Bård Finne

Bård Finne (born 13 February 1995) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Vålerenga Fotball. Hailing from Bergen, he started his professional career in Brann. Finne has represented Norway from under-15 to under-21 level.

Bård Finne

Bård Finne in July 2013
Personal information
Date of birth	(1995-02-13) 13 February 1995
Place of birth	Bergen, Norway
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position(s)	Forward
Club information
Current team	Vålerenga
Number	11
Youth career
	SK Trane
	Nymark IL
0000–2012	Brann
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2013	Brann	26	(8)
2014–2016	1. FC Köln	21	(2)
2014–2015	1. FC Köln II	5	(4)
2016–2017	1. FC Heidenheim	21	(3)
2017–	Vålerenga	90	(26)
National team^‡
2012	Norway U17	11	(4)
2012–2013	Norway U18	20	(7)
2013	Norway U19	8	(2)
2014–2015	Norway U21	8	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 8 August 2020 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16 June 2015

Club career

Brann

Finne was born in Bergen,[1] with parents hailing from Voss. During his childhood, Finne participated in both athletics and cross-country skiing in addition to playing football and became regional champion in cross-country skiing while competing for Voss IL.[2] Finne, who grew up in the area surrounding Brann Stadion,[3] played football for SK Trane until he gave up both athletics and skiing at the age of 12[2] and joined Nymark IL where he played with Andreas Vindheim and Kasper Skaanes until the three joined SK Brann's youth-team together in 2009.[3]

Before he signed a professional contract with Brann, he was eligible to play in Tippeligaen as he was listed on the team's B-list.[4] He was wanted by Dutch club NEC Nijmegen and Ole Gunnar Solskjær's club Molde,[5] but Finne signed a professional contract for Brann in September 2012.[6] He scored his first two goals in Tippeligaen in the match against rivaling club Rosenborg on 23 September 2012. He made five appearances and scored three goals in the 2012 season,[7] after which he gained the nickname "the fox in the box".[8][9]

Finne's first appearance of the 2013 season, came when he replaced Kristoffer Barmen as a substitute against Lillestrøm in April 2013. In the First Round of the 2013 Norwegian Football Cup, Finne scored four goals when Brann won 14–0 against Hovding.[10] In June 2013, Finne rejected Brann's offer for a new contract and stated that he wanted to move abroad either during the summer or when his contract expired after the season.[11] The crowd at Brann Stadion did not like that Finne wanted to leave the club, and booed at him when he replaced Martin Pusic in the home match against Sandnes Ulf on 29 June 2013, but Finne answered by scoring a hat-trick in the 6–1 victory.[12]

Cologne

On 20 August 2013, it was announced that he had signed a 3.5-year contract with the 2. Bundesliga side 1. FC Köln starting in January 2014. He joined the club as a Bosman player as his contract with Brann expired on 31 December 2013.[13] He debuted for 1. FC Köln on 9 February in the 2. Bundesliga tie against SC Paderborn at the RheinEnergie Stadion (final result 0–1) entering the pitch as a substitute for Anthony Ujah in the 46th minute.[14][15]

Heidenheim

He moved to 1. FC Heidenheim on 16 January 2016. Finne played 24 games for the club and scored 3 goals.[16]

Vålerenga

On 24 February 2017, Finne signed a four-year contract with Brann rivals Vålerenga, despite his agent stating that he would never play for another Norwegian club.[17] On 3 April he scored the only goal in a 1–0 win on his competitive debut for Vålerenga against Viking.[18]

International career

Finne first represented Norway when he played two matches for the under-15 team against Sweden U15 in September 2010. The next month he was selected for the squad that met Portugal, France and Netherlands in an under-15 tournament.[19] He played a total of five matches for the under-15 team in 2010. The next year he played 11 matches for the under-16 team, scoring five goals. In 2012, he played 11 matches and scored four goals for the under-17 team in addition to 11 matches and three goals for the under-18 team. He made his debut for the under-19 team in 2013,[20] and scored goals against Netherlands U19[21] and Cyprus U19 in the elite qualification for the 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship.

Career statistics

As of 8 August 2020[22][23]

Club	Season	League			Cup[lower-alpha 1]		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Brann	2012	Tippeligaen	7	3	2	1	–		9	4
	2013		19	5	3	6	–		22	11
	Total		26	8	5	7	0	0	31	15
1. FC Köln	2013–14	2. Bundesliga	11	1	0	0	–		11	1
	2014–15	Bundesliga	10	1	0	0	–		10	1
	2015–16		0	0	1	0	–		1	0
	Total		21	2	1	0	0	0	22	2
1. FC Heidenheim	2015–16	2. Bundesliga	14	2	1	0	–		15	2
	2016–17		7	1	2	0	–		9	1
	Total		21	3	3	0	0	0	24	3
Vålerenga	2017	Eliteserien	24	4	3	1	–		27	5
	2018		25	10	5	4	–		30	14
	2019		29	8	3	3	–		32	11
	2020		12	4	0	0	–		12	4
	Total		90	26	11	8	0	0	101	34
Career total			158	39	20	15	0	0	178	54

1. Includes the Norwegian Football Cup and DFB-Pokal

References

1. "Bård Finne at altomfotball.no" (in Norwegian).
2. Flatekvål, Bente-Line S. (27 October 2012). "Slik senket han RBK" (in Norwegian). Bergensavisen. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
3. Ellingsen, Roy (26 October 2012). "Ekstremt lokal gutt" (in Norwegian). Bergens Tidende. Archived from the original on 28 October 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
4. Natlandsmyr, Gorm (31 August 2012). "Her er Branns B-liste" (in Norwegian). SK Brann. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
5. Aaserud, Mikal (17 April 2013). "Brann-talentet sa nei til Molde etter Solskjær-besøk". VG-nett (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2 May 2013.
6. Presthus, Øivind (9 September 2012). "Finne har signert" (in Norwegian). SK Brann. Archived from the original on 6 October 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
7. Pamer, Anders (16 April 2013). "– United og City følger Branns Bård Finne". Bergens Tidende (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
8. Opheim, Steffen (8 October 2012). "Bergenserne snudde det i sluttminuttene". Bergensavisen (in Norwegian). Retrieved 28 May 2013.
9. Horjen, Henrik (8 October 2012). "Skarsfjord om "ungdomsbølgen": – Blir bedre og bedre". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian). Retrieved 28 May 2013.
10. Bøyum, Mads (18 April 2013). "Skarsfjord hyller firemåls-Finne". Bergens Tidende (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
11. Wathne, Davy (15 June 2013). "Bård Finne til utlandet" (in Norwegian). TV 2. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
12. Magnussen, Jostein; Skjellum, Hanne (29 June 2013). "Finne fikk pipekonsert – svarte med hat trick" (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
13. Svendsen, Roy Hilmar (20 August 2013). "Bård Finne klar for tyske Köln" (in Norwegian). NRK. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
14. "Heimniederlage gegen Paderborn" (in German). fc-koeln.de. 9 February 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
15. "Standard-Spezialist Meha sorgt für die Überraschung" (in German). kicker.de. 9 February 2014.
16. "Finne erhält beim FCH einen Vertrag bis zum 30.06.2018" [Finne signs a contract at FCH until 30 June 2018] (in German). 1. FC Heidenheim. 16 January 2016. Archived from the original on 15 January 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
17. Bredesen, Carina Alice (24 February 2017). "Vålerenga har signert Bård Finne (22)" (in Norwegian). Nettavisen. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
18. Sander Englund Smørdal, Christian Thorkildsen (3 April 2017). "God Finne matchvinner da Vålerenga kjempet seg til seier mot Viking". tv2.no (in Norwegian). TV2. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
19. Sælensminde, Ellinor Nesbø (18 October 2010). "Bård Finne møter stormaktene". fotball.no (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway. Archived from the original on 23 September 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
20. "Bård Finne's profil". fotball.no (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
21. http://www.nettavisen.no/sport/fotball/article3632341.ece
22. "Bård Finne". nifs.no (in Norwegian). A-pressen. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
23. "Bård Finne at NFF". Fotball.no. Retrieved 15 September 2018.

External links

• Profile at Brann.no (in Norwegian)