Kjetil André Rekdal (born 6 November 1968) is a Norwegian football manager and a former player. He is the manager of Norwegian club Aalesund.
Rekdal began his playing career at Molde FK, playing afterwards for clubs in the Bundesliga, Ligue 1, and Belgian Pro League. Playing as a midfielder during his time as a player, his 83 caps with the Norway national team make him the seventh most capped player in the team's history.
Rekdal previously managed Vålerenga from 2000 to 2006, during which he won both the cup and league title. He has also been in charge of 1. FC Kaiserslautern, Lierse, and Aalesund. During his time at Aalesund, the club earned two cup titles and saw a period of success previously unmatched in their history, which was attributed to Rekdal.
Club career Born in Vestnes Municipality, Rekdal started playing football for the local club Fiksdal/Rekdal in 1979. Later, as a 16-year-old, he started his professional career with the local top-flight club Molde FK, becoming the second-youngest player in the league. In 1988, he signed with the Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach and stayed with them for two years before moving to the Belgian Pro League side Lierse S.K. and remaining there until 1996, with the exception of the 1994 season, which he spent on loan helping his former club Molde FK gain promotion to Tippeligaen and win the domestic cup.
In 1996, he signed for Ligue 1 club Rennes. The highlight of his playing career was a highly successful spell at Hertha BSC in Germany between 1997 and 2000. His final years as a player and then player/manager were spent in the Norwegian club Vålerenga, where he picked up another cup winner's medal in 2002 before retiring in 2004. In the summer of 2007, Rekdal officially rejoined his youth club Fiksdal/Rekdal.
International career Rekdal has 83 games for the Norway national team, after his debut against Italy in 1987, and played in two FIFA World Cups (1994 and 1998). He scored 17 goals for the national team, among those a long-range goal at Wembley against England in 1992, the only goal in the game as Norway beat Mexico in the 1994 World Cup, and a penalty in the 1998 World Cup against Brazil to win the game 2–1, prompting the commentator to say how "the man with the yellow boots has hurt those wearing the yellow shirts...Delight for Egil Olsen". The two World Cup goals make him the second highest-scoring Norwegian in World Cup history, with one goal more than Arne Brustad, Dan Eggen, Håvard Flo and Tore André Flo.
Managerial career Vålerenga Rekdal has proven himself a successful coach, leading Vålerenga from relegation in 2001 and famously weeping as his team avoided relegation the following year and back into position as one of the dominating clubs in the Tippeligaen. In 2004, he led the team to second place, losing the first place on goal difference to Rosenborg, and in 2005, his team finally won the league for the first time in 21 years, ending Rosenborg's 13-year reign as champions of Norway. Along the way, he received legend status in the club, partly due to the fact that he refused an offer of a six-digit coaching salary in order to help the club financially.
Lierse Rekdal resigned as coach at Vålerenga on 21 August 2006, following a string of poor results. He was appointed manager of his former club Lierse on 21 November 2006. When he arrived at the club, Lierse lay bottom of the table with only two points in fifteen matches. At the end of the season, they ended up with 26 points and avoided direct relegation. In the play-offs, Lierse only managed to win three of their six matches and were relegated to the Second Division after all.
1. FC Kaiserslautern In May 2007, Rekdal signed on to manage Kaiserslautern in the German 2. Bundesliga. He left the club in early February of the following year, the club lying in sixteenth place.
Aalesund He joined forces with Norwegian top-flight outfit Aalesund in 2008 after moving back to Norway. Joining the club mid-season, he found Aalesund lying in a relegation spot but managed to get a relegation play-off spot, where Aalesund beat challengers Sogndal 7–2 on aggregate, thereby securing a new season in the Tippeligaen. In 2009, he led Aalesund to the club's first victory in the Norwegian Cup, where they beat arch rivals Molde 3–2 after a penalty shootout in the final. In 2010, he led the club to the fourth place in Tippeligaen, the club's best result ever. In 2011, he received wide praise when his club came close to the historic feat of qualifying for the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League, losing the last playoff game to the Dutch side AZ Alkmaar, having won the first leg 2–1. The same year, he again led Aalesund to win the Norwegian Cup Final, thereby securing a UEFA Europa League qualification spot for the third consecutive year. His contract with Aalesund was terminated on 26 November 2012. After he won his second Norwegian Cup with Aalesund in three years, he was once again said to take over as national team coach after Drillo.
