| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Bjørn Helge Semundseth Riise | ||
| Date of birth | 21 June 1983 | ||
| Place of birth | Ålesund, Norway | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Playing position | Central midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Fulham | ||
| Number | 17 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Hessa | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2000–2003 | Aalesund | 49 | (5) |
| 2003–2005 | Standard Liège | 17 | (0) |
| 2004–2005 | → Brussels (loan) | 31 | (2) |
| 2005–2009 | Lillestrøm | 86 | (10) |
| 2009– | Fulham | 15 | (0) |
| 2011 | → Sheffield United (loan) | 13 | (1) |
| 2011 | → Portsmouth (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| Norway U21 | 16 | (5) | |
| 2006– | Norway[1] | 31 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 28 September 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Bjørn Helge Semundseth Riise (born 21 June 1983 in Ålesund) is a Norwegian professional footballer. He plays his club football for Fulham. He plays either a central midfielder or a right winger having joined Fulham in July 2009 from Norwegian club Lillestrøm, and is the brother of his Fulham team-mate John Arne Riise.
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Early in his career, Riise was linked with several clubs, including Manchester City and Cardiff City, but deals failed to materialize.[2] Riise threatened to retire after the Cardiff deal fell through due to complications with Aalesund, his club at the time, stating "I don't understand what Aalesund want from me. I almost want to quit football because it's not fun anymore".[3]
In January 2003, Riise signed a three-year deal with Standard Liège, after impressing on a trial that included two reserve team appearances. He became teammates with fellow Norwegian Ole Martin Årst.[4]
After playing only 17 matches for Standard Liège, he was loaned out to Brussels. When his contract expired, Brussels would have a call option on him. However, there were transfer talks between Brussels and Brann, according to Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad.[5]
Riise returned to Norway with Lillestrøm in the summer of 2005, where he signed a three-and-a-half-year deal. He made his debut for Lillestrøm on 3 July against Molde.[6]
In July 2009, Norwegian media reported that Riise was to join international team-mates Brede Hangeland and Erik Nevland at Fulham, for a fee believed to be around £2 million.[7][8][9] Riise subsequently signed a three-year deal with for an undisclosed fee.[10]
He made his Fulham début in a Europa League tie against FK Vetra coming on as a 78th minute substitute for Zoltan Gera. Fulham won the match 3–0, winning the tie 6–0 on aggregate. He played regularly throughout the season under Roy Hodgson, especially in the Europa League.
The following season however he found first team football much harder to come by under new boss Mark Hughes and by February 2011 he opted to move on loan to Sheffield United for the remainder of the season.[11] Whilst at Bramall Lane he scored his first goal in English football, in a 2-0 win over Leeds United.[12] With the Blades struggling he could not help to prevent them from being relegated at the end of the season and returned to Craven Cottage having played thirteen times for the Yorkshire club.
Riise joined Portsmouth on a short-term loan on 26 September 2011.[13]
| Season | Club | Division | League | Cup | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| 2005 | Lillestrøm | Tippeligaen | 13 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| 2006 | Tippeligaen | 25 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 28 | 2 | |
| 2007 | Tippeligaen | 24 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 31 | 4 | |
| 2008 | Tippeligaen | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2009 | Tippeligaen | 15 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 6 | |
| 2009–10 | Fulham | Premier League | 12 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| 2010–11 | Premier League | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2011–12 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2010–11 | Sheffield United | The Championship | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 |
| 2011–12 | Portsmouth | The Championship | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Career Total | 116 | 11 | 20 | 2 | 136 | 13 | ||
He earned his first cap for Norway in a Euro 2008 qualifying match against Malta which Norway won 4–0. He provided three assists in the game which saw his brother John Arne Riise score a goal. Riise earned his first goal for Norway in another qualifying match against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Norway won 2–0, with Riise scoring the second goal of the game.[14]
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Result | Competition | Scored |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 17 October 2007 | Koševo Stadium, Sarajevo | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2–0 | UEFA Euro 2008 qualification | 1 |
Riise is married to long term partner, Lena Jenssen – like his brother, he married in the summer of 2010. The couple have two sons, Noah (6) and Fillip (3).
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