{{Short description|Norwegian footballer (born 1973)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}} {{Infobox football biography | name = Roger Helland | image = | caption = | fullname = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1973|9|26|df=yes}} | birth_place = Austrheim Municipality, Norway | height = 1.82 m<ref name="ffksupporter1"/> | position = Midfielder | youthyears1 = | youthclubs1 = Brann | years1 = 1993–1999 | clubs1 = Brann | caps1 = 154 | goals1 = 15 | years2 = 1999–2000 | clubs2 = Brøndby | caps2 = 12 | goals2 = 0 | years3 = 2000–2002 | clubs3 = Lillestrøm | caps3 = 26 | goals3 = 0 | years4 = 2003–2005 | clubs4 = Fredrikstad | caps4 = 59 | goals4 = 8 | nationalyears1 = 1989 | nationalteam1 = Norway G–15 | nationalcaps1 = 2 | nationalgoals1 = 0 | nationalyears2 = 1994–1995 | nationalteam2 = Norway U–21 | nationalcaps2 = 22 | nationalgoals2 = 5 | nationalyears3 = 1997 | nationalteam3 = Norway | nationalcaps3 = 2 | nationalgoals3 = 0 }} '''Roger Helland''' (born 26 September 1973) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who spent the bulk of his career with SK Brann. A midfielder, played two games for the Norway national football team in 1997.
==Career== Helland hails from Austrheim Municipality and was a part of the various youth teams in SK Brann.<ref name="ffksupporter1"/> He first represented Norway in two under-15 matches in 1989.<ref name="nff"/> He made his first appearance on the senior team in the Norwegian Premier League in 1993 when he came on as a sub in the 88th minute in a game against Rosenborg BK at Lerkendal, as Brann won 4–0.<ref name="ffksupporter1">{{cite web |author=Øystein Holt |title=Roger Helland |url=http://www.ffksupporter.net/spillere/roger_helland/ |access-date=28 November 2009 |publisher=ffksupporter.net |language=no}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Nielsen |first=Atle |author-link=Atle Nielsen |title=Sportsklubben Brann: 100 år med tro, håp og kjærlighet |publisher=Schibsted |year=2008 |isbn=978-82-516-2658-3 |page=246 |language=no}}</ref> He only played one more game in the spring season but from the twelfth game of the season he played all the remaining games, for a total of 13 league games in his first season.<ref name="BrannP139" /> He also played 22 matches for the under-21 team between 1994 and 1995.<ref name="nff">{{cite web |title=Roger Helland |url=http://www.n3sport.no/histstatteams/histstat.ASP?WCI=wiPerson&personid=2216688 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716031630/http://www.n3sport.no/histstatteams/histstat.ASP?WCI=wiPerson&personid=2216688 |archive-date=16 July 2011 |access-date=28 November 2009 |work=n3sport.no |publisher=Football Association of Norway}}</ref> In 1997, Helland helped Brann finish second in the Norwegian Premier League, Brann's best league position since 1975,<ref name="BrannP139">{{cite book |last=Nielsen |first=Atle |author-link=Atle Nielsen |title=Sportsklubben Brann: 100 år med tro, håp og kjærlighet |publisher=Schibsted |year=2008 |isbn=978-82-516-2658-3 |page=139 |language=no}}</ref> and he made his debut and played his only two games for the Norway national team that year.<ref name="nff"/> Helland played in Brann until 1999 and played a total of 206 games, scoring 21 goals for the club.<ref name="brann1">{{cite web |date=6 November 2009 |title=Tilbake til Brann som trener |url=http://www.brann.no/index.php?valg=nyhet&nyhet=8533 |access-date=28 November 2009 |work=brann.no |publisher=Sportsklubben Brann |language=no}}{{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In the Norwegian Premier League he played 154 games scoring 15 goals.<ref name="brann100">{{cite book |last=Nielsen |first=Atle |author-link=Atle Nielsen |title=Sportsklubben Brann: 100 år med tro, håp og kjærlighet |publisher=Schibsted |year=2008 |isbn=978-82-516-2658-3 |pages=246–252 |language=no}}</ref>
