Erik Stensrud Pedersen (born 11 October 1967) is a former
Norwegian 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 played as left back. Pedersen spent most of his career in Norway, but had a spell in
Scotland with
Dundee United.
Playing career
Pedersen played youth football for
Storms and Eidanger before joining
Odds in 1984. He moved to
Tromsø in 1988 and then
Viking in 1991. He made ten appearances for
Norway between 1990 and 1992 and won the
1991 Tippeligaen
The 1991 Tippeligaen was the 47th completed season of top division football in Norway. 22 game-weeks were played with 3 points given for wins and 1 for draws. Number eleven and twelve are relegated. The winners of the two groups of the 1. divis ...
with Viking, but his career began to be disrupted by injuries. Pedersen rejoined Odds (now known as Odd Grenland) for a year in 1994 before returning to Viking.
On 26 October 1996, Pedersen appeared as a trialist for
Dundee United in a
Scottish Premier Division
The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) Th ...
match against
Hearts, subsequently signing a contract with the club.
He quickly became a cult hero with United supporters, playing in all but one of the remaining fixtures of the
1996–97 season and helping the club to a third-placed finish in the league.
In November 1997, Pedersen collected a runners-up medal in the
Scottish League Cup when he played in Dundee United's
3–0 final defeat against
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
.
After an injury-hit third season in Scotland, during which he made only eight appearances, he left United when his contract expired.
Although Pedersen's time in Scotland was relatively short, his popularity was such that he was inducted into the Dundee United Hall of Fame in 2011. His own affection for United is demonstrated by a tattoo of the club badge.
Returning to Norway in 1999, Pedersen joined Odd Grenland for a third time. He won his second major trophy with them in 2000 when Odd defeated Viking 2–1 in the
Norwegian Cup final. When he was not offered a new contract by Odd for 2002, he joined
Pors Grenland
Pors Fotball is a Norwegian football club from Porsgrunn, currently playing in the 3. divisjon. Pors plays in blue jerseys, and their home ground is Pors Stadion. Notable former players include Jan Halvor Halvorsen and Erik Pedersen.
History
...
, playing for their first team until 2005.
Honours
Club
;
Viking:
*
Tippeligaen: 1991
;
Odd Grenland:
*
Norwegian Football Cup: 2000
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pedersen, Erik
1967 births
Living people
Norwegian men's footballers
Norway men's international footballers
Odds BK players
Tromsø IL players
Viking FK players
Dundee United F.C. players
Pors Fotball players
Footballers from Porsgrunn
Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland
Norwegian expatriate men's footballers
Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland
Eliteserien players
Norwegian First Division players
Scottish Premier League players
Scottish Football League players
Men's association football fullbacks