Five incredible debuts in English football
After Steven Bergwijn announced himself in style with a memorable goal for Tottenham in his debut appearance for the club this weekend, here’s five more players who impressed in their opening games in the English top flight.
Jimmy Greaves
Initially we were going to restrict this feature to Premier League players, but then we realised we’d have to leave out one of the greatest stories of all. So, a hasty rethink later, here’s Jimbo.
Younger football fans might not really know who Jimmy Greaves is; even the more mature reader might associate him more with his 1980s TV show with Ian St John. Here, the two former players would banter about this and that, “Greavesie” invariably concluding that “it’s a funny old game Saint”.
Well, forget all that nonsense – much more impressively, Jimmy Greaves has a remarkable record of scoring on his debut for every team he represented. Starting as a callow 17-year-old with Chelsea, he would also score on his first appearance for England, AC Milan, Tottenham (scoring twice in his opening game) and West Ham (again, scoring twice). Respect due.
Alan Shearer
He might be more readily associated with Blackburn and Newcastle, but Alan Shearer was wearing the Southampton shirt when he first made headlines.
Shearer was just 17 years old in 1988 when he made his first team appearance for the Saints, having impressed in the youth team. And the young Geordie immediately demonstrated just what a talent he was, scoring a hat-trick against Arsenal on his full debut (a few weeks earlier, he had appeared as a substitute against Chelsea).
In scoring those three goals, Shearer became the youngest ever player to score a hat trick in England’s top flight – breaking a record set 30 years earlier by Jimmy Greaves.
Robbie Fowler
Local lad Robbie was an instant hit on Merseyside, scoring in his first appearance for Liverpool as the side beat Fulham 3-1 in the first leg of a League Cup tie.
Yet that debut goal in September 1993 was just a hint of what was to come, with Fowler scoring five goals in the second leg at Anfield a couple of weeks later! Fowler would finish his first season at the club as the side’s leading scorer, with 18 goals.
Wayne Rooney
Having wowed the football world with his explosive emergence at Everton, Wayne Rooney was still a teenager when he signed for Manchester United in a £25.6 million transfer. And the 18-year-old immediately demonstrated just why Sir Alex Ferguson had been willing to pay so much for him.
In his first ever appearance in a Man Utd shirt, Rooney played at Old Trafford in the Champions League against Istanbul’s Fenerbahce in September 2004 – and promptly scored a hat-trick, in a 6-2 demolition of the Turkish side.
It was also Rooney’s first competitive appearance since the summer, when he had sustained an injury while playing for England against Portugal, in the 2004 quarter-final of the Euros. Not a bad way to make a comeback…
Fabrizio Ravanelli
Having spent the four preceding years at Juventus, where he won Serie A and the Champions League, Ravanelli was signed as a statement of intent by Middlesbrough boss Bryan Robson.
The Italian’s turbulent times in England couldn’t quite match the triumphs of his past, but Ravanelli certainly got off to a thunderous start with Boro.
Nicknamed the White Feather – a poetic reference to the fact that he had gone prematurely grey – Ravanelli bought an instant splash of colour to the Premier League, scoring a hat-trick against Liverpool on the opening day of the season.
Alas, the Italian’s obvious quality was not enough to prevent Boro from being relegated that season, while Ravanelli also angered plenty of supporters with constant complaints about the local area.
Still, if it was an awkward arrivederci, at least fans will always be able to look back on that glorious hello…
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