Thomas Myhre

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Personal information
Thomas Myhre

Full name	Thomas Myhre
Date of birth	October 16, 1973 (age 33)
Place of birth	Sarpsborg, Norway
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Charlton Athletic
Number	36
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1993-1997 1997-2001 1999 2000 2000 2001 2001-2002 2002-2005 2003-2004 2005 2005-2007 2007-	Viking Everton Rangers (loan) Birmingham City (loan) Tranmere Rovers (loan) FC Copenhagen (loan) Beşiktaş Sunderland Crystal Palace (loan) Fredrikstad Charlton Athletic Viking	94 70 3 7 3 14 ? 37 15 2 21
National team²
1998-	Norway	56
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:27, 30 December 2006 (UTC). ² National team caps and goals correct as of 2 Apr 07. * Appearances (Goals)

Thomas Myhre (born October 16, 1973 in Sarpsborg) is a Norwegian international football goalkeeper. He currently plays for Charlton Athletic. On July 1, 2007, he will return to Viking F.K., where he made his breakthrough in professional football. Myhre has earned 56 caps for the Norwegian national team, and was a part of the Norwegian squad at the 1998 FIFA World Cup and 2000 European Championship tournaments.

[edit] Biography

Myhre started his career with Moss F.K. in the Norwegian First Division, but arrived at Viking F.K. in the Premier League in 1993. The 19-year-old replaced Lars Gaute Bø, who retired at the end of the 1992 season, and immediately established himself as the first-choice goalkeeper, playing in every match that season. Myhre was also the number one goalkeeper for the Norwegian U-21 national team, for whom he reached 27 caps. After missing the entire 1996 season through injury, Myhre returned to form in 1997. He was noticed by English club Everton, who bought him for £800,000 in November 1997.

Myhre instantly established himself as Everton's first choice goalkeeper ahead of British goalkeepers Neville Southall and Paul Gerrard, playing a key role in keeping the club in the Premier League. On April 22, 1998, he made his debut for the Norwegian national team, keeping a clean sheet in the 2-0 victory over Denmark in Copenhagen. Myhre was subsequently selected to represent Norway at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, where he was an unused substitute for Frode Grodås.

Following an ankle injury, he was replaced by Paul Gerrard as Everton's starting goalkeeper in the summer of 1999, and the club's financial difficulties contributed to making it hard for him to reclaim his place in the team. A clause in the transfer agreement between Everton and Viking held that further fees of £200,000 should be paid for every 20 matches Myhre played for Everton. As a result, he underwent a string of loan deals. In the next two years he played for four different teams. He was first loaned out to Rangers in Scotland in 1999. In 2000, he was loaned from Everton to Birmingham City to ensure an additional fee wouldn't be encurred for reaching a set number of appearances for Everton. He started well for Birmingham, saving a penalty kick against Wolverhampton Wanderers in his debut. He played well for Birmingham, and returned to the national team in the spring of 2000. At the 2000 European Championship (Euro 2000) in June, he played all three games for Norway. Myhre kept clean sheets against Spain and Slovenia, and conceded only one goal in the tournament - Savo Milosevic's winner in the match against Yugoslavia.

After Euro 2000, Everton loaned him out to Tranmere Rovers, as well as Danish club FC Copenhagen. In the summer of 2001, Myhre permanently left Everton, as he was sold to Turkish club Beşiktaş for £375,000. After one season at Beşiktaş, he moved back to England to play for Sunderland in July 2002. At Sunderland, Myhre was second choice goalkeeper behind Thomas Sørensen, and was loaned out to Crystal Palace in October 2003. His stay at Sunderland was plagued by injuries, and he played only one of the Euro 2004 qualifiers for Norway. However, he returned as first-choice goalkeeper in Sunderland after the departure of Sørensen, playing 31 league games in the 2004-05 season, as the club won promotion to the Premier League. He also returned to the national team, playing 11 of the 12 qualifiers for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

However, Myhre's contract with Sunderland ran out in June 2005, and he chose not to prolong it. On July 21, 2005 he moved back to Norway and joined Fredrikstad F.K. on a free transfer, where he played on a match-by-match basis. He played two matches for Fredrikstad, including an emotional encounter with his former club Viking, before English club Charlton Athletic signed him on a two year deal on 8 August 2005 following an injury to their goalkeeper Dean Kiely. Initially second choice goalkeeper behind Stephan Andersen, Myhre established himself as Charlton's starting goalkeeper in December 2005. Through the rest of the season, Myhre kept 10 clean sheets, and he played more than ten hours without conceding a home goal at The Valley. However, following the departure of manager Alan Curbishley, he once again found himself second choice goalkeeper at the start of the 2006-07 season, this time in favour of the loaned-in Scott Carson.

In an Euro 2008 qualifier against Turkey on March 28, 2007, Norway were leading 2-0 at half time. In the second half, Myhre couldn't hold a free kick from Hamit Altintop, and fumbled the ball into his own net. Minutes before full time, another Altintop shot went went straight through Myhre's legs, and the game ended 2-2. Although his Norwegian teammates were consoling him, Myhre proclaimed the match his "worst day on the field".[1]

[edit] External links

(Danish) FCK profile
Thomas Myhre career stats at Soccerbase

	Norway squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup
1 Grodås \| 2 Halle \| 3 Johnsen \| 4 Berg \| 5 Bjørnebye \| 6 Solbakken \| 7 Mykland \| 8 Leonhardsen \| 9 T. Flo \| 10 Rekdal \| 11 Jakobsen \| 12 Myhre \| 13 Baardsen \| 14 Heggem \| 15 Eggen \| 16 J. Flo \| 17 H. Flo \| 18 Østenstad \| 19 Hoftun \| 20 Solskjær \| 21 Riseth \| 22 Strand \| Coach: Olsen