Kasper Peter Schmeichel (born 5 November 1986) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
Schmeichel began his career with Manchester City, but had loan spells with Darlington, Bury and Falkirk before he made his first-team debut in 2007; after a short period as starting goalkeeper, he went on further loan spells to Cardiff City and Coventry City. After falling down the pecking order behind Joe Hart and Shay Given, he departed for Notts County in League Two on a permanent deal in 2009, reuniting with former City manager Sven-Göran Eriksson, before signing for Championship side Leeds United a year later.
After one year at Leeds, Schmeichel was signed by fellow Championship side Leicester City in 2011, reuniting again with Eriksson. He went on to make 479 competitive appearances for Leicester over 11 years, during the most successful era in the club's history, winning the Championship in 2014, the Premier League in 2016, and the FA Cup and Community Shield in 2021, additionally serving as club captain in his final season before departing in 2022. Following spells across Europe with Nice and Anderlecht, Schmeichel returned to Scotland to sign with Celtic in 2024, reuniting with former Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers. During his time at Celtic, he won a domestic double twice, lifting the Scottish League Cup, Scottish Cup and also the Scottish Premiership twice.
A former Denmark under-21 international, Schmeichel was called up to the senior team for the first time in 2011, and was part of their squad at UEFA Euro 2012, but did not make his senior debut until 2013. He since made 120 international appearances, and represented his country at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2020, the 2022 World Cup and Euro 2024.
Schmeichel announced his retirement from professional football in May 2026.
Early life Formative years and education Kasper Schmeichel was born on 5 November 1986 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is the son of former Denmark international goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, and is of Polish descent through his paternal grandfather.
Schmeichel grew up in Denmark during his early years but spent most of his childhood living in England due to his father's playing career. He is a native speaker of both Danish and English and speaks with a Mancunian accent. He attended Hulme Hall Grammar School in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, Greater Manchester, and he also attended Saint Julian's School in Portugal while his father played for Sporting CP in Lisbon. Growing up, Schmeichel was friends with Alex Bruce after their fathers had played together at Manchester United, going onto play together as professionals at Leeds United.
Youth-team career Schmeichel started playing organised football in Portugal in 2000, while his father was part of Sporting CP. He played one season in the Estoril youth academy, in which he managed to win a championship. Commenting on his early footballing years, Schmeichel remarked: "Before [Estoril], it wasn't that serious. I have to admit that when I was very small, football did not interest me that much. It was mostly in short periods that it was fun, and then I had enough. So it only started to take shape when I was 12–13 years old".
In 2001, Schmeichel moved to Denmark where he attended Oure Efterskole, an efterskole or voluntary independent residential school for young people finishing their primary education. Schmeichel said in an interview with Euroman in 2014: "At Oure, I was part of an environment and met a coach who made me want to develop even more as a goalkeeper". Schmeichel, at the time, was described as hard-working and dedicated by coach Bo Pedersen. While enrolled at Oure, Schmeichel trialled with Brøndby, but would instead move to Manchester City after another successful trial.
Club career
Manchester City
Schmeichel joined Manchester City in September 2002 on a long-term contract, which covered schoolboy, scholar and professional terms. He joined League Two side Darlington on a loan deal in January 2006, where he made his professional first-team debut against Peterborough United at the Darlington Arena on 14 January 2006. Darlington won the game 2–1, with Schmeichel conceding a goal to Peterborough striker James Quinn. He gained his first clean sheet three days later against Grimsby Town. He made two further appearances before returning to Manchester City.
One month after returning to Manchester City, he was loaned out again, this time to Bury in February, where he made 15 appearances in a three-month loan spell. He returned to Bury for a further three months the following season.
Schmeichel joined Scottish Premier League side Falkirk on loan from January 2007 until the end of the 2006–07 season. He was named man of the match against Rangers on 18 February 2007. He also saved a Craig Beattie penalty in a 1–0 win over Celtic on 18 March 2007. He revealed in May he would have liked his loan at Falkirk extended, and the club expressed an interest in signing him.
Schmeichel made his Manchester City debut against West Ham United in August 2007. He played against City's rivals Manchester United on 19 August 2007 and kept a clean sheet in City's 1–0 home win. Schmeichel saved a penalty from Arsenal's Robin van Persie on 25 August 2007 at the Emirates Stadium. Despite City losing 1–0 to Arsenal, he was named man of the match. He played the first seven of Manchester City's games in the 2007–08 Premier League, keeping clean sheets against Manchester United, West Ham, Aston Villa and Derby County, conceding only five goals.
He signed a new four-year deal with City in September 2007. This was then followed up with an agreement to go on a one-month loan with Championship side Cardiff City on 25 October 2007. He made his debut for Cardiff on 27 October 2007 in a 1–1 draw with Scunthorpe United. He was named 2007 Danish Under-21 Talent of the Year.
