Peter Enckelman

Peter Mikael Enckelman (born 10 March 1977) is a Finnish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Enckelman represented Finland and previously played for TPS Turku, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Cardiff City, St Johnstone and Heart of Midlothian.

Born in Turku, Varsinais-Suomi, Enckelman signed for his first English club, Aston Villa, from his hometown team, TPS Turku, in February 1999 for a fee of around €1 million (1,7m + 4,3m Finnish markka).

He made his debut during a 3–1 defeat against Arsenal on 11 September 1999 as a second-half substitute, his first start coming three days later against Chester City in the League Cup.

After David James left the team, Enckelman was pleased when he was called upon in some of the later fixtures, as he expected to be seeing some more first-team action.

However, the signing of former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel put a considerable damper on things, as, apart from the matches in Aston Villa's Intertoto Cup campaign of that season, he was left with virtually no playing time.

It was only when Graham Taylor took over as manager that Enckelman was installed as first choice keeper, as Schmeichel was sold to Manchester City.

Enckelman was the culprit for a defensive error in a hotly contested local derby (Birmingham City v Aston Villa (3–0) on 16 September 2002); as Olof Mellberg took a quick defensive throw-in to the keeper, Enckelman took his eye off the ball and as he was unable to control it, it slid under his foot and rolled in to the goal.

There is some debate over whether the goal should have stood, as the laws state that a goal cannot be scored directly from a throw-in.

The ball was adjudged to, yet did not appear, to scrape against the studs of his boot.

Enckelman has stated on numerous occasions that he did not touch the ball prior to it entering the net.

The incident led to further controversy when a rival fan charged onto the pitch and approached Enckelman, before making an offensive gesture directly to his face.

The fan was later arrested and jailed, and Enckelman was praised for his refusal to retaliate.

Enckelman was sold to Blackburn Rovers in 2004 for £150,000.

At Blackburn, he was considered second choice behind Brad Friedel, and on 19 May 2008 after making just three appearances in four years, he was told that his contract with the club would not be renewed.

On 10 January 2008, he joined Football League Championship side Cardiff City on loan until the end of the 2007–08 season becoming Cardiff's third loan goalkeeper of the year after Ross Turnbull and Kasper Schmeichel.

He made his debut for Cardiff on 29 January as a substitute in a 3–1 victory over Queens Park Rangers after Michael Oakes was forced to be taken off after taking a blow to the face.

He remained the club's first choice goalkeeper for the rest of the season, playing in four of the club's FA Cup matches, including the 2008 FA Cup Final, but a mistake from Enckelman resulted in the only goal of the game for opponents Portsmouth.

Enckelman was released on his return to Blackburn at the end of the season and signed a two-year deal with Cardiff.

Despite spending his loan spell as first choice goalkeeper, he started the 2008–09 season as second choice goalkeeper to loanee Tom Heaton.

On 23 September, he made his first appearance of the season in a 1–0 loss to Swansea City in the League Cup, the first South Wales derby to take place in seven years.

His first league appearance of the season came on 22 November when he replaced Tom Heaton during a 2–1 defeat against Plymouth Argyle after Heaton sustained a calf injury.

In the following match, Enckelman was handed a start in place of Heaton and went on to remain unbeaten for over ten matches, including keeping a clean sheet during a 0–0 draw in the fourth round of the FA Cup against Arsenal when forced to undergo a knee operation.

It was originally thought that the injury would keep him out for two months but Enckelman's knee failed to respond to the surgery meaning he would miss the remainder of the season.

The following season, Enckelman faced another challenge to be the number one goalkeeper at Cardiff with the signing of Scottish international David Marshall from Norwich City.

After sharing goalkeeping duties during pre-season, he started the season on the bench behind Marshall before making his first appearance of the season in a 3–1 win over Dagenham & Redbridge in the first round of the League Cup.

On 28 November 2009, Enckelman was involved in car crash but made a "lucky escape", he made his first league appearance the following day, playing 45 minutes coming on as a second-half substitute for David Marshall.

At the end of the season, he was one of five players released by the club.

On 7 August 2010, Enckelman appeared as a trialist for St Johnstone in their friendly match against Real Valladolid, keeping a clean sheet in the process.

Two days later, Enckelman agreed to join the club, signing a two-year deal.

He made his debut for the club in a 1–1 draw against Hearts on 14 August 2010.

At St Johnstone, he immediately became a first choice goalkeeper.

At the beginning of the season, Enckelman made a bad start and was relegated to the substitution bench after two matches.

In his first season, Enckelman faced competition from Graeme Smith to take the first choice.

In the end, Enckelman managed to win the spot.

Despite the following season when Smith left and Alan Mannus arrived, Enckelman managed to retain his first choice throughout the season.

Enckelman made an impressive penalty save from Kris Commons and won 1–0 against Celtic, keeping a clean sheet on 22 August 2011.

After the match, Enckelman said the game was his best match.

He saved another penalty from Jamie Hamill in a 2–1 win at Hearts on 3 December 2011.

After the 2011–12 season, Enckelman was released by the club after his contract expired.