Lars Tjærnås

Lars Tjærnås
Personal information
Date of birth (1960-03-20) 20 March 1960
Place of birth Oslo, Norway
Youth career
Årvoll
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Årvoll
Managerial career
–1984 Årvoll (youth)
1984 Årvoll
1981 → Bodø/Glimt (youth)
1985–1988 Grei
1989–1990 Mercantile
1991–1992 Bærum
1990s Norway youth national teams
1993–1995 Stabæk
1997 Vålerenga (director of sports)
1998 Vålerenga
1998–1999 Vålerenga (assistant)
1999–2000 Wimbledon (assistant)
2000 L/F Hønefoss
2001 Lillestrøm (developer)
2002–2003 Hønefoss
2004–2005 Kongsberg (director of sports)
2006–2008 Hamkam (director of sports)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Lars Tjærnås (born 20 March 1960)[1] is a Norwegian football manager. He notably managed Stabæk and Vålerenga in the Eliteserien, managed Bærum, Stabæk and Hønefoss in Norway's second league, and was assistant manager of Wimbledon.

Early career

He played youth football for Årvoll IL, among others reaching the semi-final of the 1977 Norwegian Youth Cup, with teammates such as André Krogsæter.[2] He started his coaching career in the same club while still being a teenager.[3]

In 1981 he had a spell coaching a boys' team in Bodø/Glimt, while he was summoned for compulsory military service in Bodø.[4] In 1985 Tjærnås went from the senior team of Årvoll to SF Grei,[5] leading the team to three straight promotions from the Sixth to the Third Division. Ahead of the 1988 season he almost took the helm at Odds BK,[6][7] but the move did not come to fruition.[8] In 1989 he took over a different Oslo club, Mercantile SFK.[9] Tjærnås concurrently coached youth national teams, including Norway U17,[10] later U18 and U20,[4] and had various other tasks within the Football Association, including the scouting of Norway's opponents during the 1994 FIFA World Cup.[11]

From 1991 he managed Bærum SK, the second year as co-coach with Tom Nordlie. Bærum won promotion from the 1991 Second Division to the second tier. Tjærnås resigned after the 1992 season.[12][13] It then emerged that Tjærnås took over as the manager of Bærum's then-challengers, Stabæk.[14] He led Stabæk to promotions from the 1993 Second Division and 1994 First Division, to its debut season on the first tier in 1995. Stabæk even saved their berth in that league. Having achieved that, however, Tjærnås resigned because thinking about tactics all the time was taxing on him and his family life. He reportedly rejected advances from Lillestrøm SK and IK Start to become manager there. Tjærnås intermittently found work in the Football Association working with player development and also helped the Norway women's national football team prepare for the 1996 Olympics.[15]

In 1997, Tjærnås began as a football commentator for television.[16] He was notably the sidekick commentator to NRK's Arne Scheie during the 1998 FIFA World Cup match where Norway beat Brazil, a match Tjærnås later wrote a book on: Vi har scoret i Marseille, released by Gyldendal in 2013.[17][18]

Ahead of the 1996 and 1997 seasons, Tjærnås was in contact with two respective clubs, first Tromsø IL and then Bodø/Glimt, about the managerial positions.[4][19][20] Tjærnås ultimately embarked on a job in Oslo's biggest club Vålerenga. Under manager Vidar Davidsen the team won promotion from the 1997 First Division and won the 1997 cup, but by that time, Tjærnås had already been announced as Davidsen's successor in 1998.[21] By August 1998, Tjærnås asked to be replaced, and Vålerenga brought in the now ex-national team coach, Egil Olsen with Tjærnås assuming the position as Olsen's assistant.[22] When Olsen was surprisingly recruited to Wimbledon F.C. in 1999 by the club's new Norwegian owners, Tjærnås came along as assistant manager there as well.[23] The duo were sacked in 2000. Formally, it was the new manager Terry Burton who did not wish to continue with Tjærnås as assistant.[24]

