Aasmund Bjørkan
Aasmund Bjørkan (born 3 July 1973) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who was appointed manager at Bodø/Glimt after the 2015 season. He had been the assistant of former manager Jan Halvor Halvorsen since 2013. He has previously been head coach of the First Division sides Alta and Ranheim. As a player, he played as a winger for Bodø/Glimt and Vålerenga, and won the Norwegian Cup in 1993 and 2002.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Aasmund Karl Bjørkan | ||
| Date of birth | 3 July 1973 | ||
| Place of birth | Bodø, Norway | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1991–2000 | Bodø/Glimt | 174 | (40) |
| 2000–2002 | Vålerenga | 39 | (9) |
| 2002–2005 | Bodø/Glimt | 69 | (10) |
| Total | 282 | (59) | |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2009–2010 | Alta | ||
| 2011–2012 | Ranheim | ||
| 2013–2015 | Bodø/Glimt (assistant) | ||
| 2015–2017 | Bodø/Glimt | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only | |||
Playing career
Bjørkan made his debut for Bodø/Glimt in 1991,[1] and helped win promotion ahead of the 1993 season. In his first Norwegian top division season in 1993 he played all 22 league games. He remained a steadfast first-team player at Bodø/Glimt[2] until changing club to Vålerenga in the middle of the 2000 season.[3] After some meagre seasons[2] he returned to Bodø/Glimt in August 2002.[4] He started off well, playing all 26 league games in 2003,[2] but was eventually struck by problems with jumper's knee.[5] He retired as an active player after the 2005 season.
Post-playing career
Ahead of the 2006 season he was offered the job as head coach of Steigen SK.[6] This did not happen; instead he was hired at Bodø/Glimt as a player developer.[7] Ahead of the 2009 season he was hired as the new head coach for second-tier club Alta IF.[8] After two seasons there Bjørkan moved to become the new head coach for Ranheim from 1 January 2011, where he replaced Per Joar Hansen who took over the Norwegian under-21 team.[9] Bjørkan led the team to a fourth and a seventh place in the First Division, and left the club after the 2012 season when his contract expired.[10]
Bjørkan was linked to the vacant position as head coach of Bodø/Glimt ahead of the 2013 season, but after the club hired Jan Halvor Halvorsen as head coach, he was hired as his assistant coach.[11] When Jan Halvor Halvorsen left Bodø/Glimt after the 2015 season, Bjørkan was appointed head coach. In his first season in charge, Bodø/Glimt was relegated to the 1. divisjon. Bjørkan stayed at the club, Bodø/Glimt won the 2017 1. divisjon with a 16 point margin, and Bjørkan was named the 1. divisjon manager of the year.[12]
Career statistics
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Bodø/Glimt | 1993 | Tippeligaen | 22 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 4 |
| 1994 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | ||
| 1995 | 24 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 8 | ||
| 1996 | 26 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 6 | ||
| 1997 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 1 | ||
| 1998 | 26 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 9 | ||
| 1999 | 26 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 29 | 9 | ||
| 2000 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 3 | ||
| Total | 174 | 40 | 4 | 2 | 178 | 42 | ||
| Vålerenga | 2000 | Tippeligaen | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| 2001 | 1. divisjon | 30 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 8 | |
| 2002 | Tippeligaen | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
| Total | 39 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 41 | 10 | ||
| Bodø/Glimt | 2002 | Tippeligaen | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| 2003 | 26 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 33 | 6 | ||
| 2004 | 23 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 26 | 5 | ||
| 2005 | 15 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 19 | 2 | ||
| Total | 69 | 10 | 14 | 5 | 83 | 15 | ||
| Career total | 282 | 59 | 20 | 8 | 302 | 67 | ||
Managerial statistics
- As of 2 September 2017
| Team | From | To | Record | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | Ref. | |||
| Alta | 1 January 2009 | 31 December 2010 | 58 | 22 | 12 | 24 | 37.93 | |
| Ranheim | 1 January 2011 | 31 December 2012 | 60 | 26 | 17 | 17 | 43.33 | |
| Bodø/Glimt | 1 January 2016 | 31 December 2017 | 51 | 24 | 9 | 18 | 47.06 | |
| Total | 169 | 72 | 38 | 59 | 42.60 | — | ||
Honours
Individual
- 1. divisjon Manager of the Year: 2017
References
- Guttormsen, Pål (15 March 2005). "Siste sjanse for Aasmund". Avisa Nordland (in Norwegian). Retrieved 25 March 2009.
- "Aasmund Bjørkan – Norwegian Premier League statistics". Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2009.
- "Bjørkan klar for Vålerenga". VG (in Norwegian). 31 August 2000. Retrieved 25 March 2009.
- "Bjørkan tilbake til Glimt". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 31 August 2000. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2009.
- Guttormsen, Pål (15 March 2005). "Siste sjanse for Aasmund". Avisa Nordland (in Norwegian). Retrieved 25 March 2009.
- Guttormsen, Pål (7 November 2005). "Bjørkan kan bli Steigen-trener". Avisa Nordland (in Norwegian). Retrieved 25 March 2009.
- Ramberg, Aleksander; Børre Arntzen (20 November 2008). "Fra Nordlandshallen til Finnmarkshallen for Aassa". AB24 (in Norwegian). Retrieved 25 March 2009.
- Isaksen, Frank Rune (2 February 2009). "– Den perfekte motivatoren". Finnmark Dagblad (in Norwegian). Retrieved 25 March 2009.
- "Han blir ny Ranheim-trener" (in Norwegian). Nettavisen. 16 December 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
- Andersen, Martin K. (16 July 2012). "Aasmund Bjørkan ferdig i Trondheim" (in Norwegian). Adresseavisa. Archived from the original on 30 December 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
- Lorentsen, Hilde Mangset (21 December 2012). "Aasmund Bjørkan returnerer til Bodø/Glimt" (in Norwegian). NRK. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
- "Priser norsk fotball 2017" (in Norwegian). fotball.no. 27 November 2017. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
External links
- Aasmund Bjørkan at the Norwegian Football Federation (in Norwegian)
