Schmeichel set to call it a day

PETER SCHMEICHEL has paid tribute to Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson as he prepares to retire from football.

The Manchester City goalkeeper yesterday announced that this would be his last season.

It was at Old Trafford, however, that Schmeichel enjoyed the finest moments of his career playing under Ferguson. There he was an integral part of a side that won the Champions League, five Premiership titles, three FA Cups and a League Cup.

Schmeichel said: “Alex Ferguson has had a tremendous influence on my

career. He was the one who gave me the chance.

“I will always be in debt to him because of that. He’s had an influence on every player who has carried out the job he wanted them to do. In many ways you become one of his children and he has many children,” he said.

Schmeichel believes he is bowing out from the best league in the world. “I do love this league,” he said. “I think this is a great league.

Every Saturday you see great individual skills and great goals. It is always a contest. You never know the outcome of the game,” he said. However, Schmeichel feels the time is right to call it a day.

“My body is not happy any more,” he said. “I always promised I’d move on when this moment arrived. It is time to end my playing career.

"My retirement has come in phases. I left Manchester United in 1999 so that I could play somewhere less hectic and have more time to recover.

“It has taken a month of soul- searching. It’s the most difficult of my life, ” said Schmeichel.