Kjetil André Rekdal (born 6 November 1968) is a Norwegian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and a former player. He is the manager of Norwegian club Aalesund. Rekdal began his playing career in

Molde FK Molde Fotballklubb () is a association football, football club based in Molde Municipality, Molde, Norway, that competes in Eliteserien, the top flight of Norwegian football league system, Norwegian football. Founded on 19 June 1911, the club w ...

, playing afterwards for clubs in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

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and

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

. Playing 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 ...

during his time as a player, his 83 caps with the Norway national team makes him the seventh most capped player in the team's history. Rekdal previously managed Vålerenga from 2000 to 2006, during which he won both the cup and league title. He has also been in charge of

1. FC Kaiserslautern 1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern (), K'lautern or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to Association football, football ...

, Lierse and Aalesund. During his time at Aalesund, the club earned two cup titles and saw a period of success previously unmatched in their history, which was attributed to Rekdal.

Club career

Born in

Vestnes Municipality Vestnes is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. Vestnes is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the ...

, Rekdal started playing football for the local club Fiksdal/Rekdal in 1979. Later as a 16-year-old he started his professional career with the local top flight club

, becoming the second-youngest player in the league. In 1988, he signed with the

club

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...

and stayed with them for two years before moving to the

side Lierse S.K. and remaining there until 1996, with the exception of the 1994 season which he spent on

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

helping his former club

gaining promotion to Tippeligaen and winning the domestic

Cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

. In 1996, he signed for

club

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

. The highlight of his playing career was a highly successful spell at

Hertha BSC Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC () or Hertha Berlin, is a German professional football club based in Berlin. Hertha BSC plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football league system, German footbal ...

in Germany between 1997 and 2000. His final years as a player and then player/manager was spent in Norwegian club Vålerenga, where he picked up another cup winner's medal in 2002 before retiring in 2004. In the summer of 2007, Rekdal officially rejoined his youth club Fiksdal/Rekdal.

International career

Rekdal has 83 games for the Norway national team, after his debut against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in 1987, and played in two

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

s (

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

and

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

). He scored 17 goals for the national team, among those a long-range goal at Wembley against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1992, the only goal in the game as Norway beat

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in the 1994 World Cup, and a penalty in the 1998 World Cup against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

to win the game 2–1, prompting the commentator to say how "the man with the yellow boots has hurt those wearing the yellow shirts...Delight for Egil Olsen". The two World Cup goals make him the highest scoring Norwegian in World Cup history, with one goal more than Arne Brustad, Dan Eggen, Håvard Flo and Tore André Flo.

Managerial career

Vålerenga

Rekdal has proven himself a successful coach, leading Vålerenga from relegation in 2001, and famously weeping as his team avoided relegation the following year and back into position as one of the dominating clubs in the Tippeligaen. In

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, he led the team to second place, losing the first place on goal difference to Rosenborg, and in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, his team finally won the league for the first time in 21 years, ending Rosenborg's 13-year reign as champions of Norway. along the way receiving legend-status in the club, partly due to the fact that he refused an offer of a six-digit coaching salary in order to help the club financially.

Lierse

Rekdal resigned as coach at Vålerenga on 21 August 2006, following a string of poor results. He was appointed manager of his former club Lierse on 21 November 2006. When he arrived at the club, Lierse lay bottom of the table with only two points in fifteen matches. At the end of the season, they ended up with 26 points and avoided direct relegation. In the play-offs, Lierse only managed to win three of their six matches and were relegated to the Second Division after all.

1. FC Kaiserslautern

In May 2007, Rekdal signed on to manage Kaiserslautern in the German 2. Bundesliga. He left the club in early February of the following year, the club lying in sixteenth place.

Aalesund

He joined forces with Norwegian top flight outfit Aalesund in 2008 after moving back to Norway. Joining the club mid-season, he found Aalesund lying in a relegation spot, but managed to get a relegation play-off spot, where Aalesund beat challengers Sogndal 7–2 on aggregate, thereby securing a new season in the Tippeligaen. In 2009, he led Aalesund to the club's first victory in the Norwegian Cup, where they beat arch rivals Molde 3–2 after a penalty shootout in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. In

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, he led the club to the fourth place in Tippeligaen, the club's best result ever. In 2011, he received wide praise when his club came close to the historic feat of qualifying for the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League, losing the last play-off game to the Dutch side

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known internationally as AZ Alkmaar, or simply and most commonly as AZ () in the Netherlands, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan#The Zaan district, Zaan district. ...

