‘Remembering my time with Cats gives me goosebumps’
A glance at Sunderland’s team photo ahead of the 1997/98 season throws up some familiar faces.
Front and centre is skipper Kevin Ball, with Niall Quinn a towering presence on the back row. To his left is a young M icky Gray and to Quinn’s right, strike partner Kevin Phillips.
But in front of Phillips, in an ill-fitting Asics shirt, is a far more obscure face. That of Kim Heiselberg. You won’t find many mentions of Heiselberg in the historybooks. Indeed, his name is usually only uttered by Sunderland fans when conversations about the club’s least memorable - or least successful - signings are in full flow.
But his story is among one of the most remarkable in the club’s history.
Born in the small Danish town of Tarm, Heiselberg grew up around agriculture. His family were farmers, and for a long time it looked as if he would follow in their foot steps.
As a teenager, Heiselberg combined his work on the farm with semi-professional football for Danish side Esbjerg.
There was the odd brush with the Danish youth set-up, too.
But within the space of a few weeks, his life changed. Gone were the early morning wake-up calls on the farm as he swapped tending pigs for the glamour of the Premier League.
But how did this young defender from a small town in Scandinavia end up on the radar of Peter Reid?
“I remember playing an under -19 international in Denmark against England ,” he says.
“Michael Bridges was the striker and I was marking him for that game. Two weeks later I got a phone call from a Danish agent saying that a Sunderland scout had seen me play and they would like me to come to Sunderland for a trial.
“From there on, it went really,really fast. I went there one or two weeks later and had one week training with the squad, and played an under-19 game.
“Peter Reid came to me straight after the game and told me to go home and pack my bags-he would arrange everything with my Danish club, and I would be back within a few weeks.
“When I went back to Denmark, two days passed and then I got a phone call from my club in Denmark saying Peter Reid had paid £125,000, so I wasfree “From them on, I was aSunderland to go. player .”
Heiselberg arrived on Wearside in March 1997, joining a Sunderland side who battled-unsuccessfully-to-stay in the Premier League.
For a boy from a town with a population of just over 4000, rubbing shoulders with international players was a culture shock.
He said: “Going from semiprofessional football in Denmark to the highest level - and to a club like Sunderland where everybody is so fanatic-was incredible.
“I was overwhelmed by the interest and the way the club wanted me to come to Sunderland at the time.
“In terms of the players, Niall Quinn was so impressive. He was the one who stood out the most, but Lee Clark and Michael Gray were good, obviously the captain Kevin Ball, and there were a lot of good players so the competition was hard.
“But just being there and learning from all these players when you’ re there, aged 19, you can’t ask for anything more.”
But perhaps the biggest change came in terms of management - where Heiselberg quickly found himself under the tutelage of Reid.
“He was very, very different from what I was used to,” he said.
“In Denmark, you have more of a relationship with your trainer. You have a dialogue about something, and it’s a whole lot different.
“I remember I did go wrong a few times, because I didn’t know how to speak to amanager. Even just the‘ gaffer’ word was completely new to me.
“So I made a few mistakes in the beginning, but that’ s something you learn from .”
While it took Heiselberg time to adapt to some aspects of English football, others he picked up surprisingly quickly - often to his detriment. “One of the things I did learn a little bit too quickly was the fword,” he said. “I was playing in a reserve game, the ball went out and I was sure it was our throw-in. “The referee said it’s the other teams, so I just said ‘f*** off, ref ’. “I knew the second I said it, it was completely wrong. I was so embarrassed and said sorry immediately, but he just gave me the red card. “Peter Reid came straight over to me and said ‘what did you tell him?’. “I told him what I said and he just turned around. We never spoke about it again-other than I got a two-game ban.” Worse still, despite being a regular in the reserves, Heiselberg never got a firstteam break, and was eventually told he could leave.
He spent 18 months on loan back at former club Esbjerg, before making a somewhat surprising move to Swindon Town in 2000, where he made a single appearance before being released, and retreating back into the wilderness - and his former life.
“I’ve actually become a pig farmer now,” he explained.
“I’m originally from a farm in Denmark, so my childhood was spent on a farm and that’s why I returned after football.
“That’ s what I’ ve been doing for 17 years now.”
But He is el berg’ s mind often wanders away from Tarm and back to the banks of the Wear.
His son Frederik, now a player in his own right at FC Midtjylland, follows the Black Cats and the duo recently watched Sunderland ‘Til I Die together, reinforcing what the Dane already knew.
“There’s always something special about Sunderland,” he said.
“They were my first professional club and I have a special relationship with them.
“The atmosphere was so intense, and I’ve never experienced anything like it.
“I’ve got goosebumps on my arms just remembering the club, the build up to the matches and the noise from the crowd during games.
“I’m grateful I had the chance to play for Sunderland .”