Thorstein Helstad (born 28 April 1977) 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 ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Career

Helstad was born in

Hamar Hamar is a town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the traditional region of Hedmarken. The town is located on the shores of Mjøsa, Norway's largest lake ...

, and started his career in his local club

FL Fart Fotballaget Fart is a Norwegian football club based in Vang outside Hamar. The club is most noted for their women's team which played in Toppserien in 2008, 2012 and 2019. Their home matches are played at Fartbana. Norway international football ...

where he at age 16 scored two goals against Løten in 1993 that made the team win promotion to

3. divisjon The Norwegian Third Division, also called 3. divisjon, 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 approximately from ...

. He transferred to the local

Norwegian First Division The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon and OBOS-ligaen (named sponsor is property developer OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon are ...

side

HamKam Hamarkameratene (literally ''the Hamar Comrades''), often abbreviated to HamKam or Ham-Kam, is a Norwegian football club based in the town of Hamar. The club was founded in 1918, originally under the name Freidig. HamKam were most recently pr ...

, at the age of 18, and played for the club between 1995 and 1997. Helstad joined the

Tippeligaen 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 promotio ...

side Brann ahead of the 1998 season. He became one of the biggest stars in the team, and was Tippeliga top scorer in both

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

and

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

and won the

Kniksen Award The Kniksen Award ( no, Kniksenprisen), established in 1990, honors the best players in the Norwegian football premiership. The award is named after the legendary Norwegian football player Roald Jensen, nicknamed "Kniksen". Categories Categ ...

as the best striker in 2000. Helstad was sold to

Austria Wien Fußballklub Austria Wien AG (; known in English as Austria Vienna, and usually shortened to Austria (German: Österreich) in German-speaking countries, is an Austrian association football club from the capital city of Vienna. It has won the mo ...

alongside

Raymond Kvisvik Raymond Kvisvik (born 8 November 1974) is a Norwegian former professional association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger. He is most noted for his spells at SK Brann, Brann, but he did also play for Moss F ...

, where he won both the

Austrian Bundesliga The Austrian Football Bundesliga (german: Österreichische Fußball-Bundesliga, italic=no , "Austrian Football Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Austrian football league system. The ...

, the

Austrian Cup The Austrian Cup (german: ÖFB-Cup), known as UNIQA ÖFB Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual football competition held by the Austrian Football Association, the ÖFB. During the 2008–09 season, Austria Wien won the tournament for 27th t ...

and the

Austrian Supercup The Austrian Supercup (German: ÖFB-Supercup) was a football competition held annually from 1986 until 2004 between the winners of the Austrian Football Bundesliga and the Austrian Cup. 19 editions were played during the short history of the comp ...

. After scoring 14 goals in 69 matches for the Austrian side, Helstad returned to Norway where he signed a four-year deal with Rosenborg. With

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 ...

as the preferred striker, Helstad never managed to gain a regular spot in the first squad, but was often used a winger in a 4–3–3 system. After scoring 24 goals in 58 matches, Helstad returned to Brann in June 2006. Since he transferred in the middle of the season he won both gold with Rosenborg and silver with Brann. In July 2008, Brann accepted a €2 million bid for Helstad from French club

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le ...

, where he was installed as their starting striker. Helstad scored 21 goals in

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

. In June 2011, Helstad made a free transfer move to recently relegated and former Champions League finalist

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word ...

. He announced his retirement from playing in April 2014.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

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

Honours

Austria Wien *

: 2002–03 *

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

Rosenborg *

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 ...

, 2006 Brann *Tippeligaen:

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

Individual * Tippeligaen top scorer:

Attacker of the Year:

Norwegian Football Association Gold Watch The Norwegian Football Association Gold Watch () is an honorary proof that's awarded to all Norwegian footballers who reaches 25 caps for the Norway national football team. The watch is awarded by the Norges Fotballforbund. Gunnar Andersen was th ...

References

External links

Helstad profile
at Norwegian FA {{DEFAULTSORT:Helstad, Thorstein 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Hamar Norwegian footballers Norway international footballers Norway under-21 international footballers FL Fart players Hamarkameratene players FK Austria Wien players Rosenborg BK players SK Brann players Le Mans FC players Lillestrøm SK players Expatriate footballers in Austria Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Monaco Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Eliteserien players Norwegian First Division players Kniksen Award winners Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in France Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Norwegian expatriate footballers Association football forwards