'Hawthorns Hulkamania'- The Rise of Aune Heggebo.

The centre forward position at the Albion has simply been revered over generations, a line of ascension only the very best of the best can claim to.

From WG Richardson to Ronnie Allen, Jeff Astle to Derek Kevan, SuperBob Taylor to Cyrille Regis, swashbuckling strikers have been part of The Baggies DNA.

And it’s a role we’ve been waiting to fill with a new hero for years..

Of course, there is no way a modest, softly spoken Norwegian could be anywhere near joining that pantheon of goalscoring legends, but Aune Heggebo is certainly making a huge impression.

A centre forward at long last playing in the true tradition of The Albion?

Aune Heggebo for sure is one of those players you instantly connect to and root for, but was signed fatefully and perhaps thankfully due to a Scotsman who decided to stay loyal to Hearts and not make his future home at The Hawthorns.

Aune has a fascinating background, born on July 29th 2001, sharing the same birthday as another classy Albion striker of similar intelligent technique, Jay Rodriguez, although ‘JayRod’ is a dozen years older than Aune.

Ironically, Heggebo in Norwegian loosely means ‘Hedgerow’, fitting in perfectly with a team whose ancestral home is The Hawthorns.

Aune was born in the truly stunning city of Bergen, a UNESCO World Heritage City [if any Baggies want to explore this incredible cultural haven and make friends proudly wearing their Heggebo 19 shirt, a trip to Bergen is an absolute must!

The help and interest I’ve kindly got from Norwegian locals writing this article I’m SO grateful for!]

Bergen is also known as Norway’s ‘Capital of the Fjords’, and is surrounded by seven mountains, famous for the demanding Bergen Marathon as well as many other hiking and biking events, it’s little wonder a striker of such natural athleticism and strength was born in an area so fertile with physical challenges.

Of course, Aune is not The Albion’s first Norwegian player.

We had the mercurial Stefan Johansen who played fourteen games for us on loan from Fulham in 2019 and of course the player who was so instrumental in the signing of Heggebo to the Baggies, the brilliant Torbjorn Heggem, probably one of our best value for money signings of recent decades.

The first Norwegian to play for The Albion was part of a three week trial and made one appearance in 1989, called Vetle Anderson, whose main claim to fame was a year prior as part of the Dunfermline team that stunningly beat a Rangers team in the Scottish Cup 2-0, that included Trevor Francis, Ray Wilkins and Graeme Souness..

Oddly enough, in a case of you can’t have too many Vetle’s, Albion had another, with a name few have ever recall, a left back with the exotic name of Vetle Stangeland-Jeffers, who was at The Albion from 1989 to 1991, though never made a first team appearance.

Bergen’s all time most famous player was a mercurial winger, affectionately known as ‘Kniksen’ [the juggler], his name Roald Jensen, who amongst other teams, plied his trade for Hearts in the 1960s in an era when Scotland had some of the best wingers in the world, Jinky Jimmy Johnstone for Celtic and of course, as any and all Baggies fans would know, Willie Johnston, originally for Glasgow Rangers.

Jensen is an absolute local legend, his statue does justice to his talent.

Jensen was also the youngest player to hit 25 caps for Norway and was presented with an accolade still given to Norwegian players who hit that esteemed quarter century mark, ‘The Gold Watch’. 

[Just 23 caps to go, Aune!]

Aune’s early days were spent playing for 

Bergen’s premier football team, SK Brann, [Sportsklubben Brann, the original name was Ski-od Fodboldklubben Brann].

The more you read about SK Brann, the more you warm to them, their vivid all red home kit reflects perfectly what Brann actually means, ‘Fire’.

The club was formed almost 120 years ago, through an inspiring background story of when a group of locals met in a pub, dissatisfied with the state of local football, and decided to form their own club.

Thus SK Brann was ble født

People from Bergen are fiercely proud and independent,  their fan base reflects this local adage, “We are not from Norway, we are from Bergen!”, the proud, lively and loyal supporters, the location of 110 years of competitive football, stymied only by the Nazi invasion and occupation of Norway in 1940.

I like the parallel between Albion and SK Brann as we are both connected under the umbrella of being a mutual ‘yoyo club’, though Brann took their bouncing between the divisions to the next level, with a perfect seven year series streak of promotions followed by relegations in the 1980’s.

SK Brann have a couple of Albion connections, Paul Scharner, as a characterful a midfielder as you can imagine, spent two seasons with the club, before becoming their then record transfer to Wigan Athletic, after being voted Player of the Year in 2005, five years before he joined West Brom.

