Odd "Ivers" Iversen (6 November 1945 – 29 December 2014) was 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 ...
who played as a
striker
Striker or The Strikers may refer to:
People
*A participant in a strike action
*A participant in a hunger strike
*Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant
*Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America
People wi ...
; he is notable for his former record of 158 goals in Norwegian top tier football, as well as his still-standing record of 30 goals in a single season.
Career
Iversen began his career in
Rosenborg in 1964, and would spend twelve of his eighteen years as a top tier footballer in the club. He is often regarded as one of the greatest Norwegian footballers ever, and was the top goalscorer four times in the Norwegian top division (1967, 1968, 1969 and 1979). Upon retirement in 1982, he became the first Norwegian player in history to get a
testimonial match
A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...
by his club (Rosenborg).
At the time of his death he still held the record of most goals scored in one season (30 goals in 18 matches), a record that as of November 2020 still stands. During his career as a footballer he scored 158 goals in the top division, a record that stood for more than 20 years until it was broken by
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 ...
(159) in 2003. Since then,
Harald Martin Brattbakk (166) and
Sigurd Rushfeldt
Sigurd Rushfeldt (born 11 December 1972) is a Norwegian football coach and former player who works as an assistant coach for Tromsø. During his playing career, he played for Tromsø, Birmingham City, Rosenborg, Racing de Santander, and Austri ...
(172) have also passed Iversen in the all-time goalscoring chart.
In addition to Rosenborg, Iversen also played for
Vålerenga and
Racing Mechelen in Belgium. He also got 45 caps and 19 goals for the
Norway national team.
Personal life and death
Odd Iversen was born and grew up in Trondheim in the working class neighborhood of Møllenberg. He is the father of former professional footballer
Steffen Iversen
Steffen Iversen (born 10 November 1976) is a Norwegian footballer who is player-manager for Norwegian 4th division side Trygg/Lade as a striker. He is the son of former Norway international Odd Iversen, one of Norway's most prolific goalscorers ...
. He died in Trondheim in the early hours of 29 December 2014 from an unspecified illness, aged 69.
Honours
Rosenborg
*
Norwegian top division
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 promoti ...
:
1967
Events
January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 5
** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establ ...
,
1969
This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon.
Events January
* January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco.
* January 5
** Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...
Individual
*
Norwegian top division top scorer: 1967, 1968, 1969, 1979
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iversen, Odd
1945 births
2014 deaths
Norwegian footballers
Norway international footballers
Rosenborg BK players
K.R.C. Mechelen players
Vålerenga Fotball players
Norwegian expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in Belgium
Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
Eliteserien players
Footballers from Trondheim
Association football forwards
Rosenborg BK non-playing staff