Erik Mykland (EN)
Erik Mykland was born in Risør in 1971.
Erik Mykland began his football journey in Risør before moving to Bryne and eventually being snapped up by Start in 1989. Just a year later, he made his debut for the Norwegian national team in a friendly against Tunisia. Over his international career, Mykland earned 78 caps and scored twice, representing Norway at the 1994 and 1998 World Cups, as well as the 2000 European Championship.
At Start, he made 189 appearances and scored 11 goals before embarking on a European adventure. After a brief loan at FC Utrecht in 1995, he joined FC Linz in 1996, then spent three successful seasons with Greek giants Panathinaikos from 1997 to 2000. He went on to play a season with German side 1860 Munich before moving to FC Copenhagen, where he stayed until forced to retire in 2004 due to a knee injury.
Then came a highly emotional comeback against Sandnes Ulf on 5 October 2008. In front of more than 11,000 spectators at Sør Arena, he stepped onto the pitch and, in just over half an hour, proved he hadn’t forgotten his old skills. He had been away from football for five years and absent from IK Start for 12, but finally he was back in his familiar jersey: number 7! A solo performance that truly commanded respect.
After a total of nine appearances for Start across the 2008 and 2009 seasons, seven of them in the Tippeligaen, Erik Mykland finally hung up his boots as a professional footballer in June 2009.
It was the end of an era—a farewell to a true legend of Norwegian football.
