347: Robert Ullathorne, Norwich City, Merlin’s Premier League 95 Sticker Collection

Remember the pub? Depending on which lockdown tier you were placed in it might not have been that long ago you were sat in one with members of your household and enjoying a substantial meal/an unholy number of scotch eggs. For many of us though the pub seems almost mythical. You might be drinking more questionable cans of whatever was on offer the last time you did some essential shopping but it probably doesn’t compare to paying too much for an equally questionable pint and chatting nonsense with your mates. Luckily there are some refuges for those of us looking to reminisce about our favourite 90s goalkeepers or Paul McGregor’s musical career and one of the best of these has been the recently constructed Football Tavern on Twitter. This one’s for you gents.

In 1995 Belgian midfielder Jean-Marc Bosman’s successful legal challenge of the football transfer rules meant that footballers were able to leave their clubs at the end of their contracts on a free transfer rather than suffer the indignity and frustration of hanging around on the fringes of first team action on reduced wages. Sadly this landmark decision came five years too late to allow Bosman to complete his desired move from RFC Liege to French side Dunkerque but the likes of Steve McManaman, Jay-Jay Okocha and David Beckham were able to take their careers in exciting new directions with Real Madrid, Bolton Wanderers and LA Galaxy respectively. Oh, and Sol Campbell was able to pop across North London to join Arsenal ensuring he was part of their all-conquering ‘Invincibles” and that he would have “Judas” (and worse) screamed at him anytime he was within a mile of White Hart Lane. Proof, if it was needed, that there’s no such thing as a free transfer.

Before the globetrotting antics of the aforementioned Premier League playboys the first English footballer to make use of this landmark piece of legislation was Norwich City defender Robert Ullathorne. Ullathorne had come through the Canaries’ youth system and made his first appearance against Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest in 1991. He scored his first goal for the club against Notts County a year later and was a regular in the Norwich side that finished third in the inaugural Premier League season. Spurred on by a strike force of Chris Sutton and Efan Ekoku the Canaries finished in a respectable twelfth in the 1993/94 campaign during which a Jeremy Goss wondergoal saw them knock German giants Bayern Munich out of the UEFA Cup. Ullathorne featured in the subsequent defeat to Inter Milan at the San Siro and went on to make 115 appearances for the Norfolk club enduring relegation from the Premier League in 1994/95 and an unsuccessful tilt at promotion in the following season.

At the age of 25, and at the end of his contract, Ullathorne was at a crossroads. One fork would lead him to the bright lights of London and a place in a Crystal Palace side that had just missed out on promotion from Division One thanks to a last minute Steve Claridge goal in the play-off final that some people are still bitter about. The other would see him head to Spain to join second tier outfit CA Osasuna. Funnily enough he chose the latter and spent the first part of the 1996/97 season sunning himself in the Segunda Division where he was joined soon after by ex-Middlesbrough midfielder Jamie Pollock.

However, Pamplona clearly didn’t offer the excitement it had promised the Wakefield-born defender and, in February 1997, Ullathorne returned to England and the Premier League to join the likes of Ian Marshall and Muzzy Izzet at the Leicester City side that had cruelly robbed Crystal Palace of a place in the Premier League (ok, I’ll drop it now). The Foxes were holding their own back in the top flight and were in the semi-finals of the League Cup. Ullathorne made his debut in said cup competition against Wimbledon but after only eleven minutes was departing the Filbert Street pitch with a broken leg and a dislocated ankle. Leicester went on to win the tournament while their new signing had to wait until the following season before he could return to action.

By the 1998/99 season his ability to play in a variety of positions saw Ullathorne establish himself as a first team regular at Filbert Street and, once again, the Foxes were flying in the League Cup. Ullathorne impressed in the final against Tottenham Hotspur, marking the tricky David Ginola out of the game, but had to settle for a runners-up medal as a last minute Alan Nielsen goal earned Spurs the trophy. Ullathorne’s performances throughout the season had attracted the attentions of former employers Osasuna, as well as a range of Premier League clubs, but a second serious leg break during a 2-2 draw with Chelsea in March 1999 ended his Leicester career and raised serious questions about his ability to carry on playing professionally. 

Despite being released at the end of the 1999/2000 season with a concerning injury record Ullathorne was snapped up by Sheffield United and went on to make 40 appearances for the Blades before injuries once again limited his involvement at Bramall Lane. A short spell at Northampton Town, where his last minute goal against Mansfield Town secured the Cobblers a place in the Third Division play-offs, was followed by two seasons at Notts County where he eventually called it a day in 2006. Five years later he qualified as a Licensed Player’s Agent and according to LinkedIn he now works as a Mercedes Benz dealer for “VIPs in the sports and entertainment industries”. Nice work if you can get it.

Back in 1996 two roads diverged in a yellow wood for Robert Ullathorne. As someone who witnessed quite a lot of what happened at Palace after that time it’s fair to say that an appearance in a League Cup final and a string of impressive Premier League performances weren’t on offer at Selhurst Park. Although injury curtailed Ullathorne’s time at Leicester I doubt he’ll be looking back at that decision to move to Spain and telling his tale with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence. Albeit briefly he took the road less travelled by and that made all the difference.