Harald Brattbakk

Harald Brattbakk

Personal information
Full name	Harald Martin Brattbakk
Date of birth	1 February 1971
Place of birth	Trondheim, Norway
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 11 ^1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Youth career
	Kolstad IL
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
0000–1989	Kolstad IL
1990–1991	Rosenborg	14	(2)
1992–1993	Bodø/Glimt	22	(10)
1994–1997	Rosenborg	100	(97)
1997–2000	Celtic	44	(12)
2000–2001	Copenhagen	31	(14)
2001–2006	Rosenborg	109	(54)
2005	→ Bodø/Glimt (loan)	11	(5)
2008	Kolstad Fotball	5	(2)
Total		336	(196)
National team
1995–2004	Norway	17	(5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Harald Martin Brattbakk (born 1 February 1971 in Trondheim) is a Norwegian former football player, now working as a pilot. He was the all time top scorer in the Norwegian top division with 166 goals in 255 matches, before being surpassed by Sigurd Rushfeldt in 2011.

Club career

He has played for Kolstad, Rosenborg BK, Celtic, F.C. Copenhagen and Bodø/Glimt (loan).

Brattbakk is most known for his goalscoring abilities for the Norwegian club Rosenborg BK where he has enjoyed three spells (1990–91, 1994–97 and 2001–06) scoring most of his goals which has helped him reach the top of the all-time goalscoring chart in the Norwegian Premier League.

At Celtic, where he played from December 1997 to January 2000, Brattbakk seemed overawed by the pressures of playing for one of Scotland's Old Firm clubs. Though he did enjoy some success with the club — including hitting the clinching goal against St Johnstone to help them win the SPL title on the final day of the 1997–1998 season, and scoring all four goals in a 4–0 win over Kilmarnock that same year — his spell in Glasgow was generally characterised by nervous performances and insufficient goals.

However, Brattbakk has been very successful in Norway. With 166 goals he was the highest-scoring player in the history of the Norwegian Premier League, until his record was beat by Sigurd Rushfeldt on 29 May 2011. Moreover, his record in the Champions League is an impressive one, and includes goals against such top sides as Real Madrid and Milan. He scored 28 goals in 66 matches for Rosenborg BK and scored 4 goals in 9 matches for Celtic in various European Cups.^[1] In November 2001, he scored twice against his old club Celtic as Rosenborg defeated them 2–0 in a Champions League tie in Trondheim.

Brattbakk returned to Rosenborg after being on a loan to Bodø/Glimt in the last half of the 2005 season, but on 20 February 2006 it was announced that he had been relieved from his contract and he has now retired from the game.

In 2008 Brattbakk made a comeback in football after signing a contract with his native Kolstad-Fotball, an amateur club in the Norwegian 3rd Division Dep. 19. However, the comeback lasted only for the rest of the 2008 season.^[2]

International career

Brattbakk made his debut for Norway in a February 1995 friendly match against Estonia in which he scored two goals. He went on to play seventeen times for his country, scoring five goals.^[3]

Retirement

On 21 November 2006 Brattbakk announced on the Norwegian television channel TV3 that he intended to become an airline pilot after his retirement from professional football. He trained as a pilot in Florida at Phoenix East Aviation, Inc. and got his commercial aircraft certification in 2008. Until 2010 he flew for the aircraft company Helitrans, based at Trondheim Airport, Værnes.^[2] This included missions for Norwegian Coast Guard. From 2010 he has been working as a pilot for Norwegian Air Shuttle.

Career statistics

^[4][5]

Club performance			League		Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Norway			League		Norwegian Cup		Europe		Total
1989	Kolstad		?	?					?	?
1990	Rosenborg	Tippeligaen	3	1	0	0	0	0	3	1
1991			11	1	4	2	2	0	17	3
1992	Bodø/Glimt	First Division	19	14	(5?)	5			?	?
1993		Tippeligaen	22	10	(7?)	4			?	?
1994	Rosenborg	Tippeligaen	22	17	7	10	4	3	33	30
1995			26	26	10	10	7	4	43	40
1996			26	28	4	11	10	2	40	41
1997			26	23	5	7	8	5	39	35
Scotland			League		Scottish Cup		Europe		Total
1997–98	Celtic	Premier League	17	7	4	3	-	-	21	10
1998–99			25	5	2	1	7	2	34	8
1999–2000			2	0	0	0	2	2	4	2
Denmark			League		Danish Cup		Europe		Total
1999–2000	Copenhagen	Superliga	14	7	2	1			16	8
2000–01			17	7	2	0			19	7
Norway			League		Norwegian Cup		Europe		Total
2001	Rosenborg	Tippeligaen	25	15	3	3	8	3	36	21
2002			25	17	4	10	8	3	37	30
2003			25	17	6	9	8	5	39	31
2004			25	4	5	11	9	3	39	18
2005			9	2	3	2			12	4
2005	Bodø/Glimt	Tippeligaen	11	5					11	5
2009	Kolstad	Third division	5	2					5	2
Total	Norway		280	182	59	82	64	28	?	287
	Scotland		44	12	6	4	9	4	59	20
	Denmark		31	14	4	1	0	0	35	15
Career total			355	208	?	?	93	?	?	?

• Total games and goals does not include Third Division and below.

Honours

Club

Rosenborg BK^[6]

• Norwegian Premier League Championship (8): 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
• Norwegian Football Cup Win: 1995, 2003

Celtic F.C.

• Scottish Premier League Championship: 1997–1998

F.C. Copenhagen

• Danish Superliga Championship: 2000–2001

Individual

• Tippeligaen top scorer: 1994, 1995, 1996, 2002, 2003
• Kniksen award as striker of the year: 1994, 1995, 1997, 2003

External links

• Harald Brattbakk at National-Football-Teams.com

References

1. Harald Martin Brattbakk – Matches in European Cups – RSSSF
2. "Proffklemma" (in Norwegian). Norgesnytt. Retrieved 21 April 2009.
3. Norway – International Players – Landslaget
4. "Brattbakk, Harald". FitbaStats. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
5. "Harald Brattbakk". Soccerbase. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
6. "Mestvinnende med RBK" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 20 August 2009.