Towards the end of the loan spell, Schmeichel requested that he would be allowed to stay on at Cardiff for a longer period and on 22 November, the loan spell was extended until the new year, with manager Sven-Göran Eriksson stating that he could possibly stay at the club for the rest of the season providing Manchester City do not suffer an injury crisis. After Eriksson named Joe Hart as the number one goalkeeper at Manchester City, however, Andreas Isaksson requested a transfer. This meant that Eriksson would not allow Cardiff to keep Schmeichel after his initial loan period ended on 2 January. On 31 December, Eriksson threw Cardiff a lifeline by opening talks for Schmeichel to stay at Ninian Park. Schmeichel would be allowed to stay for two more matches should Isaksson not move until late in the January transfer window. Schmeichel had stated he would like to play for Cardiff again in the future. Schmeichel, however, returned to Eastlands the day after his initial loan expired.
He joined Coventry City on loan until the end of the season on 13 March. Towards the end of the season, his father, Peter Schmeichel, commented during a TV interview that his son was not happy at Manchester City and was set to leave following the end of the season.
Despite wanting to leave, Schmeichel returned to the City of Manchester Stadium at the end of the season and changed to the number 16 shirt. He repeatedly stated that he wanted to leave City and regretted signing a four-year contract.
On 16 November, Schmeichel entered a game as a substitute after Joe Hart injured his ankle in the 14th minute. City went on to a 2–2 result with Hull City. In December 2008, Schmeichel played his last game for Manchester City in a UEFA Cup match against Racing de Santander.
Notts County On 14 August 2009, Schmeichel signed for League Two side Notts County in a deal that is believed to have broken the club's previous transfer record. The transfer reunited Schmeichel with his former Manchester City manager, Sven-Göran Eriksson, who had recently been appointed director of football for Notts. He was the highest paid player at the club, earning £1 million annually. He made his debut on 22 August and kept a clean sheet in the side's 3–0 win against Dagenham & Redbridge. In September 2009, Schmeichel almost scored with an audacious overhead kick against Morecambe when he came up from a corner late on in the game.
A fine string of performances in October earned Schmeichel the Player of the Month award. During Schmeichel's stay at The Magpies, the club conceded only 0.67 goals per League Two match (29 goals conceded in 43 league appearances). Schmeichel's clean-sheets-to-game-ratio at Notts County was an impressive 55.8 percent (24 out of 43 league appearances). On 27 April, Schmeichel and Notts County secured the 2009–10 League Two title and promotion to League One with a 5–0 win against already relegated Darlington. Shortly before the game, it was announced that Notts County agreed to release Schmeichel at the end of the season, despite having four years left on his contract. The reasoning behind this was financial: Schmeichel earned a reported £15,000 per week, having been signed during the brief ownership period of high-spending Munto Finance in the summer 2009. Schmeichel agreed to forgo all his future wages, something which chairman Ray Trew described as "a huge concession by such a young man".
Leeds United On 27 May 2010, having been linked with both Premier League and Bundesliga clubs, Schmeichel signed a two-year contract with Leeds United, joining the club on 1 July 2010. Schmeichel was given the number 1 shirt at Leeds for the 2010–11 season and was made Leeds' first choice goalkeeper for the forthcoming season, ahead of Shane Higgs. He made his debut for the club on Saturday 7 August 2010 in Leeds' opening Football League Championship match against Derby County. Despite Leeds losing 2–1, Schmeichel put in an impressive performance, making several crucial saves during the match. After a string of impressive games for Leeds, Schmeichel was nominated for the August Championship Player of the Month award, but lost out to Queens Park Rangers winger Adel Taarabt. Schmeichel, however, did win the Sky Sports Championship Player of the Month award for August.
After picking up a tendon injury in his foot, Schmeichel missed the game against Swansea City and was ruled out of Leeds' next few games. While out injured, Schmeichel appeared on Soccer AM as one of the guests on the show. After just under two months out, Schmeichel returned to the Leeds starting line-up against Cardiff City. He was set to play against Coventry City on 6 November, but due to the birth of his first child the night before, he missed the game.
On 8 January 2011, Schmeichel helped Leeds earn a 1–1 draw against Arsenal in the FA Cup third round match at the Emirates Stadium. After the match, Arsenal captain Cesc Fàbregas commented that Schmeichel should have received the match ball for his performance. Although Leeds lost the replay 3–1, Schmeichel produced another impressive display (nearly scoring himself via a header) and he was subsequently named player of the FA Cup third round.
On 27 June 2011, Leeds announced they had accepted an undisclosed bid for him from Leicester City. With Schmeichel wanting to stay at Leeds for the remainder of his contract, he admitted that the decision to sell him was a real shock. However, Schmeichel said that moving to Leeds was the wrong move for him, particularly because he was made to feel unwelcome at the club because of his father's history.
Leicester City 2011–12 season
On 27 June 2011, Schmeichel was officially confirmed as a Leicester player, signing a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee that reunited him for a second time with his former Manchester City manager and Notts County director of football, Sven-Göran Eriksson.