"My plan was always to finish my career after this contract, which runs out next summer," he told the official Fulham website.
"However, due to my wrist injury it would be another two months before I could start training again.
"I was very grateful that the club understood where I was coming from and thankfully we settled the contract so that the club would gain something and I would be happy with the terms. So it's come a little bit earlier than I expected.
"In the future I'd eventually like to get in with the Finnish national team to do some goalkeeping coaching.
"But I'd like to wait for a few reasons. Firstly, I'd like to give my wife one or two years to find out what she wants to do because she's been following me for 13 years, brought up two kids and has done a fantastic job.
"Also I wouldn't want to work with the national team right at this minute because there are so many former team-mates still around and I want to get a bit of distance.
"I'm definitely not ruling out any coaching and if the Finnish FA ever asked me, I'd be more than happy to speak to them."
Antti Niemi (Fulham) Information | |||
Date of birth | Wednesday, 31st May 1972 | Height | 6.1 |
Place of birth | Oulu, Finland | Weight | 13.9 |
Nationality | Finland | Position | Goal |
Comments | Squad No. | 29 | |
Recent Career History By Club (1999 onwards) | ||||||
Team | Debut | Apps (+ sub) | Goals | Yellows | Reds | |
| 14 Jan 2006 | 63 (0) | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 16 Oct 2004 | 48 (0) | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 09 Oct 2004 | 2 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 13 Sep 2004 | 5 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 04 Sep 2004 | 2 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 21 Aug 2004 | 3 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 18 Aug 2004 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 04 Oct 2003 | 34 (0) | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 06 Sep 2003 | 2 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 05 Apr 2003 | 3 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 29 Mar 2003 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 21 Oct 2002 | 26 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 12 Oct 2002 | 2 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 21 Sep 2002 | 4 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 07 Sep 2002 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 03 Aug 2002 | 3 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 22 May 2002 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 20 Apr 2002 | 2 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 17 Apr 2002 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 07 Apr 2002 | 2 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 27 Mar 2002 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 13 Oct 2001 | 20 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 06 Oct 2001 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 08 Sep 2001 | 5 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 05 Sep 2001 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 28 Jul 2001 | 5 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 02 Jun 2001 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 27 Apr 2001 | 4 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 25 Apr 2001 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 31 Mar 2001 | 3 (0) | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 24 Mar 2001 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 14 Oct 2000 | 26 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 11 Oct 2000 | 1 (0) | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 29 Apr 2000 | 18 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 26 Apr 2000 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 17 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
Recent Career History By Season (1999 onwards) | ||||||
Season | First App. | Apps (+ sub) | Goals | Yellows | Reds | |
| 01 Sep 2007 | 23 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 20 Aug 2006 | 31 (0) | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 06 Aug 2005 | 34 (0) | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 14 Aug 2004 | 37 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 06 Sep 2003 | 35 (0) | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 03 Aug 2002 | 40 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 28 Jul 2001 | 39 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 30 Jul 2000 | 51 (0) | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 19 Dec 1999 | 22 (0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
Appearances 312; Goals 0; Yellow cards 5; Red cards 0 | ||||||