Allan Simonsen
A Happy Superstar at Charlton
There were several reasons why Allan Simonsen turned down major clubs and chose to play for a team in England's Second Division.
The English press—and probably many others—considered it a joke when, on September 8, it was reported that Charlton Athletic was signing Allan Simonsen. As John Roberts noted in the Daily Mail: "It seems incredible that one of the world's best football players over the past ten years would voluntarily leave the palace of Nou Camp and settle in a burnt-out volcanic crater."
But Allan Simonsen took the serious and concrete offer from the English club seriously—and if anyone was in doubt, it was more out of desire than necessity. At that time, he was sidelined, partly due to a foot injury and partly because FC Barcelona had recently registered Argentine Diego Maradona and West German Bernd Schuster as the two foreign players the club was allowed to use in the league. This meant that even after recovering from his injury, Simonsen might have to sit out the rest of the season.
Simonsen made no secret of the fact that this risk concerned him, and he openly expressed his desire to switch clubs. "It doesn’t matter who I play for, as long as I can start playing as soon as my foot is healed," he said. But in reality, it did matter to him—and that’s exactly why he chose Charlton Athletic!
Three Bundesliga clubs, one from North America, and two from Spain—Sporting Gijón and Real Betis—contacted him. But he had no intention of returning to the Bundesliga and promptly rejected the German clubs. He wasn’t interested in the Spanish offers either: "FC Barcelona is the only Spanish club I want to play for."
However, the offer from the U.S. tempted him enough to consider it, even though he was deep in negotiations with Charlton at the time. "I told them my conditions and emphasized that they had to make a decision within 24 hours. They couldn’t do that; at least, I never heard from them again."
The Call from Netuka
At the top of Allan Simonsen’s wish list was English football, a dream dating back to his childhood at Vejle FC and Vejle Boldklub. He was pleased when two First Division clubs in England expressed interest in signing him. But the best thing that happened was a phone call from Ernst Netuka—one of the people who had significantly influenced his development as a footballer.
Netuka, a beloved figure, was the head coach at Vejle Boldklub when Simonsen made the leap from the youth team to the senior squad. He helped Vejle win the Danish championship in both 1971 and 1972. Now, he was coaching young players at Charlton Athletic, a job he had secured in 1981 through Niels Erik Madsen, the chairman of Hvidovre's professional division and a board member at Charlton.
Netuka played a key role in bringing Simonsen to Charlton Athletic, a Second Division club in southeast London. He facilitated the connection between Charlton’s president, Mark Hulyer, and Simonsen, and convinced Simonsen of the club’s ambition to gain promotion to the First Division. It also made an impression on Simonsen that Hulyer quickly followed up on their discussions with a concrete offer to FC Barcelona.
Simonsen explained his decision to sign an 18-month contract with Charlton Athletic as a challenge: "One of the few challenges left in my career," he said. Naturally, this led to the question of whether there wasn’t a bigger and more reasonable challenge in competing for the English championship with a First Division club.
A Magician...
Expectations for Allan Simonsen at Charlton Athletic were enormous. For example, Mark Hulyer repeatedly described him as a world-class player, and neither he nor the press failed to mention that Simonsen had been named European Footballer of the Year in 1977. He had also cost the club £325,000 (nearly five million Danish kroner).
"They believe Allan is a magician who will conjure Charlton back into the First Division," said Annette Simonsen, his wife. And she was probably right. That expectation didn’t make things easier for her husband—quite the opposite.
However, Simonsen did not see it as a burden—at least not yet. "I’ve been hardened in this business," he said. "Think about what I went through in my first year at both Borussia Mönchengladbach and FC Barcelona—where at least 100,000 spectators at Nou Camp always expected and demanded that I play well. My first task at Charlton is to adapt to the team's style of play, then help the club improve its standing in the Second Division."
It was understandable that Mark Hulyer and the club’s board saw him as a reinforcement; otherwise, they wouldn’t have invested so much money in him. "But I can hardly imagine they are already counting on promotion. One player doesn’t make that happen—especially not in this season, where the club lost too many points early on. The only thing I can guarantee them is that I will do my job and play as well as I can."
Away from the Spotlight
His decision was not about escaping reality, but—as he put it—escaping the spotlight.
It wasn’t just the desire to start playing football again as soon as possible, his admiration for Mark Hulyer, his trust in Ernst Netuka, or the challenge that made Simonsen choose Charlton over several major clubs. It was just as much—if not more—the opportunity to live with and for his wife and their two daughters, Camilla and Bianca, who was seven months old.
"I don’t have a guilty conscience about them, but I could have developed one soon. At Charlton, I’ll have much more time for them; the pressure on me won’t be as intense, either physically or mentally, as it was in West Germany and Spain."
Of course, there are 42 league matches in England per season, compared to only 34 in West Germany and 30 in Spain. However, in those leagues, he also played 20–30 additional friendly matches, cup games, and European Cup fixtures. Furthermore, Charlton was not under the same public and media scrutiny as FC Barcelona.
