Bjørn Tore Kvarme (born 17 June 1972) is a Norwegian former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

defender. Kvarme earned one

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for the Norwegian national team, a friendly against

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

in 1997.

Career

Kvarme was born in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

, Norway. He first signed with Rosenborg in 1991, transferring from Utleira, a local club. He played six seasons, winning the

Tippeliga 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 promotion ...

five times. In the autumn of 1996 Kvarme was on his way to sign for Stabæk, but

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

outbid the Norwegian club. Kvarme spent three years on

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...

. In 1999, he was transferred to the French club

AS Saint-Étienne Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne Loire (), commonly known as A.S.S.E. () or simply Saint-Étienne, is a professional football club based in Saint-Étienne in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. The club was founded in 1933 and competes in ...

, where he played two seasons and became their club captain, before signing for

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

. He spent three seasons in the Basque Country, before moving back to France, this time playing for

Bastia Bastia (, , , ; co, Bastìa ) is a commune in the department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest population of any commune on the is ...

for half a season. In 2005, he returned to his hometown club. Bjørn Tore Kvarme announced that he would retire after the 2007 season. Stating injuries and lack of playing time as the main reasons for retiring, he did however agree to take another year with Rosenborg. Kvarme retired in June 2008, mid-season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kvarme, Bjorn Tore 1972 births Living people Norwegian footballers Norway international footballers Norway under-21 international footballers Rosenborg BK players Liverpool F.C. players AS Saint-Étienne players La Liga players Real Sociedad footballers SC Bastia players Association football central defenders Eliteserien players Premier League players Ligue 1 players Norwegian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Spain Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in France Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Footballers from Trondheim