Bjørn Helge Riise

Bjørn Helge Riise

Personal information
Full name	Bjørn Helge Semundseth Riise
Date of birth	(1983-06-21) 21 June 1983
Place of birth	Ålesund, Norway
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position	Central midfielder
Club information
Current club	Lillestrøm
Number	8
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)
2009–2012	Fulham	15	(0)
2011	→ Sheffield United (loan)	13	(1)
2011	→ Portsmouth (loan)	2	(0)
2012–	Lillestrøm	40	(7)
National team‡
	Norway U21	16	(5)
2006–	Norway[1]	35	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 November 2013. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12 January 2013

Bjørn Helge Semundseth Riise (born 21 June 1983 in Ålesund) is a Norwegian professional footballer. He currently plays for Lillestrøm SK. Riise plays either a central midfielder or a right winger, and has earned 35 international caps for Norway. He played for Fulham of the Premier League from July 2009 to August 2012. He is the younger brother of Fulham player John Arne Riise, also a Norwegian international.

Club career

Aalesund

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]

Standard Liège

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]

Brussels

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]

Lillestrøm

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]

Fulham

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.

His contract at Fulham was not extended in the Summer of 2012, and was free to leave the club. Bjorn did what was predicted, and left during May/June.

On Loan to Sheffield United

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.

Loan to Portsmouth

Riise joined Portsmouth on a short-term loan on 26 September 2011.^[13]

Return to Lillestrøm

On 28 July 2012, Riise was presented as a new Lillestrøm player during half time in their home game with Molde.^[14]

International career

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.^[15]

International goals

Scores and results list. Norway's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Result	Competition	Scored
1.	17 October 2007	Koševo Stadium, Sarajevo	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2–0	UEFA Euro 2008 qualification	1

Personal life

Riise is married to long term partner, Lena Jenssen – like his brother, he married in the summer of 2010. The couple have three sons, Noah, Filip and Levi.

Career statistics

As of 21 November 2013^[16]

Honours

• Europa League final 2010

References

External links

• Bjørn Helge Riise career stats at Soccerbase

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