Ståle Solbakken

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Personal information
Ståle Solbakken

Date of birth	February 27, 1968 (age 39)
Place of birth	Kongsvinger, Norway
Playing position	Manager (former midfielder)
Club information
Current club	F.C. Copenhagen
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
0000–1989 1989–1994 1994–1997 1997–1998 1998–2000 2000–2001	Grue I.L. Ham-Kam Lillestrøm S.K. Wimbledon F.C. AaB F.C. Copenhagen	100 (35) 099 (34) 006 0(1) 081 (13) 014 0(4)
National team
1994–2000	Norway	058 0(9)
Teams managed
2002–2005 2006–present	Ham-Kam F.C. Copenhagen
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Ståle Solbakken (born February 27, 1968) is a Norwegian football coach and a former player. He is the head coach of the Danish club F.C. Copenhagen. He was an important player at the Norwegian national team during the end of the 1990s. He has 58 caps and 9 goals on the national team. He was also part of the squads for the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championship.

He started his career in Norway, playing for lower league team Grue I.L., where he stayed for five years. In 1989, he went to Hamarkameratene in the secondary Norwegian 1st Division, with whom he won promotion for the top-flight Tippeligaen championship. He went on to Tippeligaen rivals Lillestrøm S.K. in 1994, and was subsequently called up for the Norwegian national team. He had a short stay abroad at English club Wimbledon F.C. in 1997. In his six league games for Wimbledon, Solbakken scored one goal and was twice named "man of the match", but he was banned from club training by manager Joe Kinnear shortly thereafter.

He was sold to Danish side Aalborg BK the same year. At Aalborg, he became the undisputed team leader. He guided the club to the 1999 Danish Superliga championship, as well as the final of the 1999 Danish Cup. He was awarded as player of the year in Danish football in 2000. Solbakken let it be known that he wanted a move to a bigger league, but he was eventually sold to Danish league rivals F.C. Copenhagen. His career ended brutally there. During training March 13, 2001 Solbakken had a heart attack. He was pronounced clinically dead at the scene, but was revived fifteen minutes later in the ambulance. He survived the episode and had a pacemaker operated, but he was forced to retire as a footballer.

The next year, Solbakken started his career as a coach at the Norwegian club Hamarkameratene in Norwegian first division. There he had great success and the club won the league and was promoted the first season. The next season Hamarkameratene managed 5th place in Norwegian Premier League. Late 2005 he was named as new manager for his former club F.C. Copenhagen. His biggest achievement so far is when this club managed to get through to Champions League on August 23rd 2006 after beating Ajax Amsterdam in the last qualifying round.

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Preceded by Hans Backe	F.C. Copenhagen manager 2006–	Succeeded by current

F.C. Copenhagen - Current Squad
1 Christiansen \| 2 Jacobsen \| 3 Jensen \| 4 Nørregaard \| 5 Hangeland \| 6 Linderoth \| 7 Aílton \| 8 Silberbauer \| 9 Berglund \| 10 Grønkjær \| 11 Allbäck \| 13 Hutchinson \| 14 Gravgaard \| 16 Thomassen \| 17 Wendt \| 21 Villadsen \| 22 Bertolt \| 23 W. Kvist \| 24 Brandrup \| 26 Hansen \| 29 L. Qvist \| 31 Gall \| 41 Coe \| Coach Solbakken

	Norway squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup
1 Grodås \| 2 Halle \| 3 Johnsen \| 4 Berg \| 5 Bjørnebye \| 6 Solbakken \| 7 Mykland \| 8 Leonhardsen \| 9 T. Flo \| 10 Rekdal \| 11 Jakobsen \| 12 Myhre \| 13 Baardsen \| 14 Heggem \| 15 Eggen \| 16 J. Flo \| 17 H. Flo \| 18 Østenstad \| 19 Hoftun \| 20 Solskjær \| 21 Riseth \| 22 Strand \| Coach: Olsen