Ronny Deila facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Ronny Deila

Deila as manager of Celtic in 2016
Personal information
Full name	Ronny Deila
Date of birth	(1975-09-21) 21 September 1975 (age 49)
Place of birth	Porsgrunn, Norway
Height	1.88 m
Playing position	Centre-back
Club information
Current club	Atlanta United (head coach)
Youth career
	Urædd
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1992–1993	Urædd	16	(0)
1993–2004	Odd	240	(22)
2004–2005	Viking	23	(0)
2006–2008	Strømsgodset	43	(6)
2009–2011	Sparta Bragerøen	30	(4)
Total		352	(32)
National team
1992–1993	Norway U17	9	(0)
1994	Norway U18	3	(0)
1996	Norway U21	2	(0)
Teams managed
2005	Brodd
2008–2014	Strømsgodset
2014–2016	Celtic
2017–2020	Vålerenga
2020–2022	New York City
2022–2023	Standard Liège
2023–2024	Club Brugge
2024	Al Wahda
2024–	Atlanta United
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Ronny Deila (born 21 September 1975) is a Norwegian football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach of Atlanta United in Major League Soccer.

Deila spent most of his playing career at Odd. Later, as a coach, he led Strømsgodset to win the Norwegian Cup in 2010 and the Norwegian League title in 2013. He then managed Celtic for two seasons (2014–15 and 2015–16), winning the Scottish Premiership twice and the Scottish League Cup in 2014–15. Deila also won the MLS Cup 2021 with New York City.

Ronny Deila's Football Journey

Playing Days

Ronny Deila started his football career playing for a smaller club called Urædd. He then moved to Odd, where he became a very important player in their defense.

In 2000, he helped Odd win the Norwegian Cup Final by beating Viking 2–1. This was his biggest trophy as a player.

After Odd, he played for Viking in 2004. In 2006, he joined Strømsgodset as both a player and an assistant coach.

Even when he started coaching Strømsgodset in 2009, he also played part-time for a lower league team, Sparta Bragerøen, until 2011.

Deila played nine games for Norway's under-17 team and two games for the under-21 team in 1996. He never played for the senior national team.

Becoming a Coach

Deila as manager of Strømsgodset in 2012

After leaving Viking, Deila briefly coached Brodd, a fourth-tier club in Norway, in 2005. He then joined Strømsgodset in 2006 as a player and assistant coach. He worked under head coach Dag-Eilev Fagermo until the end of 2007.

When Fagermo left, the club's sporting director, Jostein Flo, made Deila the new head coach of Strømsgodset. At this point, Deila stopped playing football professionally.

Success at Strømsgodset

In his first two seasons as head coach, the team faced challenges to avoid being moved down to a lower league. However, Deila's style of playing attacking football started to work well. Strømsgodset began to finish higher in the Norwegian league.

In 2010, he led them to win the Norwegian Cup. Then, in 2013, he won the Tippeligaen (the top Norwegian league) with Strømsgodset. This was their first league title in 43 years! In the same year, Deila also won the Kniksen Award for Coach of the Year.

Deila was always eager to learn new coaching ideas from other clubs. He visited big teams like Manchester City, Barcelona, and Ajax to learn more. After the 2013 season, he also traveled to Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool to study their coaching methods.

By May 2014, Strømsgodset was second in the league. They had an amazing home record under Deila, going 44 league games unbeaten at their Marienlyst Stadium since June 2011. This was almost the all-time Norwegian record.

Managing Celtic

On June 6, 2014, Ronny Deila became the manager of Scottish Premiership club Celtic. He said it was a "magnificent honor" and wanted his team to play "attacking, exciting and entertaining football."

Eleven days later, John Collins, a former Celtic player, joined as his assistant. Deila called Collins a "first-class coach" who shared similar ideas about football.

Deila's first official game for Celtic was a Champions League qualifying match against KR Reykjavik on July 15, 2014. Celtic won 1–0. They won the second game 4–0, making the total score 5–0.

