John Frederiksen is the definition of a cult hero.
He came from abroad after a protracted visa process with an eye-catching backstory and played only a handful of games before leaving – yet still managed to fire Rovers into a semi-final along the way.
Now he’s gone after the club confirmed ahead of Tuesday night’s transfer deadline that he’d been released by mutual consent.
We can confirm that John Frederiksen has been released from his Raith Rovers contract by mutual consent, with immediate effect
We’d like to thank John for his efforts during his time with us and wish him all the best for the future 💙https://t.co/DfOE9cELxs pic.twitter.com/TnOFjxFH9G
— Raith Rovers Football Club (@RaithRovers) January 31, 2023
At 6’8 he was destined to be continually referred to by his height and, inevitably, “Big John” became his nickname rather than “The Helicopter” given to him previously.
His height was rarely used, sadly.
In a defensive sense at set-pieces, yes, and the odd flick-on but there was never the chaos in the opposition box you’d expect from a striker of such stature.
It was disappointing, especially when delay after delay – due to additional paperwork required after Britain left the EU – kept pushing his debut back.
Few opportunities
Alarm bells were ringing during the 1-0 win at Arbroath when he failed to dominate Ricky Little – on the shorter side for a centre-back – in the air before being replaced in the second half with a slight hamstring issue.
He never recovered, really. Other than his heroics in the SPFL Trust Trophy quarter-final.
His final swansong. And he only got his chance because they were down to the bare bones.
With just 12 available outfield players, Frederiksen started up front in a much-changed Raith side which had just two outfielders on the bench.
🎥 | QPTV
Yesterday’s goal started with some intricate passing down the left wing, followed by determination by Liam Dick to win the ball back and get it forward. His pass found John Frederiksen’s feet, who instinctively slotted the ball into the bottom corner 🙌#YourRovers pic.twitter.com/UeSRY6A1R7
— Raith Rovers Football Club (@RaithRovers) January 12, 2023
He scored the only goal of the game against a Queen’s Park side that had also made a number of changes.
Big John dedicated his goal to the Rovers support that night, who had continued to back him despite rarely being seen before then.
He was used for a minute here and there between October – the month he signed – and his start at Queen’s Park in January and did not play more than 13 minutes in a single match.
Moving to another club can be difficult, having to move your life over to a new country can be extremely difficult and only having a few months to settle after little football in recent times is nigh-on impossible.
Whatever the reasons for Frederiksen falling out of favour, it was clear that he wasn’t flavour of the month during back-to-back home draws versus Arbroath and Morton in December.
He looked on from the bench as an unused sub in both while Rovers chased a goal.
Tempered praise
Manager Ian Murray did praise his striker after his goal in the quarter-final but still caveated it with constructive criticism – revealing that it had been made clear to the striker that more was needed.
A buzzing Frederiksen seemed to brush off those concerns and slightly contradict his manager’s account.
The Faroese had almost doubled his tally that night with a spectacular effort from around the centre circle.
Frederiksen almost scores again:
Days later the 27-year-old was back in the manager’s bad books, trying to recreate his spectacular long-distance effort as a second-half substitute away at Cove Rangers.
Rovers led 2-1 in injury-time and the home side were able to launch one last attack that they won a corner and scored from.
Frederkisen’s effort versus Cove:
Murray’s comments after the match appeared to signal that the end was nigh for John Frederiksen at Raith Rovers.
Mutual parting
Frederiksen was released by mutual consent on transfer deadline day and the parties went their separate ways amicably.
Murray this week told Courier Sport that the pair sat down for a chat on Tuesday.
Now the manager is happy to go with his leaner squad for the run-in but could dip back into the loan market this month if needed.
Big John and the fans will always have the goal versus Queen’s Park, which he dedicated to the supporters, who continued to cheer his every move even when the backing from his manager was clearly lacking.
Though he will now not even be able to watch on forlornly from the bench as his now-former side lines up in that semi-final on Wednesday.
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