 Niemi with Fulham in 2006 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Antti Mikko Niemi[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1972-05-31)31 May 1972 (age 52) | ||
| Place of birth | Oulu, Finland | ||
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Volos (assistant) Finland (goalkeeping coach) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1989 | OLS | 15 | (0) |
| 1990 | Rauman Pallo | 15 | (0) |
| 1991–1995 | HJK | 101 | (0) |
| 1995–1997 | FC Copenhagen | 47 | (0) |
| 1997–1999 | Rangers | 13 | (0) |
| 1999 | →Charlton Athletic (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 1999–2002 | Heart of Midlothian | 89 | (0) |
| 2002–2006 | Southampton | 106 | (0) |
| 2006–2008 | Fulham | 62 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | Portsmouth | 0 | (0) |
| Total | 418 | (0) | |
| International career | |||
| 1992–2007 | Finland | 67 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2010– | Finland (goalkeeping coach)[2] | ||
| 2013 | HJK (goalkeeping coach)[2] | ||
| 2014 | Honka (goalkeeping coach)[3] | ||
| 2014–2015 | Brighton & Hove Albion (goalkeeping coach)[4] | ||
| 2021 | HIFK (goalkeeping coach)[5] | ||
| 2024– | Volos (assistant) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Antti Mikko Niemi (born 31 May 1972) is a Finnish former professionalfootballer who played as agoalkeeper. He is currently an assistant coach ofVolos of theSuper League Greece. Since 2010, he has also worked as the goalkeeping coach ofFinland national team. He also worked as a goalkeeping coach atBrighton & Hove Albion[4] during the 2014–15 season. Niemi spent time as a player in theScottish Premier League (withRangers,Heart of Midlothian) and thePremier League (withSouthampton andFulham), and in 2008 announced his retirement due to injury. However, in 2009 he returned to sign for Premier League clubPortsmouth, although he did not make any appearances before leaving in 2010.
Niemi was born inOulu, Finland and started football in local clubOulun Luistinseura (OLS). In 1991, he joinedHJK Helsinki, where he made over 100 appearances in four years, before transferring toFC Copenhagen in 1995. Impressive performances over the next two years saw a transfer to Scotland with Glasgow clubRangers.
Niemi joined Rangers in 1997 and initially competed withAndy Goram andTheo Snelders for the goalkeeper position; he made seven appearances in all competitions in his first season at Rangers.[6] The following season, 1998−99, Niemi began the season competing withLionel Charbonnier to be Rangers' goalkeeper. Niemi started the1998 Scottish League Cup final as Rangers defeatedSt Johnstone,[7] howeverStefan Klos was signed in December 1998 and immediately became Rangers' first choice.[8] Rangers won the Scottish Premier League in the1998–99 season, but Niemi only contributed seven league appearances.[9] In fact, Niemi only made one Rangers appearance after Klos was signed, which came in the league againstMotherwell in August 1999.[10] Niemi also had a brief loan spell atCharlton Athletic late in 1999.[11]
Niemi moved toEdinburgh to joinHeart of Midlothian in December 1999. He became a hero for Hearts fans in the three years he played at Tynecastle. He put in some fantastic performances which helped prevent Hearts from even worse Derby thrashings than the 0-3 and 6-2 hammerings Niemi was on the end of. Niemi also became famous in Scotland for his ability to save penalties, demonstrating this skill when saving fromDundee United'sCharlie Miller[12] andDunfermline Athletic'sScott Thomson.[13] Niemi also played in European competition for Hearts against opponents such as Stuttgart.
