Henning Stille Berg (; born 1 September 1969) 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 ...

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and former player, who is the current manager of

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

club Pafos FC. His career lasted from 1988 to 2004, most notably in the

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where he won titles with both Blackburn Rovers and

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, becoming the first player to win the Premier League with two clubs. He also played in his native land for

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 its ...

and

Lillestrøm Lillestrøm is a municipality in Viken county. It is located in the traditional district of Romerike. With a population of 85,757 inhabitants, it is the fourth most populated municipality in Viken. It was founded on 1 January 2020 as a merger b ...

before finishing his career in the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Football League (SFL). It was abolished in 2013, when t ...

with Rangers. He was capped 100 times by

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, 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 ...

, scoring nine goals. Berg became a manager in 2005 with

Lyn Ubisoft Montpellier is a French video game developer and a studio of Ubisoft based in Castelnau-le-Lez. Founded in 1994 as Ubi Pictures, it is best known for developing the ''Rayman'' and '' Beyond Good & Evil'' series. At 350 employees as of ...

and then Lillestrøm. He returned to Blackburn as manager in 2012, but was sacked after just 57 days in the post. In January 2014, he became the new coach of

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning record 15 Ekstraklasa champions titles, ...

, with whom he won the

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 ...

and the Polish Cup. He then managed Videoton and Stabæk, before moving to Cyprus, where he managed Omonia, and led them to their first championship in over a decade. In June 2022, he was announced as the new coach of Pafos FC.

Club career

Born in

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet. General information ...

, Berg played for Vålerenga and Lillestrøm before coming to England. Blackburn Rovers manager

Kenny Dalglish Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former football player and manager. During his career, he made 338 appearances for Celtic and 515 for Liverpool, playing as a forward, and earned a record 102 full caps for th ...

attended a match between

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and

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

on 14 October 1992 to scout

Tore Pedersen Tore Pedersen (born 29 September 1969) is a Norwegian retired professional footballer who played as a defender. He spent time abroad for Wimbledon, St. Pauli, Oldham Athletic, IFK Göteborg, Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Eintracht Frankfurt and Blackbu ...

, but Pedersen was injured during the match and replaced by Berg. Dalglish was so impressed with Berg that he later offered him a contract. Berg joined Blackburn in January 1993 for £400,000. Berg made his debut for Blackburn on 2 February 1993, coming on as a substitute in a 2–1 Premier League home defeat to

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. He soon made the right-back position his own in the Rovers side and played a vital role in Blackburn's successful title-winning season under manager Kenny Dalglish in 1994–95, missing only two games throughout the season. Also a competent centre-back, Berg's versatility and consistent performances for Blackburn earned him a move to Manchester United in 1997 for a fee of £5 million – at the time the joint-highest fee ever paid for a defender by a British club. Berg had supported Manchester United as a boy and manager

Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...

had first wanted to sign Berg for United nine years earlier when he was a teenager, but the move fell through because United could not obtain a work permit. Berg was a regular choice in the Manchester United line-up during the 1997–98 season, but the arrival of

Jaap Stam Jakob Stam (; born 17 July 1972) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. As a player, he played as a centre-back and is regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation. Stam played for several European clubs including ...

in July 1998 meant he was restricted to just 16

appearances in 1998–99 as the team won the Treble of the Premier League, the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

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 ...

. Berg missed the 1999 FA Cup Final and the

1999 UEFA Champions League Final The 1999 UEFA Champions League Final was an association football match between Manchester United of England and Bayern Munich of Germany, played at Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain, on 26 May 1999, to determine the winner of the 1998–99 UEFA Champ ...

through injury, but still picked up a medal for both, having been involved in most of the team's matches on the way to the final. With the league title in 1999, Berg became the first player to win the Premier League with two clubs, a feat he would be alone with until 2010, when it was matched by

Ashley Cole Ashley Cole (born 20 December 1980) is an English football coach and former player who is currently a first-team coach at Premier League club Everton. As a player, he played as a left-back, most notably for Arsenal and Chelsea. Cole is cons ...

and Nicolas Anelka. Gael Clichy, Kolo Touré, Carlos Tevez,

Robert Huth Robert Huth (, ; born 18 August 1984) is a German former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is a three-time Premier League winner and has made the most Premier League appearances (322) by a German player. Huth was signed f ...

, James Milner, N'Golo Kanté and Riyad Mahrez have all since matched the feat as well. Berg regained his place in the side during the 1999–2000 season, when Ronny Johnsen was injured. Berg rejoined Blackburn Rovers in September 2000, initially on

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for three months, before securing a permanent transfer under manager Graeme Souness. Rovers were promoted back to the Premier League in 2000–01. Further success followed for Berg in the following season, when Blackburn won the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

, beating

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

2–1 at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national r ...

in Cardiff, with Berg lifting the trophy as captain. Berg later moved on from Blackburn and had a season at the Scottish club Rangers in 2003–04, where he played his last game professionally.

International career

At international level, Berg was part of the Norwegian national team at the

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; Nels ...

and

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for t ...

s, as well as Euro 2000. He made his debut for

in a friendly against the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

in May 1992 and earned a total of 100 caps over a period of 12 years, scoring nine goals. His final international match was a friendly against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

in May 2004, in which he was substituted early on by

Claus Lundekvam Claus Lundekvam (born 22 February 1973) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Lundekvam began his career with Brann before moving to English side Southampton in 1996 where he played until his retirement in ...

to mark the end of his Norway career.

Managerial career

Lyn

On 22 April 2005, Berg was appointed manager of Lyn at the age of 35, signing a four-year contract with 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 ...

side. His first game with Lyn was against

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two days later, getting a 1–1 draw, followed by a 6–1 win against

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 t ...

the next week. Lyn finished third that season.

