Ole Martin Årst (born 19 July 1974) is a Norwegian retired 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 played 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 ...

. He is a former top scorer in both Belgium's and Norway's top leagues.

Club career

The son of a

naval A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operatio ...

officer, Ole Martin Årst was born in

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 ...

and spent his childhood years in

Harstad Harstad may refer to: Places *Harstad (town) Harstad (; ) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Harstad Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is also the administrative centre of Harstad Municipality. The city has a populati ...

and

Sortland Sortland may refer to: Places *Sortland Municipality, a municipality in Nordland county, Norway *Sortland (town), a town within Sortland Municipality in Nordland county, Norway *Sortland Church, a church in the town of Sortland in Sortland Municipa ...

before settling in

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

at age 11. He made his professional debut for

Tromsø IL Tromsø Idrettslag () is a Norwegian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Tromsø. They play their home games at the Romssa Arena which has a seating capacity of 6,801. Tromsø play in the Eliteserien. Despi ...

on 22 April 1995 against

Hamarkameratene Hamarkameratene (), often abbreviated to HamKam or Ham-Kam, is a Norwegian professional football club based in the town of Hamar. The club was founded in 1918, originally under the name Freidig. HamKam were most recently promoted to the Elites ...

at Briskeby stadion. After the 1997 season he was sold to

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

for . He then moved to

K.A.A. Gent Koninklijke Atletiek Associatie Gent (; English: ''Royal Athletic Association Ghent''), often simply known as Gent or by their nickname ' (), is a Belgian professional sports club, based in the city of Ghent, East Flanders. Their football tea ...

in Belgium and became as a top scorer in 2000 with 30 goals. Then

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...

signed him for NOK 24 million. He returned to Tromsø IL in the summer of 2003 for . Årst became the top scorer in the

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 ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, with 16 goals. After a hat-trick against

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 ...

on 2 October 2005 Årst was ranked as the top league scorer of all times in Tromsø IL with 51 goals. On 9 July 2007, he transferred to

. Start went down that season, but as Start won a direct promotion in 2008, Årst did not participate in any games due to a serious injury. The same injury limited him to only two games in the 2009 season. He announced his retirement in October 2009. He made a comeback for the club in a friendly match in early 2010. He then signed a contract for the duration of 2010, with possibilities of renewal. Årst signed a one-year deal with Tromsø IL ahead of the

2012 Tippeligaen The 2012 Tippeligaen was the 68th completed season of top division football in Norway. The competition began on 23 March 2012 and ended on 18 November 2012, with a summer break from 28 May to 30 June. Molde were the defending champions, while Høn ...

season. This was his third spell at the club.

International career

Årst made his debut for the Norway national team in a January 2000 friendly match against

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

and went on to earn 22 caps, scoring two goals.

Career statistics

Honours

Tromsø *

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 ...

: 1996 Individual *

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

top scorer: 2000 *

top scorer: 2005 *

Kniksen award The Kniksen Award (), 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 Category A A jury comp ...

: striker of the year:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arst, Ole Martin 1974 births Living people Footballers from Tromsø Norwegian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Norway men's international footballers Norway men's under-21 international footballers Belgian Pro League players Eliteserien players Norwegian First Division players IF Skarp players Tromsø IL players R.S.C. Anderlecht players K.A.A. Gent players Standard Liège players IK Start players Kniksen Award winners Norwegian expatriate men's footballers Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium