Another curious tale from the world of football, Back of the Net's John Foster has the details...
John Arne Riise has been expressing his surprise at learning that his brother, Bjorn Helge Riise, has been his team-mate at Fulham for nearly nine months.
John Arne, 31, admitted heâÂÂd had no idea his sibling had played over thirty matches for the West London club since 2009, until yesterday, when they unexpectedly found themselves sitting next to each other in a tactical briefing ahead of FulhamâÂÂs trip to Bolton on Saturday.
âÂÂI looked up and this guy was staring at me,â the elder Riise explained. âÂÂI asked him what he wanted and he said, âÂÂitâÂÂs me, itâÂÂs Bjorn Helge.â Then I recognised him!âÂÂ
âÂÂTo think, weâÂÂve been working at the same place since July, but this is the first time weâÂÂve actually come face-to-face. ItâÂÂs really an incredible coincidence.âÂÂ
Bjorn Helge Riise, 28, was equally unaware of his brotherâÂÂs presence at the club.
The Riises later realised they'd been parking next to eachother for six months
âÂÂI donâÂÂt really read the papers, so IâÂÂd had no idea John had signed,â he told FourFourTwo.com. âÂÂI thought I vaguely recognised him from somewhere, but with me being a right winger and him being a left back, we just didnâÂÂt get much chance to interact.âÂÂ
âÂÂSometimes our parents would send emails telling me what JohnâÂÂs been up to, but they were always going on about his long-distance free kicks, and asking me why I couldnâÂÂt do long-distance free kicks like his, so I stopped opening them. To be honest, I thought he was still in Rome.âÂÂ
âÂÂLast week Mum asked me how John Arne was getting on. I was like, how the hell should I know? She must think IâÂÂm still upset about that time when he borrowed my bike and crashed it into a fjord.âÂÂ
The other Fulham players had apparently assumed the Riise brothers were aware of one anotherâÂÂs presence. John Arne recalled being welcomed to the Cottagers by club captain and ex-Liverpool colleague Danny Murphy.
âÂÂWhen Danny asked me if I was looking forward to catching up with BH, I assumed he meant Brede Hangeland, with him being Norwegian, like me.âÂÂ
âÂÂOr Broadcasting House, which was my favourite radio show when I played for Liverpool.âÂÂ
âÂÂWhen I explained that I stopped listening to it after Eddie Mair left to present PM, Danny looked confused. Now I know why.âÂÂ
The Riise brothersâ reunion is said to have lasted ten minutes, before Bjorn Helge brought up his missing bicycle, and John Arne put him in a headlock and started flicking his ears. The pair then had to be separated by Martin Jol.
