he was voted both world and European goalkeeper of the year while helping Denmark to a miraculous triumph at Euro 92 and won a record 129 caps for his country. Named by Pelé, on behalf of FIFA, as one of the 100 greatest living footballers and by Match of the Day as the Premier League's best ever No 1, perhaps only Gordon Banks and Lev Yashin are his rivals to the status of greatest goalkeeper of all time.Jonathan Northcroft, who collaborated with Peter Schmeichel on the writing of One: My Autobiography, is Football Correspondent of the Sunday Times and author of three books, including Fearless: The Amazing Underdog Story of Leicester City, which was shortlisted at the Cross Sports Book Awards in 2017. A regular guest on Sky Sports and Premier League Productions television programmes, and on The Game and BT Sport Football Writers podcasts, he won the inaugural Jim Rodger Memorial Award for young sports writers in Scotland and has been shortlisted for Football Writer of the Year and Feature Writer of the Year at the Sports Journalists' Association awards.

It's comforting to know that one of the football heroes of my formative years is every bit the role model that I always thought him to be

Peter Schmeichel won ten league titles, three FA Cups and nine other major trophies in a club career spanning 19 years, 748 games and - because he was no ordinary goalkeeper - ten goals. Its crowning moment came in 1999 when he captained Manchester United to victory in an unforgettable Champions League final. He was a key figure in United's successes during the 1990s, starting with their first domestic league title in more than a quarter of a century. Sir Alex Ferguson, having paid just £505,000 to sign him in 1991, hailed him as 'the bargain of the century'.On the international stage, he was voted both world and European goalkeeper of the year while helping Denmark to a miraculous triumph at Euro 92 and won a record 129 caps for his country. Named by Pelé, on behalf of FIFA, as one of the 100 greatest living footballers and by Match of the Day as the Premier League's best ever No 1, perhaps only Gordon Banks and Lev Yashin are his rivals to the status of greatest goalkeeper of all time.Jonathan Northcroft, who collaborated with Peter Schmeichel on the writing of One: My Autobiography, is Football Correspondent of the Sunday Times and author of three books, including Fearless: The Amazing Underdog Story of Leicester City, which was shortlisted at the Cross Sports Book Awards in 2017. A regular guest on Sky Sports and Premier League Productions television programmes, and on The Game and BT Sport Football Writers podcasts, he won the inaugural Jim Rodger Memorial Award for young sports writers in Scotland and has been shortlisted for Football Writer of the Year and Feature Writer of the Year at the Sports Journalists' Association awards.

It's comforting to know that one of the football heroes of my formative years is every bit the role model that I always thought him to be