Geir Bakke (born 23 October 1969) is a Norwegian football coach and former player. He is currently the manager of

Eliteserien 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 promotio ...

club

Lillestrøm Lillestrøm is a municipality in Viken county. It is located in the traditional district of Romerike. With a population of 85,757 inhabitants, it is the fourth most populated municipality in Viken. It was founded on 1 January 2020 as a merger be ...

. Geir Bakke was born at

Hamar Hamar is a town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the traditional region of Hedmarken. The town is located on the shores of Mjøsa, Norway's largest lake ...

, where he spent his infant years, before his family relocated to

Rælingen Rælingen is a village and municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Romerike. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Fjerdingby. Rælingen was separated from the municip ...

when he was six.

Playing career

Geir Bakke started his playing career at local club

before switching to nearby

Strømmen Strømmen is a town in Lillestrøm municipality, Viken county, Norway. It is about twenty kilometers east of Oslo, and considered part of Greater Oslo. It has around 11,400 residents. The town has its origins from floating lumber and sawmills alon ...

in 1987 at 18 years of age. Having made two appearances in the top division with Strømmen in 1988, the following seasons at the club was spent outside the top flight. Ahead of the 1993-season, he transferred to

Kongsvinger Kongsvinger () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Glåmdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kongsvinger. Other settlements in the municipality include Aus ...

with whom he spent two seasons playing mostly at right-back in Eliteserien. Ambitious, newly promoted Stabæk signed him ahead of the 1995-season. He would spend three seasons at Stabæk. He was a regular at right-back during his first season at Stabæk, and played fifteen games in his second season. A troublesome knee prevented him from playing any games in his third and final season at the club.

Managerial career

Upon retiring as a player, he then pursued a managerial career, having been educated at Norges idrettshøyskole and worked several years coaching young players at Wang Toppidrett. He was hired to coach Skjetten in 1998 and 1999.

Vålerenga

Bakke was assistant coach in Vålerenga from 1999 to 2005. He was assistant under Tom Nordlie in his first two seasons at the club. From 2001 to 2005 he was assistant under

Kjetil Rekdal Kjetil André Rekdal (born 6 November 1968) is a Norwegian football manager and a former player. He is the manager of Eliteserien club Rosenborg. Rekdal began his playing career in Molde FK, playing afterwards for clubs in the Bundesliga, Lig ...

. Vålerenga won

Tippeligaen 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 ...

, the Norwegian top flight, in 2005. Bakke quit his position in Vålerenga after the 2005 season to become head coach in

Moss FK Moss Fotballklubb is a Norwegian football club, founded on 28 August 1906. They play in the 2. divisjon, the third highest division in the Norwegian football league system. They played in the Norwegian top flight between 1937-1939, 1953-1954, ...

Moss

As announced on 30 October 2005, he took over second tier club Moss effecting from the start of the 2006 season. This was Bakke's first job as a head coach for a professional football team. Moss finished fifth in the 2007 1. divisjon. Bakke resigned on 28 August 2008.

Stabæk

Geir Bakke was presented as assistant coach in Stabæk on 29 August 2008, the day after his resignation in Moss. He replaced

Petter Belsvik Petter Belsvik (born 2 October 1967) is a Norwegian football coach and former player, who played as a striker. With 159 goals in the Norwegian Premier League he ranks third in the all-time goalscorer statistics, behind Harald Brattbakk. He neve ...

and signed a three-year contract with the club. On 10 November 2011 it was announced that Bakke was leaving Stabæk to become head coach in

Kristiansund BK Kristiansund BK is a Norwegian football club located in Kristiansund that currently plays in Eliteserien. The team plays its home matches in the 4,444-capacity Kristiansund Stadion. Kristiansund BK was formed in the autumn of 2003, when two riv ...

Kristiansund

Bakke was head coach at Kristiansund for two seasons, from 2012 to 2013. Kristiansund won 2. divisjon Group 2 in Bakke's first season and were promoted to the 2013 1. divisjon. The 2013 season was the first season in club history that Kristiansund played at the second highest level in Norwegian football.

Molde

On 17 January 2014, Bakke was presented as the new assistant coach at

Molde FK Molde Fotballklubb () is a professional football club based in Molde, Norway, that competes in Eliteserien, the top flight of Norwegian football. Founded on 19 June 1911, the club was originally known as International and changed its name t ...

. His partnership with head coach

Tor Ole Skullerud Tor Ole Skullerud (born 10 December 1970) is a Norwegian football manager and former player. Club career Skullerud was born Kongsvinger, Norway. He played for hometown club Kongsvinger IL, before turning out for Ready, Frigg, Grue IL, and Ull ...

turned out successfully, and Molde won the league title with 71 points (as of 2018 a league record). On 23 October 2014, it was announced that Geir Bakke was leaving Molde after the 2014 season to become head coach in Sarpsborg 08.

Sarpsborg 08

On 23 October 2014, Bakke was announced as head coach of Sarpborg 08. He signed a four-year deal with the club, effective 1 January 2015. He led the team to their first ever Norwegian Cup final in 2015, which they lost to Rosenborg with the score 0–2. In the 2017 season, Sarpsborg 08 finished third in

. The third-place finish secured their first league medal in club history and qualified the club for

European football UEFA competitions (french: competitions de l'UEFA), referred improperly by the mass media as European football, are the set of tournaments organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), generally in professional and amateur asso ...

for the first time. On 10 May 2017, Bakke signed a new five-year deal, which would have made him Sarpsborg 08's head coach until the end of the 2022 season. Instead Bakke left for then 1. division side Lillestrøm in 2019.

Lillestrøm

On 31 of December 2019, Geir Bakke was announced as the new head coach of Lillestrøm SK, which found themselves in the 1. division of Norwegian football. The following season, 2020, Bakke led the team to promotion back to the Eliteserien.

Managerial statistics

Honours

As a head coach

Kristiansund * 2. divisjon, group 2:

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

Sarpsborg 08 *

: Bronze

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

Norwegian Football Cup The Norwegian Football Cup ( no, Norgesmesterskapet i fotball for herrer) is the main knockout cup competition in Norwegian football. It is run by the Football Association of Norway and has been contested since 1902, making it the oldest footba ...

: Runners-up 2015,

Awards

*Norwegian Football Coaches Association: Coach of the year in 2017

References

External links

Biography
at Sarpsborg08.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Bakke, Geir 1969 births Living people Norwegian footballers Strømmen IF players Stabæk Fotball players Kongsvinger IL Toppfotball players Eliteserien players Norwegian football managers Vålerenga Fotball non-playing staff Moss FK managers Stabæk Fotball non-playing staff Kristiansund BK managers Molde FK non-playing staff Sarpsborg 08 FF managers Lillestrøm SK managers Eliteserien managers Association football defenders Sportspeople from Hamar