Former Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech and his wife separate after 26 years together

Legendary goalkeeper Petr Cech has confirmed he's splitting up with his wife Martina after more than two decades together. The former Chelsea shot-stopper, now 43, shared the difficult news on Instagram with his fans.

The pair first got together as youngsters back in 1999 and walked down the aisle four years later in 2003. They've got two teenage kids: daughter Adela, 17, and son Damian, 16, who are both mad about football just like their dad.

In his social media post, Cech shared a sweet black and white photo of Martina giving him a peck on the cheek. He wrote:

Martina and myself are sad to announce that we are separating after 26 years together. We remain best friends and immensely proud of our two children.

Despite the marriage ending, it sounds like there's no bad blood between them, as Cech puts it.

Both youngsters are following their father's sporting path. Adela's doing well as a defender for Czech Republic's Under-17s, whilst Damian has just bagged his first professional deal with Fulham as a goalkeeper.

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Interestingly, Cech actually missed Adela's birth in 2008 because he was away with Chelsea for a League Cup match against Everton, though he didn't even play that day.

Cech ventures into ice hockey after football

The legendary keeper had a stellar career, spending most of it at Chelsea after joining from French side Rennes for £7million in 2004.

He won loads of silverware including four Premier League titles and that memorable Champions League trophy in 2012. After leaving Chelsea in 2015, he had a stint at Arsenal before calling it quits.

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These days, he's swapped football gloves for ice hockey ones and previously worked as an advisor at Chelsea until 2022.