Kjetil Rekdal

Kjetil Rekdal
Personal information
Full nameKjetil André Rekdal
Date of birth6 November 1968
Place of birthFiksdal, Norway
Height1.87 m (6 ft 1 1⁄2 in)
Playing positionMidfielder
Youth career
1979–1985Fiksdal/Rekdal
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1985–1988Molde75(25)
1988–1990Borussia Mönchengladbach9(0)
1990–1996Lierse181(71)
1994→ Molde (loan)8(4)
1996–1997Rennes31(2)
1997–2000Hertha BSC64(4)
2000–2004Vålerenga116(21)
Total484(127)
National team
1987–2000Norway83(17)
Teams managed
2001–2006Vålerenga
2006–2007Lierse
2007–20081. FC Kaiserslautern
2008–2012Aalesund
2013–Vålerenga
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Kjetil André Rekdal (born 6 November 1968 in Vestnes) is a Norwegian football manager and a former footballer who has been head coach of Norwegian club Vålerenga since 2013.[1]

Rekdal began his playing career in Molde FK, playing afterwards for clubs in the German Bundesliga, French Ligue 1 and Belgian Belgian Pro League. Playing as a midfielder during his time as a player, his 83 caps with the Norwegian national football team makes him the seventh most capped player in the team's history.[2]

Rekdal previously managed Vålerenga from 2000 to 2006, during which he won both the cup and league title. He has also been in charge of Kaiserslautern, Lierse and Aalesund.[3] During his time at Aalesund, the club earned two cup titles and saw a period of success previously unmatched in their history, which was attributed to Rekdal.

Club career

Rekdal started playing football for the local club Fiksdal/Rekdal in 1979, later as a 16-year old he would start his professional career with the local Tippeliga club Molde FK, becoming the second-youngest player in the league. In 1988 he signed with the Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach and stayed with them for two years before moving to the Belgian Pro League side Lierse S.K. and remaining there until 1996, with the exception of the 1994 season which he spent on loan helping his former club Molde FK gaining promotion to Tippeligaen and winning the domestic Cup.

In 1996, he signed for Ligue 1 club Rennes. The highlight of his playing career was a highly successful spell at Hertha BSC in Germany between 1997 and 2000. His final years as a player and then player/manager was spent in Norwegian club Vålerenga, where he picked up another cup winner's medal in 2002 before retiring in 2004. In the summer of 2007, Rekdal officially rejoined his youth club Fiksdal/Rekdal.[3]

International career

Rekdal has 83 games for the Norwegian national team, after his debut against Italy in 1987, and played in two FIFA World Cups (1994 and 1998). He scored 17 goals for the national team, among those one legendary long range goal at Wembley against England in 1992, the only goal in the game as Norway beat Mexico in the 1994 World Cup, and a penalty in the 1998 World Cup against Brazil to win the game 2–1, prompting the commentator to say how "the man with the yellow boots has hurt those wearing the yellow shirts...Delight for Egil Olsen".[1] The two World Cup goals make him the highest scoring Norwegian in World Cup history, with one goal more than Arne Brustad, Dan Eggen, Håvard Flo and Tore André Flo.[4]

Coaching career

Vålerenga

Rekdal has proven himself a successful coach, leading Vålerenga from relegation in 2001, and famously weeping as his team avoided relegation the following year[5] and back into position as one of the dominating clubs in the Norwegian Premier League. In 2004, he led the team to second place, losing the first place on goal difference to Rosenborg, and in 2005, his team finally won the league for the first time in 21 years, ending Rosenborg's 13-year reign as champions of Norway.[6] along the way receiving legend-status in the club, partly due to the fact that he refused an offer of a six-digit coaching salary in order to help the club financially.[7]

Lierse

Rekdal resigned as coach at Vålerenga on 21 August 2006, following a string of poor results. He was appointed manager of his former club Lierse on 21 November 2006. When he arrived at the club, Lierse lay bottom of the table with only two points in fifteen matches. At the end of the season, they ended up with 26 points and avoided direct relegation. In the play-offs, Lierse only managed to win three of their six matches and were relegated to the Second Division after all.[8]

1. FC Kaiserslautern

In May 2007, Rekdal signed on to manage Kaiserslautern in the German 2. Bundesliga. He left the club in early February of the following year, the club lying in sixteenth place.[3][9]

