Harald Brattbakk

Harald Martin Brattbakk (born 1 February 1971) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was the all-time top scorer in the Norwegian top division with 166 goals in 255 matches, before being surpassed by Sigurd Rushfeldt in 2011. After his retirement from playing he became a pilot.

Harald Brattbakk
Personal information
Full name Harald Martin Brattbakk
Date of birth (1971-02-01) 1 February 1971
Place of birth Trondheim, Norway
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
–1989 Kolstad IL
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1990–1991 Rosenborg 14 (2)
1992–1993 Bodø/Glimt 41 (24)
1994–1997 Rosenborg 100 (94)
1997–2000 Celtic 44 (12)
2000–2001 Copenhagen 31 (14)
2001–2006 Rosenborg 109 (55)
2005 → Bodø/Glimt (loan) 11 (5)
2008 Kolstad Fotball 5 (2)
Total 355 (208)
International career
1995–2004 Norway 17 (5)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Brattbakk was born in Trondheim. He has played for Kolstad, Rosenborg BK, Celtic, F.C. Copenhagen and Bodø/Glimt (loan).

Brattbakk is most known for his goalscoring abilities for the Norwegian club Rosenborg BK where he has enjoyed three spells (1990–91, 1994–97 and 2001–06) scoring most of his goals which has helped him reach the top of the all-time goalscoring chart in the Norwegian Premier League.

At Celtic, where he played from December 1997 to January 2000, Brattbakk seemed overawed by the pressures of playing for one of Scotland's Old Firm clubs. Though he did enjoy some success with the club — including hitting the clinching goal against St Johnstone to help them win the SPL title on the final day of the 1997–1998 season, and scoring all four goals in a 4–0 win over Kilmarnock that same year — his spell in Glasgow was generally characterised by nervous performances and insufficient goals.

However, Brattbakk has been very successful in Norway. With 166 goals he was the highest-scoring player in the history of the Norwegian Premier League, until his record was beat by Sigurd Rushfeldt on 29 May 2011. Moreover, his record in the Champions League is an impressive one, and includes goals against such top sides as Real Madrid and Milan. He scored 28 goals in 66 matches for Rosenborg BK and scored 4 goals in 9 matches for Celtic in various European Cups.[1] In November 2001, he scored twice against his old club Celtic as Rosenborg defeated them 2–0 in a Champions League tie in Trondheim.

Brattbakk returned to Rosenborg after being on a loan to Bodø/Glimt in the last half of the 2005 season, but on 20 February 2006 it was announced that he had been relieved from his contract and he has now retired from the game.

In 2008 Brattbakk made a comeback in football after signing a contract with his native Kolstad-Fotball, an amateur club in the Norwegian 3rd Division Dep. 19. However, the comeback lasted only for the rest of the 2008 season.[2]

International career

Brattbakk made his debut for Norway in a February 1995 friendly match against Estonia in which he scored two goals. He went on to play seventeen times for his country, scoring five goals.[3]

Retirement

On 21 November 2006, Brattbakk announced on the Norwegian television channel TV3 that he intended to become an airline pilot after his retirement from professional football. He trained as a pilot in Florida at Phoenix East Aviation, Inc. and got his commercial aircraft certification in 2008. Until 2010 he flew for the aircraft company Helitrans, based at Trondheim Airport, Værnes.[2] This included missions for Norwegian Coast Guard. From 2010 he has been working as a pilot for Norwegian Air Shuttle.

Personal life

His son Filip Brattbakk plays for Rosenborg.

Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[4][5]
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Rosenborg 1990 Tippeligaen 31000031
1991 1114220173
Total 1424220204
Bodø/Glimt 1992 First Division 191455–2419
1993 Tippeligaen 221074–2914
Total 4124129005333
Rosenborg 1994 Tippeligaen 2217710433330
1995 26261010744340
1996 26284111024041
1997 262357853935
Total 1009426382914155146
Celtic 1997–98 Scottish Premier League 17743–2110
1998–99 2552172348
1999–2000 20002242
Total 441264945920
Copenhagen 1999–2000 Danish Superliga 1472100168
2000–01 17720–197
Total 311441003515
Rosenborg 2001 Tippeligaen 251533833621
2002 2517410833730
2003 251769853931
2004 254511933918
2005 923200124
Total 1095521353314163104
Bodø/Glimt (loan) 2005 Tippeligaen 11500–116
Kolstad 2008 Third division 5200–52
Career total 35520873897332501329

Honours

Bodø/Glimt

Rosenborg[6]

Celtic

Copenhagen

Individual

References
  1. Harald Martin Brattbakk – Matches in European Cups – RSSSF
  2. "Proffklemma" (in Norwegian). Norgesnytt. Retrieved 21 April 2009.
  3. Norway – International Players – Landslaget
  4. "Brattbakk, Harald". FitbaStats. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  5. "Harald Brattbakk". Soccerbase. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  6. "Mestvinnende med RBK" (in Norwegian). Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. 19 October 2006. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
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