On this day in 2015 – Petr Cech breaks Premier League clean sheet record

Arsenal v AFC Bournemouth – Barclays Premier League – Emirates Stadium
(Image credit: John Walton)

Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech set a new Premier League record with his 170th clean sheet on this day in 2015.

The Czech Republic international helped the Gunners shut out Bournemouth 2-0 to move ahead of David James in the history books.

Cech’s eighth clean sheet for Arsenal added to his 162 amassed across his 11-year career with previous club Chelsea.

Arsenal v Everton – Premier League – Emirates Stadium

Petr Cech has more Premier League clean sheets than any other goalkeeper (Nick Potts/PA)

The 33-year-old’s 170th match without conceding a goal came in his 352 Premier League appearance.

“It’s a great personal achievement and I felt really proud at the end of the game because if you look at the names in the clean-sheet numbers, and you see all those fantastic goalkeepers who had been playing and are still playing in this league, then obviously it is a great achievement to top the list,” said Cech at the time.

Cech eventually called time on his glittering career four years later in 2019, his final match being Arsenal’s 4-1 defeat to former club Chelsea in the Europa League final in Baku.

The ex-Rennes goalkeeper moved straight from standing between the Arsenal sticks into Chelsea’s boardroom upon his retirement.

Cech returned to Stamford Bridge as a technical director, as his former team-mate Frank Lampard took the helm as manager in west London.

Last season, the Blues registered the 38-year-old Cech in their Premier League squad as a precautionary move to help in any possible coronavirus-related availability crisis.

Cech remains technical and performance advisor at Chelsea, who under new coach Thomas Tuchel won the Champions League title last May.