Geir Bakke

Geir Bakke
Personal information
Full name Geir Bakke
Date of birth (1969-10-23) 23 October 1969 (age 55)
Place of birth Hamar, Norway
Team information
Current team
Vålerenga (head coach)
Youth career
0000–1987 Rælingen
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1992 Strømmen
1993–1994 Kongsvinger 27 (1)
1995–1997 Stabæk 39 (3)
International career
Norway U19
Managerial career
1998–1999 Skjetten
1999–2005 Vålerenga (assistant)
2006–2008 Moss
2009–2011 Stabæk (assistant)
2012–2013 Kristiansund
2014 Molde (assistant)
2015–2019 Sarpsborg 08
2020–2023 Lillestrøm
2023– Vålerenga
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Geir Bakke (born 23 October 1969) is a Norwegian football coach and former player. He is currently the manager of Obosligaen club Vålerenga.

Geir Bakke was born at Hamar, where he spent his infant years, before his family relocated to Rælingen when he was six.

Playing career

[edit]

Geir Bakke started his playing career at local club Rælingen before switching to nearby Strømmen in 1987 at 18 years of age. Having made two appearances in the top division with Strømmen in 1988, the following seasons at the club was spent outside the top flight. Ahead of the 1993-season, he transferred to Kongsvinger with whom he spent two seasons playing mostly at right-back in Eliteserien. Ambitious, newly promoted Stabæk signed him ahead of the 1995-season. He would spend three seasons at Stabæk. He was a regular at right-back during his first season at Stabæk, and played fifteen games in his second season. A troublesome knee prevented him from playing any games in his third and final season at the club.

Managerial career

[edit]

Upon retiring as a player, he then pursued a managerial career, having been educated at Norges idrettshøyskole and worked several years coaching young players at Wang Toppidrett. He was hired to coach Skjetten in 1998 and 1999.

Vålerenga

[edit]

Bakke was assistant coach in Vålerenga from 1999 to 2005. He was assistant under Tom Nordlie in his first two seasons at the club. From 2001 to 2005 he was assistant under Kjetil Rekdal. Vålerenga won Tippeligaen, the Norwegian top flight, in 2005. Bakke quit his position in Vålerenga after the 2005 season to become head coach in Moss FK.[1]

Moss

[edit]

As announced on 30 October 2005, he took over second tier club Moss effecting from the start of the 2006 season.[1] This was Bakke's first job as a head coach for a professional football team. Moss finished fifth in the 2007 1. divisjon. Bakke resigned on 28 August 2008.[2]

Stabæk

[edit]

Geir Bakke was presented as assistant coach in Stabæk on 29 August 2008, the day after his resignation in Moss. He replaced Petter Belsvik and signed a three-year contract with the club.[2] On 10 November 2011 it was announced that Bakke was leaving Stabæk to become head coach in Kristiansund BK.[3]

Kristiansund

[edit]

Bakke was head coach at Kristiansund for two seasons, from 2012 to 2013. Kristiansund won 2. divisjon Group 2 in Bakke's first season and were promoted to the 2013 1. divisjon. The 2013 season was the first season in club history that Kristiansund played at the second highest level in Norwegian football.

Molde

[edit]

On 17 January 2014, Bakke was presented as the new assistant coach at Molde FK.[4] His partnership with head coach Tor Ole Skullerud turned out successfully, and Molde won the league title with 71 points (as of 2018 a league record). On 23 October 2014, it was announced that Geir Bakke was leaving Molde after the 2014 season to become head coach in Sarpsborg 08.[5]

Sarpsborg 08

[edit]

On 23 October 2014, Bakke was announced as head coach of Sarpborg 08. He signed a four-year deal with the club,[6] effective 1 January 2015. He led the team to their first ever Norwegian Cup final in 2015, which they lost to Rosenborg with the score 0–2. In the 2017 season, Sarpsborg 08 finished third in Eliteserien. The third-place finish secured their first league medal in club history and qualified the club for European football for the first time. On 10 May 2017, Bakke signed a new five-year deal, which would have made him Sarpsborg 08's head coach until the end of the 2022 season.[7] Instead Bakke left for then 1. division side Lillestrøm in 2019.[8]

Lillestrøm

[edit]

On 31 of December 2019, Geir Bakke was announced as the new head coach of Lillestrøm SK, [9] which found themselves in the 1. division of Norwegian football. The following season, 2020, Bakke led the team to promotion back to the Eliteserien. [10]

Managerial statistics

[edit]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
P W D L Win %
Moss 2006 28 August 2008 89 38 26 25 042.7
Kristiansund 1 January 2012 31 December 2013 60 35 10 15 058.3
Sarpsborg 08 1 January 2015 31 December 2019 156 67 43 46 042.9
Lillestrøm 31 December 2019 12 July 2023 102 55 21 26 053.9
Vålerenga 12 July 2023 Present 21 5 6 10 023.8
Total 428 200 106 122 046.7

Honours

[edit]

As a head coach

[edit]

Kristiansund

Sarpsborg 08

Lillestrøm SK

Awards

[edit]
  • Norwegian Football Coaches Association: Coach of the year in 2017[11]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "VIF-trener til Moss". Bergens Tidende. 30 October 2005. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Geir Bakke til Stabæk". Aftenposten. 29 August 2008. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  3. ^ "Geir Bakke forlater Stabæk". Budstikka. 10 November 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  4. ^ "Geir Bakke blir Molde-trener". Dagbladet. 17 January 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  5. ^ "Skullerud taus om ny Molde-assistent". Aftenposten. 23 October 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  6. ^ "Bakke blir ny Sarpsborg-trener". ABC Nyheter. 23 October 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  7. ^ "Sarpsborg-sjefen skrev under på langtidskontrakt". Aftenposten. 10 May 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  8. ^ "Geir Bakke ferdig i Sarpsborg - klar for ny norsk klubb". Sports Bibelen. 31 December 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
  9. ^ "GEIR BAKKE ANSATT SOM NY LSK-TRENER". Lillestrøm Sportsklubb. 31 December 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
  10. ^ "Lillestrøm rykket opp". TV2. 7 December 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
  11. ^ "BAKKE KÅRET TIL "ÅRETS TRENER" – INGEBRIGTSEN VRAKET". Verdens Gang. 1 December 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
[edit]