Blackburn Rovers swept up Ewood Park icon after Liverpool spell – He cost nothing | OneFootball

Blackburn Rovers swept up Ewood Park icon after Liverpool spell – He cost nothing | OneFootball

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Football League World

·23. August 2025

Blackburn Rovers swept up Ewood Park icon after Liverpool spell – He cost nothing

Artikelbild:Blackburn Rovers swept up Ewood Park icon after Liverpool spell – He cost nothing

Blackburn Rovers brought in an iconic goalkeeper in Brad Friedel on a free transfer from Liverpool.

In an era of exceptional goalkeeping and goalkeepers in the Premier League, Blackburn Rovers secured one of the best on a free transfer when they brought in Brad Friedel on a free transfer from Liverpool.


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Friedel had started his career in Denmark with Brondby before spending a season in Turkey with Galatasaray, but eventually returned to the United States to sign for the Columbus Crew.

In 1997, Friedel joined Liverpool but he only managed 31 appearances across three and a bit seasons with the Reds, due to competition from David James and Sander Westerveld.

In 2000, whilst in the second-tier of English football, Friedel’s stalled career came to life under the management of his former Galatasaray boss Graeme Souness, with a move to Blackburn Rovers on a free transfer.

Brad Friedel became one of the Premier League’s best at Blackburn Rovers

Friedel arrived at Ewood Park in November 2000 after the sale of Steve Harkness to Sheffield Wednesday in the summer and the declining performances of John Filan.

Friedel arrived at a Rovers side that had endured a woeful start to the autumn, but had begun to turn things around, yet still leaky at the back with just six clean sheets in their opening 17 matches of the campaign.

On debut, Friedel kept a clean sheet against Wolverhampton Wanderers and pulled off a couple of excellent saves to ensure the Lancastrians edged past Wolves by a goal to nil.

He then marshalled the Blackburn defence back to the Premier League, gaining automatic promotion from the First Division with 13 clean sheets following that one against Wolves. Blackburn also made it to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup that year.

Friedel had immediately established himself as a cult hero and a key man for Blackburn, and that was only reinforced within a season of being back in the top-flight.

Artikelbild:Blackburn Rovers swept up Ewood Park icon after Liverpool spell – He cost nothing

Blackburn went on to finish tenth in their first season back in the Premier League, but they qualified for the UEFA Cup as a result of being shock winners of the 2001/02 League Cup.

Blackburn, who had beaten Oldham Athletic, Middlesbrough, Manchester City, Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday on their way to the final at the Millennium Stadium, edged past Tottenham Hotspur by two goals to one, with Friedel being named Man of the Match for the final.

Friedel was the bedrock of Blackburn’s rise back

Blackburn had quickly risen back to the top-flight and into European competition, and he remained the foundation for which their re-establishment of a Premier League force was built.

Over the next few years, Blackburn finished sixth on two occasions and seventh in the 2007/08 season in what would prove to be Friedel’s final campaign at Ewood Park.

In the 2002/03 campaign, the year after his heroics in the League Cup final and just two seasons after gaining promotion back to the Premier League, Friedel was the key player for Rovers as they finished sixth in the top-flight, with the United States international earning the most clean sheets in the division and also getting into the PFA Team of the Year.

He even went on to score a goal in the 2003/04 campaign, equalising in second-half stoppage-time against Charlton Athletic at The Valley; one of six goalkeepers to have scored in the Premier League.

Following Friedel’s departure, former England international goalkeeper Paul Robinson arrived and performed well at Blackburn, but Friedel leaving coincided with the decline of Blackburn and, after two 15th-placed finishes sandwiching Sam Allardyce leading them to tenth in 2010, Blackburn were eventually relegated back down in 2012.

Artikelbild:Blackburn Rovers swept up Ewood Park icon after Liverpool spell – He cost nothing

With Rovers having spent the next 13 years outside of the top-flight, Friedel went on to continue to flourish towards the end of his career, firstly as a key man for Aston Villa and then as a respected squad man at Tottenham Hotspur.

For no transfer fee, Blackburn brought in someone who made over 350 appearances for them, steadied the defensive ship to lead them to promotion, play an instrumental role in winning them a major honour and also played a defining role in establishing themselves as an upwardly mobile top-flight club.

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