Bjarte Flem (born March 30 1958) was a Norwegian football goalkeeper. He played for the Norwegian football club Tromsø I.L..

He was immortalized for his mistake during a match against Sogndal I.L. in 1988, which was shown (unfortunately for Flem) on live television. As Flem was about to throw the ball to a defender on his own team, he started rotating and instead threw the ball into his own goal. The incident made the front pages of national newspapers the next day, and was shown on television in countries across the globe. In Norway, the name Bjarte Flem has become synonymous with a goalkeeper making a huge mistake.

Even though Bjarte Flem will only be remembered for his huge mistake, he was also a good goalkeeper, who enjoyed many good seasons in Tromsø before he retired. Two years before the incident, Tromsø played in the Norwegian Cup Final and won their first Norwegian Cup Championship, with Flem as their goalkeeper.

References

• Profile at www.playerhistory.com