Thorstein Helstad

Thorstein Helstad (born 28 April 1977) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a centre-forward. Helstad is currently 1.87m (6 ft 2 inches) tall.

Thorstein Helstad

Helstad in 2006
Personal information
Full name	Thorstein Helstad
Date of birth	(1977-04-28) 28 April 1977 (age 48)[1]
Place of birth	Hamar, Norway
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
1994	Fart
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1995–1997	HamKam	46	(12)
1998–2002	Brann	99	(54)
2002–2004	Austria Wien	59	(12)
2004–2006	Rosenborg	36	(15)
2006–2008	Brann	48	(35)
2008–2011	Le Mans	98	(35)
2011–2012	Monaco	6	(0)
2012–2013	Lillestrøm	34	(8)
2014	Gamle Oslo	6	(4)
Total		432	(175)
International career
1996–1999	Norway U21	30	(5)
2000–2010	Norway	38	(10)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Helstad was born in Hamar, Norway^[2] and started his career in his local club FL Fart where he at age 16 scored two goals against Løten in 1993 that made the team win promotion to Norwegian Third Division. He transferred to the local Norwegian First Division side HamKam, at the age of 18, and played for the club between 1995 and 1997.^[3] Helstad joined the Tippeligaen side Brann ahead of the 1998 season. He became one of the biggest stars in the team, and was Tippeliga top scorer in both 2000 and 2001 and won the Kniksen Award as the best striker in 2000. Helstad was sold to Austria Wien alongside Raymond Kvisvik, where he won both the Austrian Bundesliga, the Austrian Cup and the Austrian Supercup. After scoring 14 goals in 69 matches for the Austrian side, Helstad returned to Norway where he signed a four-year deal with Rosenborg.^[4]

With Steffen Iversen as the preferred striker, Helstad never managed to gain a regular spot in the first squad, but was often used as a winger in a 4–3–3 system.^[5]

After scoring 24 goals in 58 matches, Helstad returned to Brann in June 2006. Since he transferred in the middle of the season he won both gold with Rosenborg and silver with Brann.^[4]

In July 2008, Brann accepted a €2 million bid for Helstad from French club Le Mans, where he was installed as their starting striker. Helstad scored 21 goals in 2010–11.

In June 2011, Helstad made a free transfer move to recently relegated and former Champions League finalist Monaco.

He announced his retirement from playing in April 2014.^[6]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Season	Club	League			National Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
HamKam	1995	Tippeligaen	17	4	0	0	—		—		17	4
	1996	Adeccoligaen	14	3	0	0	—		—		14	3
	1997		15	5	0	0	—		—		15	5
	Total		46	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	46	12
Brann	1998	Tippeligaen	23	6	0	0	—		2	0	25	6
	1999		21	8	0	0	—		—		21	8
	2000		24	18	2	0	—		2	1	28	19
	2001		23	17	4	3	—		2	0	29	20
	2002		8	5	0	0	—		—		8	5
	Total		99	54	6	3	0	0	6	1	111	58
Austria Wien	2002–03	Austrian Bundesliga	29	6	0	0	—		4	2	33	8
	2003–04		27	6	0	0	—		2	0	29	6
	2004–05		3	0	0	0	—		—		3	0
	Total		59	12	0	0	0	0	6	2	54	14
Rosenborg	2004	Tippeligaen	5	1	0	0	—		4	2	9	3
	2005		25	13	2	3	—		8	2	35	18
	2006		6	1	0	0	—		—		6	1
	Total		36	15	2	3	0	0	12	4	50	22
Brann	2006	Tippeligaen	12	2	1	0	—		—		13	2
	2007		24	22	2	1	—		6	1	32	24
	2008		12	11	1	2	—		2	0	15	13
	Total		48	35	4	3	0	0	8	1	60	39
Le Mans	2008–09	Ligue 1	32	10	2	1	1	0	—		35	11
	2009–10		31	4	1	0	2	0	—		34	4
	2010–11	Ligue 2	35	21	3	1	1	0	—		39	22
	Total		98	35	6	2	4	0	0	0	108	37
Monaco	2011–12	Ligue 2	6	0	1	0	1	0	—		8	0
Lillestrøm	2012	Tippeligaen	12	3	0	0	—		—		12	3
	2013		22	5	3	0	—		—		25	5
	Total		34	8	3	0	0	0	0	0	37	8
Career total			426	171	22	11	5	0	32	8	485	190

International goals

Scores and results list Norway's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Helstad goal.^[7]

List of international goals scored by Thorstein Helstad

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	16 August 2000	Telia 5G -areena, Helsinki, Finland	Finland	1–1	1–3	Friendly
2	7 October 2000	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales	Wales	1–1	1–1	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
3	24 January 2001	Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong	South Korea	2–1	3–2	Friendly
4	28 February 2001	Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Northern Ireland	1–0	4–0	Friendly
5.				4–0
6	26 January 2003	Sharjah Stadium, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates	United Arab Emirates	1–1	1–1	Friendly
7	8 June 2005	Råsunda Stadium, Solna, Sweden	Sweden	2–1	3–2	Friendly
8	12 October 2005	Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway	Belarus	1–0	1–0	2006 FIFA World Cup qualification
9	2 June 2007	Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway	Malta	2–0	4–0	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
10	9 September 2009	Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway	North Macedonia	1–0	2–1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Austria Wien

• Austrian Bundesliga: 2002–03
• Austrian Cup: 2002–03
• Austrian Supercup: 2003

Rosenborg

• Tippeligaen: 2004, 2006

Brann

• Tippeligaen: 2007

Individual

• Tippeligaen top scorer: 2000, 2001, 2007
• Kniksen Award Attacker of the Year: 2000, 2007
• Norwegian Football Association Gold Watch