Bengt Sæternes (born 1 January 1975) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a forward from 1991 until 2011.

He began his playing career at local clubs Egersund and Eiger, whilst he had spells at Viking, Odd Grenland, Bodø/Glimt, Club Brugge, Brann, OB, and Vålerenga. Sæternes was capped seven times for Norway.

Club career

Sæternes had short stints in both Viking and Odd Grenland until his career boosted in Bodø/Glimt. He was the club's top scorer in a number of seasons before he was sold to the Belgian First Division club Club Brugge. His stay in Belgium was ruined by multiple injuries, and he decided to return to Norway in the summer of 2004. Despite the general public believed that he would transfer to the champions Rosenborg, Bengt chose Brann instead. He made an instant impact in Bergen by demonstrating great goal scoring abilities clearly proven in the 2004 cup final, when he scored three goals. After a great 2004 season, the 2005 and the beginning of the 2006 season was a disappointment, mainly due to a long lasting injury. Sæternes never managed to copy the success from his first season in Brann. He went on to play both in OB, Vålerenga before returning to Viking.

Ahead of the 2012 season, Viking terminated Sæternes' contract, after only one season at the club.

International career

Sæternes played three matches for Norway U-21 in 1996 and 1997, and was later capped seven times for Norway between 2002 and 2007.

Coaching career

Before the 2012–13 Tercera División, Sæternes joined UD Vecindario as assistant coach on a one-year contract. He rejected offers from Norway in order to "learn everything I can of Spanish football."

Career statistics

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

|-

!rowspan="2"|Club

!rowspan="2"|Season

!colspan="3"|League

!colspan="2"|Cup

!colspan="2"|Total

|-

!Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals

|-

|Viking

|1996

|Tippeligaen

|6||0|| || ||6||0

|-

|Odd Grenland

|1997

|1. divisjon

|24||12|| || ||24||12

|-

|rowspan="5"|Bodø/Glimt

|1998

|rowspan="5"|Tippeligaen

|26||9|| || ||26||9

|-

|1999

|25||16||0||0||25||16

|-

|2000

|20||13||3||2||23||15

|-

|2001

|24||11||3||3||27||14

|-

|2002

|18||12||4||7||22||19

|-

|rowspan="4"|Brann

|2004

|rowspan="4"|Tippeligaen

|8||5||2||4||10||9

|-

|2005

|18||9||1||1||19||10

|-

|2006

|25||9||2||1||27||10

|-

|2007

|10||5||1||2||11||7

|-

|OB

|2007–08

|Superliga

|9||1||0||0||9||1

|-

|rowspan="3"|Vålerenga

|2008

|rowspan="3"|Tippeligaen

|26||5||6||5||32||10

|-

|2009

|28||11||5||5||33||16

|-

|2010

|25||7||2||3||27||10

|-

|Viking

|2011

|Tippeligaen

|21||4||3||3||24||7

|-

!colspan="3"|Career total

!313!!129!!32!!36!!345!!165

|}

Honours

Club Brugge

  • Belgian First Division: 2002–03
  • Belgian Cup: 2003–04
  • Belgian Supercup: 2002, 2003

Brann

  • Tippeligaen: 2007
  • Norwegian Cup: 2004

Vålerenga

  • Norwegian Cup: 2008

Individual

  • Kniksen Striker of the Year: 2002

References

  • Vålerenga profile
  • SK Brann profile