Eirik Bakke
Encyclopedia
Eirik Bakke is a Norwegian football
player. He plays on the right-hand side or centre of midfield. He currently plays for Sogndal
.
. His father Svein formerly played for the team.
Bakke's career has been blighted by recurrent knee injuries. Patella tendinitis kept him out of the team for the start of the 2004-05 season and he was struck with a torn cruciate ligament
on his return in January 2005. In August 2005, having recovered from his injury, Bakke was loaned to Aston Villa. The loan however was ended early after Leeds told Villa that they would only let Bakke go permanently, not on loan and Doug Ellis
, Villa's chairman at the time, decided that it was not worth permanently acquiring his services.
Speculation continued as to Bakke's future when he was left out of the Leeds United squad for the match against Sheffield Wednesday
on 27 August 2006 with some in the press and supporters speculating that this was due to an imminent transfer. A club statement was released on 29 August 2006 by Leeds United effectively stating that Bakke had played his last game in Leeds United colours. Bakke however stated he would like to stay at the club, and still trained with the club, despite not playing, not wanting to return to playing in Norway at that point in time. The problem arose due to his £23,000 a week wages and £4,000 appearance fees, which were originally agreed during Ridsdale
's "Living The Dream" era, but which the club could no longer afford to pay in the league they were currently playing in. Leeds United tried to resolve the issue by attempting to meet Bakke half way so that the player could stay at the club on lesser wages but Bakke's agent stated he wanted the contractually agreed wage. The situation did not look good for Bakke, with Leeds chairman Ken Bates
having already terminated Seth Johnson
's contract due to excessive wages as part of a determined effort to make Leeds a successful and profitable club once more. Bakke left, being the third last 'O'Leary
player' left at Leeds.
. The deal was financed by Hardball
. Certain media outlets have claimed that Bakke and Brann have a "gentlemen's agreement
", that Bakke can leave Brann if a big club wants to sign him, though this has been denied by Brann. Bakke has stated that he still has ambitions to prove himself in Europe
before bringing his career to a close in Norway.
Bakke debuted for Brann on 11 September 2006 against Stabæk, in a match best remembered for a two-feet tackle by Joakim Persson
of Stabæk on Bakke that could easily have ended Bakke's career.
Bakke started the 2007 season playing for Brann 2 in a bid to regain full fitness from his injury problems. He has experienced a bit of a stop-start season, making his first full Tippeliga start on 26 June 2007. Eirik Bakke has been mostly noticed for his no-nonsense approach and English inspired tackling in midfield, but also managed to score the winning goal against arch-rivals Rosenborg BK on 11 August 2007.
Bakke has promised Brann that when he is close to retirement he would finish his career in Norway with the club, playing a further 1-2 seasons. In front of the 2008 season, Bakke became captain of Brann. On 30 May 2008, Bakke extended his Brann deal out 2010. However his new deal had a clause giving Bakke the chance to re-evaluate his deal, if the club decided to lay artificial turf at Brann Stadion. A few weeks later, Brann announced that the club will continue with natural grass as the turf at Brann Stadion also in the coming years.
in a January 1999 friendly match against Israel
, coming on as a substitute for Egil Østenstad
and earned 26 caps since, scoring no goals. His last international match was an March 2008 friendly match against Montenegro
, coming on as a substitute for Martin Andresen
.
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
player. He plays on the right-hand side or centre of midfield. He currently plays for Sogndal
Sogndal Fotball
Sogndal Fotball is the association football section of Norwegian sports club Sogndal IL from Sogndal in Sogn og Fjordane. The club was founded in 1926....
.
Sogndal (1993-1999)
Bakke played 99 matches for SogndalSogndal Fotball
Sogndal Fotball is the association football section of Norwegian sports club Sogndal IL from Sogndal in Sogn og Fjordane. The club was founded in 1926....
. His father Svein formerly played for the team.
Leeds United (1999-2006)
Bakke was bought by Leeds United in 1999 from Sogndal, then a second-tier side, for £1.75 million. After an encouraging start to his career at Leeds in 1999 and 2000, injuries and poor form meant that he never quite became a mainstay of the Leeds squad, even after the club was relegated from the Premiership in 2004.Bakke's career has been blighted by recurrent knee injuries. Patella tendinitis kept him out of the team for the start of the 2004-05 season and he was struck with a torn cruciate ligament
Cruciate ligament
Cruciate ligaments are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee...
on his return in January 2005. In August 2005, having recovered from his injury, Bakke was loaned to Aston Villa. The loan however was ended early after Leeds told Villa that they would only let Bakke go permanently, not on loan and Doug Ellis
Doug Ellis
Herbert Douglas Ellis, OBE , is an entrepreneur, best known as the former chairman of Aston Villa Football Club.-Early life:...
