Thorleif Olsen (15 November 1921 – 11 March 1996) was a Norwegian football player. He played for the club

Vålerengens IF Vålerengens Idrettsforening is a Norwegian multi-sports club from the neighbourhood Vålerenga in Oslo, founded on 29 July 1913. It has sections for football, ice hockey, american football, handball, floorball and skiing. The football team, ...

most of his career, from 1945 to 1963. He was capped 34 times for

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

between 1950 and 1955, and received the

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 ...

in 1954. He also played bandy and ice hockey at a national level.

Sports career

Born in

Kristiania Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

on 15 November 1921, Olsen played for the

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

sports club

Club football

Olsen first played football for Grønvold IL, a member of the Workers Federation of Sports. During the

German occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until the ...

he played "illegal" matches for Vålerenga. He played for Vålerenga from 1945 until 1963, when he was 41 years old. He is the oldest player who ever played in the Norwegian Top League. He is also the oldest player to score in the top league, in a match against

Skeid Skeid is a Norwegian alliance sports club from Nordre Åsen, Oslo. It has sections for association football (one for elite and one for grassroots football), Nordic skiing and bandy. General history The club was founded as ''IK Skeid'' on 5 De ...

in October 1963, at the age of 41 years, 323 days.

International football

Having played three matches for the Norwegian B team, Olsen made his debut for the

Norway national football team The Norway national football team ( no, Norges herrelandslag i fotball, or informally ''Landslaget'') represents Norway in men's international football and is controlled by the Norwegian Football Federation, the governing body for football in ...

in 1950. He played regularly for the national team until 1954, and also had two appearances in 1955. He was capped 34 times for Norway between 1950 and 1955. He played for the Norwegian national team at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

. He received the

in 1954.

Bandy and ice hockey

Olsen also played

bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The international governing body for bandy is ...

and

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

at national level. In bandy, he won the regional championship in Oslo, and in ice hockey he won the national B-league.

Death

Olsen died in Oslo on 11 March 1996.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Olsen, Thorleif 1921 births 1996 deaths Footballers from Oslo Norwegian men's footballers Norway men's international footballers Vålerenga Fotball players Footballers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Norway Men's association football defenders