Morten Christoffer Jensen (born 9 March 1980) is a Norwegian

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 ...

coach and former player. He is currently head coach 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 promotion ...

club

Viking FK Viking Fotballklubb, commonly known as Viking or Viking Stavanger internationally, is a Norwegian football club from the city of Stavanger. The club was founded in 1899. It is one of the most successful clubs in Norwegian football, having won 8 ...

. Jensen played youth football at Havørn, Vidar and

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 ...

, before starting his senior career with Vidar. After a couple of years at the club, he joined the

Dowling Golden Lions The Dowling Golden Lions were the athletic teams that represented Dowling College, located in Oakdale, Long Island, New York, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), ...

in 2003. He stayed in the US for four years, and then he returned to Norway to join

Stavanger IF Stavanger Idrettsforening (SIF) was founded in 1905. SIF became an alliance club in 1998, and has divisions for association football, boxing, handball and track and field athletics. Football Stavanger IF Fotball is the football division of SIF ...

in 2007. He later had another spell at Vidar and a spell at Brodd, before becoming player-coach of his youth club Havørn. Ahead of the 2017 season, he became head coach of Vidar, and from 2018 to 2020 he was an assistant coach at Viking.

Playing career

Jensen started playing football for

Tananger Tananger is a large village and urban area in Sola municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The urban area is located on the west side of the Stavanger Peninsula between the North Sea and the Hafrsfjorden. It lies about southwest of the city ...

-based side Havørn, before transferring to

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

-based side Vidar in 1992. In 1998, he tried his luck at

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

, but a groin injury hindered his development, and kept him on the sideline for one and a half years. After his unsuccessful spell at Viking, Jensen returned to Vidar to play first team football. He spent most of his playing career playing for local clubs in the lower divisions in Norway, but he also played college soccer in the US for the

, where he had a very successful period. He joined the club in 2003. In the 2004 season, Jensen scored 27 goals and made 16 assists in 19 matches. In 2006, the Dowling Golden Lions won the

NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship The NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship is the annual tournament held by the NCAA to determine the top men's Division II college soccer program in the United States. It has been played annually since 1972; prior to then, all teams competed ...

, and Jensen scored the game-winning goal in the final. He finished the 2006 season with 24 goals and 10 assists, and was awarded NSCAA Division II National Player of the Year. In August 2007, he returned to Norway, signing for

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 ...

club

. He later played for Vidar and Brodd.

Managerial career

Havørn and Vidar

Jensen became

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

of 5. divisjon club Havørn ahead of the 2013 season. The club earned promotion in his first season. He stayed at the club for three more seasons, before being appointed head coach of

club Vidar on 8 December 2016. He stayed at Vidar for one season, a season where Vidar finished in 4th place in group 2 of the

2017 2. divisjon The 2017 2. divisjon (referred to as PostNord-ligaen for sponsorship reasons) was a Norwegian football third-tier league. The league consisted of 28 teams divided into 2 groups of 14 teams. The league was played as a double round-robin tournament, ...

Viking

On 19 December 2017, he became assistant coach under

Bjarne Berntsen Bjarne Berntsen (born 21 December 1956) is a Norwegian football coach and former player. He is the elder brother of fellow football coach Alf Ingve Berntsen. Playing career Bjarne Berntsen began his football career at local club Figgjo IL. He ...

at newly relegated

club

. He served as an assistant coach for three seasons, in which the club earned promotion to the top division in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, and won the

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 football ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. On 26 November 2020, it was announced that head coach Bjarne Berntsen would leave Viking after the 2020 season. Simultaneously, it was announced that Jensen and

Bjarte Lunde Aarsheim Bjarte Andre Lunde Aarsheim (born 14 January 1975) is a Norwegian football coach and former player. He is currently head coach of Eliteserien club Viking FK. Having spent most of his playing career at Viking, Lunde Aarsheim is the player with ...

would replace Berntsen, taking over as joint head coaches on two-year contracts. Like Jensen, Lunde Aarsheim was also an assistant coach at the club before being appointed head coach. They took charge ahead of the 2021 season. Viking finished the 2021 season in third place, and on 25 March 2022, the head coaches' contracts were extended until the end of the 2025 season.

Honours

;Dowling Golden Lions *

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

;Individual *NSCAA Division II National Player of the Year: 2006

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jensen, Morten 1980 births Living people Norwegian footballers Association football forwards Norwegian expatriate footballers Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States College men's soccer players in the United States Dowling College alumni FK Vidar players Stavanger IF players IL Brodd players Norwegian Second Division players Norwegian Third Division players Norwegian Fourth Division players Viking FK non-playing staff Norwegian football managers FK Vidar managers Viking FK managers Eliteserien managers