16th August – Jonatan Johansson

Jonatan Johansson earned over 100 caps for his country Finland and will be well remembered in England and Scotland.

The striker played for many clubs in both countries and will be hoping to have a successful coaching career as well.

Johansson was born in Sweden but moved to Finland at a young age and started his career at his hometown club Pargas. After impressing for them he made the move to Finnish top flight team TPS Turku. In his first season he scored six times and was starting to become known as one of the top young prospects in the country.

In 1997 he made the surprising move to FC Flora in Estonia, becoming the first player from Finland to play there. He did not stay for long and after nine goals in nine games he moved onto Scottish giants Rangers. To begin with he struggled for game time until Walter Smith was replaced by Dick Advocaat. He repaid the Dutchman’s faith in the 1998-99 season by scoring 18 goals in all competitions. In terms of goals to minutes ratio he continued to impress but starts were sometimes hard to come by, in total he scored 24 goals in just 37 starts but he did also make 38 substitute appearances.

Before leaving in the summer of 2000 he had won the domestic treble and double in his final two seasons at the club and this convinced Charlton Athletic to sign the striker for £3.25 million. He was an instant success scoring 14 times in his first campaign and helped the club avoid relegation. He stayed for another five seasons and although the goals did not come as often as he would have hoped he was still an important member of the side until he fell out of favour during the 2005-06 season.

He ended the season on loan at Norwich City, scoring three times in 12 games. On his return to Charlton he was released after 168 games and 33 goals and subsequently signed for Malmo. Once again he was an instant success, scoring 11 goals in his first 14 matches but his time in Sweden didn’t last too long as he returned to Scotland, signing for Hibernian in January 2009, making his debut against rivals Hearts.

Johansson didn’t score for Hibs and in the summer he signed for St Johnstone and only managed one goal for them which turned out to be a winning goal against Hearts. After his short term deal expired he returned to TPS and scored 10 goals in 19 games including two against Inter Turku in their big derby of the season, helping the club win the 2010 Finnish Cup before announcing his retirement.

The striker is also second in the all time appearance list for Finland and their third highest scorer.

The final word can go to former Hibs manager Mixu Paatelainen. “The Hibernian supporters will quickly appreciate that we have obtained an experienced international striker who has scored goals wherever he has played.”

31st May – Antti Niemi

Antti Niemi may not be the first name that springs to mind when thinking of the best goalkeepers but he proved to be one of the most consistent in the United Kingdom.

The Finnish international proved himself as a great shot stopper and consistent performer throughout his whole career, beginning it professionally in Finland with HJK Helsinki, where he made 101 league appearances for the club before making the move to Copenhagen. At the Danish giants he played 47 league games and after impressing over the next two years, he was once again linked with moves to bigger clubs and it was Glasgow Rangers that signed him in 1997.

He didn’t get a lot of opportunities to show his true abilities, only making 13 league appearances, at the club but he had settled well in Scotland and wanted to stay in the country. In December 1999, Hearts signed him and he became a fans favourite very quickly with his impressive performances. After three seasons though it was once again time to move on and this time to England, where he joined Southampton in 2002.

There were many ups and downs while at Southampton, including helping the club reach the FA Cup final in 2003 but he made history by becoming the first goalkeeper to be substituted in a final after he suffered a calf injury. The team would ultimately go on to lose the game 1-0 against Arsenal. His ability was never in doubt in England and over the next few seasons there was a lot of speculation about him leaving for one of the teams challenging for the title. In 2005, however, Southampton were relegated from the Premier League and despite staying on, they never looked likely to return so Niemi felt it was time to leave and test himself once more in a top league. The player, himself, described this experience as his first bad one in British football.

Niemi returned to the Premier League in January 2006, signing for Fulham. And was their first choice keeper until March 2008 when an injury led to him losing his place to Kasey Keller. After 62 league games for the club, Niemi announced his retirement from the game. However, he did sign a one year contract with Portsmouth to provide backup to David James. He left the club without making a single appearance for the club and once again announced his retirement.

On the international scene he was first choice for almost a decade, being capped 67 times by Finland and he kept his place ahead of fellow Premier League goalkeepers Jussi Jaaskelainen and Peter Enckleman, which just shows how much quality he had.

The final word can go to former Southampton chairman Rupert Lowe when signing the stopper. “He has a good character. He is the Finnish number one and he played an absolute blinder to keep out Germany so that England qualified for the World Cup. We are confident he will be a tremendous addition to our squad.”

25th August – Marlon Harewood

Marlon Harewood has been a consistent goalscorer all through his career and now coming towards the end of it the 35 year old is trying to help Hartlepool United achieve their aims.

Although Hartlepool have had a slightly disappointing start to the season they secured their first win of the campaign away to Wimbledon with Harewood scoring the winning goal. If the team are to be successful then it may come down to how effective Harewood can be and that is not just in scoring goals, it will be his experience helping some of the younger players develop.

Harewood started his career at Nottingham Forest and made his debut in 1998 but to gain further first team experience he joined Finnish side Haka on loan and his three goals in 18 games helped them win the league and the Finnish Cup. In the following year he joined Ipswich Town on loan and scored once against Bury in his six appearances before going to become one of the most lethal goalscorers in the Championship with Forest. His best season for the club was 2002-03 as he scored 21 goals and formed a brilliant partnership with David Johnson which helped the club reach the playoffs. After 51 league goals he left for West Ham in November 2003.

They paid £500,000 for his services and repaid them in his first full season at the club as he was the top scorer as the team got promoted to the Premier League with 23 goals in all competitions. And he also then played a huge part in keeping them in the top flight with 14 goals in the Premier League, including a hatrick against Aston Villa. He was also a big player in their run to the final of the FA Cup that season and scored the winning goal in the semi final against Middlesbrough.

His next season was difficult and it was clear that he would be leaving at the end of the season as he was no longer first choice. On the 17th July 2007 he joined Aston Villa for £4 million. His time at Villa was interesting because he was very influential when he was on the pitch but was largely used as a super sub. Despite only playing 23 times he scored five goals in his first season. But he played even less in the following season and joined Wolves on loan. He played five times for the club and failed to score.

His next loan spell was much more successful at Newcastle United as he scored five times in 15 games and helped them secure their place at the top of the table in the early months of the season. At the end of the season he was released by Villa and signed for newly promoted Blackpool. He scored on his debut in a 4-0 win over Wigan Athletic and had a fantastic record in the Premier League scoring five times in just 11 appearances, and strangely he was loaned out to Barnsley for the second half of the season and scored four goals in 10 games.

On the 8th July 2011 he joined Chinese side Guangzhou R&F and stayed there for half a season, playing 10 games and scoring four goals. The next few seasons were difficult for Harewood as he returned to Nottingham Forest but could not recapture his earlier form and then also to Barnsley where he struggled again and after just one league goal at Bristol City it seemed like his career was coming to an end.

Now at Hartlepool he seems to be enjoying his football again and with him being one of the key members of the squad he will be hoping for a much more successful season than his previous few.

The final word can go to Martin O’Neill. “I couldn’t be more pleased with him. I think he has been really excellent. The crowd have taken to him. Some people come on as a substitute and never get a kick. He has been able to force his way into the game, and make a big impact.”