Brede Hangeland

Brede Hangeland

Hangeland in August 2012
Personal information
Full name	Brede Paulsen Hangeland
Date of birth	(1981-06-20) 20 June 1981 (age 35)
Place of birth	Houston, Texas, United States
Height	1.99 m (6 ft 6 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Centre back
Youth career
1998–2000	Vidar
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2000–2005	Viking	114	(6)
2006–2008	Copenhagen	63	(3)
2008–2014	Fulham	217	(8)
2014–2016	Crystal Palace	21	(2)
Total		415	(19)
National team‡
2001–2003	Norway U21	12	(0)
2002–2014	Norway	91	(4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:38, 19 June 2016 (UTC). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19 August 2014

Brede Paulsen Hangeland (born 20 June 1981) is a retired Norwegian professional footballer who played as a central defender.

He began his career with Viking, where he won the Norwegian Cup in 2001. In 2006 he moved to F.C. Copenhagen, and went on to win two Danish Superliga titles at the club. From 2008 to 2014 he played for Fulham, helping the team to the 2010 UEFA Cup Final, but was released in 2014 after the club's relegation, subsequently joining Crystal Palace.

Hangeland played for the Norway national team between 2002 and 2014. He was the team captain from 2008 until his resignation, and in total he played 91 matches and scored 4 goals.

The son of a Norwegian oil company worker, Hangeland was born in Houston, Texas during his parents' two-year spell in the United States, but grew up in Stavanger. Since moving back to Stavanger, Hangeland said on America, quoting: "We were there for a short period in 1980/81, which is when I was born and then we went back home, so obviously I don’t remember too much about my time there!" Hangeland arrived at Viking from local club FK Vidar at the start of the 2001 season. He helped win the Norwegian cup in his debut season, playing as a central defensive midfielder in the 3–0 victory over rivals Bryne FK in the final. In 2005, he was made captain of Viking. When he left Viking he had played a total of 187 games for the club.

On 16 January 2006 he signed a contract with the Danish club F.C. Copenhagen. The tall defender made an impact right from the start together with Danish captain Michael Gravgaard and the two defenders were feared. Because of their height and dominance when it came to headers, they were known as the Copenhagen Air Force. With several great performances in the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League group stage Brede Hangeland was linked with numerous big clubs around Europe. During his time at Copenhagen, Hangeland won the Danish Superliga twice and the Royal League once. He played in 63 league games, scoring three times and total played over 100 games in the different tournaments.