As Helland's contract with Brann ran out in December 1999,<ref name="politiken1">{{cite news |last=Olsen |first=Søren |date=4 October 1999 |title=Brøndbys nye chef renser ud |newspaper=Politiken |language=da}}</ref> he was offered a contract by a number of Norwegian clubs.<ref name="ekstra1">{{cite news |last=Madsen |first=Thor |date=1 December 1999 |title=Gyldent firkløver |newspaper=Ekstra Bladet |language=da}}</ref> Helland eventually chose to move abroad, as he signed a half-season contract with Danish club Brøndby IF, where fellow Norwegian Åge Hareide had just become head coach. Helland was a part of Hareide's Scandinavian venture in that transfer window, and arrived at Brøndby alongside Stig Inge Bjørnebye, Magnus Svensson, Krister Nordin, and Mattias Jonson.<ref name="ekstra1"/> He was brought in by Hareide to replace Brøndby's "risky" central defender Vragel da Silva in the zone defense of Hareide's newly introduced 4-3-3 formation.<ref name="politiken1"/> Having made his official Brøndby debut in March 2000, Helland went on to play 12 of Brøndby’s remaining 15 league games of the 1999–2000 Danish Superliga season, as Brøndby finished in second place.<ref name="brondby2">{{cite web |title=Roger Helland |url=http://brondby.com/player.asp?sid=40&id=33 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005151533/http://brondby.com/player.asp?sid=40&id=33 |archive-date=5 October 2011 |access-date=1 December 2009 |work=brondby.com |language=da}}</ref> Towards the end of the season, Brøndby chairman Per Bjerregaard criticized the cooperation of the central defense pairing of Helland and Per Nielsen,<ref name="bt1">{{cite news |last=Uno |first=Steen |date=14 May 2000 |title=Fyreseddel til forsvaret |newspaper=B.T. |language=da}}</ref> and Helland subsequently received general criticism from the Danish media.<ref name="jp1">{{cite news |date=27 May 2000 |title=Farvel til tre lejesvende |newspaper=Jyllands-Posten |language=da}}</ref><ref name="bold1">{{cite news |date=27 May 2000 |title=Mange Brøndby-spillere siger farvel |url=http://www.bold.dk/nyt/index.php?vis=4460 |work=bold.dk |language=da}}</ref><ref name="ekstra2">{{cite news |last=Blem |first=Hans Chr. |date=28 May 2000 |title=Storvask i Brøndby |newspaper=Ekstra Bladet |language=da}}</ref> Helland's contract was not renewed in the summer 2000.<ref name="berlingske1">{{cite news |last=de los Reyes |first=Marco |date=22 May 2000 |title=Nye Brøndby-ændringer er på vej |newspaper=Berlingske Tidende |language=da}}</ref>
He returned to Norway and Lillestrøm SK in June 2000.<ref name="ffksupporter1"/> During his spell with Lillestrøm he played 26 league-matches for the club.<ref name="lskhistorikk">{{cite web |last=Nystrøm |first=Kjell |title=Roger Helland |url=http://www.lskhistorikk.com/arkiv/Spillere/Helland_Roger.htm |access-date=28 November 2009 |work=lskhistorikk.com |language=no}}</ref> When Fredrikstad was promoted to the Norwegian First Division in 2002, Helland was signed in December 2002 to strengthen the team.<ref name="ffksupporter1"/> Fredrikstad were promoted again and Helland was back in the Norwegian Premier League with his third team. In the third game of the 2004 season he scored Fredrikstad's first goal in 20 years in the top flight of Norwegian football, when Molde FK was defeated 1–0 at Aker Stadion.<ref name="db">{{cite news |date=25 April 2004 |title=Endelig Fredrikstad |url=http://www.dagbladet.no/sport/2004/04/25/396740.html |access-date=28 November 2009 |publisher=Dagbladet |location=Oslo |language=no}}</ref>
On 13 June 2004, he was back at Brann stadion to play against his old team Brann. The game ended unfortunate for Helland when he was sent off after a questionable decision by the referee.<ref>{{cite web |last=Johannessen |first=Knut |date=14 June 2004 |title=Dommertabben som ødela alt |url=http://www.demokraten.no/lokalsport/article1149512.ece |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722113201/http://www.demokraten.no/lokalsport/article1149512.ece |archive-date=22 July 2011 |access-date=28 November 2009 |publisher=Demokraten |language=no}}</ref> After playing 59 league-matches and scoring 8 goals for Fredrikstad,<ref>{{cite web |title=Roger Helland — Statistikk |url=http://www.ffksupporter.net/spillere/roger_helland/statistikk/ |access-date=28 November 2009 |publisher=ffksupporter.net |language=no}}</ref> Helland retired as a footballer in 2005.<ref name="brann1"/> In 2009, he came back to Brann as a coach for the junior team.<ref name="brann1"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helland, Roger}} Category:1973 births Category:Living people Category:Men's association football midfielders Category:Norwegian men's footballers Category:Norway men's under-21 international footballers Category:Norway men's international footballers Category:SK Brann players Category:Brøndby IF players Category:Lillestrøm SK players Category:Fredrikstad FK players Category:Eliteserien players Category:Danish Superliga players Category:Norwegian First Division players Category:Norwegian expatriate men's footballers Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Category:Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark