Peter Enckelman

Football player infobox
playername = Peter Enckelman


nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1977|3|10
cityofbirth = Turku
countryofbirth = Finland
height = 6ft 2in
currentclub = Cardiff City
clubnumber = 1
position = Goalkeeper
youthyears =
youuthclubs =
years = 1995–1999 1999–2004 2003 2004–2008
2008
2008–
clubs = TPS Turku Aston Villa → Blackburn Rovers (loan) Blackburn Rovers
→ Cardiff City (loan)
Cardiff City
caps(goals) = 72 (0) 52 (0) 00 (0) 02 (0)
16 (0)
00 (0)
nationalyears = 2000–
nationalteam = Finland
nationalcaps(goals) = 11 (0)
pcupdate = 15:25, 17 July 2008 (UTC)
ntupdate = June 2 2008

Peter Enckelman (born March 10, 1977 in Turku) is a Finnish football goalkeeper who is currently with Football League Championship side Cardiff City. He is the son of Göran Enckelman.

Biography

Aston Villa

Enckelman signed for his first English club, Aston Villa, from his hometown team, TPS Turku in February 1999. Signed due to fellow goalkeeper David James' recurring injury problems, but only played one game and was dropped after many howlers against Birmingham City.He made his debut during a 3-1 defeat against Arsenal on September 11, 1999 as a second-half substitute, his first start coming three days, and a single fixture, later against Chester City in the League Cup.

As 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 fatal defensive error in a hotly contested local derby (Birmingham City v Aston Villa (3-0) at 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 rules state that a goal cannot be scored directly from a throw-in, and it's clear that Enckelman did not touch the ball. However, the incident obviously caused great embarrassment to Enckelman, and 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".

Blackburn Rovers

Following this incident, Enckelman found himself unpopular amongst Aston Villa fans, and was sold to Blackburn Rovers in 2004. At Blackburn, he was considered second choice behind Brad Friedel, and on 19 May 2008 he was told that his contract with the club would not be renewed. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/blackburn_rovers/7409389.stm "Enckelman released by Blackburn"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 20 May 2008]

Cardiff City

On 10 January 2008, he joined Football League Championship side Cardiff City on loan until the end of the 2007-08 season [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/cardiff_city/7180927.stm "Cardiff snap up keeper Enckelman"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 10 January, 2008] 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. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/7406875.stm "McPhail laments cruel cup defeat"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 18 May 2008]

Enckelman was released on his return to Blackburn at the end of the season and signed a two-year deal with Cardiff. [ [http://www.walesonline.co.uk/footballnation/football-news/2008/07/18/come-in-number-44-it-s-city-new-boy-mccormack-91466-21364306/ Come in number 44, it’s City new boy McCormack - WalesOnline ] ] Despite spending his loan spell as first choice goalkeeper, he started the 2008-09 season as second choice goalkeeper to loanee Tom Heaton.

Personal life

He has a keen interest in motorsport, and in January 2007 the Encke Sport team was announced with plans to contest the British Touring Car Championship.

Honours

;Aston Villa

*

;Cardiff City

*

References

External links

*
* [http://www.crash.net/news_view.asp?cid=10&id=141663 Encke Sport ready to 'kick off' BTCC challenge]