PHOTO: Bildbyrån
He is one of Swedish football’s greatest in history.
Now Patrik Andersson remembers back to his career and also the unforgettable Premier League debut.
When he was brought face to face with legendary rawhide Vinnie Jones.
There are few Swedish footballers who are tops Patrik Andersson’s incredible track record. He has won SM gold with Malmö FF, German league and cup gold with Bayern Munich, Champions League champion in 2001, the Golden Ball in both 1995 and 2001 and the iconic World Cup bronze with Sweden in 1994.
To the Premier League
He was brought up in little Bjärreds IF and was thus nicknamed “Bjärred” for the rest of his playing time. The career then took off in earnest in Malmö during the early 90s and in 1993 he got his dream move to the English Premier League in 1993.
The article continues after the picture.
Then there were games in classic Blackburn Rovers under the iconic coach Kenny Dalglish. But it was only a year in England before the transfer team moved on to Germany and played in Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Andersson’s career
There, Andersson would establish himself as an absolutely world-class centre-back and after several seasons in Mönchengladbach, much bigger clubs were waiting in the form of the giants Bayern Munich and Barcelona. The Swedish defender then returned home to Sweden and finished his career with Malmö FF.
READ MORE: The 11 WORST tackles in football history have been named – here’s the horror list for all bone-breakers
Today, the 51-year-old can look back on a very successful career as one of Swedish football’s greats and can boast of 96 international matches in the blue and yellow national team shirt. One of his very best memories from the active time is precisely from the time in England.
Met Vinnie Jones
January 9, 1993 “Bjärred” made his debut for Blackburn against Wimbledon and it would be a very special meeting with the infamous arch-bum Vinnie Jones. Andersson didn’t even have time to warm up in his clothes before the legendary rawhide ran over him on the field.
– The first contact with the ball it just said bang and hit really hard. Vinnie Jones really missed me, the Swede tells SportExpressen.
The article continues after the picture.
When the WC 94 icon was still lying on the grass completely dazed, a helping right hand was extended. It was Mr Jones who wanted to welcome the debutant to England in his very own way and he said it in five unforgettable words:
– Patrik, welcome to the Premier League!
READ MORE: When the madman Vinnie Jones took a yellow card after only three (!) seconds
Patrik Andersson laughs out loud when he remembers back to the first meeting with Vinnie Jones. And how tough it actually was to play in England in the early 90s.
– It was a 90-minute battle and long balls, he admits in the interview.
Do you like this story about Vinnie Jones? Share the article and show others!