Bjørn Helge Semundseth Riise (born 21 June 1983) is a Norwegian former professional footballer. Riise played either a central midfielder or a right winger, and earned 35 international caps for Norway. He played for Fulham of the Premier League from July 2009 to August 2012. He is the younger brother of former Liverpool and Fulham player John Arne Riise, also a Norwegian international.
 Riise warming up for Fulham in 2009 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Bjørn Helge Semundseth Riise[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 21 June 1983[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Ålesund, Norway | ||
| Height | 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Central midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Hessa | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2000–2003 | Aalesund | 49 | (5) |
| 2003–2005 | Standard Liège | 17 | (0) |
| 2004–2005 | → Brussels (loan) | 31 | (2) |
| 2005–2009 | Lillestrøm | 86 | (10) |
| 2009–2012 | Fulham | 15 | (0) |
| 2011 | → Sheffield United (loan) | 13 | (1) |
| 2011 | → Portsmouth (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 2012–2015 | Lillestrøm | 82 | (7) |
| 2015–2018 | Aalesund | 55 | (3) |
| 2018 | Sogndal | 8 | (0) |
| 2019 | Stabæk 2 | 4 | (1) |
| 2023 | Stabæk 2 | 1 | (0) |
| Total | 363 | (29) | |
| International career | |||
| 2004–2005 | Norway U21[3] | 16 | (5) |
| 2006–2013 | Norway[4] | 35 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2024– | Stabæk (caretaker) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Club career
editAalesund
editEarly in his career, Riise was linked with several clubs, including Manchester City and Cardiff City, but deals failed to materialize.[5] Riise threatened to retire after the Cardiff deal fell through due to complications with Aalesund, his club at the time, stating "I don't understand what Aalesund want from me. I almost want to quit football because it's not fun anymore".[6]
Standard Liège
editIn January 2003, Riise signed a three-year deal with Standard Liège, after impressing on a trial that included two reserve team appearances. He became teammates with fellow Norwegian Ole Martin Årst.[7]
Brussels
editAfter playing only 17 matches for Standard Liège, he was loaned out to Brussels. When his contract expired, Brussels would have a call option on him. However, there were transfer talks between Brussels and Brann, according to Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad.[8]
Lillestrøm
editRiise returned to Norway with Lillestrøm in the summer of 2005, where he signed a three-and-a-half-year deal. He made his debut for Lillestrøm on 3 July against Molde.[9]
Fulham
editIn July 2009, Norwegian media reported that Riise was to join international teammates Brede Hangeland and Erik Nevland at Fulham, for a fee believed to be around £2 million.[10][11][12] Riise subsequently signed a three-year deal with for an undisclosed fee.[13]
He made his Fulham début in a Europa League tie against FK Vetra coming on as a 78th-minute substitute for Zoltan Gera. Fulham won the match 3–0, winning the tie 6–0 on aggregate. He played regularly throughout the season under Roy Hodgson, especially in the Europa League.
His contract at Fulham was not extended in the summer of 2012, and was free to leave the club. Riise left during May/June.
On loan to Sheffield United
editThe following season however he found first team football much harder to come by under new boss Mark Hughes and by February 2011 he opted to move on loan to Sheffield United for the remainder of the season.[14] Whilst at Bramall Lane he scored his first goal in English football, in a 2–0 win over Leeds United.[15] With the Blades struggling he could not help to prevent them from being relegated at the end of the season and returned to Craven Cottage having played thirteen times for the Yorkshire club.
Loan to Portsmouth
editRiise joined Portsmouth on a short-term loan on 26 September 2011.[16]
Return to Lillestrøm
editOn 28 July 2012, Riise was presented as a new Lillestrøm player during half time in their home game with Molde.[17]
Return to Aalesund
editAfter three years at Lillestrøm he signed a contract for Aalesund, the club of his hometown and where he started his career.
Sogndal
editOn 16 August he signed for Norwegian club Sogndal Fotball only one day after his contract in Aalesund expired.