The other Albion connection is that the former SK Brann Assistant Manager, Simon Hollyhead, incredibly grew up on the same West Bromwich street as Jeff Astle and his family and also Igor Balis where lived.

Aune joined SK Brann as a thirteen year old lad and after four years of 'age group football', made his first team debut at just seventeen years old, netting the fifth goal on his debut v IL Sandviken, but had to bide his time, playing just five first team games the following season, until a loan move to Øygarden, a team also based in the Norwegian area of Vestland, when he was 19 years old.

 Øygarden were a brand new football club in Norway, coached by an American called Bryant Lazaro and in their inaugural season in the Norwegian Second Division, although competitive, were unable to finish higher than 16th and instant relegation.

For Aune, a season of lower league football on loan was a season of growth and development, just as similar loan moves have been beneficial for the likes of Tom Fellows was for us, and indeed Ryan Mason, when as a player for Spurs [the most famous Mason loan spell was to Millwall with another Spurs prodigy who you may have heard of, Harry Kane].

For a teenager in a relegated team, the goal return of eight in thirty games was very respectable, and certainly gave Aune hope that he could thrive and have a long term future, unlike his loanee club,  Øygarden who went bankrupt and out of existence just eighteen months later.

Aune returned to SK Brann in 2021, a more mature player, his hulk tendencies developing and with the sale of the Ivorian forward, Daoda Bamba, it was to be a season of opportunity and differing challenges, even having roles in central midfield that can only, long term, have developed his overall game.

It’s no accident, Aune when dropping into deeper positions of play to see how adroit and natural he is linking up with runners around him.

Experience in a range of playing positions for a younger player can really pay off long term.  

It was to be ultimately a relegation season for SK Brann, a year labelled by the local media as ‘the  Brannus Horribils’, with startlingly similar Wolverhampton Wanderers type of form.

Zero points from their first six games. 

A late season improvement led to a finish of 14th from 16 teams in the Eliteserien and as such qualified for a relegation ‘play off’ v Jerv from the division below them.

In a tumultuous final, in a neutral stadium rather than two legs due to COVID restrictions, Heggebo put SK Brann 2-1 in the lead, but a raucous second half of extra time led to a 4-4 draw, forcing a penalty shoot out and a defeat 8-7. 

[Aune took the third penalty and scored].

Aune’s consistency and strength led him to gain a new four year contract, signed in November 2021, a month before relegation.

A season of lower level football suited ‘Bergen’s stolhet], [The Pride of Bergen], with just one defeat the following season, and records for points attained, goals scored and the loyal and passionate SK Brann fans stood by their team, breaking the second tier Norwegian football attendance record for the season.

For Aune it was to be his best ever season in terms of goals and appearances for SK Brann, 13 goals in 30 appearances.

Like all young players, Aune was no stranger to dips in form, 2023 season was a learning curve back at the highest level of Norwegian football, scoring just over one goal every ten games, 3 in 29.

SK Brann did however win the 2022 Norwegian Cup Final, sadly Aune was injured and not involved [delayed due to COVID] winning the trophy for only the 7th time in their existence and a place in the UEFA Conference League Play offs, [losing narrowly to AZ Alkmaar, ironically again on penalties].

2024 was probably the pivotal season in Aune’s career when ‘The Hulk’ really utilized his natural strength and started reaching his true playing potential.

For the second season in a row, SK Brann finished Runners Up in the Eliteserien, but for Aune injury woes gone, confidence  blossomed in an impressive 15 goals in 38 appearances including one against St.Mirren in the Conference League.

Just looking at the goals scored by Aune during that season is a huge indicator of the strengths of Aune, his strength holding off defenders, maintaining possession under intense pressure being a key part of that.

What was very obvious was Aune’s front post runs, getting the goal side of his marker, and cleanly finishing inviting crosses again with clinical regularity.

One touch is all it usually took.

The January 2025 Transfer Window was key to not only Aune’s long term future but also SK Brann’s.

Consistent, hard working goalscorers, aged 23, and getting better year on year are in high demand, Aune Heggebo being an archetypal investment type of player for ambitious clubs across Europe.

Bids were made, Championship promotion contending Sunderland were behind one of them.

The price offered was One Million Pounds.

For any Norwegian, the dream of playing in England runs deep, fueled by many decades of watching The Premier League or the former Division 1 for their parents and grandparents on television so the temptation for Aune to move on and thus SK Brann’s coffers to swell was obvious.

