Kristofer Krüger Hæstad (born 9 December 1983) 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

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 ...

Early life

Hæstad was born in

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporati ...

, Agder.

Club career

Early career

Hæstad played for the youth teams of

Randesund Randesund is a village and district within the city of Kristiansand in Agder county, Norway. The district is located within the borough of Oddernes along the southern coastline between the two fjords Kvåsefjorden and Topdalsfjorden and south of ...

and Vigør.

Start

He was signed by Start in 2001, and debuted in the

Norwegian Premier League 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 ...

in 2002, when the youthful Start squad only made 11 points and were relegated. After two seasons in the First Division, Start were once again promoted in 2004, with Hæstad as one of the team's central players. Hæstad has continued in great form after the promotion, and was named player of the month by

NRK NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest ...

in April 2005. In July 2006, Hæstad launched a music single ''This Is For Real'' together with four other professional Norwegian footballers –

Morten Gamst Pedersen Morten Gamst Pedersen (born 8 September 1981) is a Norwegian professional footballer who last played as a midfielder for Åsane. Pedersen began his career with Tromsø, then played for English side Blackburn Rovers between 2004 and 2013. He the ...

Freddy dos Santos Freddy dos Santos (born 2 October 1976 in Oslo) is a Norwegian former footballer who played most of his career for Vålerenga in the Norwegian Premier League. Dos Santos has played as a defender, midfield and forward. His former clubs are Skeid ...

Raymond Kvisvik Raymond Kvisvik (born 8 November 1974) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a winger. He is most noted for his spells at Brann, but he did also play for Moss, Austria Wien and Fredrikstad. Kvisvik won the Norwegian Cup ...

, and Øyvind Svenning. They call their band '' The Players''. On 29 December 2006, it was announced that

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 Fo ...

club

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

had secured Hæstad on six-month loan. The Norwegian newspaper VG would later reveal that it not was a standard loan contract, but an intricate deal that could see Hæstad stay at Wigan until July 2010, if they pick up an option to buy him at the end of the current season. Hæstad made his Premier League debut on 13 January 2007 against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, but was released from his loan contract at Wigan Athletic by mutual consent on 1 April 2007. Hæstad made a scoring return for Start on his return to Norway after scoring the fourth goal in a 4–2 victory away to Aalesund.

Vålerenga

On 2 January 2008, Hæstad signed a four-year contract with

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 29 March 2008, Hæstad made his competitive debut for Vålerenga in the season's first game against Aalesund. After a poor first season plagued by injuries, and failing to score a goal, rumors said that he was heading away from the club, most likely back to his former club Start. However, he stayed at Vålerenga and had a great second season. He scored his first goal against Start in a 2–3 loss. He also scored two goals against Lyn which ended 4–4. Hæstad announced his retirement from professional football on 1 July 2014.

International career

24 May 2005, Hæstad debuted for the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

in a private match against Costa Rica.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

Honours

Individual *

Kniksen award The Kniksen Award ( no, Kniksenprisen), established in 1990, honors the best players in the Norwegian football premiership. The award is named after the legendary Norwegian football player Roald Jensen, nicknamed "Kniksen". Categories Catego ...

: midfielder of the year in 2005

References

External links

*
Start's bio of Hæstad
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Haestad, Kristofer 1983 births Living people Footballers from Kristiansand Norwegian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders IK Start players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Vålerenga Fotball players Norwegian First Division players Eliteserien players Premier League players Kniksen Award winners Norway men's international footballers Norwegian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in England