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Kjetil Knutsen

Kjetil Knutsen (born 2 October 1968) is a Norwegian football coach who is the current manager of Eliteserien club Bodø/Glimt. He has won four national league titles with the club, leading them to their first ever league title in 2020, and been awarded the Eliteserien Coach of the Year three years in a row. Knutsen led Bodø/Glimt to their debut in the group stage of a major European tournament during the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League and the semi-finals of the 2024–25 UEFA Europa League, where they became the first Norwegian team to reach the semi-finals of a major European competition.

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 moved to the role of sports director.[2] The team finished the 2019 Eliteserien in second place, and Knutsen received the Eliteserien Coach of the Year award for this accomplishment. In 2020, Knutsen led Bodø/Glimt to their first ever Norwegian national league title, in a record-breaking season where they lost only one game, and he was again awarded Coach of the Year.[3] In 2021, the team won their second Eliteserien title and Knutsen was awarded Coach of the Year for a third consecutive time. That same season, Knutsen led Bodø/Glimt to the group stage of the UEFA Conference League, the club's debut in the group stage of a European tournament, 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.[4][5] The team reached the quarter-finals before being knocked out by future champions Roma 5–2 on aggregate.

In 2022, Bodø/Glimt placed second in the league and reached the play-off round of the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League, where they lost to Dinamo Zagreb 4–2 on aggregate. The team competed in the group stage of the 2022–23 UEFA Europa League, finishing third in their group, and was later knocked out of the Conference League by Lech Poznań in the knockout round play-offs 1–0 on aggregate. Knutsen led Bodø/Glimt to a third national league title in 2023 and the knockout round play-offs of the Conference League, where they lost to Ajax 4–3 on aggregate.

Bodø/Glimt claimed a fourth league title in 2024 and reached the play-off round of the 2024–25 Champions League, where they lost to Red Star Belgrade 3–2 on aggregate. The team qualified for the 2024–25 Europa League knockout phase after finishing ninth in the league phase. Knutsen led Bodø/Glimt to the Europa League semi-finals after beating Lazio 2–3 in a penalty shoot-out, following a 3–3 draw on aggregate, becoming the first Norwegian team to reach the semi-finals of a major European competition.[6][7]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 1 May 2025
Team From To Record
G W D L Win %
Fyllingsdalen 28 August 2009 15 October 2013 93 58 12 23 062.37
Åsane 1 January 2014 31 December 2016 95 40 24 31 042.11
Bodø/Glimt 1 January 2018 Present 320 189 68 63 059.06
Total 508 287 104 117 056.50

Honours

Bodø/Glimt

Individual

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Hovdings fall". Åsane Tidende. 20 October 2020. Archived from the original on 23 October 2021. 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. 12 December 2021. 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. ^ UEFA.com (17 April 2025). "Lazio 3–1 Bodø/Glimt (agg: 3–3, 2–3 pens): Norwegian side make history after shoot-out victory | UEFA Europa League". UEFA.com. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
  7. ^ "Europa League | Lazio 3–1 Bodo/Glimt (3–3 agg): Aquile pay the penalty". football-italia.net. 17 April 2025. Retrieved 17 April 2025.
  8. ^ "Kniksens hederspris til Ingrid Hjelmseth og Bjarne Berntsen". eliteserien.no (in Norwegian). Eliteserien. 2 December 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2019.