Stig Inge Bjørnebye

Stig Inge Bjørnebye was born in Elverum, the son of skier Jo Inge Bjørnebye, who competed in the 1968 and 1972 Winter Olympics. As a child, Bjørnebye exhibited an interest in emulating his father by becoming a ski jumper.{{cite web |url=http://www.nrk.no/programmer/radio/stjerneklart/1.3367272 |title=Stig Inge Bjørnebye |date=3 September 2007 |publisher=NRK |language=no |access-date=3 February 2008 }}

His footballing career began as a youth player with home club Elverum IL, before joining Strømmen IF in the late 1980s.{{NFT player|id=14059|name=Bjørnebye, Stig Inge|access-date=21 January 2008}} He moved to Kongsvinger IL in 1989, establishing himself as a first-team regular in the Norwegian top division. After three seasons with Kongsvinger, he transferred to Rosenborg in 1992, where he in his inaugural season won the Norwegian top division and the Norwegian Cup, in the final of which he scored the deciding goal against Lillestrøm SK.{{cite web |url=http://www.lfchistory.net/Players/Player/Profile/268 |title=Stig Inge Bjørnebye |publisher=LFChistory |access-date=10 January 2011 }}

His performances merited inclusion in the national team and attracted the attention of Liverpool's manager Graeme Souness, who bought Bjørnebye for £600,000 less than one year after moving to Rosenborg. Signed as a replacement for David Burrows, Bjørnebye debuted inauspiciously on 19 December 1992 in a 5–1 defeat to Coventry City.{{cite news |title=Football: Coventry shatter Liverpool illusions |first=Jasper |last=Rees |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-coventry-shatter-liverpool-illusions-1564560.html |newspaper=The Independent |date=20 December 1992 |access-date=14 January 2011 |location=London |archive-date=29 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929183943/http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-coventry-shatter-liverpool-illusions-1564560.html |url-status=dead }} Initial difficulties adapting to the Premier League caused many fans to question his displays on the pitch and he returned to Norway on loan to Rosenborg in 1994.{{cite web |url=http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/history/past-players/stig-inge-bjrnebye |title=Stig Inge Bjørnebye |publisher=Liverpool F.C. |access-date=10 January 2011 }}

Bjørnebye's experiences as a Reds' player in the 1994–95 season, under the management of Roy Evans, were markedly more successful than that of previous campaigns. He gained a regular place in the senior team, supplanting the left back position from Julian Dicks, and featured in the 2–1 win against Bolton Wanderers in the final of the 1995 League Cup Final on 2 April 1995.{{cite news |title=Liverpool prevail in cup final to savour |first=Glenn |last=Moore |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/liverpool-prevail-in-cup-final-to-savour-1614114.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/liverpool-prevail-in-cup-final-to-savour-1614114.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=The Independent |date=3 April 1995 |access-date=10 January 2011 |location=London}} Subsequent injury, a broken leg sustained on 5 April 1995 in a 3–1 win match against Southampton,{{cite news |title=Bjrnebye's despair |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/bjrnebyes-despair-1614656.html |newspaper=The Independent |date=7 April 1995 |access-date=14 January 2011 |location=London |archive-date=27 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427064556/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/bjrnebyes-despair-1614656.html |url-status=dead }} terminated his season and he was replaced by Steve Harkness.

Unavailable for several months, Bjørnebye appeared just twice for Liverpool in the 1995–96 season. Recovery and injuries to other left back candidates enabled Bjørnebye to reclaim his place the following season, in which he scored his first goal for Liverpool on 17 August 1996 in a 3–3 draw against Middlesbrough.{{cite news |title=Absolutely Fabrizio for Boro |first=Simon |last=Turnbull |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/absolutely-fabrizio-for-boro-1310336.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/absolutely-fabrizio-for-boro-1310336.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=The Independent |date=18 August 1996 |access-date=10 January 2011 |location=London}} He contributed to the club's most convincing title challenge since the inception of the Premier League by supplying club strikers Stan Collymore and Robbie Fowler with precise crosses. He was ultimately included in the PFA Team of the Year with Steve McManaman and Mark Wright.{{cite news |title=Pick of the Premiership |url=http://www.thefa.com/England/news/2005/pfa_teamofseason |work=The Football Association |date=26 April 2005|access-date=10 January 2011 }} The acquisition of Steve Staunton and arrival of Gérard Houllier in the 1998–99 season, limited Bjørnebye's first-team opportunities, leading to his effective marginalisation.{{cite news |title=Bjornebye growls a goodbye |url=https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-60639508 |newspaper=The People |date=20 September 1998 }}{{dead link|date=July 2021}} Bjørnebye affirmed his recurring determination to stay at Liverpool that season, remarking "If I didn't have any fight in my stomach I'd have left Liverpool at least three times before".

Unable to displace Staunton and Dominic Matteo, Bjørnebye agreed to a loan move to Danish side Brøndby IF in 2000, who finished second in the Danish Superliga with Bjørnebye on the team. He decided to permanently leave Liverpool after returning from the European Championship, accepting a £300,000 transfer to Blackburn Rovers that reunited him with former manager Graeme Souness.{{cite news |title=Bjornebye seals Rovers deal |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/euro2000/teams/norway/806980.stm |work=BBC Sport |publisher=BBC |date=26 June 2000 |access-date=5 February 2008 }} Promotion to the Premier League was achieved in his first year with Rovers, in the process, Bjørnebye scored his only goal for the club on 11 November 2000, in a 2–2 draw against Portsmouth.{{cite news |title=Portsmouth 2–2 Blackburn |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/1016615.stm |work=BBC Sport |publisher=BBC |date=11 November 2000 |access-date=15 September 2009 }} His final trophy was gained when Blackburn defeated Tottenham Hotspur 2–1 in the 2002 League Cup Final.{{cite news |title=Cole strike stuns Spurs |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/worthington_cup/1834988.stm |work=BBC Sport |publisher=BBC |date=24 February 2002 |access-date=10 January 2011 }} Successive injuries after the cup victory disrupted and eventually ended his career as a footballer. While preparing for the 2002–03 season, Bjørnebye fractured his eye socket in a training accident. He complained of double vision, underwent surgery, and was rendered unavailable for seven months. Further injury inflicted during a League Cup match on 17 December 2002, in a 2–0 win against Wigan Athletic escalated, while Bjørnebye was recovering in Norway, necessitating emergency surgery to avert the possibility of foot amputation.{{cite news |title=Bjornebye in foot fear |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/blackburn_rovers/2667631.stm |work=BBC Sport |publisher=BBC |date=17 January 2003 |access-date=6 February 2008 }} Bjørnebye announced his retirement on 11 March 2003. Blackburn manager Graeme Souness reacted to the decision with a statement:

{{Blockquote|It's a very sad day. As far as I am concerned it could hardly be worse for Stig is the consummate dedicated professional. He is as good a professional as any I have worked with, I couldn’t name anybody better and he is [a] fine role model and a proper, proper human being. Stig has had a wonderful career, it's a great shame that it has to end with a freak training-ground accident as he felt, quite rightly, that he could have played longer.{{cite news |title=Retiring Bjornebye says bye-bye |url=http://www.breakingnews.ie/sport/retiring-bjornebye-says-bye-bye-91233.html |work=Breaking News |date=11 March 2003 |access-date=10 January 2011 }}}}

Bjørnebye was capped 75 times by Norway, scoring once – an olympic goal in a 1–0 friendly against the United States on 8 September 1993. Having represented his country at youth, under-21, and "B" level, Bjørnebye debuted for the senior team on 31 May 1989 against Austria.{{cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/miscellaneous/noo-recintlp.html |title=Norway – Record International Players |work=RSSSF |access-date=6 February 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130504194906/http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/noo-recintlp.html |archive-date=4 May 2013 }} The majority of his caps were collected during Egil Olsen's eight-year tenure as manager of Norway. Under Olsen's guidance, Norway employed a "long ball" policy that was contingent on the height of Olsen's squad.{{cite news |title=Norway's style won't change without Olsen |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/world/events/1998/worldcup/news/1998/06/28/norway_reaction |work=CNN Sports Illustrated |publisher=CNN |date=28 June 1998 |access-date=7 February 2008 |archive-date=18 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080218035509/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/world/events/1998/worldcup/news/1998/06/28/norway_reaction/ |url-status=dead }} The tactic of directing long passes to the tall winger Jostein Flo, principally delivered by Bjørnebye, became popularly referred to in Norway as the "Flo Pass" (Flo-pasningen). Although criticised for employing the long-ball approach and maintaining a defensively-orientated mentality, Olsen secured qualification for the World Cups of 1994 and 1998. Bjørnebye participated in both tournaments – seven matches in total.{{cite news |title=Stig BJORNEBYE |url=https://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/statisticsandrecords/players/player=46646/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011000729/http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/statisticsandrecords/players/player=46646/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 October 2008 |work=FIFA |access-date=7 February 2008 }}

He decided to retire from international football after the 1998 World Cup, intending to focus on his domestic career and family. Bjørnebye unexpectedly reversed his decision after Nils Johan Semb persuaded him to return to the squad for Euro 2000.{{cite news |title=Premiership stars in Norway squad |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/euro2000/teams/norway/768295.stm |work=BBC Sport |publisher=BBC |date=29 May 2000 |access-date=10 January 2011 }}{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/euro2000/teams/norway/squad/768636.stm |title=Stig Inge Bjornebye |work=BBC Sport |publisher=BBC |access-date=6 February 2008 |date=29 May 2000}} Unused in Norway's 1–0 win against Spain on 13 June 2000, Bjørnebye was first introduced to the competition in the second match of the group stage, in a 0–1 loss on 18 June 2000 against Yugoslavia, as a 35-minute substitute for his Liverpool colleague Vegard Heggem.{{cite news |title=Yugoslavs ease past Norway |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/euro2000/796484.stm |work=BBC Sport |publisher=BBC |date=18 June 2000 |access-date=10 January 2011 }} He retained his place, featuring in the goalless draw against Slovenia on 21 June 2000, which eliminated Norway from the tournament.{{cite news |title=Norway crash out after Slovenia draw |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/euro2000/800614.stm |work=BBC Sport |publisher=BBC |date=21 June 2000 |access-date=10 January 2011 }}{{cite news |title=Norway crash out after Slovenia draw |url=http://soccernet.espn.go.com/euro2000/norway/player/Bjornebye.html |work=ESPNSoccernet |publisher=ESPN |access-date=7 February 2008 |archive-date=17 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517010218/http://soccernet.espn.go.com/euro2000/norway/player/Bjornebye.html |url-status=dead }} His final international match was in a 1–1 draw World Cup qualifier on 7 October 2000 against Wales,{{cite news |title=Wales – Norway |url=https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=4395/preliminaries/preliminary=3835/matches/match=19716/report.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071126044335/http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/archive/edition=4395/preliminaries/preliminary=3835/matches/match=19716/report.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 November 2007 |work=FIFA |access-date=10 January 2011 }} placing him ninth in the overall record of appearances for Norway as of 2007.

Bjørnebye returned to football in a non-playing capacity when he was selected by the Norwegian Football Association to replace Harald Aabrekk as Norway's assistant manager, subordinate to the newly appointed Åge Hareide. Prior to the announcement, the media in England had reported that Bjørnebye was considering maintaining a relationship with Blackburn by becoming a scout for the club.{{cite news |title=New Role Stig |url=http://www.burnleycitizen.co.uk/archive/2003/12/10/Lancashire+Archive/5867525.New_role_Stig/ |newspaper=Lancashire Evening Telegraph |date=10 December 2003 |access-date=10 January 2011 }} He vacated his position in 2006 to succeed Tom Nordlie as manager of IK Start. Success was forthcoming in his first season; the club competed in Europe and Bjørnebye was the highest earning coach of the season, ahead of his predecessor Nordlie, with an income of almost seven million krone.{{cite news |title=Bjørnebye best betalte trener |first=Kristian |last=Elster |url=http://www.nrksport.no/fotball/eliteserien/1.3728706 |work=NRK Sport |publisher=NRK |language=no |date=12 October 2007 |access-date=7 February 2008 }} His appointment lasted two seasons, ending with dismissal in September 2007, after a series of poor results that placed the club in serious danger of being relegated from the Tippeligaen.{{cite news |title=Det er mitt ansvar |first1=Jamel |last1=Rake |first2=Anders |last2=K. Christiansen |url=http://www.vg.no/pub/vgart.hbs?artid=161732 |newspaper=Verdens Gang |language=no |date=5 September 2007 |access-date=7 February 2008 }} He was replaced by Benny Lennartsson, who was unable to preserve the club's premier league status; Start were relegated to Norway's second tier.{{cite news |title=Torrid finish for Start |first=Elvind |last=Aarre |url=http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/news/newsid=613796.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026070643/http://www.uefa.com/memberassociations/news/newsid=613796.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=26 October 2012 |work=UEFA |date=4 November 2007 |access-date=10 January 2011 }}

