Finnish superstar Jari Litmanen is widely regarded as the countries greatest ever footballer. He is the most capped player for the Finland national team as well as being their leading goal scorer. A fantastic player who was often too quick in his thinking even for his team-mates, Jari was consistently one of the best players in Europe during the 1990’s.
Jari was born into a footballing family as both of his parents played for Finnish club Reipas Lahti at the highest level. His father was also an international player. It was only fitting that Jari should begin his career at Reipas Lahti with his parents having played for the club. He made his first team debut in 1987 when he was just sixteen years old. In 1990 he was voted as the Finnish player of the year for the first time. This was an award he went on to win nine times over the next decade. In 1991 he moved to the biggest club in Finland, HJK Helsinki, where he stayed for just one year. In 1992 he joined rival team MyPa for half a season and helped them to win the Finnish Cup during the 1991/92 season.
After an eye catching performance in the 1992 Finnish Cup Final, Jari was chased by a host of top European clubs. He signed for the great Dutch side Ajax that summer and thus began a golden period of his career. In his first season in Holland, Jari had to play second fiddle to Dennis Bergkamp. When Bergkamp moved to Inter Milan in 1993, Jari became the main man up front. He did not disappoint during the 1993/94 season as he scored twenty six goals. He was the leagues leading scorer and Ajax were crowned as league champions.
Ajax had an incredible team during the mid nineties which contained such amazing talents as Rijkaard, Kluivert, Overmars and Davids. Incredibly Jari stood out above these great players to become the star player as they reached two Champions League finals in a row in 1994/95 and 1995/96. They won the trophy in 1995 after beating AC Milan 1-0 with a goal from Kluivert. Jari scored nine goals during the 1995/96 Champions League campaign including the equalising goal in the final against Juventus, which Ajax lost on penalties. After an outstanding season, Jari came third in the voting for the 1996 European Player of the Year.
Jari spent seven seasons at Ajax during which time he helped them win four Dutch Championships, three Dutch Cups, one Champions League Final and the Intercontinental Cup. He was nicknamed Merlin by the Ajax supporters because of his magical football abilities and he remains their third most popular player of all time behind Johan Cruyff and Marco Van Basten.
In 1997/98 Liverpool manager Roy Evans wanted to sign Jari but was refused the funds to make the purchase. This is a terrible shame as I genuinely feel that had Liverpool signed him at that time he would have turned the club from decent to outstanding, that’s how good he was in his prime. In 1999 Jari’s former Ajax boss Louis Van Gaal signed him for Spanish giants Barcelona. After two poor seasons, largely interrupted by injury, Jari did eventually move to Anfield.
In January 2001, Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier described the free purchase of Jari as; “one of the most exciting signings Liverpool have ever made”. Jari was a lifelong Liverpool fan from childhood so this was a pretty huge transfer for all concerned parties.
For the one and a half seasons that he spent as a Liverpool player I always felt he wasn’t played enough. I was always a huge fan of Jari and I remember being really angry whenever he wasn’t in the team for a game. I often wondered what the point was in having one of the best players in Europe if he wasn’t going to play very often. What I didn’t realise until a long time later was that Jari could barely train due to problems with his ankles and he was barely able to play for ninety minutes week in and week out.
Jari missed the three finals during the 2000/01 treble winning season due to injuries, but he did play an important part in some other big games for Liverpool. He was an important player during the 2001/02 Champions League campaign. With injuries to Michael Owen during the season Jari stepped up to score some important goals. Just days after an incredible goal from thirty yards against Tottenham Hotspur, he scored a cheeky goal against Dynamo Kiev in a Champions League group game. He then scored an important penalty against Roma in the crucial final group game at Anfield. This was the game where Houllier made his return after his heart operation and inspired the Reds to the 2-0 victory they required to reach the quarter finals. Jari then scored an outstanding individual goal in the quarter final second leg against Bayer Leverkusen. At this stage the goal was enough to send Liverpool through to the semi finals but the teams collapse after Didi Hamman was taken off led to a 4-2 defeat.
Jari was a really popular player during his time at Anfield, his incredible skills could light up a dull game and he was always quiet and humble despite his stature as one of the games greatest players. His work ethic was outstanding as he would chase lost causes and poor passes from team mates. Unfortunately due to injuries and lack of match fitness he was mostly utilised from the bench. It is tantalising to wonder just how important he could have been to the team had he been able to play a more central role in the side.
At the end of the 2001/02 season Jari was given a free transfer and left Liverpool with nothing but best wishes from all the supporters. He decided to return to Ajax where he was given a heroes welcome by the supporters. In his first season back in Amsterdam, Jari turned back the clock as he was an inspirational figure leading the side to the Champions League quarter finals. Unfortunately during the following season he was plagued by niggling injuries and in the summer of 2004 he was released from by the club.
He then made a heroes welcome to Finland and joined FC Lahti where his signing was billed as ‘The Return of the King’. However he didn’t stay very long and in January 2005 he moved to Hansa Rostock who was struggling in the German Bundesliga. Despite a prolonged run in the first team, Jari was unable to help them avoid relegation and he left the club at the end of the season.
Jari then spent two seasons in Sweden playing for Malmo. His two years there was the usual mix of long spells injured and flashes of pure genius whenever he was fit. After an ankle operation in June 2007 he decided not to enter into a third season with Malmo. Jari then spent the next six months without a club as he recovered from his ankle operation. However he did play for Finland in their qualifying games for Euro 2008.
In January 2008 his former Finland coach Roy Hodgsen invited Jari for a ten day trial at Fulham. He was offered a first team contract but then returned to Finland after a heart concern. He played for the reserves at Fulham but never made a single appearance in the first team before his release at the end of the 2007/08 season. In August 2008 he rejoined FC Lahti in Finland where he scored goals and played an important role helping the side to finish third in the league and qualify for Europe for the first time in the clubs history.
Jari Litmanen was one of the most naturally gifted players ever to represent Liverpool. It is just a terrible shame that he wasn’t given the opportunity to light up Anfield during his prime, before injuries restricted him to a part time role in the team. Despite his limited time as a Liverpool player he will never be forgotten by Reds fans who appreciated his outstanding skills and vital goals. This was proven with his placing of number 69 in the series ‘100 Players Who Shook the Kop’.
Liverpool FC | Supporters Club | Vancouver, BC, Canada
