Helge Haugen (born 15 February 1982) 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

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Born in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

, Haugen started his professional career in the local

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 ...

club Brann. During his time at the club, he won the

2004 Norwegian Football Cup The 2004 Norwegian Football Cup was the 99th edition of the Norwegian Football Cup. The tournament was contested by 128 teams, going through 7 rounds before a winner could be declared. The final match was played on 7 November at Ullevaal stadion ...

and the

2007 Tippeligaen The 2007 Tippeligaen was the 63rd completed season of top division football in Norway. The season began on 9 April 2007. Originally scheduled to end on 4 November, the last round was moved to Saturday 3 November 2007, due to Rosenborg’s Champi ...

. He has later played for

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

and

Hønefoss __NOTOC__ Hønefoss is a town and the administrative center of the municipality of Ringerike in Buskerud county, Norway. Hønefoss is an industrial center of inner Østlandet, containing several factories and other industry. As of 1 January 2008, ...

, before he joined Sogndal ahead of the 2014 season. Haugen played one match for the Norwegian under-21 team in 2003.

Career

Early life

Haugen was born in

and grew up in

Åsane Åsane is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. The borough makes up the northern part of the city, north of the city centre. Åsane is connected to downtown Bergen by the E16/ E39 highway. The E16 highway continues on t ...

, where he played for

Åsane Fotball Åsane Fotball is a Norwegian football club located in Åsane. The club currently plays in 1. divisjon, the second tier of the Norwegian football league system, where they have been played since they promoted from the 2019 2. divisjon. They wer ...

. He did also compete in

orienteering Orienteering is a group of sports that require navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a s ...

during his youth, becoming a medallist in the Norwegian youth orienteering championship. Haugen represented Norway at youth international level, where he made eight appearances without scoring a goal between 1998 and 2000. He played for Åsane's first team in the

2. divisjon The Norwegian Second Division, also called 2. divisjon and often referred to as PostNord-ligaen for sponsorship reasons, is the third-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. There are 28 teams divided into two groups, and at the ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, when the team won promotion to the

1. divisjon The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon and OBOS-ligaen (named sponsor is property developer OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon are p ...

. After the season, he transferred to the

team Brann.

Brann

Haugen made his debut for Brann against Bodø/Glimt in May 2002, and made two appearances in Tippeligaen in his first season with the club. After the 2002 season, where Brann had to play play-off matches against

Sandefjord Sandefjord () is a city and the most populous municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838. The municipality of Sandar was merged into Sandefjord on 1 January 1969. On 1 ...

, the head coach

Teitur Thordarson Teitur Thordarson ( is, Teitur Þórðarson, born 14 January 1952) is an Icelandic football coach. He is the older brother of Ólafur Þórðarson. Playing career Club Íþróttabandalag Akraness Before coaching, Teitur playing as a striker fo ...

stated that Haugen and five other players did not have a future with the club. While four of the players were released from their contracts, Thordarson wanted to send Haugen on loan to another club. Ahead of the 2003 season,

Mons Ivar Mjelde Mons Ivar Mjelde (born 17 November 1967) is a Norwegian association football, footballer coach and former player who works as head coach for the Norwegian club Øygarden FK, Øygarden. He is notable for having led SK Brann, Brann to the Norwegia ...

replaced Thordarson as Brann's head coach, and Mjelde wanted to keep Haugen at the club, and he subsequently made his break-through at the first team during the second half of the season and was also called up to the Norwegian under-21 team for the first team. He made his only appearance for the under-21 in the match against Scotland U21 on 19 August 2003. After a poor start to the 2003 season for Brann, Mjelde decided to use Haugen along with

Seyi Olofinjana Seyi George Olofinjana (born 30 June 1980) is a Nigerian former footballer who played as a midfielder. Olofinjana began his career with local sides Crown and Kwara United before moving to Europe with Norwegian side SK Brann. After two seasons ...

in the central midfield, which was one of the contributing factors to Brann's good performance in the second half of the season when the team kept clear of relegation. Haugen's first goal of the 2004 season was in the quarter-final of the

, when Brann turned 0–2 to 3–2 and advanced to the semi-final at the expense of

Bryne Bryne () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Time, Norway, Time municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality of Time and it is also List of urban areas in Norway by population, o ...

. Haugen also played in the

Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football ev ...

, when Brann won their first title the

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

. Haugen ended an impressive season with a goal against

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening, commonly known as Malmö FF, Malmö, or MFF, is a professional football club and the most successful football club in Sweden in terms of trophies won. Formed in 1910 and affiliated with the Scania Football Association, ...

in 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. Denm ...

. Haugen got a fracture in his foot ahead of the 2005 season, which put him out of play during the pre-season. As Brann had signed

Martin Andresen Martin Andresen (born 2 February 1977) is a Norwegian former professional football player and manager, who played as a central midfielder. Club career Early career Andresen was born in Kråkstad. He was a regular on many Norway national youth ...

, Haugen only made some appearances as a substitute during the first half of the season. During the second half of the season, some of the team's midfielders was unavailable due to injuries, and Haugen was again playing regularly. The local player Haugen continued to be a first choice in the team's midfield for several seasons, despite getting competition from several expensive signings that was brought to the club. The 2006 season was arguably Haugen's best season, when he played regularly for the team that was fighting for the league title. Haugen only made four appearances in the 2007 season, when Brann won the

for the first time since

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

, and he joined

half-way through the season, as he wanted to play more regularly and signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with the club. Haugen played 129 official matches for Brann, scoring 5 goals.

Later career

Haugen is not known for scoring goals, but in the 2010 season he scored goals in two consecutive matches, first in the second round of the 2010 Norwegian Football Cup, before he scored another in the Tippeligaen match against

Vålerenga Vålerenga () is a neighbourhood in the city of Oslo, Norway, belonging to the borough of Gamle Oslo. Vålerenga is located between the neighbourhoods of Gamlebyen, Jordal, Ensjø, Etterstad and Lodalen. Vålerenga is in particular known for it ...

on 24 May 2010. Helge-haugen-hbk

Haugen scored a goal that ended Hønefoss' goal-drought of 325 minutes, when his team won 3–1 against Sogndal on 3 November 2013.

was relegated from Tippeligaen after the 2013 season, and as Haugen's contract with the club had expired he joined Sogndal as a free agent.

Career statistics

Honours

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Norwegian 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 football ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Haugen, Helge 1982 births Living people Norwegian men's footballers Footballers from Bergen Men's association football midfielders Eliteserien players Norwegian First Division players Åsane Fotball players SK Brann players Tromsø IL players Hønefoss BK players Sogndal Fotball players