Tor Hogne Aarøy
# Tor Hogne Aarøy

Tor Hogne Aarøy (born 20 March 1977) is a Norwegian former football forward. Standing 2.04 m (6 ft 8+1⁄2 in) tall, Aarøy is one of the world's tallest professional footballers. In a video game by EA Sports, FIFA 15, he is credited as the tallest player in the game, at 6'8.

## Club career

### Early career

Aarøy began his career with Spjelkavik IL, He then had short spells at Aalesund and Frigg, before returning to Spjelkavik in August 1998. Aarøy was signed by Rosenborg in the summer of 1999, and spent little over a year at the club. However, his time with Rosenborg was marred by injuries.

### Aalesund

At the start of the 2001 season he joined second-tier club Aalesund, having previously had a short spell with the club in the autumn of 1997. In his first season back, he scored 11 goals in 26 games. The next season, he would help Aalesund win promotion to the Norwegian top league for the first time in their history, ending second top goalscorer with 17 goals. The 2003 season was a failure, despite 6 goals for Aarøy, the team finished second last and was relegated. In 2004, he had a decent season and Aalesund was promoted back. 2005 was another poor season, with Aalesund once again relegated. Right before the 2006 season he got a new partner, Dedé Anderson with whom he formed a great striking partnership. During the 2006 season he managed to score 12 goals while Dedé scored 14. In 2007, Aarøy played 20 top division games, scoring 6 goals.

### Move to J. League

In 2011 Aarøy moved to Japan to play for J2 League team JEF United Chiba. On 6 March 2011, he scored his debut goal for Chiba against Giravanz Kitakyushu. On 24 April, his second league goal against FC Tokyo came from Australia international Mark Milligan's long throw. On 3 October 2012 he announced that he was leaving JEF United Chiba at the end of 2012 season. He is not being used by Chiba manager, Takashi Kiyama. Aarøy returned to Norway and Aalesund in 2013, where he played his last two seasons of his career.

## International career

Aarøy was called up to the Norwegian national team on 27 January 2009, as a part of caretaker coach Egil Olsen's first squad. He eventually opted to withdraw from the squad to stay home awaiting the birth of his second child.

## Club statistics

| Club performance | Club performance | Club performance | League | League | Cup | Cup | Continental | Continental | Total | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Norway | Norway | Norway | League | League | Norwegian Cup | Norwegian Cup | Europe | Europe | Total | Total |
| 1999 | Rosenborg | Tippeligaen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2000 | Rosenborg | Tippeligaen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2001 | Aalesund | 1. divisjon | 26 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 12 |
| 2002 | Aalesund | 1. divisjon | 30 | 17 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 19 |
| 2003 | Aalesund | Tippeligaen | 23 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 9 |
| 2004 | Aalesund | 1. divisjon | 13 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 6 |
| 2005 | Aalesund | Tippeligaen | 20 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 8 |
| 2006 | Aalesund | 1. divisjon | 27 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 12 |
| 2007 | Aalesund | Tippeligaen | 20 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 7 |
| 2008 | Aalesund | Tippeligaen | 26 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 17 |
| 2009 | Aalesund | Tippeligaen | 27 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 9 |
| 2010 | Aalesund | Tippeligaen | 30 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 34 | 12 |
| Japan | Japan | Japan | League | League | Emperor's Cup | Emperor's Cup | J.League Cup | J.League Cup | Total | Total |
| 2011 | JEF United Chiba | J2 League | 20 | 5 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 20 | 5 |
| 2012 | JEF United Chiba | J2 League | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 16 | 1 |
| Norway | Norway | Norway | League | League | Norwegian Cup | Norwegian Cup | Europe | Europe | Total | Total |
| 2013 | Aalesund | Tippeligaen | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| 2014 | Aalesund | Tippeligaen | 19 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 3 |
| Total | Norway | Norway | 274 | 91 | 34 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 311 | 114 |
| Total | Japan | Japan | 35 | 6 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 36 | 6 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 309 | 97 | 35 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 347 | 120 |

* 2008 season also includes play-off matches (2 games, 4 goals)
* Blank space means zero games or goals. ? = number not verified
