Rolf Birger Pedersen

Rolf Birger "Pesen" Pedersen (23 September 1939 - 22 March 2001) was a Norwegian footballer and football coach. He grew up near Brann Stadion, and later became one of Brann's most legendary players. He was also capped 15 times for the Norway national football team, scoring 5 goals.[1]

Rolf Birger Pedersen
Pedersen in 1969
Personal information
Date of birth (1939-09-23)23 September 1939
Place of birth Bergen, Norway
Date of death 22 March 2001(2001-03-22) (aged 61)
Place of death Bergen, Norway
Playing position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1957–1972 Brann 335 (245)
National team
1958–1962 Norway 15 (5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Pesen was a creative and goalscoring midfielder, and is considered by many to be Brann's best player in their championship-seasons 1962 and 1963. Pedersen was particularly known for his remarkably hard shots. It is told that he once shot a goalkeeper into the goal, and he shot a keeper so hard that he fainted. He never reached the same level in the following seasons, possibly losing his motivation after being so successful in his younger years. Nevertheless, his track record in Brann is impressive, with 335 matches and a record high 245 goals in the red jersey.

After his retirement in 1972, Pesen continued his football life as head coach in many of the Bergen-based clubs in the lower divisions. Later he held many different positions in his old club Brann, culminating in his run as chairman of the club. In the late 1990s he was made responsible for Brann Stadion.

In 2000 Pesen was diagnosed with cancer, and for a while it looked like he would pull through, but he had a fallback, and died on 22 March 2001 at the age of 61.

Career statistics
Season Club Division League National Cup League Cup Europe Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
1956–57 Brann Landsdelsserien 2210——32
1957–58 Hovedserien 14430——174
1958–59 13455——189
1959–60 12543——168
1960–61 Landsdelsserien 101657——1523
1961–62 Hovedserien 2926106——3932
1963 1. divisjon 181043——2213
1964 17455——229
1965 2. divisjon 7032——102
1966 10222——124
1967 11765——1712
1968 1. divisjon 17653——229
1972 7022——92
Career total 1678655430000222129

Honours

Individual

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References
  1. Player's profile, eu-football.info
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