Stig Inge Bjørnebye

Stig Inge Bjørnebye was born in Elverum Municipality, the son of skier Jo Inge Bjørnebye, who competed in the 1968 and 1972 Winter Olympics. As a child, Bjørnebye exhibited an interest in emulating his father by becoming a ski jumper. His footballing career began as a youth player with home club Elverum, before joining Strømmen in the late 1980s. He moved to Kongsvinger in 1989, establishing himself as a first-team regular in the Norwegian top division. After three seasons with Kongsvinger, he transferred to Rosenborg in 1992, where he in his inaugural season won the Norwegian top division and the Norwegian Cup, in the final of which he scored the deciding goal against Lillestrøm. His performances merited inclusion in the national team and attracted the attention of Liverpool's manager Graeme Souness, who bought Bjørnebye for £600,000 less than one year after moving to Rosenborg. Signed as a replacement for David Burrows, Bjørnebye debuted inauspiciously on 19 December 1992 in a 5–1 defeat to Coventry City. Initial difficulties adapting to the Premier League caused many fans to question his displays on the pitch and he returned to Norway on loan to Rosenborg in 1994. Bjørnebye's experiences as a Reds' player in the 1994–95 season, under the management of Roy Evans, were markedly more successful than that of previous campaigns. He gained a regular place in the senior team, supplanting the left back position from Julian Dicks, and featured in the 2–1 win against Bolton…

Bjørnebye was capped 75 times by Norway, scoring once – an olympic goal in a 1–0 friendly against the United States on 8 September 1993. Having represented his country at youth, under-21, and "B" level, Bjørnebye debuted for the senior team on 31 May 1989 against Austria. The majority of his caps were collected during Egil Olsen's eight-year tenure as manager of Norway. Under Olsen's guidance, Norway employed a "long ball" policy that was contingent on the height of Olsen's squad. The tactic of directing long passes to the tall winger Jostein Flo, principally delivered by Bjørnebye, became popularly referred to in Norway as the "Flo Pass" (Flo-pasningen). Although criticised for employing the long-ball approach and maintaining a defensively-orientated mentality, Olsen secured qualification for the World Cups of 1994 and 1998. Bjørnebye participated in both tournaments – seven matches in total. He decided to retire from international football after the 1998 World Cup, intending to focus on his domestic career and family. Bjørnebye unexpectedly reversed his decision after Nils Johan Semb persuaded him to return to the squad for Euro 2000. Unused in Norway's 1–0 win against Spain on 13 June 2000, Bjørnebye was first introduced to the competition in the second match of the group stage, in a 0–1 loss on 18 June 2000 against Yugoslavia, as a 35-minute substitute for his Liverpool colleague Vegard Heggem. He retained his place, featuring in the goalless draw against Slovenia on 21…

Bjørnebye returned to football in a non-playing capacity when he was selected by the Norwegian Football Association to replace Harald Aabrekk as Norway's assistant manager, subordinate to the newly appointed Åge Hareide. Prior to the announcement, the media in England had reported that Bjørnebye was considering maintaining a relationship with Blackburn by becoming a scout for the club. He vacated his position in 2006 to succeed Tom Nordlie as manager of Start. Success was forthcoming in his first season; the club competed in Europe and Bjørnebye was the highest earning coach of the season, ahead of his predecessor Nordlie, with an income of almost seven million krone. His appointment lasted two seasons, ending with dismissal in September 2007, after a series of poor results that placed the club in serious danger of being relegated from the Tippeligaen. He was replaced by Benny Lennartsson, who was unable to preserve the club's premier league status; Start were relegated to Norway's second tier. On 15 March 2015, Stig Inge Bjørnebye succeeded Erik Hoftun as the sports director of Eliteserien club Rosenborg. He since has won the double with Rosenborg two seasons (2015 and 2016). Rosenborg is the first club in the history of Norwegian football to do so two consecutive seasons. As the sports director of Rosenborg Ballklub he has many responsibilities, among many others signing on new players and renewing contracts with existing players. The most notable signing came on 6 March…

Bjørnebye is married to the former Byåsen handball player Hege Frøseth, with whom he has three children.