When Elijah Just signed for Motherwell from AC Horsens for an undisclosed fee, many were sceptical about whether the Kiwi’s technical style would survive Scottish football’s physicality. The SPFL Premiership has never been kind to players whose game is built on close control rather than power, and question marks arose over whether Just had the strength to compete.
It did not take long for those doubts to be assuaged.
The Kiwi lit up the league – twisting, turning and finding space where none existed. With bravery and skill reminiscent of James McFadden, Just quickly became an integral part of Jens Berthel Askou’s revamped Motherwell side.
This is the story of how Elijah Just became a World Cup record-breaker and earned Motherwell a club-record fee through his move to Swansea City.
Known to few: pre-Motherwell career
Just’s career path was an unusual one. In his youth he played in New Zealand for Team Wellington, a club now dissolved. In early 2018 he trialled with Dutch outfit PEC Zwolle, who elected not to offer him a contract – reportedly because doing so would have required paying him a non-EU salary above the club’s usual threshold.
He returned home to play for Eastern Suburbs, winning the New Zealand Football Championship and scoring seven goals in 20 games. That form earned him a move to Danish side FC Helsingør, where over three years he made 71 appearances and scored 13 goals. From
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