Erik Midtgarden (born 18 November 1987) is a Norwegian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Mjøndalen Mjøndalen is a built up area in Drammen municipality in Buskerud, Buskerud county, Norway. It is situated south of the Drammenselva River opposite of Krokstadelva. History Mjøndalen has traditionally been a railway site most known as an indu ...

. He has previously played for

Tippeligaen 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 ...

sides

Odd Grenland Odds Ballklubb, commonly known as Odd, is a Norwegian professional football club from Skien. Originally the football section of a multi-sports club, founded in 1894 nine years after the club's founding. Most sports other than football and gymnast ...

Lillestrøm Lillestrøm is a municipality in Akershus county. It is located in the traditional district of Romerike. With a population of 85,757 inhabitants, it is the fourth most populated municipality in Viken. It was founded on 1 January 2020 as a merger ...

Hønefoss __NOTOC__ Hønefoss is a town and the administrative center of the municipality of Ringerike in Buskerud county, Norway. Hønefoss is an industrial center of inner Østlandet, containing several factories and other industry. As of 1 January 2022 ...

and

and won the

Meistriliiga Meistriliiga (), officially known as A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons, and commonly known as the Premium Liiga, is the highest division of the Estonian Football Association annual football championship. The league was founded i ...

with

Flora Tallinn FC Flora, commonly known as Flora Tallinn, or simply as Flora, is an Estonian professional football club based in Tallinn that competes in the Meistriliiga, the top flight of Estonian football. The club's home ground is Lilleküla Stadium. Fo ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

. Midtgarden has also spent time with the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

sides

Pors Grenland Pors Fotball is a Norwegian football club from Porsgrunn, currently playing in the 2. divisjon. Pors plays in blue jerseys, and their home ground is Pors Stadion. Notable former players include Jan Halvor Halvorsen and Erik Pedersen. History ...

Notodden is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Aust-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Notodden. Other population centres include the villages of Bolkesjø, G ...

(previous spell) and

(two previous spells). He has represented Norway at under-17, under-18 and under-21 level.

Club career

Born in

Skien Skien () is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Grenland, although historically it belonged to Grenmar/Skiensfjorden, while Grenland referred the Norsjø area and Bø. The administrative ...

, Midtgarden joined

's first-team squad ahead of the 2005 season. He made his debut in the first round of the

2005 Norwegian Football Cup The 2005 Norwegian Football Cup was the 100th edition of the Norwegian Football Cup. The tournament started on 7 May 2005 and was contested by 128 teams, going through 7 rounds before a winner could be declared. The final match was played on 6 ...

match against Langesund/Stathelle, when he played the last 20 minutes as a winger and scored Odd's last goal in the 4–0 victory. He made three appearances for Odd in

in his first season at the club, and was the top goalscorer for the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

in the 2. divisjon with eleven goals. He spent the 2006 season on loan to

, where he was a regular for the team in the

. His contract with Odd expired after the season, and although the club wanted to renew his contract, Midtgarden chose to sign a two-year contract with the newly promoted First Division side

, where he was promised regularly playing time. After playing regularly for Notodden in 2007, Midtgarden was far away from the first team in the following season and wanted to leave the club when his contract expired after the 2008 season. He played a total of 29 league-matches for Notodden. He joined

ahead of the 2009 season, where the head coach

Vegard Hansen Vegard Hansen (born 8 August 1969) is a Norwegian football coach and former player who coaches 1. divisjon club Kongsvinger. During his time at Mjøndalen, the club was promoted to the 1. divisjon in 2008 and reached the play-offs for promotio ...

used Midtgarden as a

utility player In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, basketball, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water ...

. He was on a trial with

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

in July 2010, but was not offered a contract. Midtgarden scored 22 goals in 54 matches in his two seasons at Mjøndalen. His contract with Mjøndalen expired after the 2010 season, and in January 2010 he joined his old club Odd Grenland on a one-year contract. Midtgarden played 14 matches for Odd in

in the first half of the 2012 season, and scored a goal in the 4–1 win against

Sogndal Sogndal is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Sogn. The village of Hermansv ...

on 3 April 2011 one minute after he replaced

Håvard Storbæk Håvard Storbæk (born 25 May 1986) is a Norwegian football midfielder who plays for Storms BK. He announced at the end of 2019, that he was retiring from professional football. He has previously played for Nybergsund, FK Haugesund and Odd. ...

as a substitute. In July 2011, he was bought by Dutch club

Vitesse Arnhem SBV Vitesse Arnhem (''Stichting Betaald Voetbal Vitesse Arnhem, Eng: Professional Football Foundation Vitesse Arnhem''), widely known as Vitesse () or internationally known as Vitesse Arnhem, is a Dutch professional association football, footba ...

, and was subsequently sent on loan to Estonian club

, where he played 15 matches and won the

2011 Meistriliiga The 2011 Meistriliiga was the 21st season of the Meistriliiga, the top Estonian league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992. The season began on 5 March 2011 and concluded on 5 November 2011. The defending champions Flo ...

with the club. Midtgarden was supposed to return to Vitesse in January 2012, but when he did not get the payments as agreed in his contract, he decide to break the contract and move home to Norway, where he signed a one-year contract with

ahead of the 2012 season. After

Magnus Haglund Magnus Haglund (born 15 April 1973) is a Swedish football coach and former player. He is currently unemployed after being sacked at Halmstads BK. He has previously managed IF Elfsborg and Lillestrøm SK, having signed a two-year contract startin ...

became head coach of Lillestrøm, the club bought several new players to the club, and Midtgarden became superfluous at the club. He was loaned out to Mjøndalen in August 2012, and scored a goal in his debut against

Sandefjord Sandefjord () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Vestfold. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Sandefjord ...

on 10 August 2012. He scored 10 goals in 13 matches for Mjøndalen in the First Division in the 2012 season. As a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

, Midtgarden was on trials with

Strømsgodset Strømsgodset is a former municipality in Vestfold county (from 1964 Buskerud county) in Norway which is today a part of the city of Drammen. History Strømsgodset was originally a small rural annex to the city parish of Bragernes (Drammen). ...

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

and Odd ahead of the 2013 season, before he signed for

in February 2013. During his spell at Hønefoss, Midtgarden was mostly used as a substitute. After Hønefoss was relegated from Tippeligaen, he decided to return to Mjøndalen for his third spell at the club. He left ahead of the 2017, as the trainings became too difficult to combine with PE teacher studies at the

Telemark University College Telemark University College (TUC, , HiT) was, until its merger, the fourth largest university college in Norway. The University College had about 7000 students, split between four locations in Bø, Notodden, Porsgrunn, Rauland and Drammen. Hier ...

, Notodden campus. He therefore rejoined Notodden FK.

International career

Midtgarden has represented Norway at youth international level, and played three matches for the under-17 team in 2004 before he played 10 matches for the under-18 team the next year. He made his debut for the under-21 team on 5 October 2006 in a match against Denmark U21, where he scored one of the goals. He made one more appearance for the under-21 team, in February 2007 against Slovakia U21.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Midtgarden, Erik 1987 births Living people Footballers from Skien Norwegian men's footballers Norway men's youth international footballers Odds BK players Pors Fotball players Notodden FK players Mjøndalen IF Fotball players SBV Vitesse players FC Flora players Lillestrøm SK players Hønefoss BK players Eliteserien players Norwegian First Division players Norwegian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Estonia Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Estonia Men's association football wingers Meistriliiga players Esiliiga players 21st-century Norwegian sportsmen