Peter Schmeichel has told talkSPORT he found Leicester’s Premier League title win more emotional than any of the times he won it himself.
Peter and Kasper Schmeichel became only the second father and son duo to win the Premier League after Ian Wright and Shaun Wright-Phillips when Kasper backstopped Leicester to their incredible underdog title win in 2016.
Both undisputed number ones for Denmark, the pair’s careers weren’t far from crossing when Peter retired from playing with Manchester City in 2003, with Kasper attempting to step up from the youth team at the same time.
And for the senior Schmeichel, the short gap between their careers has made it feel like he never retired.
“It’s a strange thing to have a son who is doing exactly the same as you did,” he told talkSPORT. “It’s like my career never stopped.
“I have the same emotions, the same feeling, for his games.”
Kasper has adopted his father’s commanding and occasionally confrontational approach to goalkeeping.
His ‘starfish’ technique of spreading his body in one-on-one duels often drew comments of ‘where have we seen that before?’ from pundits as his father had trademarked the move during his illustrious playing career.
However, Peter has admitted he was fearful about his son adapting to the physicality of men’s football when he first debuted, but Kasper’s performances quickly spoke for themselves.
“I was nervous for about 10 minutes when he made his debut and I’m looking at this little kid, and that’s how you see it, walking out on the pitch with guys with beards and tattoos and big muscles,” he said.
“I was thinking ‘my god, he’s a little boy, he can’t do that’. Then the first 10 minutes, a couple of crosses and a really good save and I’m thinking it’s alright and I’ve had that ever since.”
Kasper spent the early years of his career chopping and changing teams with numerous loan spells before settling at Leicester in 2011, and the rest is history.
The 34-year-old shot-stopper helped the Foxes to the top flight in 2014, before collecting an astonishing league title two years later.
FA Cup and Community Shield victories followed this year, but Peter has admitted his son’s Premier League title win touched him more than anything in his own playing career.
“I’ve tried to separate my father feelings when he is playing but when he lifted that trophy that hit home much more than when I did myself,” he said.
“I’m very, very proud of what he is doing.”
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