Egil Johan Østenstad (Norwegian pronunciation:[ˈèːɡiːlˈœ̀stn̩stɑː]; born 2 January 1972)^[1] is a Norwegian former professionalfootballer who played as aforward.

Egil Østenstad

Østenstad in 2008
Personal information
Full name	Egil Johan Østenstad
Date of birth	(1972-01-02)2 January 1972 (age 53)
Place of birth	Haugesund, Norway
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
	Torvastad IL
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1990–1996	Viking FK	128	(54)
1996–1999	Southampton	96	(29)
1999–2003	Blackburn Rovers	62	(11)
2001	→Manchester City (loan)	4	(0)
2003–2004	Rangers	11	(0)
2004–2005	Viking FK	33	(16)
Total		334	(111)
International career
1993–2005	Norway	18	(6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He started and ended his career atViking, before going on to play in thePremier League forSouthampton,Blackburn Rovers andManchester City. In 2003 he made a move to theScottish Premier League withRangers before finishing his career back with Viking in 2005. He was capped 18 times byNorway, scoring 6 goals.

Following his retirement he was appointeddirector of football at Viking and remained in the position until stepping down in 2011.

Born inHaugesund, Østenstad started his career with local clubTorvastad IL. He arrived atViking in 1990, and helped the club to win theNorwegian Premier League title in 1991, when he featured in 10 out of the 22 league games. He played a total of 280 games for the club, scoring 88 goals, before moving toSouthampton in theFA Premier League in October 1996.

Østenstad was signed by managerGraeme Souness for £800,000 on 3 October 1996 and made his debut atCoventry City on 13 October 1996. In only his third game for the Saints he opened his goal-scoring account in spectacular fashion with ahat-trick in the 6–3 win againstManchester United on 26 October 1996. Subsequently, theDubious Goals Committee credited his third goal to anown goal byPhil Neville, who touched the ball last in a vain attempt to prevent it from crossing the goal-line, although Østenstad retained the match ball.^[2]

In hisfirst season atThe Dell he led the line well linking up superbly withMatthew Le Tissier andEyal Berkovic scoring nine goals from 30 league appearances and was voted the Fans' player of the season. During the 1997 close season, Østenstad was a transfer target forLiverpool andNewcastle United, but Østenstad remained atThe Dell as neither club was willing to match Southampton's £7 million asking price.^[3]

By the start of the following season, Souness had departed to be replaced byDave Jones fromStockport County. Unfortunately, Eyal Berkovic also departed thus breaking up what had looked like becoming a successful partnership. Østenstad was now paired withKevin Davies in attack but failed to score until a substitute appearance againstWest Ham United on 4 October 1997. Following the signing ofDavid Hirst he was dropped from the team, making only the occasional substitute appearance. After coming off the bench to score in a 3–2 victory overLiverpool on 7 February 1998, he started the remaining 13 league games, scoring eight goals as the Saints finished the1997–98 season in 11th place.

Østenstad was part of theNorway squad for the1998 World Cup held in France, but was given little chance to make any impact.

In the 1998 close season, Kevin Davies departed forBlackburn Rovers, withJames Beattie joining the Saints as part of the deal. Østenstad was now paired up front with veteran strikerMark Hughes. The1998–99 season saw Saints struggle to score goals and they were never out of the relegation zone until the last two weeks of the season. Despite only scoring seven goals, Østenstad was Saints top goal-scorer for the season (jointly with Matthew Le Tissier), but by the end of the season he had lost his starting place in the team toMarians Pahars.

Østenstad started the1999–2000 season brightly, scoring the only goal atCoventry City in the opening game on 7 August 1999. 11 days later, Dave Jones decided to move him on and arranged an exchange deal with Blackburn Rovers withKevin Davies returning to The Dell. This move saw him drop down a division, as Rovers had just been relegated to Division One.

In his three years at the Saints, Østenstad scored 28 goals in 96 league appearances, plus a further five goals in 13 cup games. He was always a popular figure, but sometimes infuriated fans by seeming to miss as many "easy" goals as he scored difficult ones.

Despite being re-united with managerGraeme Souness and dropping down a division, Østenstad struggled to make an impact atEwood Park. He started well, scoring a brace in his second game, in a 2–0 victory atNorwich City on 28 August 1999 and completed the1999–2000 season with eight league goals from 28 appearances, playing alongsideAshley Ward andLee Carsley.

The goals then started to dry up and the following season he only made 13 appearances for Blackburn with three goals. By now, Blackburn were relying on goals fromMatt Jansen andDavid Dunn to see them to promotion. He spent the end of the2000–01 season on loan atManchester City (where he made four appearances with no goals).

In the2001–02 season Østenstad only made four appearances in thePremier League. Rovers won the2001–02 Football League Cup and despite being left out of the squad for the final, Østenstad did appear in some of the earlier rounds.^[4] In the following season, he appeared more regularly and, despite only one league goal in 17 appearances, he did score in aUEFA Cup game againstCSKA Sofia.

In his four seasons at Blackburn, he made a total of 62 league appearances scoring 12 goals.

Østenstad signed for Rangers on a free transfer byAlex McLeish in the summer of 2003. However, he made next to no impact during a very unproductive spell and wound up having his contract terminated before the end of the season.^[5][6] His only two goals at Rangers came in the League Cup in games againstForfar Athletic^[7] andSt Johnstone.^[8]

After his disappointingseason atRangers, he made a long-awaited return to Viking midway through the 2004 season.

He was an instant hit at his old club, scoring three goals in nine games to help save the club from relegation. Although he continued to be a regular starter and a prolific goalscorer, Østenstad retired at the end of the 2005 season. An internet petition for him to stay on for another season collected close to 2500 signatures.^[9]

Østenstad made his debut for theNorway national team in 1993, coming on as a substitute to score twice against theFaroe Islands. He was capped 17 times between 1993 and 1999, mostly as a substitute, and he played in the1998 World Cup in France. Østenstad scored six times for Norway, making him the most efficient marksman in the history of the Norway national team with one goal in every 94 minutes played. On 7 September 2005, more than six years after his last appearance, he made his comeback with the national team, starting in a 2–1 defeat toScotland.

Østenstad retired after the 2005 season. He was thedirector of football for Viking, until he stepped down on 8 June 2011.^[10] Østenstad was also the inspiration for the character "Yngve" in the bookMannen som elsket Yngve (The Man Who Loved Yngve) byTore Renberg. The author and Østenstad went to the same high-school.^[11]

As of 2024, Ostenstad is a key employee of the Haaland family's financial dealings, mainly via his friendship withErling Haaland's father,Alf-Inge.^[12] He is chairman of the latter's investment firm, Tyrannus.^[13]

• Duncan Holley & Gary Chalk (2003).In That Number – A post-war chronicle of Southampton FC. Hagiology Publishing.ISBN 0-9534474-3-X.

• Egil Østenstad at Soccerbase