Bjørn Helge Riise

Bjørn Helge Semundseth Riise (born 21 June 1983) is a Norwegian former professional footballer. Riise played 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 former Liverpool and Fulham player John Arne Riise, also a Norwegian international.

Bjørn Helge Riise
Riise warming up for Fulham in 2009
Personal information
Full name Bjørn Helge Semundseth Riise[1]
Date of birth (1983-06-21) 21 June 1983[2]
Place of birth Ålesund, Norway
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Position(s) Central midfielder
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)
2012–2015 Lillestrøm 82 (7)
2015–2018 Aalesund 55 (3)
2018 Sogndal 8 (0)
Total 358 (28)
National team
2004–2005 Norway U21[3] 16 (5)
2006–2013 Norway[4] 35 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Aalesund

Early in his career, Riise was linked with several clubs, including Manchester City and Cardiff City, but deals failed to materialize.[5] 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".[6]

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.[7]

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.[8]

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.[9]

Fulham
Riise playing for Fulham in 2009

In July 2009, Norwegian media reported that Riise was to join international teammates Brede Hangeland and Erik Nevland at Fulham, for a fee believed to be around £2 million.[10][11][12] Riise subsequently signed a three-year deal with for an undisclosed fee.[13]

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. Riise 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.[14] Whilst at Bramall Lane he scored his first goal in English football, in a 2–0 win over Leeds United.[15] 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.[16]

Return to Lillestrøm

On 28 July 2012, Riise was presented as a new Lillestrøm player during half time in their home game with Molde.[17]

Return to Aalesund

After three years at Lillestrøm he signed a contract for Aalesund, the club of his hometown and where he started his career.

Sogndal

On 16 August he signed for Norwegian club Sogndal Fotball only one day after his contract in Aalesund expired.

Riise retired after the 2018 season.[18]

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.[19]

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

Club
As of 10 November 2018[20]
Season Club Division League Cup Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
2005 Lillestrøm Tippeligaen 13030160
2006 25131282
2007 24371314
2008 9010100
2009 15620176
2009–10 Fulham Premier League 12040160
2010–11 300030
2011–12 000000
2010–11 Sheffield United The Championship 13100131
2011–12 Portsmouth 200020
2012 Lillestrøm Tippeligaen 11200112
2013 29561356
2014 27010280
2015 15000150
2015 Aalesund 13000130
2016 24230272
2017 Eliteserien 16110171
2018 OBOS-ligaen 401050
2018 Sogndal 500050
Career total 2682131329924

International goals
Scores and results list. Norway's goal tally first.
No.DateVenueOpponentResultCompetitionScored
117 October 2007Koševo Stadium, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina2–0UEFA Euro 2008 qualification1

Honours

Fulham

References
  1. "Bjørn Helge Semundseth Riise" (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  2. "Bjørn Helge Riise: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  3. "Bjørn Helge Semundseth Riise" (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  4. "Bjørn Helge Riise". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  5. Riise deal collapses? Archived 27 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine cardiffcity-mad.co.uk
  6. Mamma Riise raste mot Aalesund Archived 27 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine Aftenposten.no (in Norwegian)
  7. Bjorn Riise signs for Standard Liege Archived 9 November 2003 at the Wayback Machine cardiffcity-mad.co.uk
  8. Riise åpner for Brann Archived 27 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine Adressa.no (in Norwegian)
  9. Riise enig med Lillestrøm Archived 27 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine Nettavisen.no (in Norwegian)
  10. Bjørn Helge Riise klar for Fulham VG.no (in Norwegian)
  11. Bjørn Helge Riise klar for Fulham Archived 20 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine TV2.no (in Norwegian)
  12. Fulham sign Bjørn Helge Riise Goal.com
  13. "Riise's brother makes Fulham move". BBC Sport. 22 July 2009. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
  14. "Blades sign Norwegian". Sheffield United F.C. 15 February 2011. Archived from the original on 17 February 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  15. "Leeds win was massive". football.co.uk. 22 March 2011. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  16. "Portsmouth sign Fulham midfielder Bjorn Helge Riise on loan". BBC. 26 September 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  17. Bjørn Helge Riise klar for LSK NRK.no (in Norwegian)
  18. Overganger i OBOS-ligaen vinter 2019 Archived 23 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine, sportshjornet.com, 13 December 2018
  19. "Norway graft earns Sarajevo success". uefa.com. 17 October 2007. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
  20. "Bjørn Helge Riise". altomfotball.no (in Norwegian). TV 2. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  21. McNulty, Phil (12 May 2010). "Atletico Madrid 2–1 Fulham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
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