Arne Knut Pedersen (1 November 1931 – 16 November 2013) was a Norwegian footballer. He was a deep-lying inside forward, or offensive midfielder by today's terminology, who spent his entire playing career at his hometown club

Fredrikstad FK Fredrikstad Fotballklubb (also known as Fredrikstad or FFK) is a Norwegian professional association football, football club from the town of Fredrikstad. With nine league championships and twelve Norwegian Football Cup, Norwegian Cup wins, FFK ...

, where he was a key player during the club's most successful period in the 1950s and early 1960s. He was also capped 40 times by

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, and scored 11 international goals.

Club career

Pedersen was born and raised in

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a List of cities in Norway, city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Østfold Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipal ...

, and joined

as a youth player in 1945. His older brother Leif Pedersen (1924–1990) also played for the club at the time. Arne Pedersen made his debut for FFK's first team in 1950, and soon became a regular in the side. During his time with the club, Pedersen won six Norwegian league titles and three

Norwegian Cup The Norwegian Football Cup () is the main knockout cup competition in Norwegian football. It is run by the Football Association of Norway and has been contested since 1902, making it the oldest football tournament in the country. The tournament ...

titles, including the

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

in 1957 and 1961 and that makes him the most successful player in the history of Fredrikstad FK. In 1960, Pedersen scored one of the goals when Fredrikstad defeated

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

4–3 in the European Champions Cup, as well as the return leg in Amsterdam which ended in a goalless draw. In total, Pedersen played 231 matches for Fredrikstad in the Norwegian league, scoring 107 goals, between 1950 and 1966. His final match for the club was the 1966 Cup Final where he scored the winning goal from the penalty spot as FFK defeated

Lyn Lyn or LYN may refer to: People * Lyn (singer), South Korean singer * Lyn (gamer), South Korean ''Warcraft III'' player * Lyn (given name) * Lyn (surname) In science and technology * Lynx (constellation), standard abbreviation * Lyn (locomotive ...

by a score of 3–2. He played a total of 342 matches for Fredrikstad, which is a club record.

International career

Pedersen made his international debut in a

1958 World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the 6th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first and only FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Br ...

qualification match against

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

in November 1957. He scored his first international goal the following year against

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, but it was not until 1962 that he became a regular in the national side. In June 1963, he scored one of the goals in Norway's surprising 4–3 win against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, and he also played in Norway's shock 3–0 victory against

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

in a 1965 World Cup qualifier.

Later life

After his retirement as a player in 1966, Pedersen coached several clubs in the

Østfold Østfold () is a county in Eastern Norway, which from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2023 was part of Viken. Østfold borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other ...

region, including Fredrikstad from 1971 to 1973. He also coached lower-league sides Trosvik, Torp, Tistedalen and Kvik Halden. He died in the early hours of 16 November 2013, at the age of 82.

Honours

Norwegian Premier League Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...

(6): 1951, 1952, 1954, 1957, 1960, 1961 *

Norwegian Football Cup The Norwegian Football Cup () is the main knockout cup competition in Norwegian football. It is run by the Football Association of Norway and has been contested since 1902, making it the oldest football tournament in the country. The tournament ...

(3): 1957, 1961, 1966

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pedersen, Arne Norwegian men's footballers Norway men's international footballers Fredrikstad FK players Norwegian football managers Fredrikstad FK managers Footballers from Fredrikstad 1931 births 2013 deaths Men's association football forwards 20th-century Norwegian sportsmen