Erik Huseklepp

Erik André Huseklepp (born 5 September 1984) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays for Fyllingsdalen.[2] A forward, he previously played for Fyllingen and Brann in Norway, for Bari in Italy, and for Portsmouth and Birmingham City in England.

Erik Huseklepp
Erik Huseklepp (2010)
Personal information
Full name Erik André Huseklepp[1]
Date of birth (1984-09-05) 5 September 1984
Place of birth Bergen, Norway
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Secondary striker, left winger
Club information
Current team
 Fyllingsdalen
Number 10
Youth career
0000– Bjarg
0000–2000 Fyllingen
2000–2004 Vadmyra
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2005 Fyllingen 42 (9)
2005–2010 Brann 120 (29)
2011 Bari 14 (2)
2011–2012 Portsmouth 27 (6)
2012 → Birmingham City (loan) 11 (2)
2012–2016 Brann 128 (26)
2017 Haugesund 15 (1)
2017 → Åsane (loan) 12 (6)
2018–2019 Åsane 20 (6)
2019– Fyllingsdalen 19 (10)
National team
2005–2006 Norway U21 8 (1)
2008–2014 Norway 36 (7)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 September 2019

Club career

Early career

At the age of 16 he played youth football for Fyllingen. After two seasons in Vadmyra IL, where he played both junior and senior football, he returned to Fyllingen, this time in the senior team.[3]

Brann

Huseklepp played in the Norwegian Second Division in 2004 and the first half of 2005, but left on 10 August to sign for Brann, because he was not given a place in the junior squad. He scored nineteen seconds into his first league match as a starter, and subsequently became a first team regular.

In 2006, Huseklepp had a hard time making the first team, starting just six games in the Norwegian Premier League and being substituted in all of them. The 2007 season was much the same, with Brann coach Mons Ivar Mjelde preferring to use Huseklepp as an impact player, taking on tiring defenders in the closing stages of the game. Huseklepp signalled that he would not sign a new contract with Brann, and as he has made himself a name as a flamboyant and technically gifted winger, a number of clubs were interested in signing the player.[4] However, in November 2007, Huseklepp signed a new three-year contract with Brann. The team became league champions that year.

Bari

In January 2011 he completed a move to Serie A club Bari for €1.75 million. He played 14 games and scored two goals for the club, but they were relegated to Serie B and due to financial difficulties were forced to put Huseklepp up for sale.

Portsmouth

On 16 August 2011, Huseklepp signed a three-year contract with English Championship (second-tier) club Portsmouth;[5] the fee was reported as £1.5 million.[6] He made his debut in a 0–0 draw with Bristol City, replacing Liam Lawrence in the 87th minute. He scored his first goal against Blackpool on 24 September with a stoppage-time winner. Three days later he scored a last-minute own goal that made Portsmouth lose 3–2 at home to Peterborough United. He then scored two goals against Nottingham Forest in a 3–0 win on 5 November.[7] On 28 January 2012, Huseklepp scored two goals in a 3–0 victory against Peterborough United.[8]

Birmingham City

With Portsmouth in administration, the club informed Huseklepp that they needed him to accept a loan move to Championship rivals Birmingham City in order to help relieve their financial difficulties. Although reluctant to leave Portsmouth, where he had established a good relationship with the fans,[9] he complied with the request, and joined Birmingham on 23 February 2012 on loan until the end of the season.[10] He made his debut for the club a couple of days later in a 2–1 defeat at home to Nottingham Forest.[11]

Return to Brann

After the Birmingham loan expired, Huseklepp could not gain a deal with Blues, and returned to Portsmouth, with his club suffering relegation. As the club was in administration, he was linked with various clubs, most of them from his homeland. Brann was the most hopeful ahead the deal, and was appealing for sponsorship to sign the player.[12] After the departure of Rodolph Austin to Leeds United, the Norwegian club provided funds, and on 28 July 2012, it was announced that Brann had reached a verbal agreement with Huseklepp.[13][14] Huseklepp changed shirt-number ahead of the 2013 season to number 23, which was used by Tomasz Sokolowski the previous season. The change was part of a sponsor-agreement with Auto 23 who paid parts of the transfer-fee when Huseklepp returned to Brann.[15]

Haugesund and loan to Åsane

For the 2017 season Huseklepp signed with Haugesund.

