Vegard Heggem

Vegard Heggem

Heggem with Liverpool in 1999
Personal information
Date of birth	(1975-07-13) 13 July 1975 (age 41)
Place of birth	Trondheim, Sør-Trøndelag, Norway
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Right back
Youth career
1982–1991	Rennebu IL
1992–1994	Orkdal IL
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1991	Rennebu IL	20	(4)
1992–1994	Orkdal IL	68	(26)
1995–1998	Rosenborg	57	(5)
1998–2003	Liverpool	54	(3)
National team
1995–1998	Norway U-21	18	(1)
1998–2000	Norway	20	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Vegard Heggem (born 13 July 1975 in Trondheim) is a former Norway international footballer.

He rose to prominence with Rosenborg, winning three league titles and a cup, and scoring a goal to knock Milan out of the UEFA Champions League. In 1998, he joined Liverpool, but was troubled by injury during his five seasons there before retiring.

In a two-year international career, Heggem earned 20 caps for Norway, scoring once in his debut match. He was part of their squads at the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000.

Heggem made his professional debut with Rosenborg on 21 April 1995 against Kongsvinger in the Norwegian Premier League. He is best remembered by some for the goal in the away match against Milan in the 1996–97 UEFA Champions League when Rosenborg sensationally beat the Italian giants, thereby advancing to the Champions League quarter-finals.

After the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Heggem transferred to Liverpool for £3.5 million. His first two seasons at Anfield were splendid, but he was unfortunately plagued by hamstring injuries. He was the player substituted when Steven Gerrard made his Premier League debut for the club on 29 November 1998 in a 2–0 win over Blackburn Rovers. After being injured in the 2000 European Championship he rarely appeared during the 2000–01 treble-winning season, and during the next two seasons he did not appear in the lineup at all.