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Antti Niemi
Personal information
Full name	Antti Mikko Niemi
Date of birth	31 May 1972 (1972-05-31) (age 37)
Place of birth	Oulu, Finland
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Portsmouth
Number	15
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1991–1995 1995–1997 1997–1999 1999 1999–2002 2002–2006 2006–2008 2009–	HJK København Rangers → Charlton Athletic (loan) Heart of Midlothian Southampton Fulham Portsmouth	101 (0) 047 (0) 013 (0) 000 (0) 089 (0) 106 (0) 062 (0) 000 (0)
National team2
1992–2007	Finland	067 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:01, 15 May 2008 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 18 November 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Antti Mikko Niemi (born 31 May 1972) is a Finnish football goalkeeper, who currently plays for English Premier League club Portsmouth.

[edit] Club career

[edit] Early career

Niemi was born in Oulu, Finland and began his career with HJK Helsinki, where he made over 100 appearances in four years, before transferring to F.C. Copenhagen in 1995. Impressive performances over the next two years saw a transfer to Great Britain with Glasgow club Rangers F.C. A short and unsuccessful spell there, saw him play in a 5-1 drubbing to arch-rivals Celtic.

[edit] Hearts

Niemi moved to Edinburgh to join Heart Of Midlothian in the summer of 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. Niemi also became famous in Scotland for his fantastic ability to save penalties. Antti Niemi also played in European competition for Hearts against opponents such as Stuttgart, Antwerpen and Toulouse.

[edit] 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 was substituted during the game due to a calf injury by Paul Jones. 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.^[1] 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 be promoted the following season, Niemi decided to return to the Premiership with Fulham, for whom he signed in January 2006.

[edit] 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.^[2]

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.^[3]

[edit] 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 F.C.^[4]. 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.^[5]

[edit] 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 66 times by his country before this.

[edit] References

• Jeremy Wilson (2006). Southampton’s Cult Heroes. Know The Score Books. ISBN 1-905449-01-1. 

[edit] External links

• Antti Niemi career stats at Soccerbase
• Profile at www.fulhamfc.com
• Profile at ESPNsoccernet.com
• FootballDatabase provides Antti Niemi's profile and stats
• Antti Niemi Official Website at icons.com
• Profile at londonhearts.com

Awards
Preceded by Christian Lønstrup	F.C. Copenhagen Player of the Year 1997	Succeeded by Bjarne Goldbæk
Preceded by James Beattie	Southampton F.C. Player of the Season 2003 – 2004	Succeeded by Peter Crouch