Erik Midtgarden
Personal information
Full name Erik Midtgarden
Date of birth (1987-11-18) 18 November 1987 (age 36)
Place of birth Skien, Norway
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Centre-back Defensive Midfielder Winger
Team information
Current team
 Åssiden
Number 5
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2006 Odd Grenland 3 (0)
2006 → Pors Grenland (loan) 26 (4)
2007–2008 Notodden 29 (2)
2009–2010 Mjøndalen 54 (22)
2011 Odd Grenland 14 (1)
2011 Vitesse Arnhem 0 (0)
2011 → Flora Tallinn (loan) 13 (1)
2012 Lillestrøm 0 (0)
2012 → Mjøndalen (loan) 14 (10)
2013 Hønefoss 19 (0)
2014–2016 Mjøndalen 81 (14)
2017–2019 Notodden 73 (22)
2020– Åssiden 5 (1)
International career
2004 Norway U17 3 (0)
2005 Norway U18 10 (0)
2006–2007 Norway U21 2 (1)
Managerial career
2021- Åssiden
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18 September 2019

Erik Midtgarden (born 18 November 1987) is a Norwegian footballer and player-coach who plays as a midfielder for Åssiden. He has previously played for Tippeligaen sides Odd Grenland, Lillestrøm, Hønefoss and Mjøndalen and won the Meistriliiga with Flora Tallinn in 2011. Midtgarden has also spent time with the First Division sides Pors Grenland, Notodden (previous spell) and Mjøndalen (two previous spells). He has represented Norway at under-17, under-18 and under-21 level.

Club career

Born in Skien,[1] Midtgarden joined Odd Grenland's first-team squad ahead of the 2005 season. He made his debut in the first round of the 2005 Norwegian Football Cup match against Langesund/Stathelle, when he played the last 20 minutes as a winger and scored Odd's last goal in the 4–0 victory.[2] He made three appearances for Odd in Tippeligaen in his first season at the club, and was the top goalscorer for the reserve team in the 2. divisjon with eleven goals.[3] He spent the 2006 season on loan to Pors Grenland, where he was a regular for the team in the First Division.[4] His contract with Odd expired after the season, and although the club wanted to renew his contract, Midtgarden chose to sign a two-year contract with the newly promoted First Division side Notodden, where he was promised regularly playing time.[5]

After playing regularly for Notodden in 2007, Midtgarden was far away from the first team in the following season and wanted to leave the club when his contract expired after the 2008 season. He played a total of 29 league-matches for Notodden.[3] He joined Mjøndalen ahead of the 2009 season, where the head coach Vegard Hansen used Midtgarden as a utility player.[6] He was on a trial with Brighton & Hove Albion in July 2010, but was not offered a contract.[7] Midtgarden scored 22 goals in 54 matches in his two seasons at Mjøndalen.[8] His contract with Mjøndalen expired after the 2010 season,[7] and in January 2010 he joined his old club Odd Grenland on a one-year contract.[9]

Midtgarden played 14 matches for Odd in Tippeligaen in the first half of the 2012 season,[1] and scored a goal in the 4–1 win against Sogndal on 3 April 2011 one minute after he replaced Håvard Storbæk as a substitute.[10] In July 2011, he was bought by Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem, and was subsequently sent on loan to Estonian club Flora Tallinn,[11] where he played 15 matches and won the 2011 Meistriliiga with the club.[6][12] Midtgarden was supposed to return to Vitesse in January 2012, but when he did not get the payments as agreed in his contract, he decide to break the contract and move home to Norway, where he signed a one-year contract with Lillestrøm ahead of the 2012 season.[12] After Magnus Haglund became head coach of Lillestrøm, the club bought several new players to the club, and Midtgarden became superfluous at the club.[8] He was loaned out to Mjøndalen in August 2012, and scored a goal in his debut against Sandefjord on 10 August 2012.[13] He scored 10 goals in 13 matches for Mjøndalen in the First Division in the 2012 season.[8]

As a free agent, Midtgarden was on trials with Strømsgodset, Tromsø and Odd ahead of the 2013 season, before he signed for Hønefoss in February 2013.[14] During his spell at Hønefoss, Midtgarden was mostly used as a substitute. After Hønefoss was relegated from Tippeligaen, he decided to return to Mjøndalen for his third spell at the club.[15] He left ahead of the 2017, as the trainings became too difficult to combine with PE teacher studies at the Telemark University College, Notodden campus. He therefore rejoined Notodden FK.[16]

