Skage Simonsen Lehland (born 12 April 1998) is a Norwegian 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 plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

SK Djerv Sportsklubben Djerv is a sports club from Møhlenpris, Bergen in Norway. The club was founded on 18 May 1913, and today it has sections for football, floorball, badminton, basketball and gymnastics. The club had an ice hockey department until 1 ...

Career

Early career & college

Simonsen played with

SK Brann Sportsklubben Brann is a Norwegian professional football club based in Bergen. Founded on 26 September 1908, Brann has played in the first tier of Norwegian football for 67 out of 80 seasons, the second most of any club. They play their hom ...

at youth level, before joining various lower league clubs in Norway, including

Sandviken Sandviken is a locality and the seat of Sandviken Municipality in Gävleborg County, Sweden with 26,438 inhabitants in 2023. It is situated about 25 km west of Gävle and lies approximately 190 km north of Stockholm. The rail journey t ...

Fana Fana or fanaa most commonly refers to: * Fana, Bergen, a borough of the city of Bergen, Norway * Fana (Sufism), the Sufi term for "annihilation of the self" People * Fanã (born 1960), Portuguese football manager * Saint Fana (c. 354–395), Eg ...

Os TF Os Turnforening is a multi-sports club from Os, Hordaland, Norway. It has sections for association football, team handball, gymnastics and track and field. General history The club was founded in 1905. The football section is semi-independent an ...

, Krohnsminde (futsal), and Varegg. In 2018, Simonsen moved to the United States to play

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

at St. John's University. In two seasons in New York, Simonsen made 38 appearances, scoring nine goals and tallying ten assists. He was named Big East Freshman of Year in 2018 and All-Big East Second Team in both seasons. Simonsen transferred to

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

in 2020, going on to score ten goals and add four assists to his name in 27 appearances for the Mustangs. He was named AAC First Team in both his seasons at SMU. While at college, Simosen also traveled back to Norway during the summers to play with

Lokomotiv Oslo Lokomotiv Oslo Fotballklubb is a Norwegian football club based in Oslo. It currently plays in the Norwegian Third Division, the fourth tier of Norwegian football. History The club was founded on 26 September 1998. It has played in the Norwegian ...

, where he made six appearances and scored five goals in the

Norwegian Third Division The Norwegian Third Division, also called Norsk Tipping-Ligaen, is the fourth highest division of the men's football league in Norway. Like the rest of the Norwegian football league system, the season runs from spring to autumn, running approxima ...

. In 2021, he played with fifth-tier US side

NY Pancyprian-Freedoms New York Pancyprian-Freedoms is an American amateur association football, soccer team based in Astoria, Queens, Astoria, New York, United States. Founded in 1974, the team currently plays in the Eastern Premier Soccer League. The team plays its ...

Professional

On 11 January 2022, Simonsen was drafted 69th overall in the

2022 MLS SuperDraft The 2022 MLS SuperDraft was the 23rd edition of the SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held every January prior to the start of the MLS season and has been conducted via conference calls since 2020. Previously, the S ...

D.C. United D.C. United is an American professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

. He signed with D.C. United's

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

affiliate side

Loudoun United Loudoun United FC is an American professional soccer team based in Leesburg, Virginia. The team was founded in 2018 as the reserve team of D.C. United and made its debut in the USL Championship in 2019. After ownership changes, it ceased being t ...

on 8 March 2022. On 13 December 2022, Simonsen was announced as a new signing for USL Championship side

Detroit City FC Detroit City FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Detroit, Michigan, that competes in the USL Championship. The club played in the National Premier Soccer League from 2012 to 2019 and the National Independen ...

ahead of their 2023 season. On 24 January 2024, Simonsen was transferred to

Hartford Athletic Hartford Athletic is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Hartford, Connecticut. The club was founded in 2018 and started play in the USL Championship in 2019. It is the only pro soccer team in Connecticut (thoug ...

in exchange for

Matthew Sheldon Matthew Sheldon (born August 23, 1992) is an American professional soccer player and Youtuber who plays as a right-back for USL Championship side Detroit City FC. Early life Sheldon was born on August 23, 1992, in Bellevue, Washington, United ...

. On 7 March, his contract was mutually terminated. On 30 March 2025, Simonsen returned to Norway and joined

References

External links

D.C. United profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simonsen, Skage 1998 births Living people Men's association football midfielders D.C. United draft picks Detroit City FC players Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Fana IL players Hartford Athletic players Loudoun United FC players Norwegian expatriate men's footballers Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Norwegian men's footballers 21st-century Norwegian sportsmen Norwegian Third Division players IL Sandviken men's players SMU Mustangs men's soccer players St. John's Red Storm men's soccer players USL Championship players Norwegian men's futsal players