Ole Martin Årst

Ole Martin Årst (born 19 July 1974) is a Norwegian retired professional footballer who played as a forward. He is a former top scorer in both Belgium's and Norway's top leagues.

Club career The son of a naval officer, Ole Martin Årst was born in Bergen and spent his childhood years in Harstad and Sortland before settling in Tromsø at age 11. He made his professional debut for Tromsø IL on 22 April 1995 against Hamarkameratene at Briskeby stadion. After the 1997 season he was sold to Anderlecht for . He then moved to K.A.A. Gent in Belgium and became as a top scorer in 2000 with 30 goals. Then Standard Liège signed him for NOK 24 million. He returned to Tromsø IL in the summer of 2003 for .

Årst became the top scorer in the Tippeligaen 2005, with 16 goals. After a hat-trick against IK Start on 2 October 2005 Årst was ranked as the top league scorer of all times in Tromsø IL with 51 goals. On 9 July 2007, he transferred to IK Start.

Start went down that season, but as Start won a direct promotion in 2008, Årst did not participate in any games due to a serious injury. The same injury limited him to only two games in the 2009 season.

He announced his retirement in October 2009.

He made a comeback for the club in a friendly match in early 2010. He then signed a contract for the duration of 2010, with possibilities of renewal.

Årst signed a one-year deal with Tromsø IL ahead of the 2012 Tippeligaen season. This was his third spell at the club.

International career Årst made his debut for the Norway national team in a January 2000 friendly match against Iceland and went on to earn 22 caps, scoring two goals.

Career statistics

Honours Tromsø Norwegian Cup: 1996

Individual Belgian First Division top scorer: 2000 Tippeligaen top scorer: 2005 Kniksen award: striker of the year: 2005