Vegard Hansen (born 8 August 1969) is a Norwegian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player who coaches

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 ...

club

Kongsvinger Kongsvinger () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Glåmdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kongsvinger. Other settlements in the municipality include Aust ...

. During his time at

Mjøndalen Mjøndalen is a built up area in Drammen municipality in Buskerud, Buskerud county, Norway. It is situated south of the Drammenselva River opposite of Krokstadelva. History Mjøndalen has traditionally been a railway site most known as an indu ...

, the club was promoted to the 1. divisjon in 2008 and reached the play-offs for promotion to the

Eliteserien 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 ...

in 2012, 2013 and 2014. In 2014 and 2018 the club won promotion to the top division.

Playing career

As a player, he played for the clubs

Strømsgodset Strømsgodset is a former municipality in Vestfold county (from 1964 Buskerud county) in Norway which is today a part of the city of Drammen. History Strømsgodset was originally a small rural annex to the city parish of Bragernes (Drammen). ...

Bristol City F.C. Bristol City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern ...

Lofoten Lofoten ( , ; ; ) is an archipelago and a Districts of Norway, traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches, and untouched lands. T ...

Hønefoss __NOTOC__ Hønefoss is a town and the administrative center of the municipality of Ringerike in Buskerud county, Norway. Hønefoss is an industrial center of inner Østlandet, containing several factories and other industry. As of 1 January 2022 ...

, Stord/Moster and Mjøndalen. He played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

Coaching career

He began his coaching career in 2005 as the head coach of Stord/Moster. Ahead of the 2006 season, he took over as head coach at

Mjøndalen IF Mjøndalen IF is a Norwegian sports club located in Mjøndalen, Buskerud, Norway. Of the different athletic endeavours that the club supports, it may be best known in Norway for its bandy national championship teams and internationally for its as ...

, playing in 3. divisjon (fourth tier) at the time. Hansen led the team to promotion to the

2008 2. divisjon The 2008 2. divisjon season was the third highest association football league for men in Norway. 26 games were played in 4 groups, with 3 points given for wins and 1 for draws. Mjøndalen, Skeid, Stavanger and Tromsdalen were promoted to the Firs ...

in his first season in charge. Mjøndalen finished in second place in 2. divisjon's group 4 in the 2007 season. In the following 2008 season, Mjøndalen won their second promotion in three years and was promoted to the 2009 1. divisjon. Hansen and Mjøndalen reached the play-offs for promotion to 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 ...

in 2012, 2013 and 2014. In 2014 the club won promotion to the Tippeligaen after a 4–1 win on aggregate against Brann in the play-off final. Mjøndalen finished 15th out of sixteen teams in their first season back at the first tier and were relegated. In 2018, they won promotion to

after finishing in second place in the 2018 1. divisjon. In the

2019 Eliteserien The 2019 Eliteserien was the 75th season of top-tier Association football, football in Norway. This was third season of Eliteserien as rebranding from Tippeligaen. The season began on 30 March and was scheduled to end 30 November 2019, not includ ...

, Mjøndalen avoided relegation through a last-match victory. Vegard Hansen was sacked during the summer 2022, after a string of defeats, leaving his post after 17 years as the club's manager. Hansen was hired as

manager ahead of the 2023 season, but was sacked in October.

References

1969 births Living people Footballers from Drammen Norwegian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Strømsgodset Toppfotball players Kongsvinger IL Toppfotball players Bristol City F.C. players FK Lofoten players Hønefoss BK players Mjøndalen IF Fotball players Eliteserien players Norwegian First Division players English Football League players Norwegian expatriate men's footballers Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Norwegian football managers Eliteserien managers Mjøndalen IF Fotball managers Kongsvinger IL Toppfotball managers 20th-century Norwegian sportsmen {{Norway-footy-defender-stub