Remembering Schmeichel’s City Bow At Coventry
The Denmark international goalkeeper, born in Copenhagen, signed for the Foxes following spells at Manchester City, Notts County and Leeds United, as well as a further five loan clubs.
Under Sven-Göran Eriksson, there was a clear target – promotion to the Premier League.
That quest started at rivals Coventry City, with no less than seven of the Swedish manager’s new signings starting the match.
Schmeichel was among a list of summer recruits all vying to impress on their maiden outing for the Club, but it could have hardly been a worse start for the visiting side.
Darius Vassell was sent off after just 11 minutes for a challenge on Richard Keogh but Coventry’s one-man advantage soon disappeared when Carl Baker was also shown red before the interval.
Sandwiched in between the dismissals was a tipped save from Schmeichel, who prevented David Bell from finding the net before Lee Peltier headed in the winner in the opening stages of the second period.
Peltier Sinks Coventry As Schmeichel Makes Debut
Lee Peltier scored the only goal of the game on 6 August, 2011 - a day that also saw Kasper Schmeichel make his debut for the Club.
Despite promise, City could not find consistency during the 2011/12 season, however, and finished ninth in the Championship table.
Eriksson departed the Club and Nigel Pearson returned for a second spell to lead City to a play-off berth in 2012/13, the Championship title in 2013/14 and Premier League survival in 2014/15.
Throughout that run – and the five years that followed – Schmeichel became an integral and well-respected member of the City dressing room.
In a recent interview with former shot-stopper Peter Shilton, Schmeichel told LCFC TV: “As if I didn’t know enough from my own knowledge and Tim Flowers, having him as a coach for many years at Man City, he talked a lot about Leicester. Leicester was something I knew a lot about and obviously, I know with Peter Shilton, with Gordon Banks, I knew the history of that.
"Also, when you come into the training ground, one of the first pictures in there is a picture of Peter and Gordon. So, if you were in doubt beforehand of what this position means at a club like Leicester, it’s one of the first things you see. I think, very much, Leicester has been lucky in having a great goalkeeping tradition.”
His leadership skills, enthusiasm and winning mentality has led to him earning a reputation of one of the Club’s most talented goalkeepers.
The City No.1 has made 377 appearances for the Foxes in all competitions, and has so far won two league titles – the Championship and the Premier League – during his time at King Power Stadium.