CHELSEA legend Petr Cech has revealed he played through part of two title-winning seasons with two TORN shoulders.
The Czech stopper, one of the Premier League’s greatest goalkeepers, propelled Jose Mourinho’s Blues to titles in 2005 and 2006 with his stunning form.
In his first season at Stamford Bridge Cech kept an incredible 24 clean sheets – which remains a record in a single season – and another 17 the following campaign.
But while the goalkeeper’s heroics between the sticks are well known, he’s now revealed he was actually injured for much of that time.
In an in-depth interview on the Chelsea website, he said: “There was one thing I never talked about, and people didn’t know at the time.
“Halfway through my first season at Chelsea I broke the labrum in my shoulder. I carried on and finished the season.”
The labrum is cartilage that reinforces the ball and socket joint of the shoulder.
The 37-year-old added: “It felt like during the summer it would recover. It didn’t!
“During the second season I already had a massive problem with my shoulder and I was protecting it.
“Then, in the first part of my second season, I did exactly the same thing to my other shoulder.
“So I played my second season with broken shoulders!”
The goalkeeper later suffered a life-threatening injury during a game away at Reading following a collision with Stephen Hunt.
He said he couldn’t not remember anything of the incident or anything for three days after.
“Nobody knew if I would be able to come back,” Cech said.
“There were plenty of questions, and not many answers. In my head I had to prepare for the end of my career. That made me see things in a different way.”
But after 12 weeks his head had healed and he was soon back as Chelsea’s No 1 – albeit with his now-famous protective cap.
Cech is now technical director at Stamford Bridge, having returned to the club after retiring at the end of last season.
The Premier League’s record clean sheet setter also revealed his least favourite opponent to play against – Manchester United record scorer Wayne Rooney.
“Every time we played against United I had to make sure I was aware every time he had the ball,” added Cech, “because he was very unpredictable and very clever.
“He is a guy who can chase, who can fight, who can run, who is clever with his shot.
“He could score from the halfway line, he could try and chip you if you were too high. That was a challenge I enjoyed.”
