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Claus Lundekvam (born 22 February 1973) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.

Claus Lundekvam

Personal information
Full name	Claus Lundekvam[1]
Date of birth	(1973-02-22) 22 February 1973 (age 49)[2]
Place of birth	Austevoll, Norway
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[3]
Position(s)	Centre-back[4]
Youth career
	Brann
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1993–1996	Brann	53	(0)
1996–2008	Southampton	357	(2)
Total		410	(2)
National team
1995–2005	Norway	40	(2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Lundekvam began his career with Brann before moving to English side Southampton in 1996 where he played until his retirement in 2008. He made a total of 413 appearances for the club where 290 was in the Premier League.[5] He notably played for Southampton in the 2003 FA Cup Final against Arsenal. Lundekvam was capped 40 times for Norway and often captained the national team.

Playing career

Born in Austevoll, Norway,[4] Lundekvam joined Brann as a junior player with his senior debut coming in 1993. He eventually gained a regular place at centre-back before being sold to English side Southampton in the autumn of 1996. He was the team's first choice for captain for several years.

Lundekvam made his debut for Norway in November 1995, but did not become a regular until 2002. He was capped 40 times, scoring twice. His first international goal, against Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2002, was the 1,000th goal in the history of the Norwegian national team.

He scored only two goals during his Saints career. His first came against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 3 April 2004 in a 4–1 win,[6] and his second against Cardiff in 2006[7] – coincidentally, both teams were managed at the time by former Saints manager Dave Jones.

In 2002–03, he contributed to what was undoubtedly Southampton's best season since the 1980s, when they finished eighth in the Premier League and reached the FA Cup final, where they narrowly missed out on silverware in a 1–0 loss to Arsenal. This was during the management of Gordon Strachan, who famously joked when Lundekvam was stretchered off injured in a game against Leicester City in the 2003–04 season that he "didn't have a clue" whether the player was unconscious as "that's what he's always like".[8]

Lundekvam remained at Southampton after their relegation from the Premier League in 2005. He went off injured after five minutes of the first game of the 2006–07 season, away to Derby County on 6 August 2006 (being replaced in the centre of defence by Chris Baird) and missed the first two months of the season. He then enjoyed a long run in the team before another injury in March put him out for another month. In the game at St Mary's against Southend United on 6 May 2007,[9] he fell awkwardly sustaining a serious ankle injury which put him out of action. On 18 March 2008, it was announced that his injury was such that his playing career was over.[10]

Later career

Lundekvam later had problems with depression, abusing cocaine and alcohol following his retirement.[11] About his addiction he said: "I would drink two litres of hard liquor and do between five and ten grams of cocaine every day."[8] Lundekvam got help to overcome his addiction and issues at Sporting Chance Clinic, a recovery facility for athletes set up by former Arsenal captain Tony Adams.[11] In July 2012, Lundekvam claimed that he, team-mates and opposing captains were involved in betting fraud during their playing days. "We could make deals with the opposing captain about, for example, betting on the first throw, the first corner, who started with the ball, a yellow card or a penalty. Those were the sorts of thing we had influence over."[12] These allegations were later denied by Lundekvam's former team-mate and captain, Francis Benali.[13]

Following his retirement, Lundekvam later returned to Norway with his then-wife Nina, their two children and a dog named Lucky. In 2015, he released his biography detailing his career and struggles with addiction and mental health.[14] Lundekvam worked regularly as a pundit for TV 2, the largest commercial broadcaster in Norway, until 2016.[8][15] Lundekvam now works with the Psychiatry Alliance in Bergen to help others with mental health and drug issues by sharing his own experiences.[11]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition [16] [17]

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Brann	1993	Tippeligaen	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
	1994	Tippeligaen	20	0	0	0	—		0	0	20	0
	1995	Tippeligaen	14	0	2	0	—		0	0	16	0
	1996	Tippeligaen	16	0	0	0	—		2[lower-alpha 1]	0	18	0
	Total		53	0	2	0	0	0	2	0	57	0
Southampton
	1996-97	Premier League	29	0	1	0	8	0	—		29	0
	1997-98	Premier League	31	0	0	0	4	0	—		33	0
	1998-99	Premier League	33	0	2	0	2	0	—		37	0
	1999-2000	Premier League	27	0	2	0	4	0	—		32	0
	2000-01	Premier League	38	0	4	0	3	0	—		43	0
	2001-02	Premier League	34	0	1	0	2	0	—		37	0
	2002-03	Premier League	33	0	6	0	2	0	—		41	0
	2003-04	Premier League	31	1	1	0	2	0	2[lower-alpha 2]	0	36	1
	2004-05	Premier League	34	0	4	0	3	0	—		41	0
	2005-06	Championship	34	1	3	0	0	0	—		37	1
	2006-07	Championship	33	0	0	0	0	0	—		33	0
	Total		357	2	24	0	30	0	2	0	413	2
Career total			410	2	26	0	30	0	4	0	470	2

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Norway	1995	2	0
	1996	2	0
	1998	1	0
	1999	2	0
	2000	1	0
	2001	3	0
	2002	5	1
	2003	9	0
	2004	8	0
	2005	6	1
Total		40	2

Honours

Southampton

• FA Cup runner-up: 2002–03[18]

References

External links

• Claus Lundekvam at Soccerbase

На других языках

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[de] Claus Lundekvam

Claus Lundekvam (* 22. Februar 1973 in Austevoll) ist ein ehemaliger norwegischer Fußballspieler. 2007 beendete er als amtierender Kapitän des damaligen englischen Zweitligisten FC Southampton seine Spielerkarriere.

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- [en] Claus Lundekvam

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[fr] Claus Lundekvam

Claus Lundekvam, né le 22 février 1973 à Austevoll (Norvège), est un footballeur norvégien, qui évoluait au poste de défenseur à Southampton et en équipe de Norvège.

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[it] Claus Lundekvam

Claus Lundekvam (Austevoll, 22 febbraio 1973) è un ex calciatore norvegese, di ruolo difensore.

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