Steffen Hagen

Steffen Hagen (born 8 March 1986) is a Norwegian footballer who plays as a defender for Eliteserien side Odd. With 453 top division appearances, Hagen has made the second-highest number of appearances in Eliteserien. During his professional career, Hagen has never been sent off or been suspended.^[1]

Steffen Hagen

Personal information
Full name	Steffen Hagen
Date of birth	(1986-03-08) 8 March 1986 (age 38)
Place of birth	Kristiansand, Norway
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Odd
Number	21
Youth career
2001–2003	Vigør
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2004–2006	Mandalskameratene	37	(4)
2006–	Odd	480	(15)
International career‡
2004	Norway U18	7	(0)
2005	Norway U19	9	(0)
2005–2008	Norway U21	20	(0)
2012–2014	Norway	3	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 1 December 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 27 August 2014

He has been capped several times playing for his country at youth international level, including 20 caps for the Norwegian under-21 team, and in January 2012 Hagen made his debut for Norway national football team.

Club career

Early career

Hagen was born in Kristiansand^[2] but lived in Madagascar, where his parents were missionaries, for five years. He did not start to play organized football before he moved back to Norway as a 15-year-old, and joined the local club Vigør.^[3]

Hagen transferred to the then second tier team Mandalskameratene ahead of the 2004-season. A half-year later, he was a first team regular and the 18-year-old became captain when André Herfindal was injured. The next season Hagen scored his four first goals for Mandalskameratene,^[4] but the team was relegated^[5] and Hagen was sold to the Tippeligaen side Odd.^[6]

Odds Ballklubb

After joining Odd, coach Arne Sandstø predicted that Hagen in his first season could be one of the best newcomers in Tippeligaen.^[7] Hagen made his debut in the opening match of the 2006 season, in Odd's 0–0 draw against Vålerenga.^[2] At the end of the season, Hagen had become a regular in Odd's first team starting line-up.^[8]

On 20 March 2007, Odd announced that Hagen would be the team's captain in the 2007 season.^[9] Due to injuries, Hagen was replaced as captain by Morten Fevang mid-season,^[10] and at the end of the season Odd was relegated after losing 4–2 on aggregate against Bodø/Glimt in the relegation play-offs,^[11] but Hagen missed one of the play-off matches due to an injury he got while he was on the toilet.^[12]

Hagen played 18 matches when Odd won the 2008 First Division and was promoted to Tippeligaen.^[2] The next year, Hagen played every match when Odd finished fourth in Tippeligaen,^[13] and he was the only player, along with Håkon Skogseid, that played every minute of the 30 matches in the 2009 season.^[14] In October 2009, Hagen signed a new contract with Odd till the end of the 2012-season.^[15] In the 2010 season, he again played every minute in Tippeligaen,^[14] and his head coach Dag-Eilev Fagermo claimed that Hagen and the Norway international Tom Høgli were the best full backs in Tippeligaen.^[16]

In the 2011 season Hagen played as a full back,^[17] and once again he played every league-match during the season.^[18] After the season, he was wanted by Lillestrøm, but he rejected their offer and stayed at Odd.^[19] On 14 April 2012 Hagen played his 100th consecutive league match for Odd, while playing every minute of each match.^[20] Hagen signed a new contract with Odd in July 2012, binding him to the club until the end of the 2015 season.^[21] Hagen played every minute of the 30 league-matches in the 2012 season, and in the second match of the 2013-season against Tromsø on 1 April 2013 he played his 122nd full match in a row, beating Fredrik Kjølner's old record for out-field players with 121 matches or 10,890 minutes.^[22] For the first time in 124 matches, Hagen had to leave the pitch due to an injury after 20 minutes of the match against Molde on 20 April, and was unable to beat Morten Bakke's record of 139 consecutive matches in the Norwegian top league.^[23]

International career

Hagen played nine matches for Norway U-19 in 2005^[24] and was also the team's captain.^[3] The same year he also played his first match for the under-21 team.^[24] In 2007, he was made captain of the Norway U-21,^[8] where he was capped a total of 20 times.^[24]

Hagen has been capped two times for Norway.^[24] He made his debut for the senior team in the 2012 King's Cup match against Thailand on 18 January 2012.^[25] In Norway's next match against South Korea on 21 January 2012, Hagen replaced Vegar Eggen Hedenstad after 57 minutes.^[26]

Career statistics

As of 1 December 2024^[2]

