Daniel Berg Hestad

Daniel Berg Hestad (born 30 July 1975) is a Norwegian football manager and a former player, who played as a central midfielder, most notably for Molde. He is the manager of Molde 2 and the Under-19 squad of Molde.^[1] With 666 official appearances, he is the player with most official matches for Molde.^[2] He currently holds the record for most matches in Eliteserien with 473. He is three time Norwegian league champion, and four times Norwegian Cup champion with Molde, being the joint most decorated player of the club with seven trophies along with Etzaz Hussain.

Daniel Berg Hestad

Hestad training with Molde in 2013
Personal information
Date of birth	(1975-07-30) 30 July 1975 (age 49)
Place of birth	Molde, Norway
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Central midfielder
Team information
Current team	KI Klaksvik (Assistant manager)
Youth career
	Molde
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1993–2003	Molde	258	(55)
2003–2005	SC Heerenveen	41	(5)
2005–2016	Molde	258	(25)
Total		557	(85)
International career
1995–1998	Norway U21	27	(12)
1998	Norway U23	3	(0)
1998–2003	Norway	8	(0)
Managerial career
2017–2022	Molde 2 (U19)
2023	KÍ Klaksvik (assistant)
2024–	Molde 2
Medal record Molde Winner Norwegian Football Cup 1994 Winner Norwegian Football Cup 2005 Winner Tippeligaen 2011 Winner Tippeligaen 2012 Winner Norwegian Football Cup 2013 Winner Tippeligaen 2014 Winner Norwegian Football Cup 2014
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He retired from football after playing the Europa League round of 32 game against Sevilla which Molde won 1–0, 25 February 2016, in his 666th match for Molde.

Club career

Molde

Berg Hestad debuted for Molde in the Tippeligaen match against Start on 23 May 1993.^[3] On 23 October 1994, he was in the starting lineup in Molde's team in the final of the 1994 Norwegian Cup against Lyn. He played 80 minutes in the game Molde won 3–2 and secured the club's first ever major trophy. Hestad became runner-up three times in the league (1995, 1998, 1999) before leaving the club in January 2004.

Heerenveen

On 4 July 2003, Hestad announced that he would leave Molde to join Dutch side Heerenveen on a free transfer from 1 January 2004.^[4] He signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with the club.^[5] He played well in the beginning of his Heerenveen career, and drew attention from several clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur.^[6][7] He played a total of 53 games and scored 5 goals in all competitions during his two seasons at Heerenveen.

Second spell at Molde

Hestad returned to Molde in July 2005.^[8] In his first season back, he helped his team winning the club's second trophy. He scored the third goal in the 2005 Norwegian Cup final which Molde won 4–2 against Lillestrøm after extra time. Molde were relegated to 1. divisjon in 2006, thus Hestad played in the second tier, for the first time since the 1994 season, in the 2007 season. Hestad was five times runner-up in Tippeligaen with Molde (1995, 1998, 1999, 2002 and 2009) before he finally could lift the trophy as captain of the 2011 Champions.

In 2012, after winning two consecutive Tippeligaen titles, it was speculated whether Berg Hestad would retire. He did, however, sign a new one-year contract ahead of the 2013 season.^[9] He was one of Molde's best players during the season, and in September 2013 he told the club that he would sign a new contract for one more year if the offer was good enough. On 24 November 2013, he won his seventh trophy with Molde after coming in as a substitute in the 2013 Norwegian Cup final, a game Molde won 4–2 against main rival Rosenborg. When he signed a new one-year extension in November 2013, the manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær stated that Berg Hestad would be a part of Molde's coaching staff during the 2014 season.^[10] Hestad became the oldest goalscorer in the European competitions on 5 November 2015, when he scored the 2–1 winning goal in a Europa League match against Celtic aged 40 years and 99 days.^[11] This record was broken by Joaquín on 15 September 2022, when he scored a goal against PFC Ludogorets Razgrad at the age of 41 years and 56 days.^[12] On 25 February 2016, Hestad retired from football after playing the Europa League round of 32 game against Sevilla, his 666th match for Molde, which Molde won 1–0. With 473 matches in Eliteserien, he is the player with the most matches in the history of the top-tier in Norwegian football.

International career

Hestad played a total of 30 games for Norway at youth and under-23 level. In 1998, he was a part of the Norway U21 national team, that won bronze medal in 1998 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. In the final qualifier before the tournament he captained the Norwegian side against a French side containing Thierry Henry, David Trezeguet, Patrick Vieira and Ludovic Giuly. Hestad scored the third goal for Norway to put them 3–0 up in Valenciennes. Norway ended up winning 3–2 and qualified.

Hestad earned eight caps for the Norway national team, between 1998 and 2003. He made his debut against Denmark on 22 April 1998 and got his last appearance in Norway's 2–1 against Oman on 28 January 2003.^[13]

Personal life

Hestad grew up in a family who contains a long line of Molde players. His father Stein Olav Hestad held the club record for most first-team appearances of all time before this was beaten by Daniel. His paternal uncle Harry Hestad, and his maternal uncles Odd Berg and Jan Berg also played many years at the club.^[14] His younger brother Peter Berg Hestad was also in Molde's squad for a few years, but only made a handful of first-team appearances.