, having won the first leg 2–1. The same year he again led Aalesund to win the Norwegian Cup

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, thereby securing a

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

qualification spot for the third consecutive year. His contract with Aalesund was terminated on 26 November 2012. After he won his second Norwegian Cup with Aalesund in three years, he was once again said to take over as national team coach after Drillo. On 26 November 2012, the board of directors of Aalesund announced the termination of Rekdal's contract. The board stressed that it was not due to the season results, but rather as a result of a general review. Analysts noted that the sacking was likely a result of a power struggle within the club between Rekdal, the sports director and the chairman of the board.

Return to Vålerenga

Rekdal started his second tenure for Vålerenga, when he was appointed as head coach on 8 January 2013. On 13 July 2016, it was announced he would end his tenure as head coach of Valerenga after the 2016 season and will move into the position as sporting director to make way for Ronny Deila whom will take over as head coach.

Start

Rekdal was appointed as head coach on 1 June 2018 after former head coach Mark Dempsey was sacked on 18 May 2018. Rekdal signed a two-year contract with

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 ...

. Rekdal took over the team, after 12 games of the season had been played; during his spell, only six teams gathered more points, yet the team was relegated t the end of that season That job ended; In an interview in 2020, he said that frequent visits to laces for betting/gambling orone or more

casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

s, was not well-received by is previous employerStart.

Personal life

Born 6 November 1968 in Rekdal in

, into a family of six, including three younger siblings, his younger brother Sindre played also professional with

helping them win the domestic cup in 1994. Among his interests and hobbies is freshwater fishing and card-games such as

Poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...

, having competed in amateur tournaments internationally. Rekdal moved to Ottestad neighborhood in Hamar in 2013, with his wife and four children. During his time at Lierse, Rekdal had a clause in his contract which allowed him to keep up to date with Leeds United results at half-time intervals, via BBC Radio. He is a fanatic supporter of the Yorkshire club. Rekdal is highly superstitious. To avoid bad luck, he never appears on matchday without his locally produced trademark

Pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in late summer into mid-autumn. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the Family (biology), family Rosaceae, bearing the Pome, po ...

-flavoured soft drink. While coaching Aalesunds FK, he appeared in the home matches of tier five club Fiksdal/Rekdal as a player, stating that he wished to contribute to the club with which he started his career.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Norway's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Rekdal goal.''

Managerial statistics (all official matches)

Honours

As player

Molde * Norwegian Football Cup:

Vålerenga *Norwegian Football Cup:

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

*Norwegian First Division: 2001

As Coach

Vålerenga *

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 ...

*Norwegian Football Cup: 2002 *Norwegian First Division: 2001 Aalesund *Norwegian Football Cup:

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

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 ...

HamKam *Norwegian First Division: 2021

References

External links

* * *
Official Profile and Statistics
at fotball.no {{DEFAULTSORT:Rekdal, Kjetil 1968 births Living people Footballers from Molde People from Vestnes Norwegian men's footballers Norway men's youth international footballers Norway men's under-21 international footballers Norway men's international footballers Kniksen Award winners Molde FK players Borussia Mönchengladbach players Lierse S.K. players Stade Rennais FC players Hertha BSC players Vålerenga Fotball players Eliteserien players Bundesliga players Belgian Pro League players Norwegian First Division players Ligue 1 players 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2000 players Norwegian football managers Vålerenga Fotball managers Lierse S.K. managers 1. FC Kaiserslautern managers Aalesunds FK managers IK Start managers Hamarkameratene managers Rosenborg BK managers Norwegian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in West Germany Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in West Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in France Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in France Norwegian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Belgium Expatriate football managers in Germany Expatriate football managers in Cyprus Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Men's association football midfielders Eliteserien managers 20th-century Norwegian sportsmen