20th November – Jon Knudsen

Jon Knudsen is one of the rare players to be a club legend at a team that he never even played for or was every really assosciated with.

The goalkeeper is loved at Norwegian side Rosenborg despite never being involved with the club. What makes it more remarkable is that he won the league title for them while his own team got relegated. On the final day of the 2004 season, his team Stabaek were playing Valerenga, who were going for the title. It is one the closest title races in history and in the last minute of the game with Valerenga only needing one more goal to win the title, Morten Berre ran through but Knudsen pulled off a save and therfore Rosenborg won the championship.

His career started at Lillestrom and made his debut in 1993 after replacing first choice Frode Grodas who was injured in the first half against Ham Kam. Remarkably his team were 2-0 down when he came on but they would win the game 4-3. He played the next five games but unfortunately he never got much game time after and went out on loan to Stromsgodset. His luck didn’t get much better there because he suffered a broken leg in his seventh game and was out of action for 13 months.

In 1999, he decided to leave his homeland and he joined Danish side FC Midtjylland. Despite having a good record though, only conceding eight goals in 15 games, he returned to Norway, joining Stabaek. He was first choice straightaway but missed all of the 2001 season due to epilepsy. Thankfully he did manage to return and made a lot of appearances, including every league game between 2004 and 2007.

He remained first choice for a long time but an injury at the start of the 2011 season was the beginning of the end for Knudsen and at the end of 2012 there were many contract problems at the club. On the final day of the season, Knudsen requested to be substituted on the 53^rd minute and it is believed that it was due to these contract issues that he did.

After the season he signed for Fredrikstad and was first choice for the opening 12 games of the season but he lost his place after that and announced that he would be retiring at the end of the campaign. However, first club Lillestrom had a goalkeeping injury crisis and approached Knudsen to sign for the club. He signed on until the end of the season and 18 years after his last game for the club he managed to keep a clean sheet in a win over Bryne in the Third Round of the 2013 Norwegian Football Cup.

The final word can go to Fredrikstad manager Tom Freddy Aune. “In Jon we get one of Norway’s best goalkeepers. He is an experienced goalkeeper and has played well against us and I am sure that he plays well in the FFK cage as well.”

3rd November – Stevie May

Sheffield Wednesday have made a good start to the season but they have struggled to put the ball in net and they will be hoping that Stevie May can find his feet in the Championship soon.

They have the joint best defensive record in the division and if only they could have scored more goals then they would have been closer to the top of the league than they currently are. May will need time to adapt to the English game but if the chances fall his way then he will surely hit the back of the net on a regular basis.

The 22 year old started his career at St Johnstone and made his debut as a 16 year old on the 11th May 2009 against Airdrie United and even managed to score. This convinced the club to give him a new contract but did not make an appearance in the following season as he needed extra time to develop. He had to wait until a game against Hearts on the 13th November 2010 to make his next appearance and would then start his first game against Motherwell on the 26th January 2011. In total he played 22 games over the course of the season and scored twice in a 2-0 win over Hamilton.

At the start of the 2011-12 season he could not break into the first team and joined Alloa Athletic on loan and was instrumental in the club winning the Scottish Third Division. He scored a hatrick against East Stirlingshire in January 2012 and was in fantastic form for the rest of the season. Later in the season he would score four times against Elgin City to secure the title for Alloa and was then named the SFL Third Division Player of the Season after 19 goals in 22 games. This also led to him being given an extended contract at his parent club.

But it did not secure him a first team place at St Johnstone and he once again went out on loan. This time to First Division side Hamilton. After a slightly slow start he found his feet in the higher division and began to score goals for fun, including hatricks in consecutive games in April 2013 against Airdrieonians and Livingston. At the end of the season he won more personal awards after scoring 26 goals in just 35 games. This form finally convinced his parent club to give him a chance in their first team.

May started the season well with four goals in the first nine league games and a winner over Rosenborg in the Europa League. The following month, May won the October SPL Player of the Month after scoring five times in four games. His goalscoring did not slow as he hit two hatricks in the space of three weeks against Dundee United and then Hearts. May’s 19th and 20th goals of the season were arguably his most important as they were in the Scottish Cup final against Aberdeen which secured the club’s place in their first ever final. They would go on to lift the trophy with May providing the assist for former Sheffield Wednesday favourite Steven MacLean. May finished the season with 27 goals in all competitions and he was linked with moves away from the club all summer, however he played in the early rounds of the Europa League, scoring against Luzern and Spartak Trnava.

On the 9th August 2014, the striker signed for Sheffield Wednesday and scored his first goal for the club against Middlesbrough on the 23rd August. He would go on to also score against Birmingham City and Reading in the following weeks but now he has to push on and grab more goals for the side.

