Kjetil Knutsen

Norwegian football manager (born 1968)

Kjetil Knutsen (born 2 October 1968) is a Norwegian football coach who manages Bodø/Glimt in Eliteserien.

Career

Knutsen started his manager career at fifth tier club TIL Hovding in 1995, initially as a junior coach, then as head coach. Knutsen would take the team up two divisions in nine years before leaving for a role at top tier side Brann as head of first team development.^[1] He was hired as head coach at Fyllingsdalen in 2012 and then at Åsane in 2014. After Knutsen was sacked from his position as head coach in Åsane, he joined Bodø/Glimt as assistant coach under head coach Aasmund Bjørkan. In 2018, Knutsen became head coach for Bodø/Glimt after Bjørkan became sports director.^[2] They finished the 2019 Eliteserien in second place, and Knutsen received the Eliteserien Coach of the Year award for this accomplishment.

In 2020 he led Bodø/Glimt to their first ever Norwegian national league title, in a record-breaking season where they lost only one game.^[3]In 2021 he led Bodø/Glimt to their second Eliteserien title following a 3–0 win over Mjøndalen.^[4]

In 2021, he led Bodø/Glimt to the club's first group stage in Europe, where his outfit became the first team in history to score six times against a José Mourinho side in a 6–1 victory against Roma at Aspmyra.^[5]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 19 July 2024

Honours

Bodø/Glimt

• Eliteserien: 2020, 2021, 2023

Individual

• Eliteserien Coach of the Year: 2019, 2020, 2021^[6]

References

1. "Hovdings fall". Åsane Tidende. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
2. "Kjetil Knutsen blir hovedtrener i Glimt". Aftenposten. 17 November 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
3. "Rekord-bonanza for Bodø/Glimt i Eliteserien – Her er 10 av dem". nrk.no. 20 December 2020.
4. "Bodø/Glimt Win Second Norwegian League Title". www.lifeinnorway.net. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
5. Delaney, Miguel (13 April 2022). "Brawl between Roma and Bodo/Glimt coaches caught on video". The Independent. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
6. "Kniksens hederspris til Ingrid Hjelmseth og Bjarne Berntsen". eliteserien.no (in Norwegian). Eliteserien. 2 December 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2019.