Welcome to the NextGoalWinner Hall of Fame, the most prestigious of all Hall of Fame recognitions. In this section of the website, we will pick out and highlight some of the most incredible players, moments, matches, managers and just about everything in between from the wonderful world of football.

When we say that we will recognise the most incredible, we are talking of course primarily of those players that the young folk refer to by ‘the streets will never forget’. Next up, as the second entrant is one of my favourite players to watch growing up, the Norwegian who took Blackburn by storm, Mr Morten Gamst Pedersen. The Lancashire legend was a solid and reliable star for Blackburn in the late 00s, and with his boyband style hair, and wicked left foot, he was one of the players being emulated daily on the playground. We’ve picked out his most prolific season in England goal-wise, when he really established himself as a regular starter for his club in 2005-2006, which we will get into shortly.

So, lace up your left boot, and let’s welcome in our second entrant. If you want to nominate another entrant for a future Hall of Fame post, please get in touch @NextGoalWinBlog over on Twitter and we will build up our roster in the prestigious category.

Enjoy.

Before…

On the 8th of September 1981, in Vadsø, Norway, Morten Gamst Pedersen was born. The son of former Norwegian footballer Ernst Pedersen who played in Norway through the 70s and 80s, he used to train his left foot rather than his dominant right foot, due to the higher potential to play in left-sided positions rather than the highly competitive right side. As a result, his left foot has become his more dominant side and a feature of his style of play.

Beginning his football career in 1997, he played a year for Norild before moving to Polarstjernen and then back to the Norild youth setup until 2000 when he made his move to senior side Tromsø. In his 4 years at the club, he made a total of 121 appearances, suffered a relegation and promotion between the first and second division and netted 51 goals for the club, and in 2002 was the divisions top scorer with his 18 from 23 games that year. As a result of his success in his native Norway, in 2004, halfway through the Norwegian season, he signed for Blackburn Rovers for £1.5million.

It wasn’t all easy going from the outset for Pedersen in England, as, after being signed by Graham Souness to replace the outgoing Damien Duff ahead of the 04/05 season, he struggled to make much of an impact, and after Souness was replaced with Mark Hughes, he was out of the selection for his club side for much of 2004. The start of 2005 saw the Norwegian back in the side and back in form and he finished his first season with 27 appearances and 8 goals from the first of his many seasons in Blackburn.

During…

It was 2005/2006 where the midfielder really hit his stride, and became a cult hero at Ewood Park. It was in this season where he really took the left midfield role as his own, and scored some terrific goals, winning Match of the Day’s goal of the month award in August 2005. His best performance in the season came as he netted both of Blackburn’s goals in a 2-1 victory against Manchester United at Old Trafford in a game that will surely live in the memory of most Blackburn supporters. Blackburn enjoyed a fruitful season this year, with a 6th placed finish earning them qualification for the UEFA Cup, ahead of Newcastle and Bolton Wanderers. They were only 4 points behind 4th placed Arsenal in the Champions League spots. Elsewhere domestically, Blackburn finished the season in the semi-finals of the League Cup only being beat by Manchester United 3-2 on aggregate, while the FA Cup was a stumbling block as they were knocked out of the 4th round by West Ham United.

Pedersen enjoyed personal success in this season, ending the year with a total of 10 goals across all competitions from his 42 games, his most fruitful season throughout his entire time in England. It was truly a breakthrough season for Pedersen where he won the hearts and minds of the Blackburn faithful. He became a cult icon in England due to his popstar looking frosted tips hairstyle and his wicked left foot, which was lethal at set pieces and particularly corners. His left foot became a real weapon in the arsenal of an impressive Blackburn Rovers side, however things were quickly set to turn sour for the Lancashire club.

After…

After their relative success in 2005/2006, things took a turn for Blackburn, unable to maintain their success in all competitions and with the extra European commitments. They finished in 10th, 7th, 15th, 10th, 15th before relegation in 2011/2012. In these times, Pedersen remained a constant at the club, Refusing any moves away, he was in favour despite several managerial changes and gave his all for the club, which helped build the bond between Pedersen and the supporters which remains in place today.

The Norwegian stuck things our through thick and thin and even stayed at the club during their relegation to the Championship, playing 33 games in the 2012-2013 season despite the clubs turmoil. In August 2013, he was told to find a new club by the board with little/no respect for the efforts he had given the club for the past 9 years. He left Ewood Park behind after 349 appearances and 47 goals and left a cult legacy behind him.

Following the move away, he spent the following season in Turkey where he made 13 appearances for Karabükspor, although after this time he returned to his native Norway, and spent 2 seasons at Rosenborg, where in 2015 he claimed a league-cup double for the club. He then spent 4 seasons at Tromsø where he had began his career, and now still at aged 40 features for 2nd division side Alta, where in 2021 he played 28 games and scored 12 goals, the most since his infamous 2002 season. He still features for the club and is showing no signs of stopping.

His international career ended in 2014 after making 83 appearances for Norway and scoring 17 goals and he had been a real leader for his national side. Additionally, he is frontman of Norwegian boyband The Players with several other professionals from the country and their first single was a hit across Scandinavia. Not just a mean left foot, but musical talent too, what a hero.