Geir Bakke (born 23 October 1969) is a Norwegian football coach and former player. He is currently the manager of

Eliteserien Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotio ...

club

Lillestrøm Lillestrøm is a municipality in Viken 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 ...

. Geir Bakke was born at

Hamar Hamar is a town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the traditional region of Hedmarken. The town is located on the shores of Mjøsa, Norway's largest lake ...

, where he spent his infant years, before his family relocated to Rælingen when he was six.

Playing career

Geir Bakke started his playing career at local club Rælingen before switching to nearby Strømmen in 1987 at 18 years of age. Having made two appearances in the top division with Strømmen in 1988, the following seasons at the club was spent outside the top flight. Ahead of the 1993-season, he transferred to

Kongsvinger Kongsvinger () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Glåmdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kongsvinger. Other settlements in the municipality include Aust ...

with whom he spent two seasons playing mostly at right-back in Eliteserien. Ambitious, newly promoted Stabæk signed him ahead of the 1995-season. He would spend three seasons at Stabæk. He was a regular at right-back during his first season at Stabæk, and played fifteen games in his second season. A troublesome knee prevented him from playing any games in his third and final season at the club.

Managerial career

Upon retiring as a player, he then pursued a managerial career, having been educated at Norges idrettshøyskole and worked several years coaching young players at Wang Toppidrett. He was hired to coach Skjetten in 1998 and 1999.

Vålerenga

Bakke was assistant coach in Vålerenga from 1999 to 2005. He was assistant under

Tom Nordlie Tom Nordlie (born 2 March 1962) is a Norwegian football coach. He has managed several top Norwegian football teams. Playing career Nordlie was not a footballer himself, but he did play for the national water polo team. He has his education fro ...

in his first two seasons at the club. From 2001 to 2005 he was assistant under Kjetil Rekdal. Vålerenga won

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotio ...

, the Norwegian top flight, in 2005. Bakke quit his position in Vålerenga after the 2005 season to become head coach in Moss FK.

Moss

As announced on 30 October 2005, he took over second tier club

Moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta ('' sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and ...

effecting from the start of the 2006 season. This was Bakke's first job as a head coach for a professional football team. Moss finished fifth in the

2007 1. divisjon The 2007 1. divisjon season (referred to as Adeccoligaen for sponsorship reasons) was a Norwegian second-tier football season. The season began on April 9, 2007 and concluded on November 4, 2007. It was the tenth and final season in which teams ...

. Bakke resigned on 28 August 2008.

Stabæk

Geir Bakke was presented as assistant coach in Stabæk on 29 August 2008, the day after his resignation in Moss. He replaced

Petter Belsvik Petter Belsvik (born 2 October 1967) is a Norwegian football coach and former player, who played as a striker. With 159 goals in the Norwegian Premier League he ranks third in the all-time goalscorer statistics, behind Harald Brattbakk. He never ...

and signed a three-year contract with the club. On 10 November 2011 it was announced that Bakke was leaving Stabæk to become head coach in Kristiansund BK.

Kristiansund

Bakke was head coach at Kristiansund for two seasons, from 2012 to 2013. Kristiansund won 2. divisjon Group 2 in Bakke's first season and were promoted to the

2013 1. divisjon The 2013 1. divisjon (referred to as Adeccoligaen for sponsorship reasons) was a Norwegian second-tier football league season. The season began on 7 April 2013 and was concluded on 3 November 2013. The league was contested by 16 teams. T ...

. The 2013 season was the first season in club history that Kristiansund played at the second highest level in Norwegian football.

Molde

On 17 January 2014, Bakke was presented as the new assistant coach at

Molde FK Molde Fotballklubb () is a professional football club based in Molde, Norway, that competes in Eliteserien, the top flight of Norwegian football. Founded on 19 June 1911, the club was originally known as International and changed its name to ...

. His partnership with head coach Tor Ole Skullerud turned out successfully, and Molde won the league title with 71 points (as of 2018 a league record). On 23 October 2014, it was announced that Geir Bakke was leaving Molde after the 2014 season to become head coach in Sarpsborg 08.

Sarpsborg 08

On 23 October 2014, Bakke was announced as head coach of Sarpborg 08. He signed a four-year deal with the club, effective 1 January 2015. He led the team to their first ever Norwegian Cup final in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

, which they lost to Rosenborg with the score 0–2. In the 2017 season, Sarpsborg 08 finished third in

. The third-place finish secured their first league medal in club history and qualified the club for

European football UEFA competitions (french: competitions de l'UEFA), referred improperly by the mass media as European football, are the set of tournaments organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), generally in professional and amateur as ...

for the first time. On 10 May 2017, Bakke signed a new five-year deal, which would have made him Sarpsborg 08's head coach until the end of the 2022 season. Instead Bakke left for then 1. division side Lillestrøm in 2019.

Lillestrøm

On 31 of December 2019, Geir Bakke was announced as the new head coach of Lillestrøm SK, which found themselves in the 1. division of Norwegian football. The following season, 2020, Bakke led the team to promotion back to the Eliteserien.

Managerial statistics

Honours

As a head coach

Kristiansund * 2. divisjon, group 2:

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Sarpsborg 08 *

: Bronze

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

* Norwegian Football Cup: Runners-up

Awards

*Norwegian Football Coaches Association: Coach of the year in 2017

References

External links

Biography
at Sarpsborg08.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Bakke, Geir 1969 births Living people Norwegian footballers Strømmen IF players Stabæk Fotball players Kongsvinger IL Toppfotball players Eliteserien players Norwegian football managers Vålerenga Fotball non-playing staff Moss FK managers Stabæk Fotball non-playing staff Kristiansund BK managers Molde FK non-playing staff Sarpsborg 08 FF managers Lillestrøm SK managers Eliteserien managers Association football defenders Sportspeople from Hamar