Erik Hoftun (born 3 March 1969) is a Norwegian former

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 ...

who played as a defender.

Career

Born in

Kyrksæterøra Kyrksæterøra is the administrative center of the municipality of Heim in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village was known as the "white town of Hemnfjorden" at one time because there were only white houses. It is located at the end of Hemnfjo ...

, Hoftun started his career at KIL/Hemne before moving to

Molde FK Molde Fotballklubb () is a professional football club based in Molde, Norway, that competes in Eliteserien, the top flight of Norwegian football. Founded on 19 June 1911, the club was originally known as International and changed its name t ...

in 1992. He went to Rosenborg BK in 1994, where he won 11 league titles and 3 cup titles in 11 years. Hoftun was a key player for Rosenborg in the Norwegian league and the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

, where he played a total of 82 matches. At his peak, Hoftun was arguably one of the best central defenders in Scandinavia, with superb anticipation and offensive qualities. His lack of speed was his one major weakness, though he usually managed to mask it through footballing experience and understanding of the game. For Norway's national team, he has been capped 30 times. In a 2004 issue of the official UEFA Champions League publication, ''Champions Magazine'', Hoftun was ranked as no. 86 in a list of the 250 greatest

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

an football players of all time. The jury's comment on Hoftun read: In 2005, Hoftun moved to

FK Bodø/Glimt Fotballklubben Bodø/Glimt () is a Norwegian professional football club from the town of Bodø that currently plays in Eliteserien, the Norwegian top division. The club was founded in 1916 and is frequently referred to by its original club n ...

, where he finished his career as an active football player. On 24 June 2007, while playing a match for Bodø/Glimt, Hoftun suffered from

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and poss ...

after getting a knee in the chest in a duel. The club's doctor ran onto the pitch to revive him. The doctor's fast reaction is likely to have saved Hoftun's life. In November 2007, Hoftun returned to Rosenborg in an administrative role, and worked as assistant director after

Knut Torbjørn Eggen Knut Torbjørn Eggen (1 November 1960 – 20 February 2012) was a Norwegian football coach and player, famous for his time in Rosenborg as a player, and Moss and Fredrikstad as a coach. He was the son of Norway's most successful football coach, ...

resigned. On 18 August 2008, he got the position permanently.

Honours

Club

Norwegian top division 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 ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, 1996,

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 *

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 ...

, 2003

Individual

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 Catego ...

as defender of the year:

, 1996,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoftun, Erik 1969 births Living people Kniksen Award winners Norwegian footballers Norway international footballers Rosenborg BK players Molde FK players FK Bodø/Glimt players Eliteserien players 1998 FIFA World Cup players People from Hemne Rosenborg BK non-playing staff Association football central defenders Sportspeople from Trøndelag