Martin Andresen (born 2 February 1977) is a Norwegian former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and manager, who played as a

central 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 ...

Club career

Early career

Andresen was born in

Kråkstad Kråkstad is a village and former municipality located in Ski municipality in Viken, Norway. Overview The parish of ''Kraakstad'' was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Ski was separated from Kråkstad July 1 ...

. He was a regular on many Norway national youth teams while playing for

Moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

and

Stabæk Fotball Stabæk Fotball is a Norwegian professional football club based in Bærum, a suburb of Oslo. It is part of the multi-sport organization Stabæk IF. Founded in 1912, the club's name is an archaic spelling of the suburban area Stabekk, from whic ...

from 1995 to 1999. After the 1999 season, Andresen was sold to

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 ...

club

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

in a deal worth £1 million. But like many of the other Norwegians in the club, his stay became short and unsuccessful. He scored once for Wimbledon; in a 2–1 loss to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. He had a short loan spell at

Molde Molde () is a town and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Peninsula, surrounding the Fannefjord and Moldefjord. The administrative centre of the m ...

Return to Stabæk

Andresen returned to Stabæk in 2001, where he proved himself to be one of the best central midfielders in Norway. After a successful 2003 season, where Stabæk captured the bronze medals 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 ...

, Andresen was loaned out to the Premiership club

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

for six months in 2004, from February to August, but did not sign a longer deal with the English club. Andresen return to Stabæk to save the club from relegation from the

. Andresen played while injured and Stabæk could not save their top spot in league Norway. Andresen, not willing to play in the Adeccoliga, asked to be sold. Many clubs in Norway were interested in the national team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

; the high price scared many away, including the champions Rosenborg. Vålerenga looked set to capture Andresen at Christmas 2004. Brann was helped by local investors to sign him on 23 December 2004.

Brann

Andresen became the most expensive transfer in Brann history, in a deal worth ca. 15.000.000 NOK (£1.310.000). After a disappointing first season, much ruined by injuries, Andresen made it clear that he would be "fit for fight" in 2006. In the pre-season he was appointed captain for Brann, clearly showing his importance for the club on and off the field. In 2006, Brann had their best season opening ever, with Andresen filling the captain role. He also periodically captained team Norway, playing in central midfield. In 2007 Brann won the Norwegian League, with Andresen as captain. He was described as the most valuable player by many Norwegian pundits. He was also named in the Team of the Year.

Vålerenga

Andresen was announced as the new manager of

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 6 November 2007 while still under contract with Brann for the remainder of the year. Brann terminated their working relationship with Andresen the day after. He signed a three-year-long contract with Vålerenga as player and manager. Andresen became the first player/head coach in Norway's top division (

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 ...

) since

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, Ligue ...

(also with Vålerenga) in 2002. He retired as a player before the 2010 season, but continued to play several matches for the reserve team in the

Norwegian Second Division 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 ...

. In 2011, he played for

Follo FK Follo Fotballklubb is a football club from Ski, Viken, Norway. Follo play in light blue, and their home ground is Ski stadion. It was founded in September 2000 and their biggest achievement was playing in the 2010 Norwegian Football Cup Final ...

who were in the same division, making eight appearances for the club. On 15 October 2012, Andresen was dismissed as manager for Vålerenga.

Second return to Stabæk

Andresen came out of retirement and joined Stabæk, who had been relegated from Tippeligaen, ahead of the 2013 season.

Sandefjord

Andresen came out for retirement for a second time on 18 August 2015, and joined

Sandefjord Fotball Sandefjord Fotball, commonly known simply as Sandefjord, is a Norwegian professional football club, founded on 10 September 1998. The club currently competes in Eliteserien, the top tier of the Norwegian football league system. Their home groun ...

for the remainder of the

2015 Tippeligaen The 2015 Tippeligaen was the 71st completed season of top-tier football in Norway. The competition began on 6 April 2015, one week later than in the previous season. A short summer-break in June was scheduled between the rounds played on 12 Ju ...

season.

International career

Andresen made his debut for Norway national team in a 15 August 2001 friendly match against

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

and earned a total of 43 caps, scoring three goals.

Personal life

Martin Andresen is an heir to the Norwegian furniture manufacturer Skeidar. He is also a keen

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

player. In December 2009 he partnered Tor Helness to win one of the side events in the North American Bridge Championships in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

. In November 2021, partnering Thor Erik Hoftaniska for Bergen Akademiske BK, Andresen won the EBL Champions' Cup.http://db.eurobridge.org/Repository/competitions/21Pezinok/microSite/Results.htm

Career statistics

Honours

Stabæk *

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 ...

: 1998 Brann *

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 ...

Vålerenga *Norwegian Cup: 2008 Individual * Kniksen of the year: 2003 *

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 Categor ...

: midfielder of the year in 2003 *

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 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Andresen, Martin 1977 births Living people People from Ski, Norway Norwegian footballers Norway international footballers Norway under-21 international footballers Association football midfielders Moss FK players Viking FK players Stabæk Fotball players Wimbledon F.C. players Molde FK players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players SK Brann players Vålerenga Fotball players Follo FK players Eliteserien players Premier League players Norwegian First Division players Norwegian Second Division players Kniksen Award winners Norwegian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in England Norwegian football managers Vålerenga Fotball managers Eliteserien managers Norwegian contract bridge players Sportspeople from Viken (county)