Fulham have confirmed that Finnish keeper Antti Niemi
has opted to retire from professional football.
The keeper joined Fulham in 2006 and featured regularly for the
club over the course of the last couple of seasons.
Roy Hodgson’s arrival at the helm last December saw Niemi
handed a chance to claim the number one jersey and he made nine
starts under the new regime.
However, he lost his place to Kasey Keller following the home
defeat to Manchester United in March and has not featured
since.
Hodgson brought in Mark Schwarzer, Pascal Zuberbuhler and David
Stockdale during the summer and this appeared to signal Niemi’s
days at Fulham were numbered.
He was linked with a number of clubs during the summer,
including Juventus and West Ham, but a move failed to materialise
and a day after the closure of the transfer window, he has taken
the decision to retire from football.
Niemi numbers Rangers, Hearts and Southampton among his former
clubs and made 67 appearances for his country.