Morten Pedersen (born 12 April 1972) is a Norwegian former

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 played as defender. He is the head coach of

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 ...

under 21 side.

Career

Pedersen started his career playing for Storsteinnes IL, before going to the Danish club

Brøndby IF Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (, usually abbreviated to Brøndby IF (), is a Danish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Brøndbyvester. Brøndby IF denotes the professional football section of Brøndbyernes ...

in 1990. His stint at Brøndby was not successful, and he only got to play one match during the two years he stayed at the club. In 1992, he returned to Norway to play for

. Pedersen stayed with Tromsø until 1996, when he transferred to Brann. Pedersen only spent one year, playing regularly for Brann, before trying his luck abroad for a second time, this time with German

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 ...

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 ...

. His career in Germany proved to be as unsuccessful as his career in Denmark, however, and he returned to Norway one year later to play with Rosenborg, where he won the

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 ...

. After a year at Rosenborg, he made a third and final attempt at establishing a career as a foreign professional, going to Belgian side Gent. At Gent, which at that moment was coached by a fellow Norwegian, Trond Sollied, Pedersen finally got regular playing time, and his time at the club proved very successful. Pedersen played with Gent for some seasons before returning to Tromsø in 2003, the same year that

Ole Martin Årst Ole Martin Årst (born 19 July 1974) is a Norwegian retired professional association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward. He is a former top scorer in both Belgium's and Norway's top leagues. Club career ...

also returned to Tromsø from Belgium. Pedersen was during his playing career heavily linked to both Liverpool and Newcastle United. Pedersen also played for

Vålerenga Vålerenga () is a neighbourhood in the city of Oslo, Norway, belonging to the borough of Gamle Oslo. Vålerenga is located between the neighbourhoods of Gamlebyen, Jordal, Ensjø, Etterstad and Lodalen. Vålerenga is in particular known for i ...

for a while, on a loan. Before retiring in 2007, Pedersen played for Tromsø, where he returned in 2003 after having played for various professional Norwegian and foreign clubs. During Tromsø's last home match of the 2006 season, Pedersen sustained an injury which would eventually lead him to retire from football. He officially announced that he retired in August 2007, and was honored during a special ceremony before the home match against Odd Grenland on 2 September 2007. From 2009 through 2010 he was the head coach of Tromsdalen UIL.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pedersen, Morten Living people 1972 births Footballers from Tromsø Men's association football defenders Norwegian men's footballers Brøndby IF players Tromsø IL players SK Brann players Borussia Mönchengladbach players Rosenborg BK players Vålerenga Fotball players K.A.A. Gent players Eliteserien players Bundesliga players Belgian Pro League players Norwegian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Norwegian football managers