In the early summer of 2000, Tjærnås declined to take the manager job of Austrian club SW Bregenz.[25] He has described this as his biggest regret.[26] Back in Norway, Tjærnås took over L/F Hønefoss in July 2000 to save the team from relegation from the 2000 First Division.[27] He only worked throughout the season, then took one year as player developer in Lillestrøm SK,[28][29] before again committing to Hønefoss ahead of the 2002 season.[30] He led the team to high placements in the First Division, with the club also changing its name to Hønefoss BK. Tjærnås resigned after the 2003 season, after he began experiencing voice loss.[16][31]

In this period, Tjærnås declined multiple advances or prospects from clubs regarding managerial positions, including Sandefjord[32] and Follo.[33] To spare his voice he did newspaper interviews in writing. Instead of coaching, he took a more administrative role as director of sports, first in minnows Kongsberg IF through football commentator colleague Kenneth Fredheim.[34][35] He then worked that job in addition to leading a development project for Asker,[36][37] in addition to taking scouting assignments.[38]

From 2006 Tjærnås was the director of sports for Hamarkameratene, but let his contract run out after three years to again concentrate more on his TV work as well as a column in Aftenposten.[39] Tjærnås continued as a TV commentator for decades.[40] In 2013, he criticized Norway's national team—once again coached by Egil Olsen—for being "bad as shit", but when Olsen was sacked later the same month, Tjærnås lauded the manager and called for the construction of a statue of Olsen.[41][42]

He also accepted an offer in July 2009 to become Fredrikstad FK's chief analyst.[43] His job was cut from the budget in March 2010.[44] In May 2010, Tjærnås was almost hired for his third stint in Hønefoss, but the Football Association did not sanction the plan the club laid out.[45][46][47]

Tjærnås was also chief scout for Brann from 2015 to 2017,[48][49] followed by the years 2018 to 2020 when he was the chief scout for Vålerenga, leading a team of 14 scouts.[50] After that he advised IK Start in their scouting.[51][52]

