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Alf-Inge Haaland

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Alf-Inge Håland
Personal information
Full name Alf-Inge Rasdal Håland
Date of birth (1972-11-23) 23 November 1972 (age 51)
Place of birth Stavanger, Norway
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Position(s) Defender / Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1990–1993 Bryne 68 (4)
1993–1997 Nottingham Forest 75 (7)
1997–2000 Leeds United 74 (8)
2000–2003 Manchester City 38 (3)
2011–2012 Rosseland ? (?)
Total 255 (22)
International career
1994–2001 Norway 34 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Alf-Inge Rasdal "Alfie" Håland (born 23 November 1972), anglicised to Haaland, is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a defender or midfielder for English clubs Nottingham Forest, Leeds United and Manchester City. Håland won 34 caps for Norway. He has a son, Erling Braut Håland, who plays for Molde in Norway.[1]

Early career

He grew up at Bryne and played his club football for Bryne FK.

Nottingham Forest

Håland moved to England joining Premier League side Nottingham Forest after a long protracted transfer in 1993, the move was originally due to be under Brian Clough in 1992 but was completed under the management of Frank Clark.[2] He made his debut for Forest against Leicester City.

Leeds United

In July 1997, he joined Leeds United under George Graham. He made his Leeds debut against Arsenal on the 8 August 1997. He was part of a Leeds squad who reached the UEFA Cup semi finals during the 1999-2000 season who also qualified for the Champions League, however with Haaland mainly used as a utility player, playing in both midfield and defence for David O'Leary. In 2000, Leeds accepted a bid of £2.5 million from Manchester City.[3]

Manchester City

Håland joined Premier League side Manchester City by Manager Joe Royle for £2.5 million[4]. However Haaland had a knee injury which saw him retire in 2003 after 3 years at the club.

Rosseland BK

Håland came out of retirement after 8 years, to play for the Bryne-based club Rosseland BK in the Norwegian Third Division in 2011.[5]

International career

Håland made his debut for Norway in friendly match against Costa Rica in January 1994. He was later named in Norway's squad for the 1994 World Cup where he played the matches against Mexico and Italy. Håland was capped a total of 34 times, with his last international match was against Bulgaria in April 2001.[6] Håland is — along with Hallvar Thoresen, Dan Eggen, Espen Baardsen, Hans Hermann Henriksen, Joshua King and Martin Samuelsen — one of the few players to have played for the Norwegian national team without ever playing in the domestic top division.[7]

Feud with Manchester United and Roy Keane

Håland is often remembered for his feud with Roy Keane, whom he claimed wouldn't dare look him in the eye, and he once said "I really dislike United and I can't stand their players". [8]

In September 1997, when Manchester United were losing 1–0 to Håland's Leeds United at Elland Road, Keane injured his anterior cruciate ligament trying to tackle Håland. As Keane lay prone on the ground, Håland criticised Keane and suggested that he was feigning injury to avoid punishment.[9] Håland was booked as Keane was stretchered off the field and Keane was out of action for nearly a year afterwards.

In April 2001, Keane fouled Håland on his right knee, for which he was sent off. Of the incident, Håland said "I'm only glad my leg was off the ground, otherwise he would have done me a lot of damage".[10] Initially, Keane was simply fined £5,000 and received a three-match ban. However, his biography admitted that it was an act of vengeance over Håland for the criticism he received three and a half years previously (although Keane claimed this was inaccurate paraphrasing from his ghost-writer).[11] After this revelation, Keane found himself subject to an FA inquiry and received an additional five-game ban, and £150,000 fine.[12] Håland professes no lasting bitterness towards Keane, hoping only that Keane is different now, so that he can provide a better example to young people and the players he manages.[13]

Injuries and retirement

At the time of Keane's tackle, Håland's left knee was giving him sufficient problems for him to have to play with strapping around it.[14] After the tackle, Håland finished the match and played a midweek friendly for Norway coming off at half-time,[15] and the next league game, coming off in the 68th minute.[16] That summer, he underwent surgery on his left knee, but only managed a further 4 substitute appearances the following season[17] and finally retired in July 2003 after failing to recover full fitness. Håland was originally contracted with Manchester City until the end of the 2004–05 season, but in his contract it was stated that City could terminate the contract if medical conditions indicated that he couldn't play first-team football again, and decided to use this option.[7]

Following the release of Keane's autobiography in 2002, Håland and Manchester City stated that they intended to take legal action against Keane.[18] However, it emerged that Håland had stated on his personal website that he had been playing with the injury to his left knee a few months, that it did not receive a knock in the game to his left leg (Keane went for his right leg), and that Keane did not cause his injury.[11][19][20][21] Legal action was dropped in February 2003 after the club reviewed the medical advice.[22] In a 2007 interview, Håland invited the interviewer to reach the conclusion that the foul from Keane was the root cause of his retirement as he never played a full match again.[13]

References

  1. ^ "Molde starlet Erling Braut Haland wants to follow father Alf-Inge and play for Leeds United". talkSPORT. 10 February 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  2. ^ https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/football-how-fenton-received-pounds-45000-after-haalands-move-to-forest-1240212.html
  3. ^ https://www.leedsunited.com/news/team-news/17508/alf-inge-haaland
  4. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/football/788277.stm
  5. ^ "Håland til Rosseland" (in Norwegian). Jærbladet. 26 August 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  6. ^ Søfting, Thomas. "Alf Inge Håland". RSSSF Norway. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
  7. ^ a b Aarre, Eivind (13 February 2003). "City sa opp Håland" (in Norwegian). Stavanger Aftenblad. Archived from the original on 22 February 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "United deny Keane depression claims". Irish Independent. 24 November 2012.
  9. ^ "Keane charged by FA". Daily Mail. London.
  10. ^ "Keane heads trio in the dock". BBC News. 22 April 2001.
  11. ^ a b "Haaland admission could wreck case". 19 August 2002.
  12. ^ "Keane's Haaland call". Football. BBC News. 30 September 2002. Retrieved 6 October 2009.
  13. ^ a b Ladyman, Ian (29 August 2008). "That Keane tackle still haunts Haaland after horror injury in 2001". Daily Mail. London.
  14. ^ manutdxtra (11 March 2013). "Roy Keane / Alf Inge Haaland Incident" – via YouTube.
  15. ^ "Friendlies : Norway vs. Bulgaria". footballdatabase.eu.
  16. ^ "Premier League 00/01 / Man City vs West Ham".
  17. ^ Taylor, Daniel (16 August 2002). "Stakes raised in football's grudge match" – via The Guardian.
  18. ^ "Keane faces legal action over Haaland tackle". Daily Mail. London.
  19. ^ "Keane plans defence". BBC News. 5 September 2002.
  20. ^ ""Alfie Can't Win; Haaland's Admission Ruins Case against Roy" by Ladyman, Ian - Daily Mail (London), August 19, 2002 - Online Research Library: Questia". www.questia.com.
  21. ^ "Cole earns 'conman' tag". BBC News. 19 August 2002.
  22. ^ "Keane escapes legal action". BBC News. 13 February 2003.
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