Antti Niemi (footballer)

For other people with the same name, see Antti Niemi (disambiguation).
Antti Niemi
Personal information
Full name Antti Mikko Niemi
Date of birth (1972-05-31) 31 May 1972
Place of birth Oulu, Finland
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989 OLS 15 (0)
1990 Rauman Pallo 15 (0)
1991–1995 HJK 101 (0)
1995–1997 FC Copenhagen 47 (0)
1997–1999 Rangers 13 (0)
1999 → Charlton Athletic (loan) 0 (0)
1999–2002 Heart of Midlothian 89 (0)
2002–2006 Southampton 106 (0)
2006–2008 Fulham 62 (0)
2009–2010 Portsmouth 0 (0)
Total 418 (0)
National team
1992–2007 Finland 67 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 May 2008.


Antti Mikko Niemi (born 31 May 1972) is a retired Finnish football goalkeeper, who is currently working as a goalkeeping coach for Brighton and Hove Albion.[1] He spent much of his playing career in the Scottish Premier League (with Rangers and Heart of Midlothian) and the Premier League (with Southampton and Fulham), and in 2008 announced his retirement due to injury. However in 2009 he returned to sign for Premier League club Portsmouth although he did not make any appearances before leaving in 2010.

Club career

Early career

Niemi was born in Oulu, Finland and began his professional career with HJK Helsinki, where he made over 100 appearances in four years, before transferring to FC Copenhagen in 1995. Impressive performances over the next two years saw a transfer to Scotland with Glasgow club Rangers, where he became the first and only player to wear the number 13 shirt for the club in their Scottish Premier League history.

Hearts

Niemi moved to Edinburgh to join Heart of Midlothian in December 1999. He became a hero for Hearts fans in the three years he played at Tynecastle. He put in some fantastic performances which helped Hearts maintain their status as one of Scotland's best teams outside the Old Firm. Niemi also became famous in Scotland for his fantastic ability to save penalties, demonstrating this skill when saving from Dundee United's Charlie Miller[2] and Dunfermline Athletic's Scott Thomson.[3] Niemi also played in European competition for Hearts against opponents such as Stuttgart.

Upon his retirement, Niemi recalled his time at Hearts, quoting: "it was all good. Looking back, everything went so well – it was a lovely club, the team was doing well, I was playing well and we had a good manager in Jim Jeffries.[4]

Southampton

After three seasons in Edinburgh, Niemi moved to Southampton in 2002. He played for Southampton in the 2003 FA Cup final against Arsenal which was lost 1–0; Niemi became the first Goalkeeper to be substituted in an FA Cup Final when he was replaced by Paul Jones during the game due to a calf injury. In a game against Fulham in the 2002–03 season, he came up for a corner in injury time with Southampton trailing 2–1. The ball fell at his feet and he crashed a shot against the crossbar, and Michael Svensson was able to turn in the rebound, salvaging a draw.[5] In March 2004 he saved a Michael Owen penalty to help his team to a 2-0 win over Liverpool.[6] There was much speculation regarding Niemi's future at Southampton with a host of leading Premier League clubs rumoured to be interested in his services, such as Manchester United and Arsenal. After Southampton were relegated in 2005 and failed to challenge for promotion in following season, Niemi decided to return to the Premiership with Fulham, for whom he signed in January 2006. Niemi would describe being relegated as a "first bad experience in British football".[4]

Fulham

Niemi was badly hurt in a freak accident during a match against Watford on 1 January 2007 when rushing out to head the ball; he toppled over his own defender, Carlos Bocanegra, and landed on his head. He was taken from the field of play on a stretcher after ten minutes of treatment, but was later cleared of any spinal injury. He was released from hospital later that night with only ligament and muscle damage to the neck.[7]

He remained Fulham's first choice keeper until 1 March 2008, when, following injury, he was replaced by Kasey Keller. On 3 September 2008 it was announced at that he had retired from professional football due to a wrist injury.[8]

Portsmouth

Despite announcing his retirement from the game the previous year it was confirmed on 28 July 2009 that Antti Niemi was in talks with Portsmouth. On 7 August, Niemi confirmed he had signed for Portsmouth on a one year deal as backup to David James and to work with the goalkeeping coaches.[9] On 24 March 2010, he was released from his contract, without making a single appearance in the Portsmouth's first team. It was reported that Niemi earned almost £450,000 during those eight months with Portsmouth.[10]

International career

Niemi was first choice for the Finnish national team for almost a decade, before announcing his decision to retire from international football in 2005, but returned to the roster in 2007 playing a friendly game against Spain (0–0). He was capped 67 times by his country before this. On 2 March 2010 Niemi joined Finland's national team as a goalkeeping coach.[11]

Coaching career

Niemi began his coaching career as the goalkeeping coach for the Finland national team in March 2010. On 3 January 2013 his first club and reigning Veikkausliiga champions HJK announced that they had appointed Niemi as the club's goalkeeping coach and that he would continue his duties with the national team.[12]

On 27 June 2014, Niemi was appointed goalkeeper coach at English Championship side Brighton and Hove Albion by former Finland teammate Sami Hyypia.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 "Hyypia Appoints Backroom Team". Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  2. ↑ "United and Hearts end all square". BBC. 7 April 2001. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  3. ↑ "Hearts keep Euro dream alive". BBC. 19 April 2002. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Antti's Farewell". Fulham Official Website. 3 September 2008. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  5. ↑ "Svensson saves Saints". BBC. 15 March 2003. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
  6. ↑ "Southampton 2-0 Liverpool". BBC. 14 March 2004. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  7. ↑ "Fulham expect quick Niemi return". bbc. 3 January 2007. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
  8. ↑ Keeper Niemi announces retirement BBC Sport, 3 September 2008
  9. ↑ "Niemi to join Portsmouth". bbc. 7 August 2009. Retrieved 7 August 2009.
  10. ↑ "Niemi paid £450k for 90 minutes on bench". Eurosport. 31 March 2010. Archived from the original on 5 April 2010. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
  11. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 2010-03-31. (Finnish)
  12. ↑ "Antti Niemi maalivahtivalmentajaksi" (in Finnish). hjk.fi. 3 January 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2013.

External links

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