In July 2017 he joined Norwegian second-tier side Åsane on loan for the rest of the season.[16] During the loan, he scored 6 goals in 12 matches.[17]

Åsane

In November 2017, it was announced that Huseklepp had terminated his contract with Haugesund and signed permanently with Åsane.[17]

Back to Fyllingen

Huseklepp went back to Fyllingen on 7 January 2019.[18]

International career

On 12 August 2009, he scored his first international goal in the 60th minute of the 4–0 victory over Scotland, after strike partner John Carew had hit both posts. He was awarded Man of the Match by the viewers in his international debut which he played from the start.[19] Huseklepp was the first player hailing from Bergen since 1963 to score for the national team.[3] He scored the winning goal against Portugal during the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying in a 1–0 win.[20]

After he played his 25th match at international level against Cyprus in October 2011, Huseklepp also became the first player from Bergen to receive the Gold Watch since Helge Karlsen in 1977.[21] As of February 2013, he has been capped 33 times for Norway, scoring seven goals.[20]

Career statistics

Club
As of 15 September 2019[22][23][24]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Fyllingen 2004 2. Divisjon 25800—258
2005 17100—171
Total 42900—429
Brann 2005 Tippeligaen 910020111
2006 1104130181
2007 22141101363
2008 1824080302
2009 301520—3215
2010 301010—3110
Total 1202915223115832
Bari 2010–11 Serie A 14200—142
Portsmouth 2011–12 Championship 27610—286
Birmingham City 2011–12 Championship 1120000112
Brann 2012 Tippeligaen 1242100145
2013 3071100318
2014 3035300356
2015 OBOS-ligaen 30842003410
2016 Tippeligaen 2640000264
Total 128261270014033
Haugesund 2017 Eliteserien 1513241224
Åsane (loan) 2017 OBOS-ligaen 1260000126
Åsane 2018 OBOS-ligaen 2061100217
Fyllingsdalen 2019 Norsk Tipping-ligaen 191022002112
Career total 408973414272469113

International goals
Scores and results list Norway's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Huseklepp goal.
List of international goals scored by Erik Huseklepp[20]
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.12 August 2009Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo Scotland3–04–0World Cup 2010 qualifying
2.11 August 2010Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo France1–12–1Friendly
3.2–1
4.7 September 2010Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo Portugal1–01–0UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
5.17 November 2010Aviva Stadium, Dublin Republic of Ireland2–12–1Friendly
6.26 March 2011Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo Denmark1–11–1UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying
7.12 November 2011Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff Wales1–21–4Friendly

Honours

Brann

References
  1. "Erik Andre Huseklepp" (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  2. "Erik Huseklepp klar for ny klubb" (in Norwegian). 7 January 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  3. "Gratulerer, Erik!" (in Norwegian). Fyllingen Fotball. 13 August 2009. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
  4. "City confirm winger interest". Sky Sports. 1 November 2007. Archived from the original on 6 April 2008. Retrieved 6 September 2008.
  5. "Huseklepp signs". Portsmouth F.C. 17 August 2011. Archived from the original on 6 April 2012.
  6. "Bari to sell Huseklepp". Eurosport. 17 August 2011. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  7. "Portsmouth 3–0 Nott'm Forest". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
  8. "Peterborough 0–3 Portsmouth". BBC Sport. 28 January 2012.
  9. Cross, Jordan (25 February 2012). "Viking shocked by Fratton exit". The News. Portsmouth. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  10. "Birmingham City sign Portsmouth's Erik Huseklepp on loan". BBC Sport. 23 February 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  11. "Birmingham 1–2 Nott'm Forest". BBC Sport. 25 February 2012.
  12. "TRANSFER: Brann seek sponsorship to bring back Huseklepp". Fans' Network. 17 July 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  13. "Muntlig enighet om Huseklepp" (in Norwegian). Bergens Tidende. 27 July 2012. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  14. "Huseklepp Signs for Brann". 28 July 2012. Archived from the original on 22 November 2016.
  15. Pamer, Anders (16 January 2013). "Huseklepps femte nummer" (in Norwegian). Bergens Tidende. Archived from the original on 30 January 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  16. Opheim, Steffen (29 July 2017). "Huseklepp er klar for Åsane". Bergensavisen (in Norwegian). Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  17. Nordsetrønningen, Alf-Ivar Rabben (November 2017). "Erik Huseklepp blir værende i Åsane". TV 2 (in Norwegian). Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  18. Huseklepp vender tilbake til Fyllingsdalen, bt.no, 7 January 2019
  19. "Huseklepp første bergenser siden Kniksen" (in Norwegian). TV2.no. 13 August 2009.
  20. Søfting, Thomas. "Erik Huseklepp". Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  21. Wedervang, Mats (11 October 2011). "– Kødder du eller? Hva er det med bergensere da?" (in Norwegian). TV2. Retrieved 12 April 2013.
  22. "Erik Huseklepp". AltomFotball.no (in Norwegian). 13 July 2012.
  23. "Erik Huseklepp stats". Football Database.eu. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  24. "NIFS - Norsk & Internasjonal Fotballstatistikk". nifs.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 6 January 2018.
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