He married Trude Vik in 2006, with whom he has two sons, Tobias and Jonathan.^[15]

In 2000, he served time in prison for driving under the influence. This incident occurred during Molde's Christmas party after Berg Hestad was informed of the hospitalisation of his wife and their infant baby. Both were in a critical state and in a moment of poor judgement, Berg Hestad got in his car to drive to the hospital, only to crash after a few hundred meters.^[16]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^[17]

Club	Season	Division	League		Cup		Europe		Other		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Molde	1993	Tippeligaen	15	1	4	2	—		1[a]	0	20	3
	1994	1. divisjon	19	0	8	3	—		—		27	3
	1995	Tippeligaen	26	4	3	1	4	0	—		33	5
	1996		25	4	4	0	2	0	—		31	4
	1997		25	13	1	0	—		—		26	13
	1998		24	8	3	2	2	0	—		29	10
	1999		25	4	6	1	10	3	—		41	8
	2000		26	3	3	0	2	0	—		31	3
	2001		26	9	4	3	—		—		30	12
	2002		26	4	3	0	—		—		29	4
	2003		21	5	2	0	6	3	—		29	8
	Total		258	55	41	12	26	6	1	0	326	73
Heerenveen	2003–04	Eredivisie	15	1	2	0	0	0	—		17	1
	2004–05		26	4	4	0	6	0	—		36	4
	Total		41	5	6	0	6	0	0	0	53	5
Molde	2005	Tippeligaen	14	3	3	2	—		2[b]	0	19	5
	2006		24	3	3	2	4	0	—		31	5
	2007	Adeccoligaen	24	8	0	0	—		—		24	8
	2008	Tippeligaen	25	4	6	1	—		—		31	5
	2009		27	0	7	1	—		—		34	1
	2010		26	3	2	0	4	0	—		32	3
	2011		28	0	3	0	—		—		31	0
	2012		24	2	3	0	10	0	—		37	2
	2013		19	1	5	0	6	0	—		30	1
	2014		25	1	5	1	3	0	—		33	2
	2015		22	0	3	0	11	1	—		36	1
	2016		0	0	0	0	2	0	—		2	0
	Total		258	25	40	7	40	1	2	0	340	33
Career total			557	85	87	19	72	7	3	0	719	111

1. One appearance in Tippeligaen relegation play-offs
2. Two appearances in Tippeligaen relegation play-offs

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Norway	1998	3	0
	1999	2	0
	2000	0	0
	2001	0	0
	2002	1	0
	2003	2	0
Total		8	0

Honours

Molde

• Tippeligaen: 2011, 2012, 2014
• Norwegian Football Cup: 1994, 2005, 2013, 2014
• 1. divisjon: 2007

Records

• Molde player to have won seven domestic trophies along with Etzaz Hussain
• Most Eliteserien appearances for a player, with 473
• Oldest (40 years, 98 days) player to score in the UEFA Europa League^[18]
• Most appearances by a Molde player, with 666

References

1. "2017–18 UEFA Youth League Molde squad". UEFA. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
2. "MFK factsheet". MFKweb.org (in Norwegian). Retrieved 9 October 2011.
3. "Berg Hestad ber om kontraktsforslag fra Molde". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency. 4 November 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
4. "Berg Hestad forlater Molde". www.vg.no (in Norwegian). Verdens Gang. 4 July 2003. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
5. "- Molde mest aktuelt i Norge". www.db.no (in Norwegian). Dagbladet. 10 November 2004. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
6. "Tottenham følger Berg Hestad". www.nettavisen.no (in Norwegian). Nettavisen. 11 March 2004. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
7. "Berg Hestad aware of Spurs interest". Sky Sports. Sky Sports. 11 March 2004. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
8. Kleppe, Mads K. (21 July 2005). "- Skal være konger i Molde". Nettavisen (in Norwegian). Retrieved 14 June 2019.
9. Andersen, Martin K. (6 December 2012). "Berg Hestad tar ett år til". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). Retrieved 13 November 2013.
10. Hustad, Trond (8 November 2013). "Skal lære av Solskjær". Romsdals Budstikke (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
11. Lamont, Alasdair (5 November 2015). "Celtic 1–2 Molde". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
12. "Europa League round-up: Cristiano Ronaldo scores in Man United win, Roma and Real Sociedad prevail". UEFA.com. 15 September 2022. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
13. "Daniel Berg Hestad". fotball.no. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
14. "Daniel har passert Laffen" (in Norwegian). VG. 23 October 1999. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
15. Hattrem, Erik (10 June 2006). "Daniel fikk ja". Side2. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
16. Kvamme, Sigve (1 August 2007). "Berg Hestads lillebror dømt for fyllekjøring". Dagbladet. Retrieved 27 September 2008.
17. "Daniel Berg Hestad". altomfotball.no (in Norwegian). TV 2. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
18. "UEFA Europa League group stage records". UEFA.com. 7 December 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2018.

External links

• (in Norwegian) Player profile on official Molde website
• (in Norwegian) National Caps