Per Joar Hansen

Per Joar Hansen as head coach of the Norway national under-21 football team (2011)

Per Joar Hansen (born 17 August 1965 in Namsos) is a Norwegian football coach, who grew up in the small community of Trofors in Nordland. He played for and coached Rosenborg BK, and he has coached GIF Sundsvall and Aalesunds FK. He is from 2011 coaching the Norway national under-21 football team.

Player career

Going under the nickname "Perry", he began his career in the lower flight clubs of Mosjøen IL and Steinkjer FK, before he enjoying a brief carrier at Rosenborg BK 1987–89. He contributed to Rosenborg winning The Double in 1988. He then went on to play for lower division clubs Umeå FC (Sweden), Stjørdals-Blink, Strindheim IL, Byåsen IL, Fram Skatval, actually serving as player manager from 1995 in Strindheim, Byåsen and Varden.

Coaching career

From the late 1990s "Perry" first joined the coaching staff of RBK, but went on to Swedish top flight club GIF Sundsvall in the autumn 2001 where he enjoyed great success in his first season.

After just avoiding relegation in 2003 he resigned from the club and returned to RBK, turning down the job as manager of Swedish champions Djurgården of Stockholm. Assistant to Ola By Rise during the not too impressive 2004 season, he was promoted to head coach going into the historic start of the Royal League, the UEFA Champions League of Scandinavian football.

Considered by the press as only the third best man for the position, he led Rosenborg B.K. into a difficult reconstruction process, seeing the stem of the team closing in on retirement from professional football. Half-way into the 2005 season, he chose to give up his position as manager, after a string of bad results, and was immediately replaced by Per-Mathias Høgmo.

Hansen signed a two year long contract with the Adeccoligaen club Aalesunds F.K. December 6, 2005. Aalesunds FK got promoted to Tippeligaen 2006. He left Aalesund and moved back to his former team GIF Sundsvall in December 2007. He was the coach of GIF Sundsvall until 2 October 2008, when he got fired. In the 2009 season he coached Ranheim Fotball in Norwegian Second Division, and the club was promoted to First Division. During the 2010 season he was head of a coaching team including Otto Ulseth and Christer Basma. He is from 2011 coaching the Norway national under-21 football team.