Bård Finne (born 13 February 1995) is a Norwegian professional

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 lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

SK Brann Sportsklubben Brann is a Norwegian professional football club based in Bergen. Founded on 26 September 1908, Brann has played in the first tier of Norwegian football for 67 out of 80 seasons, the second most of any club. They play their hom ...

and the Norway national team. Hailing from

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

, he started his professional career in Brann. Finne has represented Norway from under-15 to under-21 level.

Club career

Brann

Finne was born in Bergen, with parents hailing from

Voss Voss () is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality and a Districts of Norway, traditional district in Vestland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Vossevangen. Other villages inclu ...

. During his childhood, Finne participated in both athletics and

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing whereby skiers traverse snow-covered terrain without use of ski lifts or other assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreational activity; however, some still use it as a m ...

in addition to playing

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and became regional champion in cross-country skiing while competing for

Voss IL Voss () is a municipality and a traditional district in Vestland county, Norway. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Vossevangen. Other villages include Bolstadøyri, Borstrondi, Evanger, Kvitheim, Mjølfjell, Opp ...

. Finne, who grew up in the area surrounding

Brann Stadion Brann Stadion is a football stadium in Bergen, Norway. It was constructed in 1919, and has been the home of the football club Brann ever since. The stadium lies south of the city centre, at the foot of Mount Ulriken. The record attendance ...

, played football for

SK Trane Sportsklubben Trane is a Norwegian football club from Årstad, Bergen. The club was founded on 15 December 1918. The club colors are green and white. The men's football team currently resides in the Fifth Division (sixth tier). It last played ...

until he gave up both athletics and skiing at the age of 12 and joined Nymark IL where he played with Andreas Vindheim and Kasper Skaanes until the three joined

's youth-team together in 2009. Before he signed a professional contract with Brann, he was eligible to play in

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...

as he was listed on the team's B-list. He was wanted by Dutch club

NEC Nijmegen NEC Nijmegen (''Nijmegen Eendracht Combinatie''), commonly known as NEC (), is a professional Dutch association football club based in Nijmegen. The club currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, following promotion ...

and

Ole Gunnar Solskjær Ole Gunnar Solskjær (; born 26 February 1973) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who currently manages Süper Lig club Beşiktaş. He spent the majority of his playing career with Manchester United and made 67 appea ...

's club

Molde Molde () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the seat of Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...

, but Finne signed a professional contract for Brann in September 2012. He scored his first two goals in Tippeligaen in the match against rivaling club Rosenborg on 23 September 2012. He made five appearances and scored three goals in the 2012 season, after which he gained the nickname "the fox in the box". Finne's first appearance of the 2013 season, came when he replaced

Kristoffer Barmen Kristoffer Ramos Barmen (born 19 August 1993) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Åsane. Club career Barmen joined Brann at the age of 10, and was sacked by the club in August 2021 after he was highlighted as p ...

as a substitute against

Lillestrøm Lillestrøm is a municipality in Akershus 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 ...

in April 2013. In the First Round of the

2013 Norwegian Football Cup The 2013 Norwegian Football Cup was the 108th season of the Norway, Norwegian annual knockout association football, football tournament. It began with 2013 Norwegian Football Cup qualifying rounds, qualification matches in March 2013. The first r ...

, Finne scored four goals when Brann won 14–0 against Hovding. In June 2013, Finne rejected Brann's offer for a new contract and stated that he wanted to move abroad either during the summer or when his contract expired after the season. The crowd at Brann Stadion did not like that Finne wanted to leave the club, and booed at him when he replaced Martin Pusic in the home match against

Sandnes Ulf Sandnes Ulf is a Norwegian association football club from Sandnes, Rogaland, currently playing in the 2. divisjon, the third highest division in the Norwegian football league system. The club play their home matches at Øster Hus Arena. The cl ...

on 29 June 2013, but Finne answered by scoring a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in the 6–1 victory.

Cologne

On 20 August 2013, it was announced that he had signed a 3.5-year contract with the 2. Bundesliga side

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., better known as simply 1. FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English language, English, is a German professional association football, football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 ...

starting in January 2014. He joined the club as a Bosman player as his contract with Brann expired on 31 December 2013. He debuted for 1. FC Köln on 9 February in the 2. Bundesliga tie against

SC Paderborn Sport-Club Paderborn 07 e.V., commonly known as simply SC Paderborn 07 () or SC Paderborn, is a German association football club based in Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has enjoyed its greatest success since the turn of the millenni ...

at the RheinEnergie Stadion (final result 0–1) entering the pitch as a substitute for

Anthony Ujah Anthony Ujah (born 14 October 1990) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward for the Nigeria national team. Early life Ujah grew up in the little town of Ugbokolo in Nigeria's Benue State. Club career Ujah began his caree ...

in the 46th minute.

Heidenheim

He moved to 1. FC Heidenheim on 16 January 2016. Finne played 24 games for the club and scored 3 goals.

Vålerenga

On 24 February 2017, Finne signed a four-year contract with Brann rivals

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 i ...

, despite his agent stating that he would never play for another Norwegian club. On 3 April he scored the only goal in a 1–0 win on his competitive debut for Vålerenga against

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

SønderjyskE

On 10 October 2020

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

club

SønderjyskE SønderjyskE is a Denmark, Danish sport corporation. They have a Football (soccer), football team (SønderjyskE Fodbold, based in Haderslev), two team handball, handball teams (SønderjyskE Håndbold, one male based in Sønderborg, one female bas ...

confirmed, that Finne would join the club from 2021 on a deal until June 2024.

Return to Brann

On 5 August 2021, Finne returned to Norway and signed a deal until June 2025 with his former club

. He became the top scorer in the

2022 Norwegian First Division The 2022 Norwegian First Division (referred to as OBOS-ligaen for sponsorship reasons) is a Norwegian second-tier football league season. The league started on 2 April 2022, and is scheduled to end on 29 October 2022, not including play-off matc ...

with 16 goals, alongside Gift Orban.

International career

Finne first represented Norway when he played two matches for the under-15 team against Sweden U15 in September 2010. The next month he was selected for the squad that met Portugal, France and Netherlands in an under-15 tournament. He played a total of five matches for the under-15 team in 2010. The next year he played 11 matches for the under-16 team, scoring five goals. In 2012, he played 11 matches and scored four goals for the under-17 team in addition to 11 matches and three goals for the under-18 team. He made his debut for the under-19 team in 2013, and scored goals against Netherlands U19 and Cyprus U19 in the elite qualification for the

2013 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship The 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship, since its reclassification from an under-18 tournament in 2002, and the 62nd since the tournament was created in 1948. It was hosted in Li ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Brann *

Norwegian Football Cup The Norwegian Football Cup () 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 tournament in the country. The tournament ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Individual *

Norwegian First Division The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon () and OBOS-ligaen (due to sponsoring ties with :no:OBOS, OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon ...

top scorer:

References

External links

Profile at Brann.no
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finne, Bard 1995 births Living people Footballers from Bergen Norwegian men's footballers 21st-century Norwegian sportsmen Norway men's under-21 international footballers Norway men's youth international footballers Men's association football forwards SK Brann players 1. FC Köln players 1. FC Köln II players 1. FC Heidenheim players Vålerenga Fotball players Sønderjyske Fodbold players Norwegian Second Division players Eliteserien players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Danish Superliga players Norwegian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark