New challenges in new countries has been a theme throughout recent arrival Torbjørn Heggem’s life, and his latest chapter at the Baggies is no different. The Norwegian defender was Albion’s second signing this summer, and like a few of their new faces, arrives in England for the first time in a footballing capacity. That being said, Torbjørn is no stranger to the past success of former Scandinavian defenders at The Hawthorns - citing Jonas Olsson’s stint in B71 as an example. Heggem’s been playing football in a club setting since the age of four, and in our opening feature of the season, he discusses the active lifestyle he adopted in picturesque Norway, working under former Premier League player Olof Mellberg in Sweden, and despite his calm persona, the Trondheim-born defender hopes to show the viking within during his maiden term in the English football.
Tell us about your family in Norway, Torbjørn…
We have always been an active family with living in Norway. The nature is lovely. We were always skiing, my mother was involved in gymnastics and track running, my father was more of a skier and football keeper, and my siblings played handball, football, skiing, gymnastics, track and field. So we have always been out in nature, going on mountain trips and hikes.
You’re clearly a tall player. Are you the tallest in the family…
My dad is pretty tall, I think I may be the tallest though!
Local club Astor was where it all started for you in a football setting…
I played there my whole childhood, from the age of four until 14. My dad has always been pushing me because he saw that I loved football and had the talent for it, so he wanted to push me to play it from such a young age. I played with my age group and two years above while I was there. It was really good for my development to play with my friends in school, and from playing with older players. In Norway, they start you playing football way earlier than most countries. When I was 15, I joined the academy of Rosenborg. They had good coaches, we played in good tournaments, and it was good for my development.
Rosenborg were, and still are, the most successful club in your native lands. It must’ve felt like a huge moment…
It’s typical when you’re playing for the smaller teams in Norway that the big teams start recruiting players at the age of 14/15. I was really proud and I knew I was in the sort of last race before signing for them because I was training with them before it was confirmed, but it was a really good feeling when it happened.
As far as senior debuts go, yours for Rosenborg wasn’t bad. One game, first trophy…
That’s actually true, yes! It came during the period where Rosenborg were the number one team in Norway and it was really hard for the academy players to come up and be a part of the senior side. They’re struggling a bit now but I really hope they return to where they were soon, but back to my debut there even though I was only on the pitch for a couple of minutes, it was really cool.
In the end, I didn’t think I was ready to play for the first team at Rosenborg, so I joined another Norwegian team, Sandnes Ulf.
Spells across Norway eventually led you to swapping sides of Scandinavia in Sweden…
When my contract was going to end at Sandnes I was looking for a new club in the highest division I could find in Europe. When Bromma Boys called my agent, I knew it wasn’t the biggest club in Sweden but they were looking for development and a lot of players had done really well there. There isn’t much media there and it was a really good step for me to become a better player even in a quiet division.
Olof Mellberg was the manager at Bromma Boys. Everyone in England knows him, and no doubt he was a big pull as a fellow defender…
As a defender, and when the manager is one too and one of the best to come out of Scandanavia, that triggered something in me to learn something from him. We had a good relationship and Olof taught me a lot, especially in the defence where he was such a good player himself.
New countries and new challenges have been constant themes for you. This move to the Albion continues the chain, but is this your biggest move…
Yes, of course. I knew this was a big step for me. From a smaller club in the Swedish top division, to a big team with so much history in England. I knew it was a big step but when the opportunity came, I felt I’d have regretted it if I hadn’t taken it. I’m really excited and I hope it’s going to go really well. If I’m doing good here, the last step and target in my eyes isn’t far away with being in the Championship, so the Premier League isn’t far away. The club were close to getting there last season, and getting promoted is the long-term goal. It’s obviously very difficult to do but everyone’s dreaming of doing it.
Would you say it’s always been a dream to play in English football…
When you’re a footballer in Norway, the Premier League is the one you’re following. Everyone has a favourite team in England and it has the biggest clubs in Europe. Everyone is dreaming about it, especially me when I was a little boy at Astor, hopefully I’m getting closer and closer to that dream here.
Nicely settled in now…
There’s been a lot of different things to fix and sort since being here. I’ve moved into a new apartment in the same building as Oussie, and I couldn’t have done it without help from the club staff such as Jacko and Phoebe. I hadn’t thought about doing all these things alone and if I had to, it would've been really hard, so I’m grateful to them.
Erling Haaland, Martin Odegaard, a fellow centre-half in Kristoffer Ajer - there are plenty of Norwegians who have set the tone in England recently…
They have had a straighter development from the start than me. We have a couple of the best players in the Premier League now and that hasn’t always been the normal thing for Norwegians. I haven’t compared my development to theirs, not at all, but it’s great seeing more Norwegians in the Championship too and I think Norwegian football is on the up.
Your name translates to Thor in Old Norse speak. You’re a calm figure, clearly, but do you think the viking character will show in the Championship for Albion…
I hope so! I’m a calm player outside of football, but I’m sure we’ll see some on the pitch in the Championship. We need some vikings in us all so hopefully I will show something from my Scandinavian roots in my game.
You must be excited to experience the Championship…
The physical part of football is something which suits me but this is a new step. I’m excited to see how tough this league is, how physical it can be, but I also feel a lot of teams can play really good football in this league too. I do like passing out and coming into the game with the ball at my feet and even though when I was younger I saw the Championship as a mainly physical league, now I see there are some good teams, styles and coaches here, so it’s developing.
There were plenty of comparisons with yours and another Scandinavian’s story in Jonas Olsson when you arrived at The Hawthorns…
I haven’t thought much about any links, but I knew about how well this Scandinavian defender played when he was here. If I’m a little bit like him, then that’d be a really good start.
Do you think your time at Albion can help your international ambitions…
I haven’t thought about it too much because it’s always seemed so far away. If you’re a regular player here in England then you can get closer to your dream of playing national football for your country. It’s not what I’m thinking about right now but hopefully one day.
First and foremost, though, it’s about impressing the boss and being a regular in navy-blue-and-white. Are they are your priorities…
He (Carlos Corberán) really, really thinks about football. Tactically, he’s really smart and he’s a one-of-a-kind man and coach. He really wants the team to develop and be one of the top teams in the Championship, and I think I have some abilities which can help push us close to that.
But my main goal is to play regularly. Maybe it’ll take some time but hopefully I’ll manage that and be one of the starters. There’s a lot of matches in the Championship so we need everyone for the season ahead.