Aalesund

He joined forces with Norwegian Premier League outfit Aalesund in 2008 after moving back to Norway.[10] Joining the club mid-season, he found Aalesund lying in a relegation spot, but managed to get a relegation play-off spot, where Aalesund beat challengers Sogndal 7–2 on aggregate, thereby securing a new season in the Norwegian Premier League. In 2009, he led Aalesund to the club's first victory in the Norwegian Cup, where they beat arch rivals Molde 3–2 after a penalty shootout in the final.[11] In 2010, he led the club to the fourth place in Tippeligaen, the club's best result ever.[12] In 2011, he received wide praise when his club came close to the historic feat of qualifying for the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League, losing the last play-off game to the Dutch side AZ Alkmaar, having won the first leg 2–1.[13] The same year he again led Aalesund to win the Norwegian Cup Final, thereby securing a UEFA Europa League qualification spot for the third consecutive year.[14] His contract with Aalesund was terminated on 26 November 2012.[15] After he won his second Norwegian Cup with Aalesund in three years, he was once again said to take over as national team coach after Drillo.[16]

On 26 November 2012, the board of directors of Aalesund announced the termination of Rekdal's contract.[15] The board stressed that it was not due to the season results, but rather as a result of a general review.[17] Analysts noted that the sacking was likely a result of a power struggle within the club between Rekdal, the sports director and the chairman of the board.[18]

Return to Vålerenga

Rekdal started his second tenure for Vålerenga, when he was appointed as head coach on 8 January 2013.[19]

Personal life

Born 6 November in Rekdal in Vestnes, into a family of six, including three younger siblings, his younger brother Sindre played also professional with Molde FK helping them win the domestic cup in 1994.[20] Among his interests and hobbies is freshwater fishing and card-games such as Poker, having competed in amateur tournaments internationally.[3][21][22]

Rekdal moved to Ottestad neighborhood in Hamar in 2013, with his wife and four children.[23]

Career Statistics

Managerial

Year Team Pos Pl W D L GD +/- Pts Cup Notes
2001 Vålerenga IF 1st 30 19 8 3 71–29 +42 65/90 Qtr Final Promoted to Tippeligaen.
2002 Vålerenga IF 8th 26 7 12 7 38–31 +7 33/78 Winner
2003 Vålerenga IF 12th 26 7 7 12 30–33 −3 28/78 Qtr Final UEFA Cup 3rd Round.
2004 Vålerenga IF 2nd 26 13 9 4 40–22 +18 48/78 3rd Round Lost out on the Championship by the smallest margin.
2005 Vålerenga IF 1st 26 13 7 6 40–27 +13 46/78 Semi Final UEFA Cup 1st Round.
2006 Vålerenga IF – 17 6 4 7 23–22 +1 22/51 Qtr Final Resigned after 17 rounds.
2006–07 Lierse S.K. 17th 34 6 8 20 33–66 −33 26/102 Round 7 Relegated to Belgian Second Division.
2007–08 1. FC Kaiserslautern – 19 3 7 9 19–24 −5 16/57 2nd Round Sacked after 19 rounds.
2008 Aalesunds FK 13th 26 7 4 15 29–42 −13 25/78 – Escaped relegation through winning playoff.
2009 Aalesunds FK 13th 30 9 9 12 34–43 −9 36/90 Winner
2010 Aalesunds FK 4th 30 14 5 11 46–37 +9 47/90 3rd Round Europa League 3rd Qual. Round
2011 Aalesunds FK 9th 30 12 7 11 36–38 −2 43/90 Winner Europa League Play-Off.
2012 Aalesunds FK 11th 30 9 11 10 40–41 −1 38/90 4th Round Europa League 3rd Qual. Round, sacked after season ended.
2013 Vålerenga IF 11th 30 10 6 14 41-50 -9 36/90 Qtr Final

Honours

As player

Molde FK
Vålerenga

As Coach

Vålerenga
Aalesunds FK

Trivia

During his time at Lierse, Rekdal had a clause in his contract which allowed him to keep up to date with Leeds United results at half-time intervals, via BBC Radio. He is a fanatic supporter of the Yorkshire club.[22]

