Alf-Inge Rasdal Håland (born 23 November 1972), is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a defender or midfielder.
He notably played in the Premier League with Nottingham Forest, Leeds United and Manchester City, winning 34 caps for Norway. He also had spells in his home country with Bryne FK and Rosseland FK. His career initially ended due to a left knee injury, although he also suffered an injury to his other leg that was caused by an infamous tackle by Manchester United captain Roy Keane; the pair had a history of clashes on the field.
Club career
Bryne
Håland grew up in Bryne and played football for his local club Bryne FK.
Nottingham Forest
Håland moved to England joining Premier League side Nottingham Forest after a protracted transfer. The move was originally due to be under Brian Clough in 1992 but was completed under the management of Frank Clark in December 1993. He made his debut for Forest against Leicester City.
Leeds United
In July 1997, he joined Leeds United under George Graham. He made his Leeds debut against Arsenal on 9 August 1997. In September 1997, when Manchester United were losing 1–0 to Håland’s Leeds United at Elland Road, Roy Keane injured his anterior cruciate ligament running for the ball with Håland. As Keane lay prone on the ground, Håland, unaware of the seriousness of the injury, stood over him and criticised Keane, suggesting that he was merely feigning injury to try to gain a penalty. Håland was booked as Keane was stretchered off the field and Keane was out of action for nearly a year afterwards. On 26 December 1997, Håland scored a goal in a 1–3 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield, a feat later achieved by his son, Erling Haaland, on 2 October 2019.
He was part of a Leeds squad who reached the UEFA Cup semi-finals during the 1999–2000 season and who also qualified for the Champions League, however with Håland mainly used as a utility player, playing in both midfield and defence under the coach David O’Leary.
Manchester City
In 2000, Håland left Leeds to join Manchester City for a fee of £2.5 million. In April 2001, during a match against Manchester United, Roy Keane fouled Håland brutally, kicking him high on his right knee, for which he was immediately sent off. Of the incident, Håland said “I’m only glad my leg was off the ground, otherwise he would have done me a lot of damage”, Keane was subsequently fined £5,000 and received a three-match ban. In his autobiography, published a year later, Keane stated that the foul was a pre-meditated, deliberate act of vengeance against Håland for the on-field criticism he received from him three and a half years previously. After this revelation, Keane found himself subject to an FA inquiry. He claimed inaccurate paraphrasing by his ghost-writer, but received an additional five-game ban and a £150,000 fine for bringing the sport into disrepute. Following the incident, Håland had initially claimed Keane would not dare to look him in the eye, and he once said “I really dislike (Manchester) United and I can’t stand their players”.
At the time of Keane’s tackle, Håland’s left knee was already giving him sufficient problems for him to have to play with strapping around it. After the tackle, Håland finished the match and played a midweek friendly for Norway coming off at half-time, and the next league game, coming off in the 68th minute. That summer, he underwent surgery on his left knee, but only managed a further four substitute appearances the following season, and finally retired in July 2003 after failing to recover full fitness. Håland was originally contracted with Manchester City until the end of the 2004–05 season, but in his contract it was stated that City could terminate the contract if medical conditions indicated that he couldn’t play first-team football again, and decided to use this option.
Following the release of Keane’s autobiography in 2002, Håland and Manchester City stated that they were considering taking legal action against Keane. However, it emerged that Håland had stated on his personal website that he had been playing with the injury to his left knee a few months, that his left leg did not receive a knock in the game (Keane kicked his right thigh), and that Keane did not cause his long term injury. Legal action was dropped in February 2003 after the club reviewed the medical advice.
Rosseland BK
Håland came out of retirement after eight years, to play for the Bryne-based club Rosseland BK in the Norwegian Third Division in 2011. He would retire for good in 2012.
International career
Håland made his debut for Norway in friendly match against Costa Rica in January 1994. He was later named in Norway’s squad for the 1994 World Cup where he played the matches against Mexico and Italy. Håland was capped a total of 34 times, with his last international match was against Bulgaria in April 2001. Håland is — along with Hallvar Thoresen, Dan Eggen, Espen Baardsen, Hans Herman Henriksen and Joshua King — among the few players to have played for the Norwegian national team without ever playing in the domestic top division.
Personal life
His son, Erling Haaland, is also a professional footballer and currently plays for Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga. His nephew, Albert Braut Tjåland, plays as a striker for Molde FK.