Christian Grindheim

Christian Grindheim (born 17 July 1983) is a Norwegian retired professional footballer who last played as a midfielder for Eliteserien club FK Haugesund. Grindheim is known as a hardworking midfielder with tough tackling and powerful shots. He has made over 50 appearances for the Norway national team.

Christian Grindheim

Grindheim in 2006
Personal information
Full name	Christian Grindheim[1]
Date of birth	(1983-07-17) 17 July 1983 (age 41)
Place of birth	Haugesund, Norway
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
	Haugar
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2000–2004	Haugesund	98	(22)
2005–2008	Vålerenga	70	(7)
2008–2011	Heerenveen	97	(7)
2011–2013	F.C. Copenhagen	37	(0)
2013	→ Vålerenga (loan)	14	(0)
2013–2017	Vålerenga	120	(16)
2018–2020	Haugesund	81	(7)
International career‡
2004–2005	Norway U-21	15	(1)
2005–2015	Norway	54	(2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 December 2020 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 29 August 2015

Club career

Grindheim was born in Haugesund^[2] and started his career in the local club Haugar, before he joined Haugesund where he made his debut for the first team in Tippeligaen at the age of 17. After Haugesund's relegation from the First Division in 2004, several Tippeligaen clubs were interested in his signature.

Viking, with Roy Hodgson as manager, made an offer for Grindheim, but he chose Vålerenga. At Vålerenga, he played regularly for the team that won the league in 2005.^[3]

On 7 January 2008, Grindheim joined Heerenveen. Heerenveen paid Vålerenga a reported transfer fee of €3 million.^[4] He played 86 matches for the club winning the 2008–09 Dutch Cup.^[5]

On 15 June 2011, Grindheim transferred to FC Copenhagen on a three-year contract, for a reported transfer fee of €750,000.^[5]

In February 2013, Grindheim returned to Vålerenga on loan with an option to buy,^[6] which Vålerenga took up in July 2013, signing Grindheim to a three-year contract.^[7]

International career

Grindheim made his debut for the Norwegian national team, on 17 August 2005 in a friendly match against Switzerland. Grindheim played 45 minutes in a match Norway lost 2–0.^[3] He scored his first goal in Egil Olsen first match in his second stint as head coach of Norway, the friendly match against Germany on 11 February 2009, He reached his 50th cap in the friendly match against England.^[3][8]

Career statistics

As of 22 December 2020^[9][10]

Club	Season	League			Cup		Other[nb 1]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Haugesund	2000	Tippeligaen	1	0	0	0	–		1	0
	2001	1. divisjon	12	1	0	0	–		12	1
	2002	1. divisjon	28	5	1	0	–		29	5
	2003	1. divisjon	29	7	5	2	–		34	9
	2004	1. divisjon	28	9	1	1	–		29	10
	Total		98	22	7	3	0	0	105	25
Vålerenga	2005	Tippeligaen	24	2	5	1	–		29	3
	2006	Tippeligaen	24	2	3	0	–		27	2
	2007	Tippeligaen	22	3	3	1	–		25	4
	Total		70	7	11	2	0	0	81	9
Heerenveen	2007–08	Eredivisie	9	0	0	0	4	0	13	0
	2008–09	Eredivisie	30	4	3	1	–		33	5
	2009–10	Eredivisie	28	1	2	0	–		30	1
	2010–11	Eredivisie	30	2	2	0	–		32	2
	Total		97	7	7	1	4	0	108	8
Copenhagen	2011–12	Superliga	30	0	5	0	–		35	0
	2012–13	Superliga	7	0	1	0	–		8	0
	Total		37	0	6	0	0	0	43	0
Vålerenga	2013	Tippeligaen	24	1	3	0	–		27	1
	2014	Tippeligaen	29	4	2	0	–		31	4
	2015	Tippeligaen	30	5	0	0	–		30	5
	2016	Tippeligaen	28	1	3	0	–		31	1
	2017	Eliteserien	23	5	4	0	–		27	5
	Total		134	16	12	0	0	0	146	16
Haugesund	2018	Eliteserien	28	4	3	1	–		31	5
	2019		28	3	2	0	–		30	3
	2020		25	0	0	0	–		25	0
	Total		81	7	5	1	0	0	86	8
Career total			517	59	48	7	4	0	569	66

Notes

1. Eredivisie playoffs

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	11 February 2009	LTU Arena, Düsseldorf	Germany	1–0	Win	Friendly
2	29 May 2010	Ullevaal stadion, Norway	Montenegro	2–1	Win	Friendly

Source:^[8]

Honours

Vålerenga IF

• Norwegian Premier League: 2005

SC Heerenveen

• KNVB Cup: 2008–09

F.C. Copenhagen

• Danish Cup: 2011–12