Nils Arne Eggen
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Nils Arne Eggen (born September 17, 1941 in Orkdal, Sør-Trøndelag, Norway) is a personality that really stands out in Norwegian soccer history. He is best known as the manager for Rosenborg B.K. in the period 1988 - 1997 and 1999 - 2002 (he had a year off in 1998, when Trond Sollied stepped in as manager). This period is often referred to as "The Golden Age" for the club.
Nils Arne resigned as manager for Rosenborg in 2002, and Åge Hareide took over as manager (who in turn was succeeded by Ola By Rise only a year later). Two of Nils Arne's last achievement was winning the Norwegian Premier Division (11th time in a row), and qualifying for the European Champions League (8th time in a row).
After a somewhat turbulent year for Rosenborg B.K. in 2004, he was once again appointed by the club in November 2004 - this time as assistant manager.
Biography
Nils Arne began his active football career when he was 15 years old as a defender at Orkdal's senior team. Later on he moved to Trondheim to study, and felt it natural to join Rosenborg. Nils Arne enjoyed winning the Norwegian Football Cup with them in 1960.
In 1963 he moved to Oslo where he soon joined Vålerenga. They won the Norwegian Premier Division in 1965, before he moved back to Trondheim where he played an important role for Rosenborg when they won the Premier Division twice - and he himself won the "Player of the Year" in 1968 - before he decided to quit his football career.
He was soon appointed as Rosenborg's coach, together with Tor Røste Fossen, and in his first season (1971) they won "the double" - first time ever in the club's history. In middle of the 1970s he was the coach for the Norwegian U21 national team, and later for the senior national team.
In 1978 he was once again back as coach in Rosenborg - the team struggling in Norway's second division at that time. Two years later the team once again was among the top teams in the first division.
In 2003 he was awarded the The Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav (St. Olavs Orden) for his effort in Norwegian fotball.no:Nils Arne Eggen