"The English press made a big deal out of my transfer, but they’ll soon lose interest in me, allowing me to serve my club and take care of my family in peace. Besides, I think playing in England will be more fun than in Spain; the referees are better, and the players respect each other more."
Still, leaving Barcelona was emotional. "We loved the city, the climate, the mentality, the food, the language…"
"It was especially hard for Camilla," noted Annette Simonsen. "She cried every time we mentioned moving. She grew up in Barcelona and went to school there."
Farewell Match in Barcelona
In his last season—his third at Nou Camp—Allan Simonsen was the best player in FC Barcelona and the best foreign player in the Spanish league, perhaps even the best player in the league overall. The management of FC Barcelona described him as an asset to the club, which they demonstrated by organizing a farewell party for him. On that occasion, President José Luis Núñez gave a speech in his honor, presented him with a silver plaque with an inscription, and offered to arrange a farewell match for him at Nou Camp whenever it suited him.
"I was very touched, and when he offered to arrange a match with and for me, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I don’t think it will happen, though. Why? I don’t like too much fuss around me."
Allan Simonsen said goodbye to the board and players of FC Barcelona on November 18—and that same evening, to his good friends in Spain, among them his West German coach Udo Lattek. The following day, he flew to London—for the fourth time in six weeks.
The first time was on October 8, to sign a contract with Charlton Athletic and meet the English press. The club had hoped he could make his league debut in Carlisle the very next day, but the playing permit from FC Barcelona did not arrive. Charlton Athletic informed the press that Allan Simonsen would instead debut on October 16 against Burnley. That didn’t happen either. In the meantime, Allan Simonsen had returned to Barcelona.
On October 23, his name appeared in Charlton’s squad list for the match against Chelsea, but Allan Simonsen sat on the bench at Stamford Bridge—wearing a cotton coat. "Strange," wrote the press, seemingly convinced that Simonsen would never actually play for Charlton—while also quoting some Charlton players who said Simonsen had not impressed them in training sessions and that they struggled to see how this man alone could bring them and the club a better future.
What they didn’t know was that Simonsen had not played a match since Denmark faced Finland at Idrætsparken on August 11 due to a broken metatarsal bone—and had barely trained at all.
Full of Ideas
For 50 years, the Glicksten family owned and managed Charlton Athletic. That summer, a foreign company took over the club, and 28-year-old Mark Hulyer, full of ideas and dreams of restoring Charlton’s glory days, was elected president. The Simonsen deal was the new leadership's first major initiative.
Mark Hulyer was not the typical local businessman who cared about the club’s well-being while leaving the command to the manager. He had barely taken office before manager Alan Mullery stepped down—Mullery didn’t like playing second fiddle. He was replaced by Ken Craggs, who had never managed a club before—and, according to one of the players, "didn’t even know what it was about." Craggs was fired on November 22—likely because Charlton had lost two league matches at home in eight days: 3-2 to Middlesbrough (with Allan) and 5-1 to Rotherham (without Allan, who was struggling with a muscle injury).
A giant sign dominates the new stand at The Valley, Charlton
Athletic’s home ground, displaying the company Mark Hulyer is director of:
"Marman Ltd. welcomes you to The Valley."
The previous season, while sitting in the stands and suffering alongside a steadily declining number of Charlton supporters, Hulyer had given the club a check from Marman for 750,000 kroner to paint advertising signs on the stand. He soon became close with club leaders and players, and on June 2, 1982, he was elected club president.
No one really knows what Hulyer did just over a year ago. He himself says he simply "lived in the wonderful world of business." It is also curious that Mark Hulyer does not own any shares in Charlton Athletic, which is unusual for a chairman.
The Glicksten family sold all shares to a subsidiary of Marman, where Hulyer is director. The main corporation of Marman is registered in Switzerland; the company trades in grain, spices, and coal, but according to The Sunday Times, its trade with Britain is very limited. The newspaper commented:
"It is hard to understand why this company was interested in taking over a struggling football club—no matter how dear it was to the company’s directors. It is even stranger that no one seems to know who owns Marman and thus Charlton Athletic."
Demand for a Bank Guarantee
Hulyer says, "An American guy and some others own the shares." But regardless of who had the money, Hulyer managed to free Allan Simonsen from FC Barcelona.
Initially, the Spanish club demanded 500,000 pounds in cash for their Danish player. At that time, Charlton Athletic had sold all its fixed assets, including the stadium and other properties, to former chairman Michael Glicksten, meaning the club could not provide collateral for a bank loan.
Mark Hulyer tried to persuade FC Barcelona to accept a transfer fee of 325,000 pounds—with only 25,000 pounds paid upfront and the rest in installments over three years. FC Barcelona accepted the transfer fee but demanded a higher initial payment. Hulyer quickly secured 100,000 pounds, but it cost Charlton twice as much.
That summer, the club had sold Paul Walsh to Luton for 500,000 pounds and still had 200,000 pounds outstanding, to be paid over a year. But Hulyer was in financial trouble and offered Luton the chance to settle for half of the remaining 200,000 pounds—provided they paid immediately. Luton paid the next day.