In a more light-hearted incident, Niemi was also famously during his time at Hearts the subject of a call during a phone-in on radio channeltalkSPORT, in which a Scottish fan queried why Niemi had not been called up to the Scotland national team. When presenterArthur Albiston told the caller that Niemi was in fact Finnish, the caller replied "He's no' finish', he's only 28!"[14]
Upon his retirement, Niemi recalled his time at Hearts, quoting: "it was all good. Looking back, everything went so well – it was a lovely club, the team was doing well, I was playing well and we had a good manager inJim Jefferies".[15]
After three seasons in Edinburgh, Niemi moved toSouthampton in 2002 for a fee of £2 million.[16] He played for Southampton in the2003 FA Cup final againstArsenal, whichthe Saints lost 1–0; Niemi became the first goalkeeper to be substituted in anFA Cup Final when he was replaced byPaul Jones during the game due to a calf injury. In a game against Fulham in the 2002–03 season, he came up for a corner in injury time with Southampton trailing 2–1. The ball fell at his feet and he crashed a shot against the crossbar, andMichael Svensson was able to turn in the rebound, salvaging a draw.[17] In March 2004 he saved aMichael Owen penalty to help his team to a 2–0 win overLiverpool.[18] There was much speculation regarding Niemi's future at Southampton with a host of leading Premier League clubs rumoured to be interested in his services, such as Manchester United and Arsenal. After Southampton were relegated in 2005 and failed to challenge for promotion in the following season, Niemi decided to return to the Premiership with Fulham, for whom he signed in January 2006. Niemi would describe being relegated as a "first bad experience in British football".[15]
Niemi signed with Fulham for a fee of around £1 million in January 2006.[19] Niemi was badly hurt in a freak accident during a match againstWatford on 1 January 2007 when rushing out to head the ball; he toppled over his own defender,Carlos Bocanegra, and landed on his head. He was taken from the field of play on a stretcher after ten minutes of treatment, but was later cleared of any spinal injury. He was released from hospital later that night with only ligament and muscle damage to the neck.[20]
He remained Fulham's first choice keeper until 1 March 2008, when, following injury, he was replaced byKasey Keller. On 3 September 2008, it was announced that he had retired from professional football due to a wrist injury.[21]
Despite announcing his retirement from the game the previous year it was confirmed on 28 July 2009 that Antti Niemi was in talks withPortsmouth. On 7 August, Niemi confirmed he had signed for Portsmouth on a one-year deal as backup toDavid James and to work with the goalkeeping coaches.[22] On 24 March 2010, he was released from his contract, without making a single appearance for Portsmouth's first team. It was reported that Niemi earned almost£450,000 during those eight months with Portsmouth.[23]
Niemi was first choice for theFinland national team for almost a decade, before announcing his decision to retire from international football in 2005, but returned to the squad in 2007 playing a friendly game against Spain (0–0). He was capped 67 times by his country before this. On 2 March 2010, Niemi joinedFinland's national team as a goalkeeping coach.[24]
Niemi began his coaching career as the goalkeeping coach for theFinland national team in March 2010. On 3 January 2013, his first club and reigningVeikkausliiga championsHJK announced that they had appointed Niemi as the club's goalkeeping coach and that he would continue his duties with the national team.[25]
After a brief stint inFC Honka coaching staff, on 27 June 2014, Niemi was appointed goalkeeper coach atChampionship sideBrighton & Hove Albion by former Finland teammateSami Hyypiä.[4]
On 26 January 2021, Niemi was appointed in the coaching staff ofHIFK, after a request of then head coachJoaquín Gómez.[5]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| OLS | 1989 | Kakkonen | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 0 | ||
| Rauman Pallo | 1990 | Kakkonen | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 0 | ||
| HJK | 1991 | Veikkausliiga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| 1992 | Veikkausliiga | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 27 | 0 | |||
| 1993 | Veikkausliiga | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3[c] | 0 | 27 | 0 | ||
| 1994 | Veikkausliiga | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3[d] | 0 | 27 | 0 | ||
| 1995 | Veikkausliiga | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2[e] | 0 | 26 | 0 | ||
| Total | 101 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 109 | 0 | ||
| FC Copenhagen | 1995–96 | Danish Superliga | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 17 | 0 | ||
| 1996–97 | Danish Superliga | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 4[e] | 0 | 34 | 0 | ||
| Total | 47 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 51 | 0 | ||
| Rangers | 1997–98 | Scottish Premier Division | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 1998–99 | Scottish Premier League | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6[f] | 0 | 14 | 0 | |
| 1999–2000 | Scottish Premier League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 22 | 0 | ||
| Charlton Athletic (loan) | 1999–2000 | First Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Hearts | 1999–2000 | Scottish Premier League | 17 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 21 | 0 | |
| 2000–01 | Scottish Premier League | 37 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4[f] | 0 | 48 | 0 | |
| 2001–02 | Scottish Premier League | 32 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 34 | 0 | ||
| 2002–03 | Scottish Premier League | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 89 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 106 | 0 | ||
| Southampton | 2002–03 | Premier League | 25 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 33 | 0 | |
| 2003–04 | Premier League | 28 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1[f] | 0 | 33 | 0 | |
| 2004–05 | Premier League | 28 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 32 | 0 | ||
| 2005–06 | Championship | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 25 | 0 | ||
| Total | 106 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 123 | 0 | ||
| Fulham | 2005–06 | Premier League | 9 | 0 | – | – | – | 9 | 0 | |||
| 2006–07 | Premier League | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 31 | 0 | ||
| 2007–08 | Premier League | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 23 | 0 | ||
| Total | 62 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 63 | 0 | ||
| Portsmouth | 2009–10 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | |
| Career total | 448 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 504 | 0 | ||
