Tom Lund

As a youth, Lund was talented in every sport he attempted. He played handball, bandy and ice hockey for the Lillestrøm first teams well into his football career. After winning a local track and field tournament in 1971, he briefly considered practicing decathlon, with the goal of qualifying for the 1976 Olympics. Nonetheless, football was always his main focus. Lund debuted for the Lillestrøm first team on 7 May 1967 at the age of 16. They played in the third division, and were close to relegation. Lund quickly became considered by far the best player on the team, and one of the best in Norway. He made his debut on the national team in 1971, at the age of 20. Meanwhile, the club kept slowly improving, and spent several years close to promotion. While in the third division, Lund struggled economically, and received offers from many top Norwegian clubs. But his biggest offer came in 1973 from Ajax, then the best club in Europe, who wanted him to fill the gap left by Johan Cruyff. The negotiations were national news in Norway and in the Netherlands. Lund was offered around 1 million kroner for a two-year contract (equivalent to around 8 million kroner, or €800,000, in 2024), the highest for any Norwegian player at the time. Lund was close to accepting, but eventually declined the offer, in large part because he thought the contract was too long. He later turned down offers from Real Madrid, Leeds United, Middlesbrough, Bayern Munich, and Feyenoord, among others. In 1973, after…

Lund coached Lillestrøm from 1985 to 1987, and again in 1990. He helped the team win the cup in 1985, and the league in 1986.

Lund was capped 47 times for the Norway national team, including five games as captain, and scored 12 goals. He made his national debut in 1971, while still in the third division, in a 2–1 victory against Iceland. He is widely thought to have scored the equalizing goal in Norway's 2–1 win over England on 9 September 1981, although the goal was credited to Roger Albertsen. Norway did not qualify for any major tournament while Lund played. He had a severe fear of flying, which was a problem for international games. In fact, out of his 47 international appearances, 31 were home games, and an additional seven were played in Norway's neighboring countries (Sweden, Denmark, Finland). He had an agreement with the management team that he would be excused from international friendlies outside Scandinavia, and would travel by car to away games if he could, including to matches played in Hungary and Bulgaria, respectively during the 1982 World Cup and 1984 European Championship qualifying campaigns. If he had to fly, he would spend the match dreading the flight home.

Lund was thin, and fairly short, and was considered weak in the air. But he was renowned for his speed, dribbling, and feints, and especially his first step, which he used to get past any defender. His goal against Mjøndalen in 1976, where he dribbled from the corner, along the edge of the field past five Mjøndalen defenders, before scoring, has been called the greatest goal in Norwegian history. He was also renowned for his set-pieces. After manager Joe Hooley joined, Lund took every set-piece for Lillestrøm. When they took the Double in 1977, Lillestrøm scored 50 goals from set-pieces, all set by Lund. Because Lund played his entire career as an amateur in Norway, speculations about his true skill and potential have been popular. He was consistently praised by international opponents: Scottish manager Willie Ormond and Northern-Irish manager Terry Neill both considered him to be good enough for any team in the world. Former Bayern Munich defender Einar Aas placed his skill below Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, but no worse than Kevin Keegan. Former Lillestrøm teammate and Hamburger SV midfielder Erik Solér opined that Lund's set-pieces were no worse than David Beckham, and that he was better at everything else.