Players - Stig Inge Bjørnebye

Stig Inge Bjørnebye
Birthdate: 11 December 1969
Birthplace: Elverum, Norway
Other clubs: Elverum Fotball (1985-87), Strømmen (1987-88), Kongsvinger (1989-91), Rosenborg (1992), Rosenborg (2- loan 1994), Brøndby (loan 2000), Blackburn Rovers (2000-03)
Signed from: Rosenborg
Signed for LFC: £600,000, 15.12.1992
International debut: 31.05.1989 vs. Austria
International caps: 75/1 (50/1 at LFC) - 07.10.2000
Liverpool debut: 19.12.1992
Last appearance: 01.05.1999
Debut goal: 17.08.1996
Last goal: 14.12.1996
Contract expiry: 26.06.2000
Win ratio: 48.37% W:89 D:46 L:49
Games/assists ratio: 4.72
Honours: League Cup 1995
Total games/goals opposite LFC: 1 / 0
League games / goals / assists: 139 / 2 / 25
Total games / goals / assists: 184 / 4 / 39

Player Profile

So begins the fairytale... Bjørnebye scored the winning goal in the Norwegian Cup final for Rosenborg. The following day Liverpool boss, Graeme Souness, was on the phone offering him a contract. A couple of days in 1992 changed his life in an instant. Bjørnebye had a baptism of fire when he made his debut against Coventry on 19 December 1992. Liverpool lost 5-1 at Highfield Road, which was the club's biggest defeat in 16 years! The Norwegian struggled with life in the Premiership in the first two seasons but his breakthrough came in the 1994/95 season. Unfortunately, he suffered a broken leg reaching for a cross while his studs got caught in the grass when playing against Southampton in April 1995. Due to the injury, he only played two games in the 1995/96 season but his career hit peak form in 1996/97 when the Reds finally mounted a serious assault on the title although it failed in the last stages. He delivered pin-point passes into the penalty area providing plenty of goals for Fowler and Collymore and was voted in the Premier League Team of the Year.

Bjørnebye became one of Houllier's first casualties when he overhauled the squad in the summer of 2000 after he hadn't featured at all in the previous season and been loaned out to Brøndby for the last couple of months. He rejoined Souness at Blackburn in the summer. After regaining his fitness he featured in Rovers' successful promotion season and returned to the Premier League where he played 23 games in the 2001/02 season before fracturing his eye-socket in a freak training ground accident in April. A month before he celebrated winning the League Cup for the second time in his career as he had been in Liverpool's team that Bolton 2-1 seven years previously. He had to undergo corrective surgery after complaining about blurred vision. Bjørnebye finally returned seven months later to play in the League Cup quarter-final against Wigan on 17 December 2002. Bjørnebye injured his foot in the game and when he was recuperating in Norway he was rushed to hospital as his foot was numb. The surgeons were forced to by-pass two failing arteries in a five-hour operation to save his foot from being amputated. Sadly, Bjørnebye had to retire from football in March 2003. 

