Bjørn Tore Kvarme never scored in 54 competitive appearances for Liverpool. Then, nearly two decades after he left, he came back to Anfield and hit the last goal of a ten-goal thriller.
That is a fitting way to remember the quick, tough Norwegian. He arrived on a Bosman free transfer, quickly established himself in Roy Evans’s side and would eventually return to Anfield in a Liverpool Legends shirt.
A Trondheim lad at Rosenborg
Kvarme was born in Trondheim on 17 June 1972 and played for the local club Utleira before joining Rosenborg in 1991. Known to his team-mates as “Beto”, he could play at centre-half or right-back.
He arrived just as Rosenborg were becoming the dominant force in Norwegian football, and he collected a string of league titles there.
The night in Milan
The biggest night of his Rosenborg career came on 4 December 1996. Rosenborg needed to win at San Siro to reach the Champions League quarter-finals, against a Milan side with Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi and Roberto Baggio in it.
Kvarme started in defence. Harald Brattbakk put Rosenborg ahead, Christophe Dugarry equalised just before half-time, and in the 70th minute Vegard Heggem, who would later join Liverpool himself, headed the winner. Rosenborg won 2-1, one of the great nights in Norwegian club football.
By the time they met Juventus in the quarter-finals that March, Kvarme was a Liverpool player.
Pinched from under Stabæk’s nose
His contract was running out, and under the new Bosman ruling he was free to leave. He looked set to join Stabæk in Norway, but Roy Evans stepped in, and Kvarme signed for Liverpool on 9 January 1997. A fellow Norwegian, Stig Inge Bjørnebye, was already at Anfield.
His international clearance came through just in time for him to make his debut on 18 January 1997, against Aston Villa at Anfield. It was a lucky break for another young Red too. Jamie Carragher had been due to play at centre-half, but with Kvarme cleared and Patrik Berger ill, he moved into midfield for his first start and headed the opening goal in a 3-0 win.
A flying start
Kvarme slotted straight in. He started in the side for the rest of the 1996-97 season, missing only the European games because he had already played for Rosenborg in Europe that season. Liverpool were in the title race until late on and finished fourth.
He was first choice again at the start of 1997-98. On 8 October 1997, still a Liverpool player, he won his only Norway cap, in a 0-0 friendly against Colombia in Oslo.
Losing his place
The second half of his Liverpool career was harder. A couple of high-profile mistakes went against him, and after a 3-1 home defeat by Coventry in the FA Cup third round on 3 January 1998, Evans left him out.
He was never a regular again. When Gérard Houllier signed Sami Hyypiä and Stéphane Henchoz in the summer of 1999, the writing was on the wall, and at the end of August 1999 Kvarme moved to Saint-Étienne. He left with 54 appearances, 45 of them in the Premier League.
Toshack again, and San Sebastián
In France he became a regular in the Saint-Étienne defence. In October 2000 a familiar face arrived as manager: former Liverpool striker John Toshack. Toshack left for Real Sociedad in January 2001, and Kvarme followed him to San Sebastián that summer.
In 2002-03 he was part of the Sociedad side that pushed Real Madrid all the way and finished as La Liga runners-up, a team that included a young Xabi Alonso and another old Liverpool man, Sander Westerveld. The next season he was back in the Champions League.
Home to Rosenborg
After a short spell at Bastia, Kvarme went home to Rosenborg in 2005. He played on there until the summer of 2008, when he finally hung up his boots.
A goal at last
On 24 March 2018 he was back at Anfield for the Liverpool Legends against Bayern Munich’s Legends, raising money for the LFC Foundation. It was a mad afternoon. Liverpool went 3-0 up, Bayern hit back, and Xabi Alonso, playing the second half for the Germans, put Bayern 5-4 ahead.
Then, in the 87th minute, Kvarme, of all people, lashed the ball into the top corner at the Kop end. It was the last of the ten goals, and it earned Liverpool’s Legends a 5-5 draw.
Once a Red
Kvarme was never a Liverpool great. But for a year he was a fixture in Evans’s side, one of those unfamiliar names who arrived without a transfer fee and made an immediate impression.
Fifty-four appearances and no goals for Liverpool, and then, at 45, a goal at Anfield at last.