International career

Midtgarden has represented Norway at youth international level, and played three matches for the under-17 team in 2004 before he played 10 matches for the under-18 team the next year.[17] He made his debut for the under-21 team on 5 October 2006 in a match against Denmark U21, where he scored one of the goals.[18] He made one more appearance for the under-21 team, in February 2007 against Slovakia U21.[17]

Career statistics

As of 18 September 2019[1]
Season Club Division League Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
2005 Odd Grenland Tippeligaen 3 0 3 1 6 1
2006 0 0 1 0 1 0
2006 Pors Grenland Adeccoligaen 26 4 0 0 26 4
2007 Notodden 23 0 1 2 24 2
2008 6 2 0 0 6 2
2009 Mjøndalen 28 10 1 0 29 10
2010 26 12 3 1 29 13
2011 Odd Grenland Tippeligaen 14 1 4 0 18 1
2011 Flora Tallinn Meistriliiga 13 1 0 0 13 1
2012 Lillestrøm Tippeligaen 0 0 0 0 0 0
2012 Mjøndalen Adeccoligaen 14 10 0 0 14 10
2013 Hønefoss Tippeligaen 19 0 2 0 21 0
2014 Mjøndalen 1. divisjon 27 2 4 1 31 3
2015 Tippeligaen 24 4 3 1 27 5
2016 OBOS-ligaen 30 8 1 0 31 8
2017 Notodden PostNord-ligaen 26 11 3 2 29 13
2018 OBOS-ligaen 30 10 2 0 32 10
2019 14 1 2 0 16 1
Career Total 323 76 30 8 353 84

References

  1. ^ a b c "Erik Midtgarden". altomfotball.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  2. ^ Olsen, Nils-Tore Høgberg (12 May 2005). "Midtgarden ordnet drømmedebut". Varden (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 22 May 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  3. ^ a b Nilsen, Jostein (17 January 2009). "Ønsker Notodden-spiller". Drammens Tidende (in Norwegian). Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  4. ^ Holtan, Kristian (28 April 2007). "Erik Midtgarden er frustrert". Telemarksavisa (in Norwegian). Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  5. ^ Hagen, Karina (8 December 2006). "Midtgarden til Notodden". Varden (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 22 May 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  6. ^ a b Nilsen, Magne J. (26 July 2012). "MIF ønsker Midtgarden". Drammens Tidende (in Norwegian). Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  7. ^ a b "Midtgarden på vei til Brighton". Drammens Tidende (in Norwegian). 14 July 2010. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  8. ^ a b c "– Har vært j**** uheldig!". Romerikes Blad (in Norwegian). Avisenes Nyhetsbyrå. 24 January 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  9. ^ Grennæs, Per Abraham (4 January 2011). "Foreløpig Mjøndalen-farvel". Drammens Tidende (in Norwegian). Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  10. ^ Svardal, Asgeir; Niemann, Ola (3 April 2011). "Sogndal-keeperen på bærtur: – Dette keeperspillet var elendig" (in Norwegian). TV 2. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  11. ^ Aarsæther, Dag Slinning (31 July 2011). "Norges nye utenlandsproff: – Sikkert mange som stusser over overgangen" (in Norwegian). TV 2. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  12. ^ a b Møllerstad, Ole Martin; Alstad, Terje (19 October 2011). "Dropper Vitesse – går til LSK". Nettavisen (in Norwegian). Avisenes Nyhetsbyrå. Archived from the original on 22 January 2012. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  13. ^ Niemann, Ola (11 August 2012). "Midtgardens kjempecomeback". Drammens Tidende (in Norwegian). Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  14. ^ Johannessen, Stian Øvrebø; Johnsen, Roy (26 February 2013). "Midtgarden klar for Hønefoss". Drammens Tidende (in Norwegian). Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  15. ^ Nilsen, Jostein (28 November 2013). "Erik Midtgarden tilbake i MIF". Drammens Tidende (in Norwegian). Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  16. ^ Møllerstad, Ole Martin; Øygarden, Hans Eivnid (4 March 2017). "Nå er han klar for Notodden igjen". Telemarksavisa (in Norwegian).
  17. ^ a b "Erik Midtgarden's profil". fotball.no (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway. Archived from the original on 26 May 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  18. ^ Hagen, Karina (6 October 2006). "Drømmedebut for Midtgarden". Varden (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 22 May 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2013.

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