Erik Francisco Solér (born 6 August 1960) is a Norwegian former 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 ...

, a former

football agent A sports agent is a legal representative (hence agent (law), agent) for professional sports figures such as athletes and coaches. They procure and negotiate employment and Testimonial, endorsement contracts for the principal (commercial law), at ...

, and former General Manager and Sporting Director of

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...

as well as a football commentator for Champions League and national team games on Norwegian TV on a part-time basis. He is educated as a psychologist.

Club career

Born in

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 ...

, Solér started his career with

Lillestrøm SK Lillestrøm Sportsklubb is a Norwegian professional football club based in the city of Lillestrøm, just outside of the capital Oslo. Lillestrøm SK is a Norwegian football club based in Lillestrøm, playing in Eliteserien. The club was founde ...

, playing as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

the first few years and later as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. He left the club for a short stay in Eik-Tønsberg, until he was transferred to the German club

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

. After one and a half season in HSV, he returned to Norway, signing 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 ...

. In 1988, he became

Danish Cup The Danish Cup (; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "single-elimination tournament, knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will ...

winner playing for

AGF Aarhus Aarhus Gymnastikforening (; commonly known as AGF ) is a professional sports club based in Aarhus, Jutland, Denmark. Founded in 1880, it is one of the oldest clubs in the country where gymnastics and fencing were featured as its main sports. How ...

, scoring a decisive goal in the final against

Brøndby IF Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening (, usually abbreviated to Brøndby IF (), is a Danish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Brøndbyvester. Brøndby IF denotes the professional football section of Brøndbyernes ...

and

Peter Schmeichel Peter Bolesław Schmeichel (born 18 November 1963) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. During eight seasons at English club Manchester United, he won 15 trophies including five Premier League titles, three FA C ...

. His short stay in Denmark was followed by a second stay in Lillestrøm. Upon his return to

he helped the side capture the

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 ...

title in 1989, before retiring in 1990.

International career

Solér earned 39 caps for the Norway national team. He made his debut with Norway in 1982. He earned his last cap for his country on 28 July 1988 in a 1–1 draw in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) 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 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Managerial career

In the late 1990s, after ending his career as a player, Solér co-founded International Sports Management (ISM) with Christian Eidem, who he had played with at AGF in Denmark. The company fast became one of Europe´s leading Football Management agencies. he was one of Norway's most important football agents, having

Erik Mykland Erik Mykland (born 21 July 1971) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He was nicknamed ''Myggen'' (mosquito) during his career, as he used to flap his arms and hands like one when celebrating his goals. A ra ...

and

Steffen Iversen Steffen Iversen (born 10 November 1976) is a Norwegian former Association football, footballer who last worked as player-manager for Norwegian 4th division side :no:Sportsklubben Trygg/Lade, Trygg/Lade as a Striker (association football), striker ...

, among others, as clients. He was a co-owner and the board-leader of the Norwegian football club

IK Start Idrettsklubben Start (or simply IK Start) is a Norwegian Association football, football club from the city of Kristiansand that currently plays in the Norwegian First Division, the second tier of the Norwegian football league system. The club was ...

from 2002 to 2008. During his tenure at IK Start the club won the

in 2004 and were thus promoted to the

Norwegian Premier League 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 ...

. The following season they ended the season with a surprising second place in Norwegian Premier League, just one season after being promoted. For this, Start earned a place in the 2006

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

. Despite having several national team players Start was relegated in 2007. Start ran into financial problems and Soler left the club. The local government saved the club from bankruptcy. On 25 November 2009, Solèr announced that he would be the next General Manager and Sporting Director of the

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

, it was confirmed by the club on 7 December 2009. During his first year in charge of New York, Solér helped transform the club from a last place team to a title contender, signing players like Roy Miller,

Joel Lindpere Joel Lindpere (born 5 October 1981) is an Estonian football coach and former professional player. Lindpere played as a midfielder for Nõmme Kalju, Lelle, Flora, Valga, CSKA Sofia, Tromsø, New York Red Bulls, Chicago Fire, and Baník Ost ...

Thierry Henry Thierry Daniel Henry (; born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach, pundit, sports broadcaster and former player. He is considered one of the greatest players of all time and widely regarded as the greatest player in Premi ...

, and

Rafael Márquez Rafael Márquez Álvarez (; born 13 February 1979) is a Mexican football coach and former player who played as a defender. He is currently the assistant coach of the Mexico national team. Nicknamed '' El Káiser'', he is regarded as the bes ...

. In October 2012, Solèr was relieved of his duties.

Honours

Norwegian 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 ...

: 1981 *

: 1988 * Norwegian Championship: 1989

References

External links

*
Norwegian League stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soler, Erik 1960 births Living people Sportspeople from Lillestrøm Footballers from Akershus Norwegian men's footballers Norway men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Eliteserien players Bundesliga players Lillestrøm SK players FK Eik Tønsberg players Hamburger SV players SK Brann players Aarhus Gymnastikforening players Norwegian association football commentators IK Start non-playing staff Norwegian expatriate men's footballers Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in West Germany Expatriate men's footballers in West Germany 20th-century Norwegian sportsmen