JOE’s Forgotten Footballers: Philippe Albert

This week we were reminded of former Newcastle United footballer Philippe Albert and if anyone fits into the category of Forgotten Footballer, it is the classy Belgian defender.

This week we came across the wonderfully nostalgic story of a 29-year-old Portsmouth fan who discovered his Premier League album of 1996, only to find out he was missing six stickers. He decided to track down all six men personally, getting their pictures to complete the album, with Philippe Albert one of those particular footballers and he has had quite the change of career, now running a successful fruit and vegetable business in his homeland. As well as casting our minds back to the conversations in our youth regarding sticker albums “have, have, have, swap, swap, two for one” etc., it was a reminder of one of the most fondly remembered player on Tyneside from the '90s. While ball-playing defenders are more commonplace these days, when Albert signed for Newcastle back in the summer of 1994, he was part of a far more select club. A well established international, the centre-half played for Belgian club KV Mechelen from 1988-1991, where in his second season they reached the European Cup quarter-finals, going down to eventual winners AC Milan and was by then a regular at country level. He played for three years at Anderlecht up until the 1994 World Cup, where he really put himself on the global stage. He played all three games at USA '94 and got on the scoresheet against Germany and the Netherlands. Rumours of moves to clubs right around Europe were rife when Kevin Keegan swooped for the talented defender. On his 27^th birthday he signed for £2.7 million and was given the number 27 jersey to keep the theme going and claimed he wanted to play for Keegan as he was a Liverpool fan in his youth. Albert enjoyed a slight height advantage over Boro star Juninho He quickly proved popular with the home supporters for his forays up the pitch and while he and the club started the 1994/95 season well, he missed the final parts of the season through injury and the Magpies finished sixth, missing out on a UEFA Cup spot, a far bigger deal in those days than the Europa League is today. The following season will always be remembered for the 12-point lead the Toon threw away, with many pointing fingers at the gung-ho approach adopted by Keegan. Albert was partnered with Darren Peacock and the club actually finished the season with the fifth-best defence, but it was not to be, though the Belgian scored four goals, including a brace away to Man City. The following season Albert secured his place in Geordie folklore after netting a magnificent chipped goal to put Newcastle 5-0 against Manchester United, floating the ball over the head of a stranded Peter Schmeichel. And all on the run. United would go on to win the league, but the goal itself was a thing of beauty. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deXicnyXt3g Kenny Dalglish was also a fan of Albert, but things started to change when Ruud Gullit took over, however briefly that was, and he was soon reunited with Kevin Keegan where he was part of an upturn in fortunes for Fulham. Albert made 13 appearances for the Cottagers, scoring twice, but when they were promoted to the second tier, Albert opted against joining on a permanent basis, instead signing for his first club Charleroi for £600,000. He would only play for one season as they barely avoided relegation, with injuries again curtailing his involvement. A classy operator, Albert was never sent off in his career and only ever received eight yellows, which for a central defender is probably more impressive than Gary Lineker’s caution-free career as a forward. Since his playing days finished, the Belgian has admitted that he lost interest in football, though does occasionally appear as a pundit on Belgian TV. He concentrates most of his efforts on his successful fruit and vegetable company and is always given a great reception when he returns to Tyneside.