The take of Norwegian journalist, Anders Pamer regarding Heggebo being similar to his many suitors, 

“Heggebo is a classic English striker in so many ways”. 

But SK Brann saw the bigger picture, turning down all offers, hoping for a truer valuation for their talented prodigy, and it proved to be an incredibly judicious move.

Rather than complain about missing his opportunity for a future at the likes of Wearside in 2025, the last season of his contract, saw Aune again thriving, a goal almost every two games, which led to a July interest from West Brom.

And again, looking at Aune’s finishing for SK Brann on highlights reels, you can clearly see what The Albion were impressed by?

Cool, calm and clinical finishes, one touch early shots, precise headers taking chances economically was something Aune prides himself on, as well as his obvious formidable body strength.

At the time, the Albion were in a state of flux, with the seemingly unlikely but impending transfer of Mikey Johnston to Brazilian giants Flamengo for just under 5 Million and actively chasing Scottish striker, Lawrence Shankland, to fill the holes created by oft injured Josh Maja and Daryl Dike, moves that in hindsight make total sense.

As things turned out, Mikey would have to do his samba down the right hand side of  The Hawthorns, Flamengo pulling the plug on that transfer, and Shankland stayed true to his Hearts roots and committed again to his beloved team, through Derek McInnes's cajoling.

But Andrew Nestor and the Baggies scouting network had now seen enough in Heggebo to be convinced he was their man.

And being a Norwegian, for Nestor, why not, looking at the success of the Heggem signing the previous season?

The first Aune had heard of the Albion interest was through his agent, and in Heggebo’s own words, 

“I was excited immediately, as English football is so big in Norway”.

What certainly helped in the transfer when asked and elaborated by Aune, was his friend, Torbjorn Heggem’s positivity about the ethos of The Albion, the coaching, the traditions of the club and the local way of life.

Heggem lived it.

Heggem loved it.

On July 7th 2025, Aune signed for The Albion, a large investment in a striker unproven in England, and more so being a club in such dire financial straits, just under 5 Million Pounds, money the Albion could only really balance by selling Heggem and Tom Fellows a month later.

A five year contract for Heggebo was not only a statement of intent in building a future around this Scandinavian striker but also a shock..

The Albion just don’t do five year contracts..

The lasting impression Aune has made on his home town club is long lasting, gaining an almost 500% increase on the offer they turned down just seven months before, and smashing their existing incoming transfer record.

As ex SK Brann coach Carl-Erik Torp commented,

“The fact that Brann has pushed the price higher is very good business”.

But deeper than that is the legacy, Aune leaves behind, brilliantly put by Brann Director of Football, Per-Ove Ludvigsen, 

“Aune has truly inspired other Brann Academy players, you can go very far, with hard work over time”.

Dad is always a good person to listen to.

As Sindre Heggebo excitedly put it, 

“WBA has a good football culture, lots of cheers, Aune likes that!!”..

Wise words Mr. Heggebo..

Reading the SK Brann faithful’s takes sent to me, one of the most impressive but simplistic, was “Aune is a real man’.

A trust worthy character, and looking back, the obvious Albion need for new leaders was clearly filled with the signing of Aune Heggebo.

Transfers across the continent are one thing, but when you add in Aune had only lived in one city his entire life, Bergen, the adaptation to a life at West Brom was bound to be challenging, on and off the pitch. 

The club was smart rooming him on his initial pre-season trip to Austria with his good friend Torbjorn Heggem, and on reflection, signing for this ‘next level of football challenge’, Aune reflected the time for him was right to move.

“I’m still 23, it’s a good time to try new adventures and new opportunities.”

Interestingly, just like Aune will inspire future SK Brann players, it was Heggem, who Aune freely admitted, had inspired him to see what was possible from a big move from Scandinavia.

Culturally and professionally.

August 2025, The Baggies were off to a flying start, ten points from their first four Championship games, Aune finding his feet quickly at this level, also scoring his first Albion goal, a simple finish against Derby in the Carabao Cup.

But the wheels were to fall quickly off the Albion express, September and October being rough months, although Aune did get his first league goal away to ‘Boro.

This spell of eight scoreless games for Aune resulted in Albion averaging just a point per game and only five goals scored by the team, it did provoke questions from many of the fan base, including this scribe, about the amount of goals Aune would end up getting this season?

During this spell, Aune seemed to be searching for the ball deeper and deeper, his physicality was admirable, drawing fouls refs for some reason failed to see, and his all round effort could not be challenged, indeed Aune’s best moment was a fantastic assist for Iling Jr’s moment of Baggie adulation, his goal against Leicester.

