As Jesper Gronkjaer turns 44, we take a trip down memory lane and analyse the goal that changed the history of Chelsea FC.
Follow Us
In football – and indeed in sport in general – there are players whose careers are defined by one moment. Whether it be good or bad, the moment is one that most remember and associate with that particular individual. Danish winger Jesper Gronkjaer is one such athlete. He had a decent career spanning the likes of Ajax and Chelsea, but it wasn’t memorable for the vast majority of fans. However, he scored one big goal that he is forever remembered for. So big, in fact, that it was dubbed “the billion-pound goal” by the British media. But what exactly is the story behind that goal?
On the occasion of Gronkjaer’s 44th birthday, we take a trip down memory lane and analyse the goal that changed the history of Chelsea FC – and English football as a whole.
The season is 2002-03. Chelsea were, at that point, not the modern-day colossus most fans see them as. Rather, the south-west London club were a decent side that regularly pushed for a top-4 finish.
They had won a few trophies in recent years – the FA Cup and European Cup Winners Cup being among the notable ones – but they were unlikely to challenge for the Premier League.
Yet behind the scenes there are issues. The public didn’t know much about it back then, but the club had reached a point of financial breakdown.
Years of spending big on foreign players had put a dent in the club’s finances. And then-owner Ken Bates was more than open to a sale.
There were prospective buyers on the table towards the end of the season. However, any sale was predicated on Chelsea finishing in the Top 4 and securing Champions League football.
Before the game, players were told as much in no uncertain terms. The club was in dire straits financially and needed to beat Liverpool in their final game to secure a Top 4 finish.
In fact, then-chief executive Trevor Birch told the payers if they lost, the club would go “out of business”.
As luck would have it, Liverpool too needed a win to guarantee a Top 4 finish. Thus, the two sides met in a match that was essentially a straight shootout to determine who finished fourth.
The game started in the worst way possible for Chelsea. Liverpool defender Sami Hyppia scored from a header early on and gave them the lead in the 11th minute.
In his autobiography, Frank Lampard spoke about how he felt when the goal went in. “I allowed myself to contemplate what Birch said the night before: lose, and no more Chelsea.
“I couldn’t believe it would end like this. We couldn’t allow it to.
“I roared at everyone when we got the ball back to the centre spot. ‘Come on! F***ing come on! You know what this means. Let’s get back into this game.'”
And get back into the game they did. Chelsea probed and pressured as Liverpool, sitting deep, allowed them a way back into the game.
Chelsea won a corner and Marcel Desailly converted from the corner, merely three minutes after the first goal went in. Incidentally, the man who put in the decisive cross in this situation was Gronkjaer. Little did he know what awaited…
Chelsea were back in the game but there was still more to do. The club needed a win, not just a draw. But the goal buoyed their spirits and they began to dominate even more.
A second goal looked likely and it came in the 27th minute. A loose ball saw Gronkjaer pounce, waltz through the Liverpool defence and stick a shot into the goal.
The response from fans and players alike was thunderous. But the game was not over yet. With the lead secure, Chelsea looked to defend. It was an understandable but frustrating tactic from then-manager Claudio Ranieri.
However, it worked. Chelsea frustrated Liverpool for the remainder of the game, blocking shots and throwing their bodies on the line.
The frustration was evident when skipper Steven Gerrard picked up a second yellow card late in the game and was sent off. The end result though, was that Chelsea won.
The aftermath, of course, is well known. Roman Abramovich purchased the club, pumped in a lot of money and made the side one of the best in England.
But without that goal from Jesper Gronkjaer, none of it would have been possible.