On 26 November 2012, the board of directors of Aalesund announced the termination of Rekdal's contract. The board stressed that it was not due to the season results but rather as a result of a general review. Analysts noted that the sacking was likely a result of a power struggle within the club between Rekdal, the sports director, and the chairman of the board.
Return to Vålerenga Rekdal started his second tenure for Vålerenga when he was appointed as head coach on 8 January 2013.
On 13 July 2016, it was announced he would end his tenure as head coach of Valerenga after the 2016 season and will move into the position as sporting director to make way for Ronny Deila, who will take over as head coach.
Start Rekdal was appointed as head coach on 1 June 2018 after former head coach Mark Dempsey was sacked on 18 May 2018. Rekdal signed a two-year contract with Start.
Rekdal took over the team after 12 games of the season had been played; during his spell, only six teams gathered more points, yet the team was relegated [at the end of that season].
That job ended; In an interview in 2020, he said that frequent visits to [places for betting/gambling or] one or more casinos, was not well-received by [his previous employer] Start.https://www.vg.no/sport/fotball/i/weR66M/kjetil-rekdals-store-oppgjoer-med-seg-selv-jeg-ble-gjort-spedalsk "Hyppige casinobesøk skal ha vært noe av det som ble reagert på av sørlandsklubben.
"
Personal life Born 6 November 1968 in Rekdal in Vestnes Municipality into a family of six, including three younger siblings, his younger brother Sindre also played professionally with Molde FK, helping them win the domestic cup in 1994. Among his interests and hobbies is freshwater fishing and card-games such as Poker, having competed in amateur tournaments internationally.
Rekdal moved to Ottestad neighborhood in Hamar in 2013, with his wife and four children.
During his time at Lierse, Rekdal had a clause in his contract that allowed him to keep up-to-date with Leeds United results at half-time intervals via BBC Radio. He is a fanatic supporter of the Yorkshire club.
Rekdal is highly superstitious. To avoid bad luck, he never appears on matchday without his locally produced trademark Pear-flavoured soft drink.
While coaching Aalesunds FK, he appeared in the home matches of tier-five club Fiksdal/Rekdal as a player, stating that he wished to contribute to the club with which he started his career.
Career statistics Scores and results list Norway's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Rekdal goal.
+ List of international goals scored by Kjetil RekdalNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 9 September 1992 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway 1–0 10–0 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification2 10–03 23 September 1992 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway 1–0 2–1 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification4 14 October 1992 Wembley Stadium, London, England 1–1 1–1 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification5 28 April 1993 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway 1–0 3–1 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification6 19 June 1994 RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C., United States 1–0 1–0 1994 FIFA World Cup7 12 October 1994 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway 1–1 1–1 UEFA Euro 1996 qualification8 16 November 1994 Dinamo Stadium, Minsk, Belarus 4–0 4–0 UEFA Euro 1996 qualification9 26 April 1995 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway 5–0 5–0 UEFA Euro 1996 qualification10 25 May 1995 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway 1–0 3–2 Friendly11 9 October 1996 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway 1–0 3–0 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification12 2–013 3–014 27 May 1998 Molde Stadion, Molde, Norway 1–0 6–0 Friendly15 23 June 1998 Stade Vélodrome, Marseille, France 2–1 2–1 1998 FIFA World Cup16 10 October 1998 Bežigrad Stadium, Ljubljana, Slovenia 2–1 2–1 UEFA Euro 2000 qualification17 14 October 1998 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway 2–2 2–2 UEFA Euro 2000 qualification
Managerial statistics (all official matches)
TeamNatFromToRecordVålerenga1 January 200120 August 2006Lierse22 November 200625 June 20071. FC Kaiserslautern1 July 20079 February 2008Aalesund5 September 200826 November 2012Vålerenga8 January 201331 December 2016Start1 June 201828 March 2019HamKam15 August 202031 December 2021Rosenborg1 January 202216 June 2023AC Omonia10 January 202421 February 2024Aalesund1 July 2024presentTotal—
Honours As player Molde Norwegian Football Cup: 1994
Vålerenga Norwegian Football Cup: 2002 Norwegian First Division: 2001
As Coach Vålerenga Eliteserien: 2005 Norwegian Football Cup: 2002 Norwegian First Division: 2001
Aalesund Norwegian Football Cup: 2009, 2011
HamKam Norwegian First Division: 2021
Individual Norwegian First Division Coach of the Month: June 2021, August 2021, October 2024 Norwegian First Division Coach of the Year: 2021
References
External links
Official Profile and Statistics at fotball.no