ANDY PETTERSON conceded two goals in the first seven minutes of his Albion debut but still picked up the man of the match award when managing to deny visitors Walsall any further goals in a 2-0 defeat.
He pulled off a brilliant point-blank save on the stroke of half-time to deny goalscorer Jorge Leitao a second goal and later blocked the same player’s angled drive. Steve Corica had opened the scoring for the Saddlers.
The game on August Bank Holiday Monday in 2002 was part of a disastrous run under new manager Martin Hinshelwood. In only eight games as a stand-in for injured Michel Kuipers, Petterson conceded eighteen goals, including four against his old club, Portsmouth, in only his second game.
He shipped another four in a game at home to Gillingham, one of which the matchday programme described as “the most embarrassing moment of Petterson’s long career”.
With the score 3-2, and Albion committing everyone forward, including the goalkeeper, in search of an equaliser, when 10-man Gillingham broke on a counter attack, backpedalling Petterson fell over giving Gills striker Kevin James an open goal to notch a fourth for the visitors.
Petterson only appeared once under Hinshelwood’s successor, Steve Coppell, when Kuipers had been sent off in the 89th minute of a home game against Bradford City. Paul Brooker was withdrawn and the sub goalie went between the sticks, although his first involvement was to pick the ball out of the net, Andy Gray having scored from the penalty kick awarded for the infringement that saw Kuipers dismissed.
In pouring rain, Albion – and Petterson – clung on throughout five added minutes for a 3-2 win, bringing to an end a 14-game winless league run. Bobby Zamora scored two penalties for the Seagulls and new arrival Simon Rodger, a loyal Coppell lieutenant, curled in a beauty from outside the area.
Although he was a non-playing sub on two further occasions, Petterson was let go. In a recent interview, he said he had been nursing a recurring calf injury during his time with the Albion.
Albion were the 12th of a remarkable 21 clubs the Aussie ‘keeper joined on loan or permanently.
Wolverhampton Wanderers were another stopping off point for the perennial back-up ‘keeper from Fremantle and it was one of his regrets that he only had a four-month loan spell at Molineux, having previously spurned a two-year deal with the Black Country side to make what turned out to be a career-damaging move to Pompey.
Instead of building on a career that had shown signs of promise at Charlton Athletic, Petterson flitted from club to club without ever putting down roots.
Born in Fremantle, Western Australia, on 26 September 1969, he was still only a teenager when he arrived in the UK and signed for Luton Town, where he spent four seasons.
The Hatters Heritage website recalls: “Andy was so desperate to make a name for himself in the English professional game that he paid his own passage to take up a trial at Luton. Fortunately, his gamble paid off as he was offered a contract at Kenilworth Road in 1988 although he had to wait until the start of the 1992-93 season before making his League debut.
“Impressing in pre-season with his shot stopping ability and quick reflexes, Andy was ever present for the first 14 games but a calamitous performance during a 3-3 draw at Cambridge effectively put paid to his Luton career.”
Petterson joined Alan Curbishley’s Addicks for £85,000 in July 1994, was their player of the season in 1996-97 in the First Division and played for them in the Premier League.
But he was generally no. 2 to Sasa Ilic, and subsequently dropped down to third choice behind Simon Royce, another goalkeeper who spent time with the Seagulls. The situation prompted Petterson to join struggling Portsmouth on loan in November 1998.
“Portsmouth were in financial trouble and down at the bottom of the table,” he recalled in an interview with the Argus. “I went there for three months and everything went very well. Then in the summer I was out of contract at Charlton.
“Portsmouth were one of three clubs in for me and they offered me quite a good deal, so I decided to sign for them. Everything went well under Alan Ball for the first six months, but he got the sack and it was downhill for me from there.
“We had another four managers (Tony Pulis, Steve Claridge, Graham Rix and Harry Redknapp) in the three years I was there and my face never fitted really. It was just unfortunate I went there. I was happy with the way it started, and it was a good club to be at, but it just wasn’t meant to be for me.”
In an extended interview with Neil Allen of The News, Portsmouth, in June 2020, Petterson reflected on his missed opportunity to join Wolves instead of Pompey, when he had been released by Charlton.
“Wolves’ boss Colin Lee was interested,” he said. “I was in Australia and flew back to England ahead of signing at Molineux on a two-year deal on the Monday afternoon.
“Then, late Sunday, my agent called. Milan Mandaric had taken over Pompey and they wanted to talk on Monday morning.
“That was the club I wanted to join, I had familiarity there. I signed a three-year deal. If the club had been taken over 24 hours later, the move would never have happened and I would have ended up at Wolves.”
Petterson told The News: “It was the beginning of the end when I went back to Pompey. My career never really recovered. I was kind of a journeyman before that, but at least was signed to a parent club and sent on loan to places.
“After moving to Pompey permanently it was six months here, three months there. It was the beginning of the end for my career. I guess everything happens for a reason – and for some reason it happened to me.”
Ipswich (three times), Swindon, Bradford, Plymouth, Colchester, Wolves, Torquay and West Brom were all temporary moves for the Australian stopper. After his short stint in Sussex, he also went to Bournemouth, Rushden and Diamonds, Southend, Walsall and Notts County.
“I always had belief in my ability and always wanted to play,” he said. “I think I was a good goalkeeper, although maybe mentally didn’t have the belief in myself enough.
“I’m a bit of a laid-back, casual sort of guy. Sometimes you have to be that pushy arrogant sort of person for the coach to take notice of you a bit more. I tried to do it, as a footballer you have to be a bit of an actor, but it just wasn’t in my nature.”
Referring to the fact he had 16 years as a professional footballer in the UK, he added: “That’s what gives me the belief that I was a decent goalkeeper. But something wasn’t quite there for me to go to the next level, I guess.”
He eventually only got a run of regular games when he returned to Australia and played for Newcastle Jets and then ECU Joondalup.
After his playing days were over, he became a goalkeeper coach for several clubs, including Bali United in Indonesia for a while. In August 2022, he was appointed goalkeeper coach at East Bengal FC.
“I have experienced the highs, the lows, all that kind of stuff, so can relate to goalkeepers,” he told Allen. “I’ve been through plenty.”
In parallel lines 