Roald Jensen

Roald Jensen (11 January 1943 – 6 October 1987), nicknamed "Kniksen", was one of Norway's most celebrated football players.

He played for SK Brann and Heart of Midlothian F.C. ("Hearts").

Knicksen is a local Bergen word meaning "juggler".

From an early age, Jensen was interested in football.

In 1959, SK Brann's junior team won the National Championship.

The final at Brann Stadion was attended by 16,000 people.

Jensen finished high school and attended Bergen Technical School for two years, before he decided to concentrate on football.

He played all six of the remaining games of the 1959–60 league season, scoring two goals.

Despite Roald Jensen's early success, Brann was relegated to the regional league Landsdelserien ("Regional series").

He made his senior-team debut with Brann in 1960, while still only 17.

He made his debut for the Norway national team the same year.

Jensen played his first senior match for Brann against Viking in April 1960.

Because he was only 17, the club had to get a special permit in order to use him.

Roald Jensen played all eight games in the Landsdelserien in the fall of 1960.

Roald Jensen soon became famous for his ball control and his accurate shots and passes.

He became Norway's biggest sports star and a darling of the media, and earned the moniker "Kniksen", which translates into "juggler" in English.

Brann, with Jensen, won the league in 1961–62 and in 1963.

After the 1961 spring season, Brann were promoted from Landsdelserien.

Jensen also played in all of Brann's games in the Norwegian cup in 1961, which ended in October when Fredrikstad FK defeated them in the semifinal at Brann Stadion.

The attendance for that game, 24,800 people, is to this day the record at Brann stadium.

Jensen was in and out of the national team in 1961, but played seven games.

The Norwegian League system was reorganized, and the autumn season was the start of a marathon campaign that lasted throughout 1962.

Ten out of 30 games were played that autumn, and Jensen was on the pitch in all of the games, scoring five goals.

After Brann's relegation in 1964, Jensen transferred to professional football in Scotland as Heart of Midlothian's first non-British player.

While he was in Scotland, Jensen was unable to play for Norway, as the national team did not allow professional players at that time.

In 1971 Jensen returned to Brann and won the Norwegian championship (cup) with the club in 1972.

Jensen retired from football after the 1973 season, when he was 30 years old.

Jensen died in 1987 while playing football for Brann's old-boys' team.

The Kniksen award, a prize that acclaims the best players in Norwegian football, is named after Jensen.

In 1995 a statue of Jensen was erected outside Brann Stadion in Bergen.

Roald Jensen was born in Bergen, Norway and grew up at Eidsvågsneset, Bergen.

He was the son of architect Karl Ingolf Jensen and Kirsten Alice Rokne.

His brother Kjell Jensen was also a footballer.

As a child, Jensen played in the garden with a football for hours on end.

In the SK Brann club biography, Gje meg en B - !, Boka om Brann, he describes a situation when he lost a small ball he got when he was four years old as the most unhappy time of his life.

When he was ten years old, he was a founding member of a football club called Dynamo.

In a game Dynamo won 22–0, Jensen scored 15 goals.

Jensen was also a member of the buekorps ("Archery Brigade") Nordnæs Bataillon.

Jensen joined Brann at age 13, and dominated on the club's youth teams.

Even as a youth player, he was noticed for his extreme technical skills.