Tor Hogne Aarøy

Tor Hogne Aarøy
Personal information
Full name Tor Hogne Aarøy
Date of birth (1977-03-20) 20 March 1977 (age 47)
Place of birth Ålesund, Norway
Height 2.04 m (6 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–1997 Spjelkavik IL
1997 Aalesund
1998 Frigg
1998–1999 Spjelkavik IL
1999–2000 Rosenborg 1 (0)
2001–2011 Aalesund 242 (90)
2011–2012 JEF United Chiba 35 (6)
2013–2014 Aalesund 32 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Tor Hogne Aarøy (born 20 March 1977) is a Norwegian former football forward. Standing 2.04 m (6 ft 8+1⁄2 in) tall, Aarøy is one of the world's tallest professional footballers. In a video game by EA Sports, FIFA 15, he is credited as the tallest player in the game, at 6'8.[1]

Club career

Early career

Aarøy began his career with Spjelkavik IL, He then had short spells at Aalesund and Frigg, before returning to Spjelkavik in August 1998. Aarøy was signed by Rosenborg in the summer of 1999, and spent little over a year at the club. However, his time with Rosenborg was marred by injuries.

Aalesund

At the start of the 2001 season he joined second-tier club Aalesund, having previously had a short spell with the club in the autumn of 1997. In his first season back, he scored 11 goals in 26 games. The next season, he would help Aalesund win promotion to the Norwegian top league for the first time in their history, ending second top goalscorer with 17 goals. The 2003 season was a failure, despite 6 goals for Aarøy, the team finished second last and was relegated. In 2004, he had a decent season and Aalesund was promoted back. 2005 was another poor season, with Aalesund once again relegated. Right before the 2006 season he got a new partner, Dedé Anderson with whom he formed a great striking partnership. During the 2006 season he managed to score 12 goals while Dedé scored 14. In 2007, Aarøy played 20 top division games, scoring 6 goals.[citation needed]

Move to J. League

In 2011 Aarøy moved to Japan to play for J2 League team JEF United Chiba. On 6 March 2011, he scored his debut goal for Chiba against Giravanz Kitakyushu. On 24 April, his second league goal against FC Tokyo came from Australia international Mark Milligan's long throw.[2] On 3 October 2012 he announced that he was leaving JEF United Chiba at the end of 2012 season. He is not being used by Chiba manager, Takashi Kiyama. Aarøy returned to Norway and Aalesund in 2013, where he played his last two seasons of his career.[3]

International career

Aarøy was called up to the Norwegian national team on 27 January 2009, as a part of caretaker coach Egil Olsen's first squad.[4] He eventually opted to withdraw from the squad to stay home awaiting the birth of his second child.[5]

Club statistics

Club performance League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Norway League Norwegian Cup Europe Total
1999 Rosenborg Tippeligaen 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 0
2000 Tippeligaen 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2001 Aalesund 1. divisjon 26 12 0 0 0 0 26 12
2002 1. divisjon 30 17 4 2 0 0 34 19
2003 Tippeligaen 23 6 4 3 0 0 27 9
2004 1. divisjon 13 6 0 0 0 0 13 6
2005 Tippeligaen 20 4 3 4 0 0 23 8
2006 1. divisjon 27 12 2 0 0 0 29 12
2007 Tippeligaen 20 6 3 1 0 0 23 7
2008 Tippeligaen 26 9 4 4 0 0 30 17
2009 Tippeligaen 27 6 6 3 0 0 33 9
2010 Tippeligaen 30 12 2 0 2 0 34 12
Japan League Emperor's Cup J.League Cup Total
2011 JEF United Chiba J2 League 20 5 0 0 – 20 5
2012 J2 League 15 1 1 0 – 16 1
Norway League Norwegian Cup Europe Total
2013 Aalesund Tippeligaen 13 0 2 0 0 0 15 0
2014 Tippeligaen 19 1 4 2 0 0 23 3
Total Norway 274 91 34 21 3 0 311 114
Japan 35 6 1 0 – 36 6
Career total 309 97 35 21 3 0 347 120
  • 2008 season also includes play-off matches (2 games, 4 goals)
  • Blank space means zero games or goals. ? = number not verified

References

  1. ^ "Top five: World's tallest footballers". Give Me Sport. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  2. ^ "On the Gas: Chiba 3-0 FC Tokyo: J2 Matchday 2". Smp. 24 April 2011. Archived from the original on 23 August 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  3. ^ "Frustrert Aarøy ute i kulda i Japan". Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  4. ^ Råve, Geir (27 January 2009). "Drillo tok Aarøy på senga". ABC Nyheter (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 9 March 2009. Retrieved 27 January 2009.
  5. ^ Løvoll, Karl-Petter (8 February 2009). "Melder forfall til Drillo". Smp (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2009.