Leeds United AFC: Debut…goalscorer!By scoring twice on his Leeds United AFC debut, Davide Somma joined a select group of players to have achieved this feat. 36 players had managed debut goals since 1960, with only 4 of those players netting in the last decade. Clearly, a debut goal does not make a superstar & for every Lee Chapman there is a Ken De Mange type in the list! Pre: 80′s the list contains a few names that roll off the tongue, with Bobby Collins, Eddie Gray, Allan Clarke & Terry Conner all featuring. The 80′s was clearly the time for players to net a debut goal. Andy Ritchie, Tommy Wright, Brendan Ormsby, Bobby Davison, Carl Shutt & not forgetting Ken De Mange all got themselves on the score sheet. Carl Shutt the pick of the bunch with a debut hatrick…
However, debut scorers were thin on the ground as we left the 80′s. The 90′s opened up with Sgt Wilko’s capture of Lee Chapman. Chapman opened his account away at Blackburn as he began to help fire the club to promotion & went on to score 62 goals in 137 apperances in his first spell at the club. The less said about his second spell, the better! The only other player to net a debut goal that season was Imre Varadi. Varadi netted in that unforgettable 4-3 win over Hull City, though it’s a game that people are more likely to recall Vinnie Jones’s 30 yard screamer. Varadi was to net only 5 times in 26 games, before moving to Rotherham after loan spells at Luton & Oxford…
The next season, Steve Hodge added his name to the list in a 1-1 draw with Sheffield Wednesday. Sadly, it wasn’t the start of a dream love affair with the club. Despite costing nearly a Million quid, Hodge struggled to get near that dream team midfield of Strach, Macca, Batts & Speed. After only 54 games and 10 goals to his name, he was eventually offloaded to QPR. It was to be 2 years before another name was added to the list. In a winter of discontent at Elland Road, with a certain Frenchman heading over the Pennines into Red Hell, Frank Strandli was brought in to bolster the attack. Strandli netted in the 3-0 over Boro, but was another player whose debut goal was overshadowed by another of the goalscorers that day…
A certain David Batty netted and Batts also scored the day Bobby Davision netted his debut goal. Strandli failed to build on his dream start and after only 16 games & 1 more goal, he was bombed out by Wilko. If Wilko was disappointed that Strandli didn’t quite work out, it was at least a low budget gamble. The same couldn’t be said for the next debut day netter. Weighing in at £2.9 Million quid was Brian Deane. 83 goals in 198 games for the Blades suggested this was money well spent. However, after netting away at Man City on the first day of the new season in 93, Deane struggled with the weight of expectation on his shoulders. Deane netted only 32 goals in 138 games for the Whites, before heading back to the Blades…
Deane was of course to come back to the club much later and would possibly be remembered more for scoring 4 goals in one amazing game against QPR, than for most of his first period at the club. It would be 3 more years before a new name was added to the list and it was another high profile, big money signing by Wilko. £2.8 Million quid bought the services of Lee Bowyer and he netted in a ding dong 3-3 game at Derby’s Baseball Ground. A book could & probably will be written about Bowyer’s time at Leeds, suffice to say, from a fans perspective he was responsible for the highest of highs (Milan H) & the lowest of lows (Court Case). 38 goals in 203 games was a certainly a decent return for the midfielder…
Bowyer then became one of many players during the meltdown that finally left the club in disappointing circumstances. Speaking of players leaving in disappointing circumstances, next on the list is Jimmy Floyd Hasslebaink. Jimmy netted in the 1-1 home draw against Arsenal and went on to bag 34 goals in just 69 game, becoming a cult hero along the way, with a dodgy half cartwheel goal celebration to boot. Sadly, it all went to his head and after the club refused his wage demands, he was sold to Athletico Madrid. Jimmy earned the nickname “Piggybainkâ€, as well as a four letter word beginning with C and rhyming with Hunt. To suggest the next player on the list also had a disappointing departure would be an understatement…
Anyone present on that day at Anfield will tell you about a young floppy haired kid who strolled on, scored in front of the Kop with his first touch and became a hero. 171 games & 37 goals later, anyone present at Chelsea who saw that same kid give the White Army the middle finger in a bad tempered & emotionally raw game after relegation will tell you that hero became an instant zero. Smith compounded matters by heading over the Pennines to the Red Enemy. The rights and wrongs of that move are still being argued over to this day. Moving swiftly on, it was 6 years before another debutee notched. Nick Barmby came from Liverpool & netted in the 3-0 home win over Man City…
In another false dawn, Barmby left the club after just 25 games and 4 goals to his name. 3 years later and finally another success scorer. As far as debut performances go, Rob Hulse’s 2 goals and all round display against Reading was a joy to watch. Initially netting 6 times in 13 games on loan, the club bought him for a Million quid & Hulse went on to score 12 more in 39 games. It was a sad day when he was sold to the Blades for double the money. How Dennis Wise could have done with Hulse at the club in his first season. As it was, Wise was limited to low budget transfers or freebies. One of which was midfield man Alan Thompson from Celtic. Thompson was way past his best when he finally joined the club…
He netted in the 2-3 defeat at home to WBA in 2007. Once again, the debut goal was more of a curse & due to injury, the White Army never saw the best of the lad and after 5 goals in 24 games, Thompson left the club. That leaves just one player before Somma completes the list. That name is Enoch Showunmi, who finally joined the club from Bristol City after he had previously turned the club down and headed to Sheffield Wednesday on loan. Enoch’s record at the Owls was a stunning no goals in 10 games, mind you, his record for Bristol was equally as bad, with just 13 in 50 games! Enoch notched in the 2-1 win at Scunthorpe, but flattered to decive. His height should have caused problems, but didn’t…
After a long spell out with injury & with only 2 goals in 15 games, he headed to Falkirk.Finally, Somma completes the list and of course, Somma followed up his 2 debut strkes by netting against Leicester in the Carling cup. It will be interesting to see where he ends up, but if he can match the goal scoring feats of some of the players on the list, the White Army will be more than happy. Of course, as new players are brought in or come through the ranks, all eyes are now on the next player who can add themselves to this exclusive band of debut day scorers…
Leeds United AFC… “One swallow doesn’t make a Sommaâ€â€¦ Keep Fighting…
http://keepfighting.wordpress.com/2010/09/01/leeds-united-afc-debut/Altså:2 mål i debuten av Hulse og Somma. har flere greid det samme i en Leedstrøye?