Albion were however struggling to create chances from wide positions, a good piece of wing play often resulted in crosses, beyond the run of a central midfield whose inclination was not to make deep runs, or Aune, who was in fact playing simply, too deep..

The Oxford Utd win on 8th November was as welcoming for the team as it was Aune, breaking his goal drought, but also breaking open post game what he felt was the underlying issue with him impacting early at The Albion..

Aune’s words, 

“It’ll come. Now it’s getting to know each other and building up relationships.”, this summed up the situation, in hindsight, perfectly.

The Oxford strike was the opening of a floodgate of goals for a team like The Albion who has struggled to get a goalscorer to break 20 in a season for the past seven seasons, on loan Dwight Gayle and fellow July 29th celebrator Jay Rodriguez were Albion’s last two, with 24 and 23 respectively in 2018/19.

Aune's goal run of seven goals in his last seven games has shown the full range of his ability, left foot, right foot, a header that defied science against Queens Park Rangers, and a true ‘Hulkster’ goal on Friday, purposefully winning a 40/60 ball against Harrison Burrows of SUFC, setting up George Campbell for a delicious right wing cross that Heggebo himself finished first time with confident and clean aplomb.

No doubt a settled mind produces a happier life and performance and the Bergen boy’s now found love for Chicken Tikka Massala suggests he’s settling nicely and finding life in the area to his liking!

Being labelled ‘The Hulk’, has certain responsibilities, even in training, standards must be kept.

It was therefore informative how Polish international defender Krystian Bielik labelled Aune, “One of the strongest strikers I’ve ever had to face in training” and also raved about..  

"He has this quality for holding the ball up, he’s a great target for us to aim for.”

Rare and true praise.

Targets for Aune, if he keeps this rich vein of form, may well be looking at June and July in the US as his perfect way to spend a summer, with a decent chance of making the Norway World Cup squad.

In September 2025, Aune made his Norway International debut in what he describes as, 

“A surreal moment, I did not expect it”.

It may also have been a first, replacing a player Erling Haaland who’d scored five in a World Cup Qualifying game v Moldova and with the score 11-1.

It also might have been unique as the substitution being so late, Aune ended up with more National caps than times he touched the ball that night,  creating an irate reaction from many Norway fans, suggesting this was the wrong way for Coach Solbakken to give a debut, and Heggebo should have been introduced much earlier.

[Apparently throw-in patterns delayed Aune’s debut in Sobakken’s words..].

For Heggebo, ever the gent, just making his debut was all that counted, and he was able to attain his second cap the following month, entering the game in the 64th Minute for Jorgen Strand Larsen against New Zealand.

Creating this article it’s been fascinating hearing the takes of Heggebo as part of the World Cup squad, with locals in Norway, who know FAR more than me of course  about the options open to the national team.

The Drillos are spoiled for choice with Haaland, Sørloth, Strand Larsen and even Josh King perhaps more experienced and better options as strikers, but Aune is the younger than this quartet and in situational matches, needing physicality or seeing out games late on, certainly for experience and in a 26 man squad, hopefully Aune gets a place.

The experience Aune will get from being part of the 2026 World Cup will be invaluable, The Drillos can rest assured a lot of support from The Baggies faithful.

I, for one, will hopefully be in Boston for Norway’s opening game, if FIFA in their infinite wisdom selects me in the lottery for World Cup tickets..

And wearing a Heggebo shirt, if he’s in the squad or not, will be a given for me.

Or a pink Heggem 14 away shirt from last season!

Whether this is a short goalscoring burst is maintained or not, Aune has truly endeared himself to Baggies fans, as like all fans.

The bottom line is to give your all, play for the shirt, week in week out.

Aune has done that in spades.

Zero doubt.

Aune’s popularity now astrides two fan bases, and no doubt his love for his home town Bergen and SK Brann will never be diminished, while we at The Albion are also learning to respect the player and almost as importantly, whose always, in the words of an SK Brann fan,

“Down to earth, always sharing advice to young kids, in Bergen”,

 No doubt we are seeing the same humble and caring character clearly showing the traits that make Sindre Heggebo and his family proud, here at The Hawthorns.

Let’s hope Aune stays at the Albion for many years to come and is not in a rush to leave..

As Aune also shares his birthday also with Geddy Lee as well, if he keeps playing like this, Aune will take us closer to our hearts.