In the next round, Celtic lost 6–1 to Legia Warsaw. But Celtic got a second chance because Legia had used a player who wasn't allowed to play. UEFA gave Celtic a 3–0 win for that game, which meant Celtic moved forward on away goals. Celtic then played Maribor and lost, so they moved to the Europa League.

On August 13, Deila won his first Scottish Premiership game, beating St Johnstone 3–0. His first home game at Parkhead was a big 6–1 win against Dundee United.

Celtic started the league season a bit slowly, but they got much better as the season went on. They also made it out of their Europa League group. Deila won the Manager of the Month award for November 2014.

By February 2015, Celtic had won 15 of their last 17 domestic games. They also beat Rangers 2–0 in the semi-final of the Scottish League Cup. In the Europa League, Celtic drew 3–3 with Inter Milan at home but lost 1–0 in Milan, so they were knocked out.

In the league, Celtic beat Aberdeen 4–0 on March 1, going six points ahead. This big change in how the team was playing made people who had criticized Deila before change their minds.

Deila won his first trophy with Celtic on March 15, 2015. Celtic beat Dundee United 2–0 in the League Cup Final.

Deila's Celtic team won the Scottish Premiership on May 2, 2015, with three games left to play. They finished the season strongly, beating Inverness 5–0 on May 24, 2015.

In August 2015, Celtic again failed to reach the UEFA Champions League group stage, losing to Malmö. They then played in the Europa League but finished last in their group in November.

On April 17, 2016, Celtic played Rangers in a Scottish Cup semi-final. The game went to extra time, and Celtic lost on penalties. Many people criticized how Celtic played. Three days later, Deila announced he would leave at the end of the season. Celtic still won the Scottish Premiership title on May 8, 2016, after beating Aberdeen.

Coaching in Norway and the USA

On July 13, 2016, Deila signed a four-year contract with Vålerenga in Norway, starting January 1, 2017. In his first season, Vålerenga struggled to stay out of the relegation zone. The team finished eighth, which was far below Deila's goal of a top-three finish.

Vålerenga continued to play poorly in Deila's second season. By October 2018, they were in eighth place after winning only one of seven games. Deila admitted he was thinking about leaving the club. A 2–1 win on the last day of the season helped Vålerenga finish in sixth place.

On January 6, 2020, Deila became the head coach of New York City in Major League Soccer (MLS) in the United States. His first game was a 5–3 win against San Carlos in Costa Rica. The team made it to the MLS Cup Playoffs but lost in the first round.

Under Deila's leadership, NYCFC won the MLS Cup 2021. They beat Portland Timbers in the final with a 4–2 win on penalties, after the game ended 1–1 in extra time.

Coaching in Belgium and UAE

On June 13, 2022, Deila was named the head coach of Standard Liège, a club in the Belgian Pro League. In his first game on July 22, his team drew 2–2 at home to Gent, even though they played with one less player for most of the game.

On May 25, 2023, Deila became the new head coach of Club Brugge. In August, he helped them beat Osasuna to reach the UEFA Conference League group stage. The club announced he was leaving on March 18, 2024, even though they had reached the quarter-finals in the Conference League.

Back to the USA

Deila was named head coach of Major League Soccer club Atlanta United on December 20, 2024.

Personal Life

Ronny Deila has twin daughters, Thale Rushfeldt Deila and Live Rushfeldt Deila, who are both handball players.

Achievements and Awards

Player

Odd

• Norwegian Football Cup: 2000

Manager

Strømsgodset

• Tippeligaen: 2013
• Norwegian Football Cup: 2010

Celtic

• Scottish Premiership: 2014–15, 2015–16
• Scottish League Cup: 2014–15

New York City

• MLS Cup: 2021
• MLS Eastern Conference: 2021

Brugge

• Belgian Pro League: 2023–24

Individual

• Kniksen Award Coach of the Year: 2013

Career Statistics

¹Includes UEFA Champions League qualifier match against Legia Warsaw which Celtic lost 2–0 on the night, but was later awarded as a 3–0 win to Celtic due to Legia fielding a suspended player.

See also

In Spanish: Ronny Deila para niños