, Villa's chairman at the time, decided that it was not worth permanently acquiring his services.
Speculation continued as to Bakke's future when he was left out of the Leeds United squad for the match against Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...
on 27 August 2006 with some in the press and supporters speculating that this was due to an imminent transfer. A club statement was released on 29 August 2006 by Leeds United effectively stating that Bakke had played his last game in Leeds United colours. Bakke however stated he would like to stay at the club, and still trained with the club, despite not playing, not wanting to return to playing in Norway at that point in time. The problem arose due to his £23,000 a week wages and £4,000 appearance fees, which were originally agreed during Ridsdale
Peter Ridsdale
Peter Ridsdale is an English businessman who is currently the Chairman of Football Operations at League Two club Plymouth Argyle. Ridsdale was previously the chairman of Leeds United, Barnsley and Cardiff City.-History:...
's "Living The Dream" era, but which the club could no longer afford to pay in the league they were currently playing in. Leeds United tried to resolve the issue by attempting to meet Bakke half way so that the player could stay at the club on lesser wages but Bakke's agent stated he wanted the contractually agreed wage. The situation did not look good for Bakke, with Leeds chairman Ken Bates
Ken Bates
Kenneth William Bates is a British businessman and football executive. The current chairman and now owner of Leeds United AFC, Bates was previously chairman and majority shareholder of Chelsea FC from 1982 until 2003....
having already terminated Seth Johnson
Seth Johnson
Seth Art Maurice Johnson is a former England international footballer, who is currently without a club after his second spell as a player with Derby County ended in 2007.-Playing career:...
's contract due to excessive wages as part of a determined effort to make Leeds a successful and profitable club once more. Bakke left, being the third last 'O'Leary
David O'Leary
David Anthony O'Leary is an Irish football manager and former player. His managerial career began at Leeds United and later he managed Aston Villa. He most recently worked as the manager of Al-Ahli Dubai...
player' left at Leeds.
Return to Norway: SK Brann (2006-2010)
On 31 August 2006, Bakke signed a two-year deal with SK Brann, and returned home to NorwayNorway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. The deal was financed by Hardball
Hardball (company)
Hardball is a Norwegian investment company founded in 2004 to finance player transfers for the association football team SK Brann from Bergen, Norway...
. Certain media outlets have claimed that Bakke and Brann have a "gentlemen's agreement
Gentlemen's agreement
A gentlemen's agreement is an informal agreement between two or more parties. It may be written, oral, or simply understood as part of an unspoken agreement by convention or through mutually beneficial etiquette. The essence of a gentlemen's agreement is that it relies upon the honor of the parties...
", that Bakke can leave Brann if a big club wants to sign him, though this has been denied by Brann. Bakke has stated that he still has ambitions to prove himself in Europe
European football
European football is a colloquial term referring to any international football club competition that is organised by UEFA. Any club that wishes to participate in European football must qualify through their respective domestic league or domestic cup competitions...
before bringing his career to a close in Norway.
Bakke debuted for Brann on 11 September 2006 against Stabæk, in a match best remembered for a two-feet tackle by Joakim Persson
Joakim Persson
Joakim Persson, , is a former Swedish footballer, who last played for Landskrona.-Club career:Persson began his career as a youth-team player with Högaborgs before moving to Malmö FF in 1992. He made his professional debut in a Swedish Cup game against Landskrona in 1994.Persson moved to the...
of Stabæk on Bakke that could easily have ended Bakke's career.
Bakke started the 2007 season playing for Brann 2 in a bid to regain full fitness from his injury problems. He has experienced a bit of a stop-start season, making his first full Tippeliga start on 26 June 2007. Eirik Bakke has been mostly noticed for his no-nonsense approach and English inspired tackling in midfield, but also managed to score the winning goal against arch-rivals Rosenborg BK on 11 August 2007.
