Vegard Hansen (born 8 August 1969) is a Norwegian football coach and former player who coaches 1. divisjon club

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 Aus ...

. During his time at

Mjøndalen Mjøndalen is a built up area in Drammen municipality in Viken county (formerly Buskerud county), Norway. It is situated south of the Drammenselva River opposite of Krokstadelva. History Mjøndalen has traditionally been a railway site most ...

, the club was promoted to the 1. divisjon in 2008 and reached the play-offs for promotion to the

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 promotio ...

in 2012, 2013 and 2014. In 2014 and 2018 the club won promotion to the top division.

Playing career

As a player, he played for the clubs Strømsgodset,

Bristol City F.C. Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

Lofoten Lofoten () is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten has distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches and untouched lands. There are two towns, Svolv� ...

Hønefoss __NOTOC__ Hønefoss is a town and the administrative center of the municipality of Ringerike in Buskerud county, Norway. Hønefoss is an industrial center of inner Østlandet, containing several factories and other industry. As of 1 January 2008 ...

, Stord/Moster and Mjøndalen. He played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

Coaching career

He began his coaching career in 2005 as the head coach of Stord/Moster. Ahead of the 2006 season, he took over as head coach at

Mjøndalen IF Mjøndalen IF is a Norwegian sports club located in Mjøndalen, Viken, Norway. Of the different athletic endeavours that the club supports, it may be best known in Norway for its bandy national championship teams and internationally for its asso ...

, playing in

3. divisjon The Norwegian Third Division, also called 3. divisjon, is the fourth highest division of the men's football league in Norway. Like the rest of the Norwegian football league system, the season runs from spring to autumn, running approximately from ...

(fourth tier) at the time. Hansen led the team to promotion to the

2008 2. divisjon The 2008 2. divisjon season was the third highest association football league for men in Norway. 26 games were played in 4 groups, with 3 points given for wins and 1 for draws. Mjøndalen, Skeid, Stavanger and Tromsdalen were promoted to the Firs ...

in his first season in charge. Mjøndalen finished in second place in 2. divisjon's group 4 in the 2007 season. In the following 2008 season, Mjøndalen won their second promotion in three years and was promoted to the

2009 1. divisjon The 2009 1. divisjon (referred to as Adeccoligaen for sponsorship reasons) was a Norwegian second-tier football season. The season began play on 5 April 2009 and will end on 1 November 2009. The club relegated from the Tippeligaen in 2008 was ...

. Hansen and Mjøndalen reached the play-offs for promotion to the

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 ...

in 2012, 2013 and 2014. In 2014 the club won promotion to the Tippeligaen after a 4–1 win on aggregate against Brann in the play-off final. Mjøndalen finished 15th out of sixteen teams in their first season back at the first tier and were relegated. In 2018, they won promotion to

after finishing in second place in the 2018 1. divisjon. In the

2019 Eliteserien The 2019 Eliteserien was the 75th season of top-tier football in Norway. This was third season of Eliteserien as rebranding from Tippeligaen. The season began on 30 March and was scheduled to end 30 November 2019, not including play-off matches, ...

, Mjøndalen avoided relegation through a last-match victory. Vegard Hansen was sacked during the summer 2022, after a string of defeats, leaving his post after 17 years as the club's manager.

References

1969 births Living people Footballers from Drammen Norwegian footballers Men's association football defenders Strømsgodset Toppfotball players Kongsvinger IL Toppfotball players Bristol City F.C. players FK Lofoten players Hønefoss BK players Mjøndalen IF Fotball players Eliteserien players Norwegian First Division players English Football League players Norwegian expatriate footballers Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England Norwegian football managers Eliteserien managers Mjøndalen IF Fotball managers Kongsvinger IL Toppfotball managers {{Norway-footy-defender-stub