Leif Andersen (born 19 April 1971) is a Norwegian retired 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 defender. He spent most of his career in Norwegian domestic football, but also spent one-and-a-half seasons with

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...

club

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

Playing career

Andersen began his youth career with

Rade Rade may refer to: * E De people, a people group in Southeast Asia also called "Rhade" or "Rade" * places in Lower-Saxony, Germany: ** Rade, Neu Wulmstorf, a village in the district of Harburg * places in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany: ** Rade, Stei ...

before signing with

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 Aust ...

in 1992. In 1993, he moved to

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, 1 ...

and in January 1996 signed for English club

, at that time playing in the

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

. He went on to make 16 appearances in the second half of the season without scoring and a further 14 appearances (one goal) in the 1996–97 season, at the end of which Palace were promoted to 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 ...

via the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. However, in May 1997, Andersen returned to Moss FK, where he made 38 appearances over the next two years, scoring twice. He then moved to

Sarpsborg FK Sarpsborg Fotballklubb is a Norwegian football club from Sarpsborg, Viken. It was founded on 8 May 1903. Sarpsborg is one of the most successful teams in the Norwegian Football Cup, with six titles and twelve finals in total. In 2007, the club m ...

in 1999, before joining

Rygge IL Rygge was a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. It was merged into Moss municipality on January 1, 2020. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Rygge. Rygge was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see ...

in 2001 and

Østsiden IL Østsiden Idrettslag Fredrikstad is a Norwegian sports club, based in the city of Fredrikstad. The men's football team currently plays in the Norwegian second division. The club was formed as Østsiden IL on 14 June 1935, and includes football ...

in 2003 where he finished his senior career.

References

External links

*
Leif Andersen at holmesdale.net
1971 births Living people Sportspeople from Fredrikstad Norwegian footballers Association football defenders English Football League players Kongsvinger IL Toppfotball players Crystal Palace F.C. players Moss FK players Sarpsborg FK players Eliteserien players Norwegian First Division players Expatriate footballers in England Norwegian expatriate footballers Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in England {{Norway-footy-defender-stub