Bjørn Maars Johnsen (born 6 November 1991) is a 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 le ...

who plays 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 ...

for Georgian

Erovnuli Liga The Erovnuli Liga ( ka, ეროვნული ლიგა - lit. National League) is the top division of professional football in Georgia. Since 1990, it has been organized by the Professional Football League of Georgia and Georgian Football F ...

club

Torpedo Kutaisi FC Torpedo Kutaisi is a Georgian professional football club based in Kutaisi, Georgia's third largest city. 'Torpedo Kutaisi' was founded in 1946 and in just three years the club became the winner of the Football Championship of that time. Torp ...

and the Norway national team.

Early life

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and raised in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

to a Norwegian father and an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

mother, Johnsen grew up in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

and attended

Needham B. Broughton High School Needham B. Broughton High School, commonly known as Broughton High School, is one of thirty-two high schools in the Wake County Public School System. It is located at 723 St. Mary's Street, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Broughton w ...

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

, where he played on the school's

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team.

Club career

Early career

Johnsen started his football career in

Vålerenga Vålerenga () is a neighbourhood in the city of Oslo, Norway, belonging to the borough of Gamle Oslo. Vålerenga is located between the neighbourhoods of Gamlebyen, Jordal, Ensjø, Etterstad and Lodalen. Vålerenga is in particular known for it ...

and

Tønsberg Tønsberg , historically Tunsberg, is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, eastern Norway, located around south-southwest of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near its mouth onto the Skagerrak. The administrative ce ...

, staying there for two seasons. After leaving Tønsberg he went to

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

, to the CD Úbeda Viva, where he became the first foreigner in the history of the club. Johnsen spent close to three months with the club, where he played four games and scored a goal before signing fourth tier Spanish team

Antequera Antequera () is a city and municipality in the Comarca de Antequera, province of Málaga, part of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia. It is known as "the heart of Andalusia" (''el corazón de Andalucía'') because of its central locat ...

in January 2012. Eight months later, on 5 August 2012, Johnsen joined

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

side Atlético Baleares, where he played alongside

Walter Pandiani Walter Gerardo Pandiani Urquiza (born 27 April 1976) is an Uruguayan football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the current manager of Albion. His performances for Peñarol earned him a move to Deportivo in Spain, wh ...

Atlético CP

On 17 July 2014, Johnsen signed with Portuguese club

Atlético CP Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico * Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy * Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic ...

on a two-year deal. In August, he won the award for Player of the Month in the Segunda Liga, after scoring nine goals in five games. His strong performances saw him being scouted by such teams as Benfica,

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

and

Belenenses Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses, commonly known as Os Belenenses (), is a Portuguese sports club best known for its football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 25,000-seat Estádio do Reste ...

, but the transfer never arrived. According to the Portuguese press Benfica offered €300,000 plus two of their players, but Atletico wanted €500,000 and thus rejected the offer.

Litex Lovech

After half a season, 31 matches and 16 goals with Atletico, Johnsen joined the Bulgarian team

Litex Lovech Litex ( bg, Литекс) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Lovech, which currently competes in the Second League. The club was founded in 1921 as Hisarya Sports Club. The club's home ground is the Gradski Stadion ...

for two and a half years. He made his debut on 28 February 2015 in a home win against Ludogorets Razgrad. On 23 May he scored a hat trick in a match against Ludogorets for a 4–2 win. On 12 December 2015, he was sent off after an altercation with Miguel Bedoya in an ill-tempered

A PFG The First Professional Football League ( bg, Първа професионална футболна лига, Parva Profesionalna Futbolna Liga), also known as the Bulgarian First League or Parva Liga, currently known as the efbet League for spon ...

match against

Levski Sofia Levski Sofia ( bg, Левски София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 b ...

that was eventually abandoned after the Litex players were ordered off the pitch.

Heart of Midlothian

On 22 July 2016, Johnsen completed a move to

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

side Heart of Midlothian, on a three-year deal. He made his debut on 20 August 2016, appearing as a substitute in a 5–1 victory over

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional F ...

played at Tynecastle, where he assisted a

Sam Nicholson Sam Alastair Nicholson (born 20 January 1995) is a Scottish footballer who plays as a left winger or left midfielder for Colorado Rapids in Major League Soccer. Career Heart of Midlothian Nicholson attended Penicuik High School in Midlothian an ...

goal with one of his first touches.

ADO Den Haag

Johnsen moved to

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation f ...

for an undisclosed fee on 31 July 2017. In his first season he scored 19 goals in 34 official matches.

AZ Alkmaar

After a great season at ADO Den Haag, Johnsen transferred to

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known as AZ Alkmaar or simply AZ (), is a Dutch professional football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan district. The club plays in the Eredivisie, the highest professional football league in the Netherlands, and ho ...

in 2018. His performance was substandard leading to a half-year loan spell at

Rosenborg BK Rosenborg Ballklub, commonly referred to simply as Rosenborg () or RBK, is a Norwegian professional football club from Trondheim that plays in Eliteserien. The club has won a record 26 league titles, a shared record 12 Norwegian Football Cup ti ...

Ulsan Hyundai

On 6 January 2020, Johnsen signed a three-year contract with

K League K League (Hangul: K리그) is South Korea's professional football league. It includes first division K League 1 and second division K League 2. History Until the 1970s, South Korean football operated two major football leagues, the National S ...

side

Ulsan Hyundai Ulsan Hyundai FC ( ko, 울산 현대 축구단) is a South Korean professional football club based in Ulsan that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. Founded in 1983 as Hyundai Horang-i, they joined the K League in ...

CF Montreal

On 3 February 2021, Johnsen signed with

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club CF Montreal.

FC Seoul

On 22 July 2023, Johnsen signed with K League team

FC Seoul FC Seoul ( ko, FC 서울) is a South Korean professional football club based in Seoul that competes in the K League 1, the top flight of South Korean football. The club is owned by GS Sports, a subsidiary of GS Group. They play their home games ...

Torpedo Kutaisi

On 24 January 2024, Johnsen joined

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

club

on a 1+1 deal. He opened his goalscoring account with a brace in a 4–1 win over

Samtredia Samtredia ( ka, სამტრედია ) is a town in Imereti, Georgia, lying in a lowland between the rivers Rioni and Tskhenis-Tsqali, west of the capital Tbilisi, and west of Georgia's second largest city Kutaisi. Georgia’s most impor ...

International career

Due to his dual nationality, Johnsen was able to play for both

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Johnsen made his Norway debut in June 2017.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Ulsan Hyundai *

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Individual *

SJPF Segunda Liga Player of the Month The SJPF Segunda Liga Player of the Month (often called Second League Player of the Month) is an association football award that recognizes the best Segunda Liga player each month of the season and is conceived by the SJPF (syndicate of professional ...

: August 2014, September 2014 * Scottish Premiership Player of the Month: November 2016

References

External links