Harald Brattbakk

Harald Brattbakk
Personal information
Full nameHarald Martin Brattbakk
Date of birth1 February 1971
Place of birthTrondheim, Norway
Height1.82 m (5 ft 11 12 in)
Playing positionStriker
Youth career
Kolstad IL
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
–1989Kolstad IL
1990–1991Rosenborg14(2)
1992–1993Bodø/Glimt22(10)
1994–1997Rosenborg100(97)
1997–2000Celtic44(12)
2000–2001FC København31(14)
2001–2006Rosenborg109(54)
2005→ Bodø/Glimt (loan)11(5)
2008Kolstad Fotball5(2)
Total336(196)
National team
1995–2004Norway17(5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Harald Martin Brattbakk (born 1 February 1971 in Trondheim) is a Norwegian former football player, now working as a pilot. He was the all time top scorer in the Norwegian top division with 166 goals in 255 matches, before being surpassed by Sigurd Rushfeldt in 2011.

Club career

He has played for Kolstad, Rosenborg BK, Celtic, F.C. Copenhagen and Bodø/Glimt (loan).

Brattbakk is most known for his goalscoring abilities for the Norwegian club Rosenborg BK where he has enjoyed three spells (1990–91, 1994–97 and 2001–06) scoring most of his goals which has helped him reach the top of the all-time goalscoring chart in the Norwegian Premier League.

At Celtic, where he played from December 1997 to January 2000, Brattbakk seemed overawed by the pressures of playing for one of Scotland's Old Firm clubs. Though he did enjoy some success with the club — including hitting the clinching goal against St Johnstone to help them win the SPL title on the final day of the 1997–1998 season, and scoring all four goals in a 4–0 win over Kilmarnock that same year — his spell in Glasgow was generally characterised by nervous performances and insufficient goals.

However, Brattbakk has been very successful in Norway. With 166 goals he was the highest-scoring player in the history of the Norwegian Premier League, until his record was beat by Sigurd Rushfeldt on 29 May 2011. Moreover, his record in the Champions League is an impressive one, and includes goals against such top sides as Real Madrid and Milan. He scored 28 goals in 66 matches for Rosenborg BK and scored 4 goals in 9 matches for Celtic in various European Cups.[1] In November 2001, he scored twice against his old club Celtic as Rosenborg defeated them 2–0 in a Champions League tie in Trondheim.

Brattbakk returned to Rosenborg after being on a loan to Bodø/Glimt in the last half of the 2005 season, but on 20 February 2006 it was announced that he had been relieved from his contract and he has now retired from the game.

In 2008 Brattbakk made a comeback in football after signing a contract with his native Kolstad-Fotball, an amateur club in the Norwegian 3rd Division Dep. 19. However, the comeback lasted only for the rest of the 2008 season.[2]

International career

Brattbakk made his debut for Norway in a February 1995 friendly match against Estonia in which he scored two goals. He went on to play seventeen times for his country, scoring five goals.[3]

Retirement

On 21 November 2006 Brattbakk announced on the Norwegian television channel TV3 that he intended to become an airline pilot after his retirement from professional football. He trained as a pilot in Florida at Phoenix East Aviation, Inc. and got his commercial aircraft certification in 2008. Until 2010 he flew for the aircraft company Helitrans, based at Trondheim Airport, Værnes.[2] This included missions for Norwegian Coast Guard. From 2010 he has been working as a pilot for Norwegian Air Shuttle.

Career statistics

[4][5]

Club performance League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Norway League Norwegian Cup Europe Total
1989Kolstad????
1990RosenborgTippeligaen31000031
19911114220173
1992Bodø/GlimtFirst Division?14(5?)5??
1993Tippeligaen2210(7?)4??
1994RosenborgTippeligaen2217710433330
199526261010744340
199626284111024041
1997262357853935
Scotland League Scottish Cup Europe Total
1997–98CelticPremier League17743--2110
1998–992552172348
1999–200020002242
Denmark League Danish Cup Europe Total
1999–2000FC KøbenhavnSuperliga14721168
2000–0117720197
Norway League Norwegian Cup Europe Total
2001RosenborgTippeligaen251533833621
20022517410833730
2003251769853931
2004254511933918
20059232124
2005Bodø/GlimtTippeligaen115115
2009KolstadThird division5252
Total Norway ?17859826428?287
Scotland 441264945920
Denmark 311441003515
Career total ?204??93???

Honours

Club

Rosenborg BK[6]
Celtic F.C.
F.C. Copenhagen

Individual

External links

References

  1. Harald Martin Brattbakk – Matches in European Cups – RSSSF
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Proffklemma" (in Norwegian). Norgesnytt. Retrieved 21 April 2009.
  3. Norway – International Players – Landslaget
  4. "Brattbakk, Harald". FitbaStats. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  5. "Harald Brattbakk". Soccerbase. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  6. "Mestvinnende med RBK" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 20 August 2009.