Morten Knutsen

Morten Knutsen

Personal information
Date of birth	(1977-11-27) 27 November 1977 (age 47)
Place of birth	Arendal, Norway[1]
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Left winger[1]
Team information
Current team	Trauma (head coach)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
	Grane
1996–1999	Start	61	(9)
2000–2003	Rosenborg	36	(7)
2002	→ Start (loan)	19	(4)
2004–2005	Odd Grenland	26	(3)
2007	FK Arendal	0	(0)
2008	Trauma
2011	Arendal Fotball	3	(0)
Managerial career
2008	Trauma (youth team)
2009–?	Trauma
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Morten Knutsen (born 27 November 1977) is a Norwegian football coach and former player.

Career

Knutsen started his career in the Arendal-based club IK Grane, and went on to the largest club in the region, IK Start.^[2] He made his debut in Tippeligaen in 1996.^[3] He then signed for Norway's best team at the time, Rosenborg BK, ahead of the 2000 season.^[2] He played 24 games and scored seven goals in his first season, but then only played ten games in 2001. In 2002 he was loaned to Start, where he played 19 games and scored four goals.^[3] After a poor 2003 season with only two appearances for Rosenborg, he caught the interest of Odd Grenland in late 2003.^[2] He joined the team free of cost,^[4] playing 21 out of 26 league games in 2004,^[3] and scoring the winning goal in extra time when Odd Grenland beat FK Ekranas in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup 2004–05.^[5] In 2005, however, he only played five games.^[3] His time at Odd was marred by injury problems,^[6] and in 2006 he only played for the club's B team.^[7]

He retired from football in February 2007, but already in March he signed for FK Arendal on a pay-per-game contract.^[8] He stated that although he had given up playing in the Tippeligaen, the 2. divisjon (third tier) might be a suitable arena. However, he almost immediately sustained a serious knee injury, losing the rest of the 2007 season.^[6] In the 2008 season he trained the junior team of IF Trauma,^[9] at the same time playing for the men's senior team.^[10] He also functioned as caretaker coach for the senior team while the head coach was off sick. In late 2008 he was announced as the new head coach of Trauma, effective from 2009.^[11]

Knutsen is married, has children,^[6] and resides on Tromøya.

Honours

Rosenborg

• Tippeligaen: 2000^[12]

References

1. Morten Knutsen at WorldFootball.net
2. Bucher-Hansen, Tom (10 October 2003). "Havner trolig i Odd". Agderposten (in Norwegian). Retrieved 14 March 2009.
3. Morten Knutsen Archived 14 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine Norwegian top division stats
4. Solbakken, Espen; Moen, Kristian Skalland (3 February 2009). "Her er eliteserieklubbenes største bomkjøp". VG (in Norwegian). Retrieved 14 March 2009.
5. Øygarden, Hans Eivind (26 August 2004). "En vanvittig opptur". Telemarksavisa (in Norwegian). Retrieved 14 March 2009.
6. Fjermeros, Per (6 June 2007). "Morten Knutsen mister hele sesongen". Agderposten (in Norwegian). Retrieved 14 March 2009.
7. "Morten Knutsen strøket fra Odd" (in Norwegian). Avisenes Nyhetsbyrå. 28 June 2006. Retrieved 14 March 2009.
8. "Morten Knutsen til Arendal". Fædrelandsvennen (in Norwegian). 27 March 2007. Archived from the original on 27 May 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2009.
9. Lorentsen, Vidar (9 January 2008). "Trener Trauma-talentene". Agderposten (in Norwegian). Retrieved 14 March 2009.
10. Lorentsen, Vidar (3 June 2008). "Trauma mot toppen". Agderposten (in Norwegian). Retrieved 14 March 2009.
11. Bucher-Hansen, Tom (12 November 2008). "Blir ny Trauma-trener". Agderposten (in Norwegian). Retrieved 14 March 2009.
12. "Mestvinnende spillere" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2 November 2010.

External links

• "Morten Knutsen". Norsk & Internasjonal Fotballstatistikk (in Norwegian). NTB.