Riise retired after the 2018 season.[18] He joined Stabæk as a coach and featured sparsely for its B team.[19]
International career
editHe earned his first cap for Norway in a Euro 2008 qualifying match against Malta which Norway won 4–0. He provided three assists in the game which saw his brother John Arne Riise score a goal. Riise earned his first goal for Norway in another qualifying match against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Norway won 2–0, with Riise scoring the second goal of the game.[20]
Personal life
editRiise is married to long-term partner, Lena Jenssen – like his brother, he married in the summer of 2010. The couple have three sons, Noah, Fillip and Levi.
Career statistics
editClub
edit- As of 10 November 2018[21]
| Season | Club | League | Cup | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Lillestrøm | 2005 | Tippeligaen | 13 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| 2006 | 25 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 28 | 2 | ||
| 2007 | 24 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 31 | 4 | ||
| 2008 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | ||
| 2009 | 15 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 6 | ||
| Fulham | 2009–10 | Premier League | 12 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| 2010–11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2011–12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Sheffield United (loan) | 2010–11 | The Championship | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 |
| Portsmouth (loan) | 2011–12 | The Championship | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Lillestrøm | 2012 | Tippeligaen | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 |
| 2013 | 29 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 35 | 6 | ||
| 2014 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 28 | 0 | ||
| 2015 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | ||
| Aalesund | 2015 | Tippeligaen | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| 2016 | 24 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 27 | 2 | ||
| 2017 | Eliteserien | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 1 | |
| 2018 | OBOS-ligaen | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| Sogndal | 2018 | OBOS-ligaen | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Career total | 268 | 21 | 31 | 3 | 299 | 24 | ||
International
edit- Scores and results list Norway's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Riise goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 October 2007 | Koševo Stadium, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2–0 | UEFA Euro 2008 qualification |
Honours
editFulham
- UEFA Europa League runner-up: 2009–10[22]
Individual
- Eliteserien top assist provider: 2014
References
edit- ^ "Bjørn Helge Semundseth Riise" (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
- ^ a b "Bjørn Helge Riise: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
- ^ "Bjørn Helge Semundseth Riise" (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
- ^ "Bjørn Helge Riise". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
- ^ Riise deal collapses? Archived 27 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine cardiffcity-mad.co.uk
- ^ Mamma Riise raste mot Aalesund Archived 27 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine Aftenposten.no (in Norwegian)
- ^ Bjorn Riise signs for Standard Liege Archived 9 November 2003 at the Wayback Machine cardiffcity-mad.co.uk
- ^ Riise åpner for Brann Archived 27 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine Adressa.no (in Norwegian)
- ^ Riise enig med Lillestrøm Archived 27 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine Nettavisen.no (in Norwegian)
- ^ Bjørn Helge Riise klar for Fulham VG.no (in Norwegian)
- ^ Bjørn Helge Riise klar for Fulham Archived 20 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine TV2.no (in Norwegian)
- ^ Fulham sign Bjørn Helge Riise Archived 3 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine Goal.com
- ^ "Riise's brother makes Fulham move". BBC Sport. 22 July 2009. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
- ^ "Blades sign Norwegian". Sheffield United F.C. 15 February 2011. Archived from the original on 17 February 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
- ^ "Leeds win was massive". football.co.uk. 22 March 2011. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
- ^ "Portsmouth sign Fulham midfielder Bjorn Helge Riise on loan". BBC. 26 September 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
- ^ Bjørn Helge Riise klar for LSK NRK.no (in Norwegian)
- ^ Overganger i OBOS-ligaen vinter 2019 Archived 23 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine, sportshjornet.com, 13 December 2018
- ^ Bjørn Helge Riise at the Norwegian Football Federation (in Norwegian)
- ^ "Norway graft earns Sarajevo success". UEFA. 17 October 2007. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
- ^ "Bjørn Helge Riise". altomfotball.no (in Norwegian). TV 2. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
- ^ McNulty, Phil (12 May 2010). "Atletico Madrid 2–1 Fulham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
External links
edit- Bjørn Helge Riise at Soccerbase