Tom Nordlie

Nordlie was not a footballer himself, but he did play for the national water polo team. He has his education from the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences.

Nordlie is a household name in Norway, having managed several top-flight teams. He is known for introducing the concept kontrollert sinnsyk, i.e. "controlledly insane". In 1998, he led Odd Grenland to promotion to the Norwegian top division, and to a respectable seventh place the next season. In 2000, he took over big club Vålerenga, but was fired after a season that led to Vålerenga's relegation from the Norwegian top division. After working as a football expert in TV 2 for a while, Nordlie was hired as coach of Sandefjord. He led the club to the promotion play-offs in both 2002 and 2003, but lost both times. In 2004, he took over the struggling Start, and in his first season in charge, Start won the 1. divisjon and were promoted. In their return to the top flight, Start had a great spring season, and won the silver medals, only one point behind winners Vålerenga. For this feat, Nordlie won the Kniksen award as (Head) Coach of the Year. However, in 2006 Start had a poor opening to the season, and on 14 July 2006, Nordlie was fired. After working in TV 2 for a short period, Nordlie signed as the new manager of Viking on 14 September for the rest of the 2006 season, saving Viking from being relegated to the 1. divisjon, when Viking beat Brann 5–0 in the last match of the 2006-season. After Lillestrøm fired Uwe Rösler, Nordlie was hired on 16 November. In his first season (2007) at Lillestrøm Nordlie achieved a fourth place in the league, and won the Norwegian Cup, LSK's first…

Lillestrøm Norwegian Cup: 2007