"I STILL GET GOOSEBUMPS WHEN I THINK OF ARRIVING AT HEATHROW AND DRIVING TO SWINDON"

The ex-Norway frontman recalls his long wait for a first Premier League goal, as well as Juninho’s genius and the origins of his own aeroplane celebration

- Simon Yaffe

In 1989 you left Lillestrom to go to Rapid Vienna. Was there any interest from England at that time?

There weren't a lot of Norwegians going abroad back then. I think the record fee for a Norwegian was Rune Bratseth, who had joined Werder Bremen for around £70,000 - then I left for £300,000, which was a big deal. Once I was there, QPR became interested in me. Trevor Francis wanted both me and Andreas Herzog, but they didn’t want to let us go.

How did the move to newly-promoted Swindon come about, in July 1993?

I stayed in Vienna for a couple of years too long, really. A pal helped me to put together a video of my goals, and I sent it to 30 people I knew in football. One of them was David Hay, who is a legend at Celtic and was my coach in Lillestrom. He became assistant to John Gorman, who'd taken over at Swindon, and John signed me. To go from a small village to play in England, the home of football, was a dream come true. I knew loads about the Premier League, which was in its second season. I still get goosebumps when I think of flying into Heathrow and being picked up to drive over to Swindon.

How did not scoring a single goal until January impact you psychologically?