Vemund Brekke Skard became the 50th overseas player to make a senior appearance for the Blues when he came on as a late sub at Crystal Palace on Saturday. Skard is also the first Norwegian ever to play for Town, the 19th non-British or Irish nationality to represent the club.

This season has seen six overseas players make their debuts, Skard, Ricardo Fuller, Jaime Peters, Mark Fish, Jimmy Juan and Sito, amongst an overall 18 players making their first appearances for Town, surely a record for one season (with the obvious exception of the club's inaugural year).

Players like Terry Butcher (born Singapore) and Neil Gregory (born Zambia) have not been included in the list as they are to all intents and purposes English, while the South African-born Colin Viljoen and Mich D'Avray are there despite taking British nationality during their spells with the club.

The 50 (unless we've missed someone) starts with South African forward Willie Havenga back in the fifties when foreign players were a rarity, through to the Dutchman in the late seventies and on to the Premiership years with overseas stars two-a-penny.

The 50 Foreigners
1. Willie Havenga (Town player between 1952-53)
2. Gerard Baker (1963-68)
3. Colin Viljoen (1967-78)
4. Bruce Twamley (1973-75)
5. Arnold Mühren (1978-82)
6. Frans Thijssen (1979-83
7. Mich D'Avray (1979-90)
8. Frank Yallop (1983-96)
9. Romeo Zondervan (1984-92)
10. Andy Bernal (1987-88)
11. Ulrich Wilson (1987-88)
12. Craig Forrest (1988-97)
13. Sergei Baltacha (1989-90)
14. Vlado Bozinoski (1992-94)
15. Bontcho Guentchev (1992-95)
16. Andrew Petterson (1993-95)
17. Mauricio Taricco (1994-98)
18. Claus Thomsen (1994-96)
19. Adrian Paz (1994-95)
20. Gus Uhlenbeek (1995-98)
21. Bobby Petta (1996-99)
22. Earl Jean (1996)
23. Niklas Gudmundsson (1997)
24. David Johnson (1997-2000)
25. Marco Holster (1998-99)
26. Manuel Thetis (1998-2000)
27. Samassi Abou (1998)
28. Fabian Wilnis (1999- )
29. Jonas Axeldal (1999-2000)
30. Martijn Reuser (2000-2004)
31. Hermann Hreidarsson (2000-03)
32. Amir Karic (2000-01)
33. Nabil Abidallah (2001-03)
34. Pablo Couñago (2001-2005)
35. Finidi George (2001-02)
36. Matteo Sereni (2001-03)
37. Sixto Peralta (2001-02)
38. Thomas Gaardsøe (2001-03)
39. Ulrich Le Pen (2001-03)
40. Drissa Diallo (2003-05)
41. Georges Santos (2003-04)
42. Shefki Kuqi (2003-05)
43. Jason De Vos (2004- ).
44. Daniel Karbassiyoon (2004-05)
45. Jaime Peters (2005- )
46. Jimmy Juan (2005- )
47. Sito (2005- )
48. Mark Fish (2005)
49. Ricardo Fuller (2006- )
50. Vemund Brekke Skard (2006- )

Where They Came From
10 from Holland: Mühren, Thijssen, Wilson, Zondervan, Uhlenbeek, Petta, Holster, Wilnis, Reuser, Abidallah
5 from Canada: Twamley, Yallop, Forrest, De Vos, Peters
4 from France: Thetis, Le Pen, Santos, Juan
4 from South Africa: Havenga, Viljoen, D'Avray, Fish
3 from Australia: Pettersson, Bozinoski, Bernal
2 from USA: Baker, Karbassiyoon
2 from Sweden: Gudmundsson, Axeldal
2 from Argentina: Taricco, Peralta
2 from Denmark: Thomsen, Gaardsøe
2 from Spain: Couñago, Sito
2 from Jamaica: Johnson, Fuller
1 from Soviet Union: Baltacha
1 from Bulgaria: Guentchev
1 from Uruguay: Paz
1 from Ivory Coast: Abou
1 from Iceland: Hreidarsson
1 from Slovenia: Karic
1 from St Lucia: Jean
1 from Nigeria: George
1 from Italy: Sereni
1 from Guinea: Diallo
1 from Finland: Kuqi
1 from Norway: Skard

Compiled by Geir Ingvald Jacobsen and Philip Ham.

Photo: Action Images

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