Aasmund Bjørkan

Not to be confused with Asmund Bjørken.

Aasmund Bjørkan
Personal information
Full name Aasmund Karl Bjørkan
Date of birth (1973-07-03) 3 July 1973 (age 51)
Place of birth Bodø, Norway
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991–2000 Bodø/Glimt 174 (40)
2000–2002 Vålerenga 39 (9)
2002–2005 Bodø/Glimt 69 (10)
Total 282 (59)
Managerial career
2009–2010 Alta
2011–2012 Ranheim
2013–2015 Bodø/Glimt (assistant)
2015–2017 Bodø/Glimt
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Aasmund Bjørkan (born 3 July 1973) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who was appointed manager at Bodø/Glimt after the 2015 season. He had been the assistant of former manager Jan Halvor Halvorsen since 2013. He has previously been head coach of the First Division sides Alta and Ranheim. As a player, he played as a winger for Bodø/Glimt and Vålerenga, and won the Norwegian Cup in 1993 and 2002.

Playing career

Bjørkan made his debut for Bodø/Glimt in 1991,[1] and helped win promotion ahead of the 1993 season. In his first Norwegian top division season in 1993 he played all 22 league games. He remained a steadfast first-team player at Bodø/Glimt[2] until changing club to Vålerenga in the middle of the 2000 season.[3] After some meagre seasons[2] he returned to Bodø/Glimt in August 2002.[4] He started off well, playing all 26 league games in 2003,[2] but was eventually struck by problems with jumper's knee.[5] He retired as an active player after the 2005 season.

Post-playing career

Ahead of the 2006 season he was offered the job as head coach of Steigen SK.[6] This did not happen; instead he was hired at Bodø/Glimt as a player developer.[7] Ahead of the 2009 season he was hired as the new head coach for second-tier club Alta IF.[8] After two seasons there Bjørkan moved to become the new head coach for Ranheim from 1 January 2011, where he replaced Per Joar Hansen who took over the Norwegian under-21 team.[9] Bjørkan led the team to a fourth and a seventh place in the First Division, and left the club after the 2012 season when his contract expired.[10]

Bjørkan was linked to the vacant position as head coach of Bodø/Glimt ahead of the 2013 season, but after the club hired Jan Halvor Halvorsen as head coach, he was hired as his assistant coach.[11] When Jan Halvor Halvorsen left Bodø/Glimt after the 2015 season, Bjørkan was appointed head coach. In his first season in charge, Bodø/Glimt was relegated to the 1. divisjon. Bjørkan stayed at the club, Bodø/Glimt won the 2017 1. divisjon with a 16 point margin, and Bjørkan was named the 1. divisjon manager of the year.[12]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Bodø/Glimt 1993 Tippeligaen 22 4 0 0 22 4
1994 12 2 0 0 12 2
1995 24 8 0 0 24 8
1996 26 6 0 0 26 6
1997 22 1 0 0 22 1
1998 26 9 0 0 26 9
1999 26 8 3 1 29 9
2000 16 2 1 1 17 3
Total 174 40 4 2 178 42
Vålerenga 2000 Tippeligaen 5 1 1 1 6 2
2001 1. divisjon 30 8 1 0 31 8
2002 Tippeligaen 4 0 0 0 4 0
Total 39 9 2 1 41 10
Bodø/Glimt 2002 Tippeligaen 5 2 0 0 5 2
2003 26 4 7 2 33 6
2004 23 4 3 1 26 5
2005 15 0 4 2 19 2
Total 69 10 14 5 83 15
Career total 282 59 20 8 302 67

Managerial statistics

As of 2 September 2017
Team From To Record
G W D L Win % Ref.
Alta 1 January 2009 31 December 2010 58 22 12 24 037.93
Ranheim 1 January 2011 31 December 2012 60 26 17 17 043.33
Bodø/Glimt 1 January 2016 31 December 2017 51 24 9 18 047.06
Total 169 72 38 59 042.60 —

Honours

As a player

Bodø/Glimt

Vålerenga

As a manager

Bodø/Glimt

Individual

References

  1. ^ Guttormsen, Pål (15 March 2005). "Siste sjanse for Aasmund". Avisa Nordland (in Norwegian). Retrieved 25 March 2009.
  2. ^ a b c "Aasmund Bjørkan – Norwegian Premier League statistics". Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2009.
  3. ^ "Bjørkan klar for Vålerenga". VG (in Norwegian). 31 August 2000. Retrieved 25 March 2009.
  4. ^ "Bjørkan tilbake til Glimt". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 31 August 2000. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2009.
  5. ^ Guttormsen, Pål (15 March 2005). "Siste sjanse for Aasmund". Avisa Nordland (in Norwegian). Retrieved 25 March 2009.
  6. ^ Guttormsen, Pål (7 November 2005). "Bjørkan kan bli Steigen-trener". Avisa Nordland (in Norwegian). Retrieved 25 March 2009.
  7. ^ Ramberg, Aleksander; Børre Arntzen (20 November 2008). "Fra Nordlandshallen til Finnmarkshallen for Aassa". AB24 (in Norwegian). Retrieved 25 March 2009.[permanent dead link‍]
  8. ^ Isaksen, Frank Rune (2 February 2009). "– Den perfekte motivatoren". Finnmark Dagblad (in Norwegian). Retrieved 25 March 2009.
  9. ^ "Han blir ny Ranheim-trener" (in Norwegian). Nettavisen. 16 December 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  10. ^ Andersen, Martin K. (16 July 2012). "Aasmund Bjørkan ferdig i Trondheim" (in Norwegian). Adresseavisa. Archived from the original on 30 December 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  11. ^ Lorentsen, Hilde Mangset (21 December 2012). "Aasmund Bjørkan returnerer til Bodø/Glimt" (in Norwegian). NRK. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
  12. ^ "Priser norsk fotball 2017" (in Norwegian). fotball.no. 27 November 2017. Retrieved 30 March 2019.