Antti Mikko Niemi (born 31 May 1972) is a Finnish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

. He also worked as a goalkeeping coach at

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

during the 2014–15 season. Niemi spent time as a player in the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Football League (SFL). It was abolished in 2013, when t ...

(with Rangers, Heart of Midlothian) and the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

(with

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

and

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswo ...

), and in 2008 announced his retirement due to injury. However, in 2009 he returned to sign for Premier League club

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

, although he did not make any appearances before leaving in 2010.

Club career

Early career

Niemi was born in

Oulu Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

and began his professional career with

HJK Helsinki Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (), commonly known as HJK Helsinki, or simply as HJK, is a professional football club based in Helsinki, Finland. The club competes in the Finnish Veikkausliiga. Founded in 1907, the club has spent most of its history ...

, where he made over 100 appearances in four years, before transferring to

FC Copenhagen Football Club Copenhagen ( da, Football Club København, ), commonly known as FC København, FC Copenhagen, Copenhagen or simply FCK, is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on ...

in 1995. Impressive performances over the next two years saw a transfer to Scotland with Glasgow club Rangers.

Rangers

Niemi joined Rangers in 1997 and initially competed with

Andy Goram Andrew Lewis Goram (13 April 1964 – 2 July 2022) was a Scottish footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in Bury, Lancashire, England, he started his career with Oldham Athletic and Hibernian, but he is best remembered for playing for Ra ...

and Theo Snelders for the goalkeeper position; he made seven appearances in all competitions in his first season at Rangers. The following season, 1998−99, Niemi began the season competing with

Lionel Charbonnier Lionel André Michel Charbonnier (born 25 October 1966) is a French football manager and former professional player who played as a goalkeeper. After retiring, he became a football manager and managed Aceh United of the Liga Primer Indonesia i ...

to be Rangers' goalkeeper. Niemi started the 1998 Scottish League Cup Final as Rangers defeated

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an ol ...

, however Stefan Klos was signed in December 1998 and immediately became Rangers' first choice. Rangers won the Scottish Premier League in the 1998–99 season, but Niemi only contributed seven league appearances. In fact, Niemi only made one Rangers appearance after Klos was signed, which came in the league against

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lana ...

in August 1999. Niemi also had a brief loan spell at

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

late in 1999.

Hearts

Niemi moved to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

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 Scotland's best team outside the

Old Firm The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply e ...

. Niemi also became famous in Scotland for his ability to save penalties, demonstrating this skill when saving from

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in ...

Charlie Miller Charles Miller (born 18 March 1976) is a Scottish retired footballer. He started his career at Rangers, and was voted the SPFA Young Player of the Year in 1995 during his time with the club. After spells with English Premier League clubs Leice ...

and Dunfermline Athletic's

Scott Thomson Scott Thomson may refer to: *Scott A. Thomson, taxonomist and herpetologist *Scott Y. Thomson (born 1966), Scottish football goalkeeper *Scott M. Thomson (born 1972), Scottish footballer *Scott Thomson (actor) (born 1957), American actor *Scott Tho ...

. Niemi also played in European competition for Hearts against opponents such as Stuttgart. In a more light-hearted incident, Niemi was also famously during his time at Hearts the subject of a call during a phone-in on radio channel talkSPORT, in which a Scottish fan queried why Niemi had not been called up to the Scotland national team. When presenter

Arthur Albiston Arthur Richard Albiston (born 14 July 1957) is a Scottish former football player. Albiston played for Manchester United for most of his career, making almost 500 appearances for the club. He also made 14 international appearances for Scotland a ...

told the caller that Niemi was in fact Finnish, the caller replied 'He's not finished, he's only 28!' 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 Jefferies Geoff James Nugent (born 14 February 1977), known professionally as Jim Jefferies, is an Australian comedian, actor, and writer who holds dual Australian and American citizenship. He created and starred in the American FX sitcom ''Legit'' (2 ...

Southampton

After three seasons in Edinburgh, Niemi moved to

in 2002. He played for Southampton in the

2003 FA Cup final The 2003 FA Cup Final was the 122nd final of the FA Cup, the world's oldest domestic football cup competition. The final took place on Saturday 17 May 2003 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, in front of a crowd of 73,726. It was the third c ...

against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, which ''the Saints'' lost 1–0; Niemi became the first goalkeeper to be substituted in an

FA Cup final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...

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. In March 2004 he saved a

Michael Owen Michael James Owen (born 14 December 1979) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker for Liverpool F.C., Liverpool, Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid, Newcastle ...

penalty to help his team to a 2–0 win over

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

. 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 the 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".

Fulham

Niemi was badly hurt in a freak accident during a match against

Watford Watford () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal en ...

on 1 January 2007 when rushing out to head the ball; he toppled over his own defender,

Carlos Bocanegra Carlos Manuel Bocanegra (born May 25, 1979) is an American sports executive and former professional soccer player. A two-time MLS Defender of the Year, Bocanegra also played professionally in England, Scotland, France, and Spain. He earned over ...

, 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. He remained Fulham's first choice keeper until 1 March 2008, when, following injury, he was replaced by

Kasey Keller Kasey C. Keller (born November 29, 1969) is an American former professional soccer player who played in Europe and the United States, as well as being the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. national team. He is a four-time FIFA World Cup partic ...

. On 3 September 2008, it was announced that he had retired from professional football due to a wrist injury.

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

. 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. On 24 March 2010, he was released from his contract, without making a single appearance for Portsmouth's first team. It was reported that Niemi earned almost £450,000 during those eight months with Portsmouth.

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 squad 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 Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

national team as a goalkeeping coach.

Coaching career

Niemi began his coaching career as the goalkeeping coach for the

Finland national team Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

in March 2010. On 3 January 2013, his first club and reigning

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga (; sv, Tipsligan) is the premier division of Finnish football, the highest tier of the Finnish football league structure, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikka ...

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. On 27 June 2014, Niemi was appointed goalkeeper coach at

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

side

by former Finland teammate

Sami Hyypiä Sami Tuomas Hyypiä (; born 7 October 1973) is a Finnish football manager and former defender. Hyypiä began his playing career with Ykkönen side Kumu and soon moved to Veikkausliiga outfit MyPa. He spent four years at the club, helping th ...

References

External links

*
Profile at ESPNsoccernet.comFootballDatabase provides Antti Niemi's profile and stats
a
londonhearts.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Niemi, Antti 1972 births Living people Sportspeople from Oulu Finnish footballers Finland international footballers Association football goalkeepers Oulun Luistinseura players Rauman Pallo footballers Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi players F.C. Copenhagen players Rangers F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players Scottish Football League players Scottish Premier League players Danish Superliga players Finnish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Denmark Expatriate footballers in Scotland Expatriate footballers in England Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Finnish expatriate sportspeople in England Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Association football goalkeeping coaches FA Cup Final players