Bjørnebye returned to the game in December 2003 when he was named as Norway's assistant manager, a post he held until 2006, at which point he was appointed as the manager of IK Start. However, he was dismissed towards the end of his second season with the Kristiansand club in serious danger of being relegated from the Norwegian Premier Division. in 2012 Bjørnebye was appointed Head of Children's and Youth Development at the Norwegian FA. In March 2015, Bjørnebye succeeded Erik Hoftun as the sports director of Rosenborg, Norway's most successful club.
Appearances per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 139 13 16 16 0 184
1992-1993 11 2 0 0 0 13
1993-1994 9 1 0 0 0 10
1994-1995 31 6 7 0 0 44
1995-1996 2 0 0 0 0 2
1996-1997 38 2 4 8 0 52
1997-1998 25 0 3 4 0 32
1998-1999 23 2 2 4 0 31
1999-2000 0 0 0 0 0 0
A more detailed look at the player's appearances
Apps Minutes Opponent
10 884 Chelsea
10 726 Tottenham
9 715 Manchester United
8 720 Arsenal
8 697 Wimbledon
8 676 Sheffield Wednesday
8 664 Aston Villa
8 648 Southampton
8 622 West Ham United
7 578 Coventry City
7 533 Blackburn Rovers
6 540 Bolton Wanderers
6 516 Derby
6 514 Everton
6 512 Middlesbrough
5 450 Leeds United
5 450 Nottingham Forest
5 384 Leicester City
4 360 Newcastle United
4 335 Burnley
4 252 Ipswich Town
4 227 Crystal Palace
3 270 Manchester City
3 254 Charlton Athletic
3 231 QPR
2 180 Valencia
2 180 Mypa 47
2 180 Sion
2 180 Brann
2 180 Paris St Germain
2 180 Sunderland
2 180 Celtic
2 180 Birmingham City
2 141 Strasbourg
1 90 Celta Vigo
1 90 Fulham
1 90 WBA
1 90 Grimsby Town
1 90 Kosice
1 90 Norwich City
1 90 Stoke City
1 74 Swindon Town
1 70 Port Vale
1 65 Barnsley
1 23 Bristol City
Total Started/substitutions
175 Started
18 On the bench
9 Substitute
29 Substituted
Total Venue
92 Home
91 Away
1 Neutral
Total Competition
139 Premier League
16 League Cup
13 FA Cup
8 European Cup Winners Cup
8 UEFA Cup
Total W D L Win % Manager
130 70 32 28 53.8% Roy Evans
23 7 9 7 30.4% Graeme Souness
20 9 1 10 45% Gérard Houllier
11 3 4 4 27.3% Evans / Houllier
Goals per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 2 0 0 2 0 4
1992-1993 0 0 0 0 0 0
1993-1994 0 0 0 0 0 0
1994-1995 0 0 0 0 0 0
1995-1996 0 0 0 0 0 0
1996-1997 2 0 0 2 0 4
1997-1998 0 0 0 0 0 0
1998-1999 0 0 0 0 0 0
1999-2000 0 0 0 0 0 0
A more detailed look at the player's goalscoring
Total Opponent
2 Middlesbrough
1 Mypa 47
1 Sion
Total Started/substitutions
4 Started
0 Substitute
Total Competition
2 European Cup Winners Cup
2 Premier League
Total Goal minute period
1 1-15 minutes
1 31-45 minutes
1 46-60 minutes
1 61-75 minutes
Total Goal origin
4 Open play
Assists per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 25 4 5 5 0 39
1992-1993 0 0 0 0 0 0
1993-1994 3 0 0 0 0 3
1994-1995 6 2 2 0 0 10
1995-1996 0 0 0 0 0 0
1996-1997 8 2 3 4 0 17
1997-1998 6 0 0 0 0 6
1998-1999 2 0 0 1 0 3
1999-2000 0 0 0 0 0 0
A more detailed look at the player's assists
Milestone Appearances
# Date Against Stadium Competition
1 19.12.1992 Coventry City Highfield Road League
50 02.01.1995 Norwich City Anfield League
100 08.01.1997 Middlesbrough Riverside League Cup
150 25.04.1998 Chelsea Stamford Bridge League
Milestone Goals
# Minute Date Against Stadium Competition
1 4 17.08.1996 Middlesbrough Riverside League
Related Articles
Rush still has that sparkle

Match report from Press Association on Liverpool - Southampton on 05.04.1995.

Liverpool thrashed

Match report from British Soccer Week on Coventry - Liverpool on 19.12.1992.

Back in the scoring habit

Match report from Press Association on Mypa - Liverpool on 12.09.1996.

1991-2001: The Resurgence Years

In 1990, 5 years after Heysel, English clubs were re-admitted to the European fold. Liverpool, however, had to wait another year before their own exile was ended. LFC fan Chris Wood leads us through Liverpool's European story.

Related Quotes

"It's a very sad day. As far as I am concerned it could hardly be worse for Stig, as he is the consummate dedicated professional. He is as good a professional as any I have worked with, I couldn't name anybody better. He is fine role model, and a proper, proper human being.

Stig has had a wonderful career, it's a great shame that it has to end, with a freak training ground accident as he felt, quite rightly, that he could have played longer."

Souness on Björnebye being forced to retire after fracturing his eye-socket in 2003

Scrapbook
LFC Magazine interview from 1995/96
LFC Magazine interview from 1995/96
Other Clubs
Club Season Club rank League apps League goals Total apps Total goals
Strømmen 1988-1989 Norway 2 19 0 19 0
Kongsvinger 1989-1990 Norway 1 21 2 21 2
Kongsvinger 1990-1991 Norway 1 20 0 20 0
Kongsvinger 1991-1992 Norway 1 21 1 25 2
Rosenborg 1992-1993 Norway 1 21 3 21 3
Rosenborg 1994-1995 Norway 1 8 0 8 0
Brøndby 1999-2000 Denmark 1 13 2 13 2
Blackburn Rovers 2000-2001 England First Division 33 1 38 1
Blackburn Rovers 2001-2002 England Premier League 23 0 30 0
Blackburn Rovers 2002-2003 England Premier League 0 0 1 0
Total 179 9 196 10