Erik Thorstvedt (born 28 October 1962) 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

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He won 97 caps for the Norwegian national team, and was the starter in goal at the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

. He played for

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

, Eik-Tønsberg,

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e. V. Mönchengladbach, commonly known as Borussia Mönchengladbach (), Mönchengladbach () or Gladbach (; abbreviated as Borussia MG, BMG), is a professional Association football, football club based in ...

IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the ...

and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

Career

Thorstvedt was the first Norwegian to win the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

when he won it with Spurs in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

and later became the second Norwegian to play in the

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 ...

. During his time at Tottenham Thorstvedt lived in the

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

town of

Hoddesdon Hoddesdon () is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, lying entirely within the London Metropolitan Area and Greater London Urban Area. The area is on the River Lea and the Lee Navigation along with the New River. Hoddesdon ...

. Thorstvedt retired in 1996 due to back injuries. After his career as a player, he worked as a goalkeeping coach with the Norwegian national team, and had a brief spell as Director of Football at Viking. He has worked as an expert commentator/pundit for various TV channels, and was the TV-host on the

Royal League The Royal League was an annual Scandinavian football tournament held three times between teams from the three Scandinavian monarchies (Denmark, Sweden, and Norway), starting after the end of the regular domestic seasons of Norway and Sweden. De ...

matches shown on

TVNorge TVNorge (literally "TVNorway"; originally abbreviated TVN, now just abbreviated N in the logos) is a Norwegian television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA. History TVNorge went on the air on 5 December 1988 and was the first adver ...

. He was also the coach of Tufte IL, a team created for the reality-TV show Heia Tufte!. For his appearance in this show he was awarded the ''

Se og Hør ''Se og Hør'' (; "See and Hear") is a TV guide and celebrity journalism magazine published in three independent versions in Denmark, Norway and Sweden (where it is called ''Se & Hör'' ) by the Danish company Aller Media. The Danish version is ...

'' readers' TV personality of the year award. He had a weekly football show on Mondays called "Matchball Mandag" on TV2 where he and guests looked at games played in the

Norwegian top division 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 ...

with a humorous approach.

Personal life

He is the father of Norwegian model and former

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

presenter Charlotte Thorstvedt and Sassuolo midfielder Kristian Thorstvedt.

Honours

Tottenham Hotspur *

: 1990–91 * FA Charity Shield:

(shared)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thorstvedt, Erik 1962 births Living people Norwegian footballers Norway international footballers Norway under-21 international footballers Viking FK players Olympic footballers of Norway Association football goalkeepers Eik-Tønsberg players IFK Göteborg players Borussia Mönchengladbach players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Premier League players Bundesliga players Allsvenskan players Eliteserien players Footballers at the 1984 Summer Olympics 1994 FIFA World Cup players Kniksen Award winners Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Sweden Expatriate footballers in England Norwegian expatriate footballers Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Sportspeople from Stavanger Norwegian association football commentators FA Cup Final players Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in England Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden