Roar Strand

Roar Strand
Personal information
Date of birth	2 February 1970 (age 54)
Place of birth	Trondheim, Norway
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team
1989–2010	Rosenborg
1993	→ Molde (loan)
2013–2015	Mosvik
2016	Melhus
Total
International career
1994–2003	Norway
Managerial career
2022–2023	Rosenborg (assistant)
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Roar Strand (born 2 February 1970) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder, mostly for Rosenborg. Strand was capped 42 times for the Norway national team. He is the player with the fourth-highest number of appearances in the Norwegian top division. He has won 16 league titles, more than any other player in history and the Norwegian Football Cup five times, and he has scored goals in 21 consecutive top flight seasons.

Club career

Strand was born in Trondheim and played for Rosenborg his whole career, except for the 1993 season when he was loaned out to Molde FK, from he made his debut in 1989 till he retired in 2010. He mostly played as midfielder but as an allrounder he also played as winger and wingback.

Strand won the Norwegian top division 16 times (11 consecutive) as well as the Norwegian Football Cup five times with Rosenborg. He participated in the UEFA Champions League 11 times with Rosenborg and played 71 Champions League matches and 100 matches including the qualification matches. He is third on the list of most appearances in the Norwegian Premier Division.^[1]

He is looked upon as a hero among supporters of Rosenborg because he has always been loyal to the club without having played abroad where the salaries are higher. He is also highly respected among both players and fans of other Norwegian clubs. The number 6 jersey he used in Rosenborg was retired in his honor. This is the only time Rosenborg has retired a jersey number.

Roar Strand has played over 400 matches in the Norwegian Tippeliga. Match number 400 was against HamKam on Sunday 21 September 2008. Sunday 19 April 2009 he played match number 600 for Rosenborg BK. That includes Norwegian top division, Norwegian Cup, European cups and Royal League.^[2]

Strand shares a European record with Manchester United's Ryan Giggs of scoring in 21 consecutive top flight seasons. That equals Pelé, but is behind Romario, who scored in 23 consecutive seasons.^[3]

Strand is one of only 19 players in Champions League history to have made 100 or more appearances in the competition for the same club.^{[citation needed]}

International career

Strand played for various youth teams between 1986 and 1989 before he was called up to the Norway U21 national team in 1990, where he played ten games and scored six goals.

In 1994, he was called up to the senior national team's squad for the 1994 World Cup in the United States, but he did not play. His debut came on 5 June in a 2–0 loss against Sweden in the preparation for the World Cup.

Strand played in the 1998 World Cup in France and in the 2000 European Football Championship in Belgium and the Netherlands. He retired from the national team in 2003, despite pressure for him to carry on.

He played 42 games and scored four goals for Norway.^[4]

Career statistics

As of 1 November 2009

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			Norwegian Cup		Continental		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Rosenborg	1989	Tippeligaen	12	0	2	0	1	0	15	0
	1990		19	6	6	0	2	0	27	6
	1991		22	3	4	0	2	1	28	4
	1992		17	1	3	1	1	0	21	2
	1994		22	6	5	1	4	2	31	9
	1995		23	4	8	0	8	2	39	6
	1996		23	3	3	0	10	1	36	4
	1997		23	2	3	1	8	4	34	7
	1998		23	12	4	2	8	1	35	15
	1999		13	4	3	0	12	1	28	5
	2000		17	5	1	0	10	3	28	8
	2001		25	8	2	2	8	1	35	11
	2002		19	2	3	0	7	0	29	2
	2003		18	2	5	4	7	1	30	7
	2004		23	4	4	1	10	1	37	6
	2005		23	4	2	2	9	1	34	7
	2006		18	3	5	0	-	-	23	3
	2007		19	2	1	1	9	0	30	3
	2008		20	4	1	1	7	0	29	5
	2009		22	1	2	0	2	0	26	1
	2010		15	3	2	0	2	0	16	3
Molde (loan)	1993	Tippeligaen	23	9	6	2	-	-	29	11
Career total			439	88	75	18	127	19	642	125

Honours

Rosenborg

Norwegian top division (16): 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2010^[5]
Norwegian Cup: 1990, 1992, 1995, 1999, 2003

Individual

Kniksen award as midfielder of the year in 1998
Kniksen's Honorary Award in 2001
Norwegian Football Association Gold Watch

References

^ "Flest kamper" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. 2 December 2006. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
^ "Roar i 600" (in Norwegian). Rosenborg BK. Archived from the original on 20 April 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
^ Ashdown, John (16 September 2009). "Is Ryan Giggs a goalscoring record breaker?". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 1 November 2009.
^ "Roar Strand". Archived from the original on 26 July 2010.
^ "Mestvinnende spillere" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. 19 October 2006. Retrieved 2 November 2010.

[1] "Flest kamper" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. 2 December 2006. Retrieved 28 November 2015.

[2] "Roar i 600" (in Norwegian). Rosenborg BK. Archived from the original on 20 April 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2009.

[Guardian-3] Ashdown, John (16 September 2009). "Is Ryan Giggs a goalscoring record breaker?". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 1 November 2009.

[4] "Roar Strand". Archived from the original on 26 July 2010.

[5] "Mestvinnende spillere" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. 19 October 2006. Retrieved 2 November 2010.

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