Guro Bergsvand

Guro Bergsvand (born 3 March 1994) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a defender for English Women's Super League club Brighton & Hove Albion and the Norway women's national team.[3] She got her debut at the national team at the age of 27, and she scored in her first match. After the 2021 season in Toppserien, she was named the players' role model of the year. The jury said that she, among others, was an inspiration for all young players that meet adversity, doubt themselves and need evidence for what might seem impossible, is actually possible.[4]

Guro Bergsvand
Personal information
Date of birth (1994-03-03) 3 March 1994
Place of birth Oslo, Norway
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 Brighton & Hove Albion
Number 5
Youth career
Heming[1]
Lyn
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2017 California Golden Bears[2] 45 (4)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2013 Lyn
2014 Stabæk 6 (0)
2015–2017 Lyn 11 (3)
2018–2019 Stabæk 46 (1)
2020–2023 Brann 53 (9)
2023– Brighton & Hove Albion 14 (0)
International career‡
2010 Norway U16 2 (0)
2012–2013 Norway U19 16 (0)
2019 Norway U23 3 (0)
2021– Norway 23 (4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 October 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 30 July 2023

Club career

Bergsvand started playing football for Heming, before she changed to Lyn at a young age.[5] She was part of the team that took Lyn from division three to the first divisjon, and she became the captain of the team.[6] Before the 2014 season, she went to Stabæk, where she played six matches during the spring in Toppserien,[3][7] before she moved to the USA to play football for California Golden Bears at the University of California, Berkeley.[8] The summer of 2015, she played a few matches for Lyn in 1.divisjon before she returned to USA.[3]

In USA, she tore both her meniscus and one of the cruciate ligaments in the knee after she twisted it. The first time she was back again, she fell and fractured her kneecap.[4] The injuries prevented her from playing the rest of that season in 2015, and the following season.[8]

In 2017, she had again a short stay in Lyn in the first division and she finished her college studies.[3][8]

After returning to Norway, she signed for Stabæk in 2018.[9] After just half of the season, one of the ligaments in the same knee that was previously injured, ruptured.[4] She managed to get back from this injury as well and played the remaining 13 matches in Toppserien and one match in the Norwegian Women's Cup for Stabæk.[3][10] The Summer of 2019, Sandviken wanted to sign her, but she said no since it didn't feel right to leave Stabæk, which at that point was at the bottom of the league. Røa, Vålrenga and Kolbotn were all also among clubs that wanted to sign her.[11]

After it became clear that Stabæk would be relegated, it became official that Bergsvand left the club and signed for Sandviken.[12] She was in 2021 part of the team who won Toppserien for the first time in Sandviken's history. After the season, NTB, Norske Fotballkvinner and Sportkollektivet all placed her on the team of the season.[13][14][15] She extended the contract with Sandviken, who changed name to Brann, after the 2021 season.[16]

Brighton & Hove Albion

On 5 January 2023, Bergsvand signed a two-and-a-half year contract with Brighton & Hove Albion.[17]

International career

She has played matches for U16, U19, U23, and the national team.[3][18] For the U-19 team, she played in the three group matches of the 2013 European Women's U-19 Football Championship .

The first time she was part of the national team was at the age of 27 in September 2021. She got her debut against Armenia, 16 September 2021, and she also scored the first goal of the match in her debut.[19][20] At the 2022 Algarve Cup, she was used in all games involving Norway. She was also used in all three preliminary round matches at the 2022 European Championship, coming on as a substitute twice and starting once. As in third place in the group, the Norwegians were eliminated after the group matches, just like in 2017. Qualified on September 2, 2022, she and her team defeated Belgium 1-0 in the decisive game to win the group for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

On 19 June 2023, she was included in the 23-player Norwegian squad for the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023.[21]

International goals
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.16 September 2021Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway Armenia1–010–02023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
2.26 October 2021 Belgium1–04–0
3.30 November 2021Yerevan Football Academy Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia Armenia8–010–0
4.25 June 2022Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway New Zealand2–02–0Friendly

Honours

Sandviken

  • Toppserien 2021

Individual

  • The player's role model of the year, Toppserien 2021

Personal life

Guro Bergsvand is the daughter of the retired football player Jo Bergsvand.[5][20]

She has a degree in Media studies from the University of California, Berkeley.[9][22] In addition to being a football player, she also works as a marketing consultant.[5][23] She says that she needs to do something outside just playing football, otherwise she would get bored.[5]

References
  1. "To lokale på kretslagssamling". Aftenposten Aften (in Norwegian). 11 March 2009. p. 10.
  2. "7 Guro Bergsvand". California Golden Bears. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  3. Fotballforbund, Norges. "Guro Bergsvand - Profil". fotball.no - Norges Fotballforbund (in Norwegian). Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  4. "Den lange veien til "årets spillerforbilde": - Vet ikke om jeg klarer mer". Toppserien (in Norwegian Bokmål). 15 December 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  5. Haaland, Bernt-Erik (27 February 2020). "(+) Pappa er Vålerenga-legende, men Guro vil vinne gull i Bergen". Bergensavisen (in Norwegian). Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  6. Jacobsen, Arild (12 May 2013). "Bergsvand jublet for Lyn". Nordre Aker Budstikke (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 8 May 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  7. "Guro Bergsvand". Stabæk. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  8. "Guro Bergsvand - Women's Soccer". California Golden Bears Athletics. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  9. "Bergsvand Signs With Stabaek". California Golden Bears Athletics. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  10. Fotballforbund, Norges. "Toppserien 2019 - Terminliste". fotball.no - Norges Fotballforbund (in Norwegian). Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  11. Bergersen, Tormod (14 August 2019). "Sandviken fikk nei i midtstopper-jakten". Bergensavisen (in Norwegian). Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  12. Holmlund, Tor Bjørnar (27 November 2019). "Rykket ned, forlater Stabæk". www.budstikka.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  13. "Her er Årets lag på NTB-børsen!". Toppserien (in Norwegian Bokmål). 2 December 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  14. ALarsen, KristianMoe (15 November 2021). "Årets lag i Toppserien 2021". Norske Fotballkvinner (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  15. av, Skrevet; oss!, reas Kristoffer Berge 01 12 2021 17:36-OPPDATERT 03 12 2021 16:40 Tips oss 40833313 Tips (1 December 2021). "Årets lag i Toppserien 2021". Sportskollektivet (in Norwegian). Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  16. "Stor jubel i Sandviken. Guro Bergsvand forlenger sin kontrakt med oss". Sandviken Toppfotball (in Norwegian Bokmål). 29 September 2021. Archived from the original on 18 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  17. "Guro Bergsvand signs for Albion". www.brightonandhovealbion.com.
  18. AS, TV 2 (15 September 2021). "På vei mot seriegull og debut for landslaget: - So far, so good". TV 2 (in Norwegian). Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  19. Austerheim, Daniel (25 September 2021). "Sandvikens Guro Bergsvand om landslaget: - Trodde jeg var for gammel". Nettavisen (in Norwegian). Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  20. NTB (16 September 2021). "Bergsvand passerte faren med pangdebut". Nettavisen (in Norwegian). Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  21. updated, Jessy Parker Humphreys last (6 June 2023). "Norway Women's World Cup 2023 squad: full 23-player team". fourfourtwo.com. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  22. "Guro Bergsvand er med videre". Stabæk. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  23. "Bli kjent med Guro!". Sandviken Toppfotball (in Norwegian Bokmål). 3 March 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
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