Bakke has promised Brann that when he is close to retirement he would finish his career in Norway with the club, playing a further 1-2 seasons. In front of the 2008 season, Bakke became captain of Brann. On 30 May 2008, Bakke extended his Brann deal out 2010. However his new deal had a clause giving Bakke the chance to re-evaluate his deal, if the club decided to lay artificial turf at Brann Stadion. A few weeks later, Brann announced that the club will continue with natural grass as the turf at Brann Stadion also in the coming years.
Career statistics
| Season | Club | Division | League | Cup | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| 2006 2006 in Norwegian football The 2006 season is the 101. season of competitive football in Norway.*Tippeligaen 2006 *Adeccoligaen 2006 *Norwegian Football Cup 2006*Toppserien 2006 -Men's national team:... |
Brann | Tippeligaen Tippeligaen Tippeligaen is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. The league is also unofficially known under its neutral name Eliteserien , although the name has never been official... |
7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 2007 2007 in Norwegian football The 2007 season is the 102. season of competitive football in Norway.* Tippeligaen 2007 * Adeccoligaen 2007 * Norwegian Football Cup 2007* Toppserien 2007 -Men's national team:... |
Tippeligaen Tippeligaen Tippeligaen is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. The league is also unofficially known under its neutral name Eliteserien , although the name has never been official... |
10 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 13 | 1 | |
| 2008 2008 in Norwegian football The 2008-season is the 103. season of competitive football in Norway.*Tippeligaen 2008 *Adeccoligaen 2008 *Norwegian Football Cup 2008*Toppserien 2008 -Men's national team:... |
Tippeligaen Tippeligaen Tippeligaen is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. The league is also unofficially known under its neutral name Eliteserien , although the name has never been official... |
21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 0 | |
| 2009 2009 in Norwegian football The 2009-season is the 104. season of competitive football in Norway.*2009 Tippeligaen *2009 Adeccoligaen *2009 Norwegian Football Cup*2009 Toppserien -Men's national team:... |
Tippeligaen Tippeligaen Tippeligaen is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. The league is also unofficially known under its neutral name Eliteserien , although the name has never been official... |
18 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 21 | 3 | |
| 2010 2010 in Norwegian football The 2010-season is the 105. season of competitive football in Norway.*2010 Tippeligaen *2010 Adeccoligaen *2010 Norwegian Football Cup*2010 Toppserien -Men's national team:... |
Tippeligaen Tippeligaen Tippeligaen is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. The league is also unofficially known under its neutral name Eliteserien , although the name has never been official... |
26 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 5 | |
| 2011 2011 in Norwegian football The 2011-season is the 106. season of competitive football in Norway.The season began on 18 March 2011 for Tippeligaen, 03 April 2011 for Adeccoligaen, with Fair Play ligaen and 3. Divisjon both starting six days later on 09 April 2011. 2. Divisjon, and 3... |
Sogndal Sogndal Fotball Sogndal Fotball is the association football section of Norwegian sports club Sogndal IL from Sogndal in Sogn og Fjordane. The club was founded in 1926.... |
Tippeligaen Tippeligaen Tippeligaen is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. The league is also unofficially known under its neutral name Eliteserien , although the name has never been official... |
17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 1 |
| Career Total | 99 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 106 | 10 | ||
International career
He made his debut for NorwayNorway national football team
The Norway national football team represents Norway in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of Norway, the governing body for football in Norway. Norway's home ground is Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo and their head coach is Egil Olsen...
in a January 1999 friendly match against Israel
Israel national football team
The Israel national football team is the national football team of Israel, controlled by the Israel Football Association .Israel National Football is the direct successor of the Eretz Yisrael National Team during British Mandate...
, coming on as a substitute for Egil Østenstad
Egil Østenstad
Egil Johan Østenstad , nicknamed "Østen", is a Norwegian director of football at Viking, where he is also a former player. His playing career also included spells at Southampton and Blackburn, among others.-Norway:...
and earned 26 caps since, scoring no goals. His last international match was an March 2008 friendly match against Montenegro
Montenegro national football team
The Montenegro national football team represents Montenegro in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of Montenegro, the governing body for football in Montenegro...
, coming on as a substitute for Martin Andresen
Martin Andresen
Martin Andresen is a Norwegian football manager.-Club career:Martin Andresen was a regular on many Norwegian national youth teams while playing for Moss, Viking and Stabæk Fotball from 1995-1999. After the 1999 season, Andresen was sold to Premier League club Wimbledon in a deal worth £1,8 million...
.