His size and agility have made him hard to beat, and has made an already strong Chelsea defence, at times, impenetrable.
The Blues set a new Premiership record for clean sheets in 2004/05, keeping out the opposition for nine successive games. Cech did not concede a goal for 871 minutes, eclipsing Peter Schmeichel's record.
Cech's personal record is even longer than that, since he went 928 minutes unbeaten at Sparta Prague.
Those performances led to him being one of the nominees for the PFA Player of the Year award in his debut season.
Cech's career was threatened in October 2006 when following a sickening collision with Reading's Stephen Hunt he suffered a fractured skull. This ruled him out of action for three months - during which time Chelsea's defensive record deteriorated.
The goalkeeper now has to wear protective head-gear as a precaution - and he freely admits he may continue to wear it for the remainder of his career. He returned to Chelsea's team as they lost out to Manchester United for the 2006/7 title but won the FA Cup Final against the same opponents.
Cech, a commanding figure with good handling, began his career with FK Chmel Blsany, making his bow in 1999 before moving on in 2001, to Sparta for £465,000.
Cech's international debut came against Cyprus in February 2002 - and he went on to be a crucial figure in the side which won European Under-21 Championship that year.
He kept a clean sheet against France in the final and also saved two penalties in the decisive shoot-out.
He moved to France in the summer of 2002, joining Stade Rennes for £3.3million.
The Czech Republic international officially moved to Chelsea at the start of July 2004, in a £7million deal from Rennes.
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