As with most coaches, Rekdal is highly superstitious. To avoid bad luck, he never appears on matchday without his locally produced trademark Pear-flavored soft drink.[24]

Upon joining Aalesunds FK as coach, he also joined the tier five club Fiksdal/Rekdal as player and played regularly at their home matches, he stated that he wished to contribute to the club with which he started his career.[3][25]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Kjetil Rekdal". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
  2. ↑ Søfting, Thomas (13 December 2012). "Norway - Record International Players". RSSSF. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Valle, Viggo (28 January 2010). "Kjetil Rekdal – Stjerneklart" (in Norwegian). Nrk.no. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  4. ↑ "VM i Fotball – Statistikk – Fakta" (in Norwegian). Fotballen.eu. Retrieved 5 October 2011. Flest VM-Mål Kjetil Rekdal (2)
  5. ↑ Andresen, Gorm (21 November 2005). "Klanen ber VIF-direktør ta pause" (in Norwegian). dagbladet.no. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  6. ↑ Andresen, Gorm (29 October 2005). "Vålerenga er seriemestere" (in Norwegian). dagbladet.no. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  7. ↑ Stokstad, Morten (7 November 2003). "Rekdal gir milioner til VIF" (in Norwegian). vg.no. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  8. ↑ "Håpet ute for Rekdal" (in Norwegian). Vg.no. 10 June 2007. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  9. ↑ "Fuchs: Entscheidung bis Dienstag" (in German). kicker.de. 10 February 2008. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  10. ↑ Bakke, Pål; Johannessen, Sturla (4 September 2008). "Rekdal overtar Aalesund" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  11. ↑ Borge, Andreeas (8 November 2009). "Rekdal: Coaching i Verdensklasse" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  12. ↑ Stenerud, Kristian (13 May 2011). "Aafk får kvalikkplass" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  13. ↑ "Rekdal chasing historic Aalesund achievement". UEFA.com. 22 August 2011. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  14. ↑ Wegard Bakkehaug; Einar Orten; Jamel Rake; Øyvind Brenne; Knut Arne Hansen (6 November 2011). "Mange var preget av stundens alvor". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Stendal, Christian Skare; Priesner, Jakob (26 November 2012). "Kjetil Rekdal fikk sparken i Aalesund". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  16. ↑ Opsahl, Per (7 November 2011). "Mener Rekdal er perfekt for landslaget". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). Retrieved 23 December 2011.
  17. ↑ Evensen, Marius (27 November 2012). "Styreleder i Aafk: – En trist slutt, men det var nødvendig". tv2.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  18. ↑ Skuseth, Helge (27 November 2012). "Det måtte ende slik". Sunnmørsposten (in Norwegian). Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  19. ↑ Marius Vik; Per Opsahl; Lillian Holden (8 January 2013). "Rekdal ansatt som Vålerenga-trener: - Veldig glad" (in Norwegian). vg.no. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  20. ↑ "Om gledescener of første cupgull" (in Norwegian). Moldefk.no. Retrieved 5 October 2011. Gutta som tok Moldes første kongepokal: Morten Bakke, Trond Strande, Flaco, Sindre Rekdal et. al.
  21. ↑ "Rekdal og Aarøy får pokerkritikk" (in Norwegian). fotball.bt.no. 25 November 2010. Retrieved 22 April 2013. Aalesund-trener Kjetil Rekdal skal sammen med spiss Tor Hogne Aarøy til Malta for å delta i en pokerturnering.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Kvatningen, Roy (1 October 2011). "KJETIL REKDAL – Jeg er en av få i verden" (in Norwegian). Nettavisen.no. Retrieved 22 April 2013. Vi møttes alltid klokka fire til mat, og kampene i Belgia går klokka åtte. Jeg satt med radio under middagen. Det fikk jeg lov til, smiler den 42 år gamle Leeds-fanatikeren
  23. ↑ Flygind, Kjetil (10 February 2013). "Rekdal flytter til Hamar". aftenposten.no. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  24. ↑ Vågnes, Stig (16 May 2011). "Smaken av Rekdal-seier". Aftenposten.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  25. ↑ Nesset Hjelvik, Eirik (20 May 2010). "Bare seier er godt nok". Aftenposten.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 22 April 2013.

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