References

  1. ↑ Lars Tjærnås at WorldFootball.net
  2. ↑ "Storseier til Årvoll. Møter Mjøndalen i junior-semifinalen". Arbeiderbladet (in Norwegian). 27 September 1977.
  3. ↑ "Dynamisk trener for representasjonslaget". Akers Avis Groruddalen (in Norwegian). 13 September 1978.
  4. 1 2 3 "– Stolt over at TIL ringte". Tromsø (in Norwegian). 28 August 1996.
  5. ↑ "Årvoll kom på 3. plass". Akers Avis Groruddalen (in Norwegian). 3 October 1984.
  6. ↑ "Overtar han Odd-skuta?". Telemark Arbeiderblad (in Norwegian). 17 September 1987.
  7. ↑ "– Vi vil ha Lars Tjærnås". Telemark Arbeiderblad (in Norwegian). 22 September 1987.
  8. ↑ "Tjærnås-nei til Odd". Porsgrunns Dagblad (in Norwegian). 29 September 1987.
  9. ↑ "Tjærnås til Mercantile". Telemark Arbeiderblad (in Norwegian). 7 October 1988.
  10. ↑ "Svenskeflaksen senket Amund og Norge - 0-2!". Østlendingen (in Norwegian). 19 August 1992.
  11. ↑ "Suksessen belønnes med blodslit". Asker og Bærums Budstikke (in Norwegian). 13 June 1994.
  12. ↑ "Lars Tjærnås slutter". Asker og Bærums Budstikke (in Norwegian). 31 August 1992.
  13. ↑ "Tjærnås vil bli savnet". Asker og Bærums Budstikke (in Norwegian). 1 September 1992.
  14. ↑ "Farvel og velkommen". Asker og Bærums Budstikke (in Norwegian). 18 September 1992.
  15. ↑ "Lars sulten på mer". Bladet Fotball (in Norwegian). No. 4. 1996.
  16. 1 2 "– Sykdommen åpnet øynene mine". Ringerikes Blad (in Norwegian). 10 December 2003.
  17. ↑ "Se Scheie og Tjærnås gjenskape magien fra Marseille i 98". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). 12 December 2013.
  18. ↑ "Da Drillo var helten". Dagsavisen (in Norwegian). 18 October 2013.
  19. ↑ "... og her er erstatteren?". Nordlandsposten (in Norwegian). 1 November 1996.
  20. ↑ "Tjernås blir i VIF". Nordlands Framtid (in Norwegian). 5 November 1996.
  21. ↑ "– Vil savne Vidar". Dagsavisen Arbeiderbladet (in Norwegian). 29 October 1997.
  22. ↑ "Drillo berget Tjærnås". Dagbladet (in Norwegian). 5 August 1998. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  23. ↑ "Vil drille spillestil". Adresseavisen (in Norwegian). 8 July 1999. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  24. ↑ Ulseth, Otto. Med Drillo i Premier League (in Norwegian). Oslo: Tiden. pp. 210–216. ISBN 8210045806.
  25. ↑ "Tjærnås-nei til Østerrike". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 2 June 2000.
  26. ↑ "Speider på ego-tripp". Dagsavisen (in Norwegian). 9 February 2018.
  27. ↑ "Full innsats på den første treningen". Ringerikes Blad (in Norwegian). 11 July 2000.
  28. ↑ "Sa ja – fem år etter". Romerikes Blad (in Norwegian). 15 August 2000.
  29. ↑ "'Lillestrøm for meg er ujålete mannfolk'". Romerikes Blad (in Norwegian). 28 November 2000.
  30. ↑ "Valgte L/F Hønefoss til slutt". Ringerikes Blad (in Norwegian). 19 September 2001.
  31. ↑ "Kommentator uten stemme". VG (in Norwegian). 18 March 2004.
  32. ↑ "Ikke aktuelle for SF". Sandefjords Blad (in Norwegian). 26 September 2003.
  33. ↑ "Aktuell som Follo-trener". Østlandets Blad (in Norwegian). 8 October 2004.
  34. ↑ "Best med ball". Laagendalsposten (in Norwegian). 21 May 2005.
  35. ↑ "Tjærnås leder nytt fotballakademi". Laagendalsposten (in Norwegian). 18 March 2005.
  36. ↑ "Slik skal Asker bli et topplag". Budstikka (in Norwegian). 23 November 2004.
  37. ↑ "Tjærnås mystisk syk". Budstikka (in Norwegian). 27 November 2004.
  38. ↑ "Tjærnås snakket med Aasen". Hamar Arbeiderblad (in Norwegian). 7 September 2004.
  39. ↑ "Tjærnås slutter i HamKam" (in Norwegian). NRK. 16 December 2008.
  40. ↑ "Nå stemmer det for Tjærnås". VG (in Norwegian). 11 October 2022.
  41. ↑ "Lars Tjærnås langer ut mot Drillo: – Vi er drittdårlige" (in Norwegian). TV 2. 23 September 2013. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  42. ↑ "Lars Tjærnås vil ha Drillo på sokkel" (in Norwegian). NRK. 17 October 2013. Retrieved 13 July 2026.
  43. ↑ "Inn i FFKs trenerteam på et blunk". Fredriksstad Blad (in Norwegian). 22 July 2009.
  44. ↑ "– Angrer ikke på tiden i FFK". Fredriksstad Blad (in Norwegian). 27 March 2010.
  45. ↑ "- Tjærnås overtar Hønefoss". Nettavisen (in Norwegian). 9 May 2010.
  46. ↑ "Han blir trolig ny trener i Hønefoss". NRK (in Norwegian). 14 May 2010.
  47. ↑ "Utvidet trenerfrist for Hønefoss". TV 2 (in Norwegian). 22 May 2010.
  48. ↑ "Tjærnås blir Branns nye speider". VG (in Norwegian). 28 February 2015.
  49. ↑ "Nå slutter fotballprofilen i Brann: Trekker frem tre utfordringer med jobben". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 26 October 2017.
  50. ↑ "Lars Tjærnås har fått ny speiderjobb". Bergens Tidende (in Norwegian). NTB. 7 December 2017.
  51. ↑ "Skal hente flere spillere. Kjent fotballprofil hjelper Start i spillerjakten". Fædrelandsvennen (in Norwegian). 9 July 2021.
  52. ↑ "Han er viktig i Starts jakt etter nye spillere. Dette sier han om jobben som er blitt gjort". Adresseavisen (in Norwegian). 31 January 2022.
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