Espen Hægeland

Espen Hægeland (born 27 September 1981) is a Norwegian footballer who played as a winger for Bryne, Mandalskameratene and Sandnes Ulf in the Norwegian First Division. He has later been player-coach at Hana and assistant player-coach at Mandalskameratene and Lyngdal.

Espen Hægeland
Personal information
Full name Espen Hægeland
Date of birth (1981-09-27) 27 September 1981
Place of birth Lyngdal, Norway
Height 1.79 m (5 ft 10+1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 Lyngdal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
0000–2004 Lyngdal
2005–2006 Bryne 38 (11)
2006 → Mandalskameratene (loan)
2007 Mandalskameratene 30 (11)
2008 Randaberg
2008–2009 Sandnes Ulf
2011 Mandalskameratene
2012– Lyngdal
Managerial career
2010 Hana
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 27 March 2013

Career

Hægeland was born in Lyngdal,[1] and started his career in the local club Lyngdal IL. He scored 25 goals in 22 matches for Lyngdal in the Third Division in the 2004 season[2] and was invited on a trial with Mandalskameratene ahead of the 2005 season, but was not offered a contract with the club and joined Bryne instead. Hægeland, who worked as a carpenter while playing for Bryne, scored nine goals in his first eight matches in the First Division[3] including two goals in the 5–1 victory against Skeid on 6 June 2005[4] and a hat-trick when Bryne won 4–0 against Løv-Ham two weeks later. After 12 matches of the season, Bryne were leading the First Division and Hægeland only had Daniel Nannskog ahead of him on the goal-scoring list.[2] The Bryne-team struggled with their offensive play during the second half of the season, and after Tommy Bergersen and André Danielsen was transferred to Bryne during the summer,[5] Hægeland lost his place in the first-team.[6] He scored 11 goals in the 2005 season,[1] and finished 10th in the top goalscorer list.

Hægeland was sent on loan to Mandalskameratene half-way through the 2006 season, and joined the club permanently on a three-year contract ahead of the 2007 season. He was one of Mandalskameratene's best players in 2007, and scored 11 goals in 30 matches when the team was relegated from the First Division. After the season, he was wanted by seven clubs, and stated that he wanted to play for a club in Rogaland as he was building a house in Bryne.[6] Hægeland played for Randaberg during the first half of the 2008 season, before he transferred to Sandnes Ulf in July 2008.[7] He scored five goals in 14 matches for Sandnes Ulf in the First Division in 2008. After the 2009 season he joined the Third Division side Hana IL as a player-coach,[8] but left the club after only one season[9] and returned to Mandalskameratene where he became playing assistant coach.[10] Following Peer Danefeld's resignation as head coach of Mandalskameratene, Hægeland was temporarily working as head coach during the pre-season in 2011, but stated that he didn't want that position permanently.[11] After rejoining Lyngdal, he scored more than 50 goals for the team in the Fourth Division during the 2012 season. Ahead of the 2013 season he became playing assistant coach of Lyngdal.[12]

References
  1. "Espen Hægeland". altomfotball.no (in Norwegian). TV 2. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  2. Grøndal, Kjell Ivar (20 June 2005). "Scoringsmaskinen" (in Norwegian). Rogalands Avis. Archived from the original on 10 January 2006. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  3. Birkeland, Monika (22 June 2005). "MK sa nei til toppscorer" (in Norwegian). Fædrelandsvennen. Archived from the original on 13 April 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  4. Iversen, Espen; Ekroll, Henning Carr (6 June 2005). "Espen er Jærens nye helt" (in Norwegian). Rogalands Avis. Archived from the original on 10 January 2006. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  5. Ellingsen, Øyvind (13 September 2005). "Hægeland: – Urettferdig å bli vraket" (in Norwegian). Stavanger Aftenblad. Archived from the original on 13 April 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  6. Karlsen, Håvard (12 December 2007). "Syv klubber jakter Hægeland" (in Norwegian). Fædrelandsvennen. Archived from the original on 13 April 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  7. Søyland, Bjørn Tore (29 July 2008). "Hægeland klar for ny klubb" (in Norwegian). Rogalands Avis. Archived from the original on 13 April 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  8. "Hægeland trolig til Hana" (in Norwegian). Sandnesposten. 17 November 2009. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  9. "To lag fortsatt uten trener". Sandnesposten (in Norwegian). 9 December 2010. p. 14.
  10. Fjeldstad, Kristian (26 October 2010). "Hægeland tilbake til MK" (in Norwegian). Fædrelandsvennen. Archived from the original on 22 September 2011. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  11. Fjeldstad, Kristian (13 December 2010). "Hægeland blir ikke hovedtrener i MK" (in Norwegian). Fædrelandsvennen. Archived from the original on 16 December 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  12. Bjørnstøl, Steinar. "Andalsvik blir ny A-lagstrener" (in Norwegian). Lyngdals Avis. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
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