Former Chelsea, Arsenal keeper Petr Cech joins ice hockey team Guildford Phoenix

“I am delighted to have the opportunity to play with the Phoenix to get the match experience,” Cech told the club’s website.

“I hope I can help this young team to achieve their goals for the season and try to win as many games as possible when I have the chance to play.

“After 20 years of professional football this is going to be a wonderful experience for me to play the game I loved to watch and play as a kid.”

Chelsea said Cech would be available to play for Guildford when his schedule with the Blues allowed it.

Cech added his Twitter account: “Some people seem to think I changed my job. No I didn’t. Luckily my job as the Technical and Performance adviser at Chelsea FC doesn’t stop me in my spare time from playing the game I loved as a kid and which I’ve been playing for years. While being professional footballer I couldn’t play the games for obvious reason … now I can.”

Guildford, who were founded in 2017, are in the fourth tier of Britain’s ice hockey pyramid.

Club head coach Milos Melicherik, a former professional hockey player from Slovakia, said: “We are very excited to have Petr join the Phoenix team and we are looking forward to seeing him in action this weekend. He has improved a lot since I first saw him on the ice and I am excited to see him play.”

The Phoenix host Swindon Wildcats 2 on Sunday.

Cech won four Premier League titles, four FA Cups, three League Cups, the Champions League and the Europa League during his Chelsea career, with a further FA Cup success coming at Arsenal.

He holds the record for the most clean sheets in the Premier League.