Jan Aage Fjortoft may not be one of the superstar names that fans associate with Middlesbrough’s side in the mid-nineties, but he certainly played a key role in transforming the club to what you see today.

After a prolific spell with Swindon Town, the Norwegian international secured a move to Teesside in March 1995 and helped the side over the line as they were promoted to the Premiership.

Fjortoft made history by scoring in Middlesbrough’s first ever game at the newly-built Riverside Stadium in August 1995, as well as getting on the score sheet on the debut of the club’s newest Brazilian star, Juninho.

The powerful striker formed a strong partnership with ‘the little fella’, and played a key role in helping Bryan Robson’s side to the next level as they welcomed high profile additions such as Nick Barmby, Emerson and Fabrizio Ravenelli.

Now a successful Television presenter on the continent, Fjortoft spoke exclusively to Football League World to discuss his time on Teesside in what was one of the most exciting times of his successful playing career.

What were your first impressions of Middlesbrough after signing?

“First of all, when I was playing for Swindon I was linked with different clubs and I was always hoping for a Premiership team but I also knew that if someone came in where I knew I wanted to be part of that project then I wanted to listen to them very closely.

“When Bryan Robson called at that time, he had me at hello!

“I knew I wanted to be a part of that project. We (Swindon Town) played in the same division as Middlesbrough – I think I might have scored a couple of goals against them – so I knew what was going on there.

“When I spoke to them they talked about the vision to build the club, the building of the Riverside Stadium and I wanted to be a part of that.

“I knew my history, I’m a football fan so I’d researched Middlesbrough and knew what kind of players they’d put forward over the years so I knew I was moving to a football area.

“Everyone had told me about the culture of football in the area so I wanted to be a part of that project.”

You started the first ever game at the Riverside Stadium and scored as well, what was that like?

“I lived at Wilton Castle and I lived in the castle and people talk about it saying ‘you were the player who lived in a castle!’ because it was a part of our sponsor at that time so me and my family lived there.

“I saw how the stadium rose and the expectations of having a crowd like that was enormous but I’m happy I was part of the Ayresome Park era. I can say that I scored there and that I played there for Middlesbrough.

“That was a part of the history as well, but it was a fantastic time.

“People were so positive and enthusiastic around Middlesbrough and it was just fantastic.”

Was it the favourite goal you scored at Middlesbrough?

“ No, the favourite was the goal against Leeds on Juninho’s debut.

“There was a lot of attention around Juninho coming to the club and I grew up as a little kid supporting Leeds United.

“In my hometown it was Manchester United, Liverpool or Leeds and I followed because the first game I remember watching at club level was Leeds against Bayern Munich in the 1975 European Cup final.

“I scored against Leeds and chipped John Lukic so that was a good goal.

“When I arrived at Middlesbrough it was funny because in 1976-77 when Joe Jordan and Gordon McQueen left Leeds United to join Manchester United. On my first day at Ayresome Park after being the club-record signing the first person I saw was Gordon McQueen so I got down on my knees and sort of praised him!”

What was it like when Juninho signed and what was it like playing alongside him?

“He’s the best player I’ve ever played with.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to play with some great players in four different countries and for the national team, but Juninho is the best.

“I remember when I came back to Wilton Castle there was security all over the road and I asked them to let me through and they said they couldn’t because Middlesbrough are presenting a player – I said ‘I am a Middlesbrough player!’

“I came into this room with a security guard and there was the biggest table in the world, a lot of people around and there at the end of the table was Juninho.

“It’s quite interesting because we played with myself up front and Craig Hignett alongside me and we functioned very well.

“As for Juni we had a problem – not with him because he was a fantastic player who could do great things on his own but we lost that fluency going forward so it took some time to adjust to him, or rather for him to adjust to us!

“Juninho was the sort of player that you could just give the ball to and sometimes that pace could take away from your responsibilities in games.

“I remember after I moved to Sheffield United I watched the game against Leeds in which Middlesbrough were relegated, and they would give him the ball but not take responsibilty for it.

“He was unbelievable and that’s why that goal in his first game, the 1-1 with Leeds United, is such a good memory because we didn’t speak each other’s language but we could communicate with our eyes and our runs.

“If you could give him the ball he would find you.

“I always call him ‘the football Harry Potter’ because he was a magician.

“He was so cool that when he came to English football and came to Middlesbrough which is a working class town with a proud history of people working hard, and in the middle of our team was this little magiician. It was very cool and it all fitted.”

Was Juninho your favourite teammate?

“Juninho didn’t speak a lot of English but we had a very good team atmosphere at that time. I think that was the main thing.

“We had a good picture of different age groups, experience. We had a lot of British players – in fact I was one of the only foreigners in that dressing room, but I’d played in four countries to I adapted quite well to that environment.

“The player stuck together a lot. We went out in Yarm together and when we got promoted it was more or less before the internet so we had to listen to a bad radio line to listen to Stoke City to find out that we were promoted.

“It was unbelievable to think that not only were we going into the Premiership but we were going into the new stadium as well.

“There have been some great moments at Middlesbrough with the cup finals and winning a cup final and playing in Europe but that was a really good atmosphere.

“It was an exciting time because we were all excited about the situation.

“There are cliches where people say ‘we were a big team’ but at that time we were an unbelievable team. We were going places and we knew it.

“We knew they would invest more and at one point I was the record signing, and then Nick Barmby was, and then Juninho and then Ravenelli.

“That time, the last months of the first division campaign and the first season in the Premiership, we were kind of innocent and just went for it.

“We went to Arsenal and drew 1-1 there, I think, and it was just great.”

How big an impact did Bryan Robson have on the team?

“One of my first games I played with Bryan Robson and Viv Anderson. They showed themselves as an example of what was possible to achieve in a career.

“For Middlesbrough you need that kind of a manager. For clubs at any level you need that sort of player if you’re going to take those next steps and he wanted to take those next steps as a manager so it was very wise to bring Bryan Robson in.

“He was Captain Marvel; he was captain of Man United and like I said, he had me at hello when he called me and said ‘hello, it’s Bryan Robson’.

“So it was great and he was sort of a mirror of the development.

“We knew that if Bryan Robson goes there he won’t go for average performances, he’ll go there because this project has got something in it.

“So he was very, very important.”

What impact did Fabrizio Ravenelli’s signing have on your Boro career?

“It’s part of the game. You always know that the club can sign someone to replace you.

“I scored six or seven goals and had some injuries but that’s not good enough, you need to score more goals and I knew that.

“Moving up to the Premiership with Middlesbrough we were always going to be looking for new players and they signed Ravenelli and a young Danish striker called Mikkel Beck, and we played with one up front so I knew it was going to be crowded.

“I was there for a while looking to get my chance and get some games.

“I got some goals and scored in my last cup game but playing for Norway and being a Norwegian international I was desperate to get games and although I was coming close to 30 I wanted to play football.

“I got the chance to play and instead of just hanging around and being on the bench I wanted to play football and that’s why I left for Sheffield United.

“It was quite funny because I still lived in Middlesbrough for another six months and I was joking about that because Howard Kendall, my new manager at Sheffield United, he was a bit old school and we didn’t train a lot so I spent more time in Middlesbrough when I played for Sheffield United than I was when I played for Boro!

“I trained with the boys and did more and more work on the TV and I was fortunate to follow Middlesbrough in their cup campaigns.

“I kept in touch with the boys and some of them I’m still in touch with.”