Rolf Birger Pedersen

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Rolf Birger Pedersen
Personal information
Date of birth	September 23, 1939(1939-09-23)
Place of birth	Bergen, Norway
Date of death	March 22, 2001 (aged 61)
Place of death	Bergen, Norway
Playing position	Centre midfielder
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1957-1972	Brann	335 (245)
National team
	Norway	015 00(5)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Rolf Birger "Pesen" Pedersen (September 23, 1939 - March 22, 2001) was a Norwegian footballer and football coach. He grew up near Brann Stadion, and later became one of Brann's most legendary players. He was also caped 15 times for the Norwegian national football team, scoring 5 goals.

Pesen was a creative and goalscoring midfielder, and is considered by many to be Brann's best player in their championship-seasons 1962 and 1963. Pedersen was particuraly known for his remarkably hard shots. It is told that he once shot a goalkeeper into the goal, and he shot a keeper so hard that he fainted. He never reached the same level in the following seasons, possibly losing his motivation after being so successful in his younger years. Nevertheless, his track record in Brann is impressive, with 335 matches and a record high 245 goals in the red jersey.

After his retirement in 1972, Pesen continued his football life as head coach in many of the Bergen-based clubs in the lower divisions. Later he held many different positions in his old club Brann, culminating in his run as chairman of the club. In the late 1990s he was made responsible for Brann Stadion.

In 2000 Pesen was diagnosed with cancer, and for a while it looked like he would pull through, but he had a fallback, and died on March 22, 2001 at the age of 61.

Persondata
NAME	Pedersen, Rolf Birger
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Pedersen, Rolf Birger
SHORT DESCRIPTION
DATE OF BIRTH	September 23, 1939(1939-09-23)
PLACE OF BIRTH	Bergen, Norway
DATE OF DEATH	2001-3-22
PLACE OF DEATH	Bergen, Norway