Jørgen Isnes (born 30 August 1979) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player.

Playing career

Isnes began his senior career at Skeid and made his debut in the

Eliteserien 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 ...

for Skeid away against

Molde Molde () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the seat of Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...

in July 1997. The following seasons, Isnes played for Skeid in the Eliteserien until 2003 when he went on loan to Manglerud Star. Before the 2004 season, he transferred to

Lørenskog is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus Counties of Norway, county, Norway. A suburb of Oslo, it is part of the Oslo urban area and the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Romerike. The administrative centre of the municipa ...

in the

Norwegian Second Division The Norwegian Second Division, also called 2. divisjon and often referred to as PostNord-ligaen for sponsorship reasons, is the third-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. There are 28 teams divided into two groups, and at the ...

where he later became captain. In 2009, he became a player-manager and he retired after the 2012 season.

Coaching career

Lørenskog

Isnes was a player-coach Lørenskog for several seasons and continued as a coach after his retirement and remained at the club until 2014.

KFUM-Kameratene

In 2015, Isnes was appointed as an assistant coach for KFUM Oslo and after two seasons as an assistant coach he became head coach in 2016, despite interest from other clubs. Prior to his appointment as head coach, the team had been relegated from the first division. In his first season as head coach, Isnes led his team to a 7th-place finish in the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

and the following season led his team a 2nd-place finish and a qualification for the first division. After wins over

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

Åsane Åsane is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. The borough makes up the northern part of the city, north of the city centre. Åsane is connected to downtown Bergen by the E16/ E39 highway. The E16 highway continues on ...

, the team were promoted to the first division. In 2019, Isnes led the team to a 4th-place finish in the first division and were allowed to play for a qualification to the Eliteserien but lost to

Start Start can refer to multiple topics: * Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Track and field#Starts use in race, Starts use in sport race * S ...

. After his success with KFUM, Isnes became a sought after coach for several Eliteserien clubs and was linked to become the coach of Odd. Isnes continued at KFUM and after finishing 8th in 2020, it was a 5th-place finish that gave a new opportunity to be promoted to the Eliteserien in 2021. After knocking out

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 ...

and Fredrikstad, a match against Jerv which went to a penalty shootout saw KFUM's opportunity for promotion lost. Isnes later rejected both

Sarpsborg Sarpsborg ( or ), historically Borg, 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 municipality is the city of Sarpsborg. Sarpsbor ...

and

Hamarkameratene Hamarkameratene (), often abbreviated to HamKam or Ham-Kam, is a Norwegian professional football club based in the town of Hamar. The club was founded in 1918, originally under the name Freidig. HamKam were most recently promoted to the Elites ...

who were looking for a new head coach. He also turned down an assistant coach role in Molde, instead preferring to continue at KFUM.

Strømsgodset

On 14 December 2022, Isnes was hired to become head coach of Eliteserien club

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). ...

, his first coaching role in the Eliteserien. His first Eliteserien game in charge was a 1–0 victory over Aalesund. In late May 2025 after a bad start to the season with only two out of eight wins, Isnes was fired.

Personal life

Isnes has been a supporter of

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in ...

since he was a child and has named

Jürgen Klopp Jürgen Norbert Klopp (; born 16 June 1967) is a German football executive and former Manager (association football), manager and Football player, player. He is widely regarded as one of the best football managers in the world. Klopp has been ...

as an inspiration to him.

Managerial statistics (all official matches)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isnes, Jorgen 1979 births Living people Footballers from Oslo Eliteserien players Norwegian First Division players Skeid Fotball players Lørenskog IF players Men's association football defenders Norwegian men's footballers Norwegian football managers Strømsgodset Toppfotball managers Eliteserien managers