Lillestrøm

On 19 August 2008, Lyn announced that Berg had accepted an offer from Lillestrøm, where he had last played in 1992. He signed a five-year contract and took over as head coach on 21 October 2008. On 27 October 2011, Berg was sacked three matches before the end of the season as investor Per Berg promised fresh funds for acquiring quality players after the season.

Blackburn Rovers

While working as a pundit for Norwegian TV, Berg had made a withering assessment of Blackburn Rovers' owners, Venky's. He said: "There are no real managers with credibility who would accept a job like that." On 31 October 2012, Blackburn Rovers announced that Berg had accepted an offer for a three-year contract to manage the club. He became Blackburn's first foreign manager. Berg said of his previous comments about the club's owners, Venky's: "That was me looking at it from the outside without knowing really what was going on in the inside. I think this club at the moment is going in the right direction." Berg's first match in charge of Blackburn came on 3 November 2012, a 2–0 defeat away to

. His first and only win was on 17 November 2012, a 4–1 victory away to

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire unti ...

. That was to prove to be his only win as Blackburn manager, as Berg was sacked on 27 December, after just 57 days in the post. On 14 February 2013, the LMA lodged legal proceedings to the high court against Blackburn Rovers for non-payment of wages to Berg. After leaving Blackburn Rovers, Berg has worked as a scout on an informal basis for Norwich City, looking at matches in both England and Germany.

Legia Warsaw

On 19 December 2013, it was announced that he will be new manager of

starting from 1 January 2014. In his first full season as coach, he led the team to the Polish Ekstraklasa title. On 5 October 2015, he was sacked while sitting second in the league, following a 2–2 draw against Górnik Zabrze.

Videoton

On 5 May 2016, Berg signed a two-year contract with

Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; german: Stuhlweißenburg ), known colloquially as Fehérvár ("white castle"), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the regional capital of Central Transdanubia, and the centre of Fej� ...

-based

Hungarian League Hungarian may refer to: * Hungary, a country in Central Europe * Kingdom of Hungary, state of Hungary, existing between 1000 and 1946 * Hungarians, ethnic groups in Hungary * Hungarian algorithm, a polynomial time algorithm for solving the assignm ...

club Videoton FC. He was sacked at the end of the season despite having been a contender for the title until the last matchday.

Omonia

On 6 June 2019, Berg signed a two-year contract with Omonia FC in Cyprus, which he would later renew for another year. Berg was responsible for Omonia's return to the Champions League, as they were ranked first in the domestic league when the 2019–20 season was abandoned due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. The following year, he led Omonia to win the

2020-21 Cypriot First Division The hyphen-minus is the most commonly used type of hyphen, widely used in digital documents. It is the only character that looks like a minus sign or a dash in many character sets such as ASCII or on most keyboards, so it is also used as suc ...

, their first in 11 years, as well as the Super Cup. Although he led Omonia to the

2020–21 UEFA Europa League The 2020–21 UEFA Europa League was the 50th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 12th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. Villarreal defeated Manchester United in ...

group stage (the first time the club had made it to a European group stage) and the

2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League The 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League was the inaugural season of the UEFA Europa Conference League, Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The final was played at the Arena Kombëtare in Tirana, Albania, with Ro ...

group stage, a dismal 2021-22 league campaign, which saw the club out of the top six, meant he was released on the 28th of February 2022. Berg's work at Omonia was widely praised by pundits, fans and even other managers in the league, not only for restoring success to the club, but for his tactics, the team's exceptional defense, and most importantly, for trusting the local talent in a league notorious for its high percentage of foreign players. Several Cypriot players broke through under Berg, including Loizos Loizou, Marinos Tzionis and

Ioannis Kousoulos Ioannis Kousoulos ( el, Ιωάννης Κούσουλος; born 14 June 1996 in Limassol) is a professional Cypriot football player who plays for Cypriot First Division club Omonia, and the Cyprus national team. Career Born in Limassol, Kouso ...

Pafos FC

On 12 June 2022, Berg joined Cypriot club Pafos FC as their new head coach.

Career statistics

Club

Managerial

Honours

As a player

Blackburn Rovers *

: 1994–95 *

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by t ...

: 2001–02 Manchester United *Premier League: 1998–99, 1999–2000 Individual *Kniksen's Honour Award: 2004

As a manager

Legia Warsaw *

: 2013–14, Runner-Up 2014–15 * Polish Cup: 2014–15 Omonia Nicosia *

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Cypriot Super Cup The Cypriot Super Cup is a Cypriot football trophy, contested in an annual match between the previous season's Cypriot First Division champions, and the Cypriot Cup winners. The match is contested at the beginning of the football season, and is u ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

References

External links

*
Stats at LynFotball.net
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Berg, Henning 1969 births Living people People from Eidsvoll 1994 FIFA World Cup players 1998 FIFA World Cup players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players FIFA Century Club Kniksen Award winners Lillestrøm SK players Manchester United F.C. players Norway international footballers Norway youth international footballers Norway under-21 international footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Scotland Norwegian footballers Norwegian football managers Eliteserien players Premier League players Rangers F.C. players Scottish Premier League players UEFA Euro 2000 players Vålerenga Fotball players KFUM-Kameratene Oslo players Norwegian expatriate footballers Lyn Fotball managers Lillestrøm SK managers Blackburn Rovers F.C. managers Legia Warsaw managers Fehérvár FC managers Stabæk Fotball managers AC Omonia managers Expatriate football managers in Cyprus Expatriate football managers in England Expatriate football managers in Hungary Expatriate football managers in Poland Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in England Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Norwegian expatriate football managers Association football defenders UEFA Champions League winning players Eliteserien managers Nemzeti Bajnokság I managers Sportspeople from Viken (county)