THOMAS GRAVESEN
CLUBS
1995-97 Vejle Boldklub
1997-2000 Hamburg
2000-05 Everton
2005-06 Real Madrid
2006-08 Celtic
2007-08 Everton (loan)
COUNTRY
1998-2006 Denmark
We’re a mile or so from Goodison Park when cars on both sides of Breck Road screech to a halt. Around here, Thomas Gravesen literally stops traffic.
Not that he gave traffic much choice. While FourFourTwo remembered the Green Cross Code and waited cautiously for a safe moment to cross, the Dane just ambled confidently into the road. He knew full well that drivers wouldn’t dare to knock down a 6ft skinhead, let alone when the thought struck them, ‘Hang on, isn’t that Tommy Gravesen?’
The former Everton midfielder laughs as he looks back at FFT, still rooted to the pavement. “You haven’t been to Liverpool before, have you?” he jokes. “It’s OK, I’ll just wait over here!”
The 43-year-old has mostly lived in Las Vegas since his retirement, amid unconfirmed reports that he’d raked in a fortune thanks to smart business investments, or even poker. But he is beaming about his return to Merseyside today, even as we ask him to pose for photos in a less than glamorous side street. “I love being back here,” he says.
Mainly based in Denmark these days, Gravesen is in Liverpool to support Change Incorporated’s mission to get the UK to quit cigarettes, meeting one of the players from Sunday League side AFC Townsend at the Cabbage Hall pub. “I hate smoking because of the effect it has on family and friends, and we found a group of lads in Liverpool who were keen to be part of the project,” explains Gravesen. “Before I started my career, players in the Danish national team like Preben Elkjaer would smoke – now we know how bad it is for you. I’ve been over to see the lads here four or five times, and they’ve all quit smoking. I want to support them.”
For Gravesen, it’s a chance to repay the support he received during a playing career that, as he settles into a pub sofa, he can’t wait to discuss with FFT...
Mike Tyson asked for your shirt after a World Cup qualifier against Iceland in 2001, then wore it afterwards. Do you know if he still has it?
I don’t know if he still has it – I hope he has, or else… [] Tyson was in Denmark because he was fighting a guy called Brian Nielsen, who was our star in the heavyweights. We were playing the last game to qualify for the 2002 World Cup – we had