On 15 March 2015, Stig Inge Bjørnebye succeeded Erik Hoftun as the sports director of Eliteserien club, Rosenborg Ballklub.{{Cite news|url=http://www.rbk.no/lag/stig-inge-bjornebye|title=Stig Inge Bjørnebye|work=Rosenborg|access-date=31 March 2017|language=nb-NO|archive-date=31 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170331210306/http://www.rbk.no/lag/stig-inge-bjornebye|url-status=dead}} He since has won The Double with Rosenborg Ballklub two seasons (2015 and 2016). Rosenborg Ballklub is the first club in the history of Norwegian football to do so two consecutive seasons.{{Cite news|url=http://www.t-a.no/sport/tronderball/2016/11/20/Rosenborg-tok-en-historisk-dobbel-etter-kalasseier-i-cupfinalen-13816314.ece|title=Rosenborg tok en historisk dobbel etter kalasseier i cupfinalen|last=Holberg|first=Jonas A.|date=20 November 2016|work=www.t-a.no|access-date=31 March 2017|language=nb-NO|archive-date=31 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170331211009/http://www.t-a.no/sport/tronderball/2016/11/20/Rosenborg-tok-en-historisk-dobbel-etter-kalasseier-i-cupfinalen-13816314.ece|url-status=dead}} As the sports director of Rosenborg Ballklub he has many responsibilities, among many others signing on new players and renewing contracts with existing players. The most notable signing came on 6 March 2017: Nicklas Bendtner signed on for a three-year contract with the Norwegian side. This was the most surprising and most notable signing in the history of Norwegian football.{{Cite news|url=http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11727/10793112/nicklas-bendtner-seals-transfer-from-nottingham-forest-to-rosenborg|title=Nicklas Bendtner seals transfer from Nottingham Forest to Rosenborg|work=Sky Sports|access-date=31 March 2017|language=en}} Teammate Pål André Helland commented: "It shouldn't come as a surprise if he becomes the top scorer and we win the league."{{Cite news|url=http://www.tv2.no/a/8976736/|title=Bendtner på plass hos RBK: - Det bør ikke komme som en overraskelse om han blir toppscorer og vi tar gull|last=AS|first=TV 2|work=TV 2|access-date=31 March 2017|language=no-nb}}

In 2021 Bjørnebye succeeded Peter Christiansen as the sports director of the Superligaen club AGF in Denmark.

Bjørnebye is married to the former Byåsen IL handball player Hege Frøseth, with whom he has three children.

:Scores and results list Norway's goal tally first, score column indicates score after Bjørnebye goal.

:Source:{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

Rosenborg

• Tippeligaen: 1992, 1994
• Norwegian Football Cup: 1992

Liverpool

• Football League Cup: 1994–95{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/liverpool-prevail-in-cup-final-to-savour-1614114.html |title=Liverpool prevail in cup final to savour |first=Glenn |last=Moore |website=The Independent |date=2 April 1995 |access-date=3 April 2024}}

Blackburn Rovers

• Football League Cup: 2001–02{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/worthington_cup/1834988.stm |title=Cole strike stuns Spurs |website=BBC Sport |date=24 February 2002 |access-date=27 March 2024}}

Individual

• PFA Team of the Year: 1996–97 Premier League{{cite book |editor-first=Barry J. |editor-last=Hugman |title=The 1997–98 Official PFA Footballers Factfile |year=1997 |publisher=Queen Anne Press |location=Harpenden |isbn=978-1-85291-581-0 |page=317}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

• [https://www.liverpoolfc.com/info/stig-inge-bjornebye Profile] at the Liverpool F.C. website
• {{NFF player}}
• {{FIFA player}}
• {{UEFA player}}

{{1996–97 FA Premier League PFA Team of the Year}}

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{{Norway squad 1994 FIFA World Cup}}

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