Rune Bratseth (born 19 March 1961) is a Norwegian former professional

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 a libero. Nicknamed '' Elk'' due to his stature, he is best known for his spell with

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

, also having appeared in the 1994 World Cup with

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

Personal life

Bratseth was born in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

. His son-in-law is Ingar Bratseth-Kiplesund, Norwegian professional

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er.

Club career

Bratseth started his career at local club

Rosenborg BK Rosenborg Ballklub, commonly referred to simply as Rosenborg () or RBK, is a Norwegian professional association football, football club from Trondheim that plays in Eliteserien (football), Eliteserien. The club has won a record 26 league titles ...

. There, he would only be a part-time professional until he left for Germany's

in January 1987, for a mere

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93.000. He was immediately cast into the starting XI, making his club debut in a 1–5 loss at 1. FC Nürnberg on 21 February after the winter break; he would also win the first of his two

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 ...

championships in his first full season. Bratseth's finest moment came when Werder won the

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

in 1991–92, in a 2–0 victory against

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. During the campaign he played in eight complete matches out of nine, adding two goals (in both legs against Romania's FCM Bacău). After a second league title with Bremen, Bratseth began suffering knee problems, even needing injections to play. Bratseth retired after playing for Norway in the 1994 World Cup. But after an injury crisis at Bremen he made a comeback for one match in March 1995. Bratseth appeared in 316 games for the Hanseatics all competitions comprised, and scored 20 goals. In the

1993–94 UEFA Champions League The 1993–94 UEFA Champions League, originally known as the 1993–94 European Cup, was the 39th season of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA's premier club Association football, football tournament, and the second season with the UEFA Champions Lea ...

, he was on the scoresheet at the incredible 5–3 home win over

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

: the Belgians led 3–0 with 25 minutes to go, and he helped to the final comeback with the 2–3. Bratseth was named Norway's Golden Player – the best Norwegian footballer of the past 50 years by the

Norwegian Football Association The Norwegian Football Federation (, ; NFF) is the governing body of football in Norway. It was formed in 1902 and organises the men's and women's national teams, as well as the league systems for men and women (whose top levels are respectively ...

, in November 2003, to celebrate

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

's jubilee. Subsequently he became chairman and

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of Rosenborg, forming a successful partnership with coach Nils Arne Eggen. The club maintained its

Norwegian top division 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 ...

superiority in the following years. Bratseth was actually registered as a player when he started his job at Rosenborg, and since the club did not have 25 players in its first team squad to be registered for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

, he was included as a backup. Even though he did not want to play, he agreed to sit on the bench for one game in case of "emergency". He was clocked at 4,69 seconds on the 40 metres sprint, which is one of the fastest times ran by a Norwegian football player.

International career

Bratseth made his debut in the Norway national team on 26 February 1986, playing the first half of a 2–1 friendly win in

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

. He was a regular in the following eight years, earning a further 59

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. During the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

, 33-year-old Bratseth was

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the Norwegian squad. As they exited in the group stage (albeit with four points), their third and last game against

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

proved to be his last international.

Style of play

A libero, Bratseth was known for his speed, positional play, offensive strength and cleverness in duels.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Rosenborg *

1. divisjon The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon () and OBOS-ligaen (due to sponsoring ties with OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon are promo ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

Werder Bremen *

: 1987–88, 1992–93 *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

: 1990–91, 1993–94; runner-up: 1988–89, 1989–90 *

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

: 1991–92 Individual *'' kicker'' Bundesliga Team of the Season: 1987–88, 1988–89, 1992–93 * Kniksen Award: Kniksen of the year in 1991, 1992, 1994, Kniksen's honour award in 1994 * UEFA Norwegian Golden Player: 2003

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bratseth, Rune 1961 births Living people Footballers from Trondheim Norwegian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Eliteserien players Rosenborg BK players Bundesliga players SV Werder Bremen players Norway men's international footballers 1994 FIFA World Cup players Norwegian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Germany UEFA Golden Players Kniksen Award winners Rosenborg BK non-playing staff Expatriate men's footballers in West Germany Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in West Germany 20th-century Norwegian sportsmen