13 February 2023 , 12:13
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Petr Cech insists he is having more fun playing ice hockey than he did winning the Premier League and Champions League with Chelsea.
Cech, 40, retired from football in 2019 and has since fulfilled his childhood dream on the ice, turning out for Guildford Phoenix before joining Chelmsford Chieftains last year.
The former goalkeeper won every honour up for grabs during his time at Chelsea before spending four years with Arsenal, but insists things could have been very different.
Cech insists he wanted to be an ice hockey player as a kid, admitting to the Daily Mail: "I love football but I felt being an ice hockey goalie was more fun. As a family we couldn't afford to buy all the equipment so my dad took me to football. In the end, football won."
Cech initially began practicing on the ice while still an Arsenal player and started playing matches with Guildford upon his retirement in 2019.
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Cech, who wears the No.39 shirt for Chieftains, has swapped the Premier League for the NIHL South Division One but is still eager to add more trophies to his collection.
"It's a completely different level of pressure. This is more fun than when you play a Champions League game for everything," he said. "I still have that feeling in myself because I want to perform. I want to win. I hate losing. It's the same feeling I had when I played football.
Petr Cech insists he has more fun playing ice hockey than he did football (Getty Images)"You still get that feeling when you're walking through the corridor, to the ice, surrounded by all these people. Maybe if there were 30 fans, it would be different. But the building is full. That's what I like."
Upon joining his new club, Cech was hailed for bringing a "winning mentality" on the ice. The Chieftains are currently fifth in the table following heir defeat to Invicta Dynamos on Sunday.
Cech had been working as a director at former club Chelsea before Todd Boehly completed a takeover of the Premier League club last summer.