The final word can go to Sheffield Wednesday manager Stuart Gray. “We’ve got to create chances for him. He’s got a calmness in the 18 yard box where he can pick out the corners. I’ve got every confidence he will convert them. He’s very keen to get into the full Scotland squad.”

21st May – Laurent Robert

Laurent Robert had one of the best left foots the Premier League has ever seen and a compilation of all his goals is a real joy to watch.

The Frenchman who divided opinions at times is 39 today and will always be remembered for his free kicks and his wonderful technique which is something that he had from a very young age. He began playing for Montpellier and after 124 games and 19 goals for the club he made the move to Paris Saint-Germain where he produced some outstanding performances and one that stands out the most is in a Champions League game against Rosenborg he set up six goals in a 7-2 victory.

His record at PSG was attracting interest from all over Europe and he eventually signed for Newcastle United in 2001 for £9.5 million. At Newcastle he quickly became a fans favourite because he knew exactly how to find Alan Shearer and set up a lot of his goals from great crosses. In his first season at the club he scored eight times in the Premier League and helped the club to finish fourth and qualify for the Champions League. The next season was even more successful as Newcastle qualified from their Champions League group and eventually finished third in the Premier League. Manager at the time Sir Bobby Robson clearly loved the player and his attacking talents and he acknowledged that he wouldn’t always be the best at the defensive side of the game. “In the first half he took a corner, a poor corner, which hit the first defender, and it took him 17 minutes to get back to the halfway line.”

Although the 2003-04 season was slightly disappointing with Newcastle finishing fifth, they did still manage to reach the semi final of the UEFA Cup. But Robert produced one of the best performances seen by a left winger against Tottenham Hotspur as he scored two fantastic long range efforts and was simply too good for the opposition to stop. His last season at the club was tough, like a lot of players he had a falling out with new manager Graeme Souness and his time at St James Park was up.

Robert then moved to Portsmouth where he did have not much success under Alain Perrin but did come back into the team and perform better when Harry Redknapp took over. He scored his only goal in a 2-1 loss to West Brom. He only stayed at the club for one season and then joined Portuguese team Benfica where he scored his first goal against rivals Porto in an unsurprising way as he smashed in a free kick from 40 yards. However, this was as good as it got and he was once again looking for a new club after one season.

He ended up at Levante but was not a regular and only played 13 times and was then offered a trial at Derby County which was successful. But once again he could not get the game time and after only four games he left England once again. This time he went to the MLS and signed for Toronto FC and he looked like the player of old, delivering great crosses and creating chances for his teammates but he only stayed for one season and ended up joining his former Newcastle teammate Nikos Dabizas at Greek club Larissa. This lasted just six games and he retired from the game.

Although the later years of his career were not spectacular he will always be fondly remembered by Newcastle fans for the performances he gave them and some of his goals will love long in the memory. The final word can go to Sir Bobby. “In the 03-04 season he scored 11 goals and made 29 last passes prior to other players scoring. When he’s doing that, you can put up with some of the play falling back on you because he is not doing his defensive job. That’s just what he is – talented and exasperating, and a great deliverer of the ball. When we had Jenas and Bellamy and Dyer and Robert we were just terrific.”

4th April – Alexander Tettey

Players that are eligible to play for both Ghana and Norway is not a very common thing but Norwich City midfielder Alexander Tettey is one of the few that can.

He is 28 today and has recently scored his first goal in the Premier League and I don’t think many players will have scored a better first goal and one that could prove to be very important come the end of the season. It was a fantastic volley in a 2-0 win against Sunderland.

Tettey was born in Ghana but moved to Norway at a young age and came through Rosenborg’s youth team and was the youngest player to have been part of their matchday squads for nearly 30 years. For a defensive midfielder he had a decent goal scoring record in Norway scoring 12 league goals in 89 games which made a lot of other European clubs take note.

Rennes were the club to take a chance on him and were trying to build a side that would challenge for major honours and they felt Tettey was someone that could add some much needed defensive quality to their midfield.

Unfortunately his time at the French club was plagued by injuries and he could not show his true potential. He played 60 times in his three years at the club and when he was fit he usually played which showed they thought highly of him.

After joining Norwich City he had to wait a while to make his home debut but the Carrow Road faithful were delighted with his performance and was the star of the show as they beat Arsenal 1-0. This made him an automatic starter for the next few months until an injury hit and was worse than initially feared keeping him out of action until February 2013. He returned to help the team beat Manchester City on the last day of the season and give Norwich their highest Premier League finish since the 1992-93 season.

The last word can go to his manager Chris Hughton who said after his wonderful goal against Sunderland. “I think everybody would have enjoyed that second goal and it could not have happened to a nicer fella. He is a good individual and professional and the lads are delighted for him.”