Leicester: How Kasper Schmeichel became globally respected

Kasper Schmeichel’s journey in Leicester City shirt took him through the hardships of the Championship to his coronation as a bonafide champion.

To understand the spirit of Schmeichel, we need to understand his life’s trajectory as a whole. While visiting different phases of his life, we would get a sense of what makes his story so great.

The name ‘Schmeichel’

The name Schmeichel casts a gigantic shadow against any young goalkeeper who wants to shine in the Premiership. It’s even more daunting when you are a Schmeichel yourself. From an early age, Kasper – the son of great Peter Schmeichel – was living under the burden of expectations. The constant comparison to match the father’s footsteps became an unimaginably hard ask.

Kasper Schmeichel took the rough road of playing at the same position as his old man, and when your old man is someone like the stature of Peter Schmeichel, it was always going to be a big challenge. To begin his journey, Kasper joined Manchester City in September 2002 on a long-term contract, which covered schoolboy, scholar, and professional terms.

The blue side of Manchester was his first choice as his father was playing for City during this time. However, before representing City at a senior level, he was loaned to five different clubs to earn experience and potentially grow. After his return from those spells, he played a combined of eight games in a City shirt. He eventually lost his place to the upcoming sensation Joe Hart. Hart cemented his position as the prime choice.

Kasper left Manchester and signed for League Two side Notts County. He was the highest-paid player at the club, earning £1 million annually. Here he started to get regular minutes under his former boss, Sven-Göran Eriksson. Schmeichel’s clean-sheets-to-game-ratio at Notts County was an impressive 55.8 percent (24 out of 43 league appearances).

A string of such performances helped Notts earning the 2009–10 League Two title along with guaranteed promotion. By this time, Kasper had already started to impress the scouts in the English divisions. During the end of the season, Notts decided to release the goalkeeper. Despite having four years left on his contract due to financial reasons.

Much interest in signing Kasper brewed from the Premier League and the Bundesliga clubs, but he wanted to rise gradually and steadily. Kasper was always a matured player who was cautious not to derail the tracks of his incremental rise. He signed for Leeds United and immediately put in great performances as their first choice keeper. He won the Sky Sports Championship Player of the Month award in August.

On 27 June 2011, Leeds shocked the fans when they announced that they have agreed to accept an undisclosed bid for the Dane from Leicester City. The decision was unexpected, and neither Kasper nor the pundits could make sense of the sudden transfer. All in all, Kasper was now going to join the Foxes, a team that was going to do the unthinkable.

From Championship to a Champion

Kasper matured over the years he played at the club. He grew both as a person and as a player. City under the ownership of Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was gradually doing well in the Championship. Within a season, Kasper Schmeichel won the Leicester City’s Player of the Year award.

The new ownership had promised their rise to back to the Premier League. Vichai once even told Kasper to be ready because the club would be playing in the Champions League within a few seasons. Those far-fetched promises from owners are nothing new. Fans are promised a whole lot when in actuality, they get peanuts. However, such wasn’t the case for Leicester City as they went all out in their 2013/14 season and won the SkyBet Championship.

After making their appearance back into the Premiership, the going was getting tough. Only having gathered 19 points from 29 matches, a relegation was looking imminent. Unexpectedly enough, the team showed unreal grit and determination to bounce back from the adversaries and pull off “The Great Escape” witnessed in the Premier League. They incredibly survived relegation!

The following season, more surprises were waiting for the world to witness. From relegation fodder, Leicester City won the Premier League title with 5000-1 odds against them. The unbelievable story was a strong testament to every football fan around the world as the monopoly of the game has been challenged by a side that was never considered to be.

The owner’s promise of playing in the Champions League was fulfilled soon. Tasting the silverware made the Dane a force to be reckoned with. Every match that he played after becoming a Champion was a treat for the eyes. Having left his father’s shadow behind, Kasper was the Danish no.1 on his own accord. With eye startling spectacular saves, he became one of the best in the league.

Things that changed him at Leicester City

In 2018, Vichai along with four others died in a horrible helicopter crash near the King Power stadium. Kasper was held back by several others as he tried his best to aid an unaidable Vichai and others. That incident changed things at the club, but probably it changed Kasper the most. He emerged as the club’s leader in that time of crisis. The way he carried and presented himself proved that he has found a new maturity in his character.

The same qualities helped a more experienced Kasper Schmeichel deal with the horrific crisis that took place during Euro 2020. Both Schmeichel and Simon Kjær controlled the uncontrollable emotional rollercoaster of a situation when their fellow Danish teammate Christian Eriksen collapsed in the middle of the game. Kasper was everywhere. He comforted Eriksen’s partner and then his teammates.

The whole world watched and admired the leadership the Leicester City captain was showing. The composure with which he pulled off the crisis is noteworthy for all aspiring leaders of tomorrow. Not only that he had to deal with the issue itself, but he also had to guide his teammates to form a wall around Eriksen while the paramedics strived to bring the player back to life.

Later Denmark was forced to play the match for which UEFA received a fair share of criticism. The whole plot elevated Kasper Schmeichel’s status as a genuine leader. After returning from the tournament, Kasper led the Foxes to win another silverware of the Community Shield against Manchester City- the most resourced side in world football. The Foxes qualified to play for the shield due to their credentials of winning the alluring FA Cup a few months earlier against the eventual European Champions Chelsea.