Åge Roar Maridal (11 April 1965 – 19 July 2023) was a Norwegian

football midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. Maridal began his career at his local side

Brattvåg Brattvåg is the administrative centre of Haram Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The village is located on the Norwegian mainland, along the west side of the Samfjorden. It is located about northwest of the villages of Vatne/ E ...

, where he made his first-team debut at age 16, before moving on to second-tier team Hødd in 1986. Praised as Sunnmøre's best player of 1986, he was picked up by first-tier team

Start Start can refer to multiple topics: * Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Track and field#Starts use in race, Starts use in sport race * S ...

the following year. Following a stint at

Namsos Namsos may refer to: Places *Namsos Municipality, a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway *Namsos (town) Namsos is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the administrative center of Namsos Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. ...

, he returned to the first tier in 1991 with Fyllingen. While at Fyllingen, he came on as a substitute in the team's match against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

in the

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

. He later spent two years back in Brattvåg before moving on to Stordal in the lower leagues. In June 1996, Maridal was in a car accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. He later openly admitted that he was

driving under the influence Driving under the influence (DUI) is the crime of driving, operating, or being in control of a vehicle while one is impaired from doing so safely by the effect of either alcohol (drug), alcohol (see drunk driving) or some other drug, whether re ...

at the time of the accident, and subsequently participated in several public service campaigns to warn about the dangers of drink-driving. Despite being in a wheelchair, he worked as a youth coach for his former club Stordal.Åge Maridal vert 58 år
Nordre (30 July 2023). Åge Maridal died on 19 July 2023, at the age of 58.

References

1965 births 2023 deaths People from Haram, Norway Norwegian men's footballers Footballers from Møre og Romsdal Men's association football midfielders Eliteserien players Norwegian First Division players Brattvåg IL players IL Hødd players IK Start players Fyllingen Fotball players 20th-century Norwegian sportsmen {{Norway-footy-midfielder-stub