Frank Strandli (born 16 May 1972) 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 le ...

who played 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 ...

Club career

Strandli was recognised as a fast and physically strong striker. After success in

IK Start Idrettsklubben Start (or simply IK Start, translates to The sports club Start ) is a Norwegian football club from the city of Kristiansand that currently plays in the 1. divisjon, the second tier of the Norwegian football league system. The clu ...

, he signed for league champions

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

in 1993 and scored on his debut, coming off the bench against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

. Still, he was not able to hold down a regular first team place. He had been loaned to IK Start from May to July 1993, and in 1994 he was loaned to

SK Brann Sportsklubben Brann (commonly known as Brann, and less often as SK Brann) is a Norwegian professional football club, founded 26 September 1908, from Bergen. Brann had been in the Eliteserien, Norway's Premier Division of Football, since 1987, bar ...

, signing a permanent deal ahead of the 1995 season. After this earned success in

Lillestrøm SK Lillestrøm Sportsklubb is a Norwegian professional football club from the city of Lillestrøm, just outside of the capital Oslo. Lillestrøm SK is a Norwegian football club based in Lillestrøm, playing in Eliteserien. The club was founded in 1 ...

, scoring 15 times in 38 league games. This earned him a move to the Greek top club

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

. His last professional club was AaB before he was forced to retire due to a groin injury. During his injury spell he received guidance from mental coach Christian M. Larsen. The coaching techniques Strandli learned at this stage of his career is believed to have helped him come back from injury. He made a return in 2009 with fellow footballer

Andreas Lund Torkjell Andreas Lund (born 7 May 1975), known as Andreas Lund, is a Norwegian former footballer who played as a striker. Club career Lund had a successful career in Norway and scoring 55 league goals in 96 matches for IK Start and Molde FK. F ...

when both joined FC Lund, a club in the Norwegian sixth tier as a central defender.

International career

Strandli played 24 matches for the Norway national team, thus being one cap away from earning the

Norwegian Football Association Gold Watch The Norwegian Football Association Gold Watch () is an honorary proof that's awarded to all Norwegian footballers who reaches 25 caps for the Norway national football team. The watch is awarded by the Norges Fotballforbund. Gunnar Andersen was the ...

International goals

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

References

External links

* Living people 1972 births Sportspeople from Kristiansand Norwegian footballers Association football forwards Norway international footballers Norway youth international footballers Norway under-21 international footballers IK Start players Leeds United F.C. players SK Brann players Lillestrøm SK players Panathinaikos F.C. players AaB Fodbold players Premier League players Danish Superliga players Eliteserien players Super League Greece players Norwegian expatriate footballers Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate footballers in Greece Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark {{norway-footy-forward-stub