However, FC Barcelona also required a bank guarantee ensuring the remaining payments would be made on time. But how could Hulyer convince a bank to guarantee this when the club had little money, no fixed assets, a large and mostly empty stadium, and a famous player who had been injured for months?
Hulyer solved the problem in an unprecedented and very clever way. He took out an insurance policy that would cover the bank if necessary; the insurance cost 30,000 kroner—and satisfied the bank director!
FC Barcelona received the requested bank guarantee, but suddenly refused to release Allan Simonsen. This was due to a controversy between head coach Udo Lattek and Bernd Schuster in late October.
Schuster accused Lattek of drinking too much; Lattek immediately suspended Schuster. "We must keep Simonsen," FC Barcelona announced, preparing to use him instead of Schuster. But on November 1, Schuster apologized for his behavior and was reinstated. Hulyer immediately flew to Barcelona, negotiating with FC Barcelona’s management for three consecutive days, assisted by his Spanish-speaking compatriot, Graham Turner.
Debut for Charlton
On November 10, Allan Simonsen played for Charlton Athletic for the first time—on the reserve team against Swansea at The Valley.
Simonsen and Mark Hulyer flew into Heathrow, west of London, landing less than three hours before the match—and arriving at The Valley 55 minutes before kickoff. But his playing permit arrived from Madrid an hour later, and although it was rushed to The Valley, Simonsen was only eligible to enter the pitch in the 50th minute. Charlton won 4-1, with Simonsen involved in two goals.
Three days later, Allan Simonsen debuted for the first team in the league match against Middlesbrough.
"He will be a great asset to Charlton," said Middlesbrough’s manager Malcolm Allison about Simonsen, who also found solace in scoring five minutes before full-time.
Middlesbrough won 3-2. There were 10,807 spectators—twice as many as Charlton’s usual home attendance, but 4,000 fewer than expected for the Dane’s debut. Charlton needs an average home attendance of 12,000 to finance its investment in their Danish player.
The day after his debut, Allan Simonsen traveled to Barcelona to say farewell and pack his bags for a new life in England—in a two-story house in Chislehurst, Kent, and at Charlton Athletic.
Good luck, Allan.
FRITS AHLSTRØM
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Photo captions:
Two debutants in a duel: Kevin Beattie, whom Middlesbrough had recruited from Colchester, stops Allan Simonsen with a sliding tackle. Kevin Beattie, one of the best yet unluckiest players in English football history, played 228 matches for Ipswich and earned 9 caps for England. In February 1982, he was declared permanently injured and played a farewell match for Ipswich. However, six months later, he attempted a comeback at Colchester and performed so well that Malcolm Allison, who had barely arrived at Ayresome Park in Middlesbrough as manager, quickly brought Kevin Beattie to the club.
Allan Simonsen before his first-team debut for Charlton Athletic – in the company of the club's mascot, Steven Fewell.
"There is only one Allan Simonsen" – "The Great Dane" – at least for Charlton supporters.
Finally! The playing permit from Spain arrived in the middle of the reserve match between Charlton and Swansea, and Allan Simonsen prepared to enter the pitch.
Allan Simonsen signs the contract with Charlton Athletic – with chairman Mark Hulyer (left) and then-manager Ken Craggs as witnesses.
Allan Simonsen swings his right foot and scores directly from a free kick in his first-team debut against Middlesbrough – something he was clearly happy about.
Camilla looks questioningly at her mother, unhappy about leaving Barcelona, while little sister Bianca takes a nap.
Charlton Athletic was so confident that Allan Simonsen would receive his playing permit in time for the match against Chelsea on October 23 that he was included in the match program at Stamford Bridge. But he watched from the bench – alongside manager Ken Craggs, who was fired on November 22.
ALLAN SIMONSEN
Born on December 15, 1952, Allan Simonsen scored 16 goals in 69 matches for Vejle’s first team in 1971 and 1972, the two seasons in which the club won the Danish championship. He then turned professional with Borussia Mönchengladbach. With this club, he won the German Cup in 1973, the Bundesliga and the UEFA Cup in 1975, the Bundesliga again in 1976 and 1977, and the UEFA Cup in 1979. He was named "Player of the Year" in Europe in 1977, a year in which he also scored for Gladbach in the European Cup final against Liverpool (1-3). He was included in the West German Team of the Year in 1975, 1976, and 1977.
Allan Simonsen scored 76 goals in 180 Bundesliga matches and 33 goals in about 50 European cup matches for Gladbach. He transferred to FC Barcelona in the summer of 1979. Over three seasons with the Spanish club, he scored 30 goals in the league and 9 in the European Cup Winners' Cup. He won both the Spanish Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup with El Barça.
Allan Simonsen has scored 17 goals in 35 international matches for Denmark. He also has 3 youth and 6 under-21 international caps.
waiting for him to appear at the Valley
Great picture for a caption competition. Here's my attempt: 'He always thought that a threesome would be exciting, but regret set in before he could even get his trousers back on'.
It would be very interesting to get the real thoughts of Simonsen of his experiences. I only recall reading his account of the reserves match.
Glad I got to see Simmo play though.