Club	Season	Division	League		Cup		Other[nb 1]		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Mandalskameratene	2004	1. divisjon	12	0	?	?	—		12	0
	2005		25	4	0	0	—		25	4
	Total		37	4	0	0	—	—	37	4
Odd	2006	Tippeligaen	22	2	1	1	2	0	25	3
	2007		17	0	2	0	2	0	21	0
	2008	1. divisjon	18	2	2	1	—		20	3
	2009	Tippeligaen	30	1	4	0	—		34	1
	2010		30	2	5	0	—		35	2
	2011		30	1	4	2	—		34	3
	2012		30	0	4	0	—		34	0
	2013		24	0	3	0	—		27	0
	2014		30	1	7	0	—		37	1
	2015		29	1	4	0	8	2	41	3
	2016		30	1	3	0	4	0	37	1
	2017	Eliteserien	27	0	4	0	5	0	36	0
	2018		29	1	3	0	—		32	1
	2019		28	2	6	0	—		34	2
	2020		24	0	0	0	—		24	0
	2021		7	0	1	0	—		8	0
	2022		28	0	3	1	—		31	1
	2023		30	0	3	0	—		33	0
	2024		17	1	0	0	—		17	1
	Total		480	15	61	5	21	2	562	22
Career Total			517	19	61	5	21	2	599	26

Notes

1. Other competitive competitions, including the Norwegian relegation/promotion play-off

References

1. Olsen, Nils-Tore (9 May 2011). "66 elitekamper på rad". varden.no (in Norwegian). Varden. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
2. "Steffen Hagen". altomfotball.no (in Norwegian). TV 2 (Norway). Retrieved 21 May 2012.
3. Bergsli, Bent (6 December 2005). "Fotball viktig – men ikke alt". ta.no (in Norwegian). Telemarksavisa. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
4. Øygarden, Hans Eivind; Andersen, Martin K. (29 November 2005). "Lykkelig som Odd-spiller". ta.no (in Norwegian). Telemarksavisa. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
5. "Mandalskameratene rykker ned". nrk.no (in Norwegian). 31 October 2005. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
6. "Hagen klar for Odd". aftenposten.no (in Norwegian). 29 November 2005. Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
7. Brenne, Øyvind (15 February 2006). "Spås som årets Odd-komet". fvn.no (in Norwegian). Fædrelandsvennen. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
8. Sandvik, Arild (7 March 2007). "Skal bli Odds nye forsvarssjef". fvn.no (in Norwegian). Fædrelandsvennen. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
9. "Steffen blir Odd-kaptein". varden.no (in Norwegian). Varden. 20 March 2007. Archived from the original on 26 May 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
10. "Fevang ny kaptein?". varden.no (in Norwegian). Varden. 22 July 2007. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
11. "Bodø/Glimt rykket opp". ANB-NTB (in Norwegian). Bergensavisen. 12 November 2007. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
12. Olsen, Nils-Tore (8 November 2007). "Hagen skadet på do". varden.no (in Norwegian). Varden. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
13. Samuelsen, Kjetil (1 December 2009). "- Naturlig å strekke seg mot landslaget". fvn.no (in Norwegian). Fædrelandsvennen. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
14. Samuelsen, Kjetil (3 November 2010). "Evighetsmaskinen Hagen". fvn.no (in Norwegian). Fædrelandsvennen. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
15. "Steffen Hagen fortsetter i Odd". ta.no (in Norwegian). Telemarksavisa. 16 October 2009. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
16. Karlsen, Håvard; Jørgensen, Pål W. (31 October 2010). "- Norges beste back". fvn.no (in Norwegian). Fædrelandsvennen. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
17. Tollefsen, Morten (19 December 2010). "Luke nr 19: Steffen Hagen". oddgrenland.no (in Norwegian). Odd Grenland. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
18. Fuglset, William (14 March 2012). "Hemmeligheten bak suksessen". nettavisen.no (in Norwegian). Nettavisen. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
19. Andreassen, Jon (9 March 2012). "Steffen Hagen var på vei til LSK". fvn.no (in Norwegian). Fædrelandsvennen. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
20. Olsen, Nils-Tore (14 May 2012). "Og endelig rundet Hagen 100". varden.no (in Norwegian). Varden. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
21. Heggheim, Sander (31 July 2012). "Hagen skreiv ny kontrakt" (in Norwegian). NRK. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
22. "Denne mannen har spilt i 10.980 minutter" (in Norwegian). Aftenposten. Norwegian News Agency. 2 April 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
23. Olsen, Nils-Tore (20 April 2013). "Rekorden røk for Steffen Hagen" (in Norwegian). Varden. Archived from the original on 23 April 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
24. "Steffen Hagen's profil". fotball.no (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
25. "Ingen typisk Drillo-debutant". Norwegian News Agency (in Norwegian). Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. 17 January 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
26. "Sør-Korea – Norge". fotball.no (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2012.

External links

• (in Norwegian) Odd Grenland profile