Reistad: Five milestones in a blinding career

Esbjerg and Brest have a mutual history, and also something linking them regarding the future: This season has been announced as Henny Reistad’s last with Esbjerg, and it is Brest she will join in the summer of 2027.

Long before that transfer is made, Reistad will take the court to lead Esbjerg in the MOTW. Here, we take a look at five milestones of Reistad’s career — most already passed, but also some that await in the not-too-distant future.

1. Most goals in a season and unrivalled dominance

Reistad is one of four players to have claimed the EHF Champions League Women top scorer crown three times. In the first decade of the competition, Natalia Morskova and Nataliya Derepasko both did it. In 2014/15, Cristina Neagu took her first, and ultimately joined the list of treble top scorer crown winners in 2021/22.

But none of them achieved the feat as close in succession has Reistad has. Having finished as top scorer of the season three times in the last four years, Reistad has been the dominant shooter in the competition in recent years.

One of those individual titles also came with the record for most goals scored in one season, when Reistad netted 154 in 2024/25. The other two years she won were not far behind: Last season, she scored 131, and in 2022/23, the count was 142.

In the entire history of the EHF Champions League Women, only Morskova, Anita Görbicz and Ana Gros have passed the 130-goal mark in one season, and each of them did it only once.

2. An electric scoring pace — “Club of 1,000” in sight

Reistad’s career total in the EHF Champions League, including the five rounds played in 2026/27, sits at 869. In just eight seasons, she has made it into the top 10 all-time top scorers in the competition. All those above her have played a minimum of 15 seasons.

The only player ranking above Reistad who is still active is Reistad’s teammate in both club and national team, Nora Mørk. With a tally of 980, Mørk is likely to be the next to join the illustrious “Club of 1,000,” currently comprised of Neagu, Jovanka Radicevic, Andrea Lekic, Görbicz and Ana Gros.

But should Reistad continue at her current pace, she will secure her membership in the exclusive group in the 2027/28 season, which would be her 10th — and represent by far the fastest journey to the Club of 1,000 in the EHF Champions League Women. And it would seem the all-time top scorer title, held by Neagu on 1,232 goals, would not be far off.

On a national team level, Reistad’s scoring pace is unsurprisingly equally standout. With 579 goals in 124 matches, she already sits 17th on the list of all-time goals scored for Norway. Reistad is only outmatched in terms of goals per game by the number one on that ranking: Kjersti Grini. In her career, Grini scored 4.99 per match, while Reistad is currently at 4.67 on average.

Coming back to the Champions League, Reistad was fast out of the blocks. In her first season, in 2018/19, Reistad scored 71 and went all the way to the EHF FINAL4 — and there, in the event’s traditional home in Budapest, we find her next milestone.

3. Youngest EHF FINAL4 Women MVP

Crucially, Reistad is not only a goal scorer. She also records plenty of assists and plays a key role in defence. It is her all-round contribution that has led her to be named MVP of the EHF EURO once and World Championship twice, as well as EHF Excellence Awards MVP of the 2024/25 season.

But before those achievements came her first MVP award, at the EHF FINAL4 2021.

Goals were part of Reistad’s contribution to Vipers Kristiansand’s maiden EHF Champions League title though, as she scored 22 over the final weekend. And 22 is a significant number in this context, as that was Reistad’s age at the time, making her the youngest MVP of the EHF FINAL4 Women to this day.

Last season’s MVP, Sarah Bouktit, was only 23, narrowly edged out by Reistad for this particular record.

4. All-time EHF FINAL4 top scorer

It took four participations in the EHF FINAL4 Women for Reistad to become the event’s all-time top scorer. With five goals in the 3/4 placement match in 2023, Reistad passed Neagu, Görbicz and Nycke Groot, who had all ranked ahead of her prior to that game, and moved into first position.

And there she stays to this day, increasing the distance to those behind her, despite missing the 2026 edition.

Reistad has scored 93 goals in six appearances at the EHF FINAL4. The next behind her is Mørk, with 70. Should Esbjerg make it to Budapest this season, it looks promising for Reistad to pass the 100-goal mark at the pinnacle event.

5. Records for consecutive season- and year-long awards

Reistad is the first female player to be named IHF World Player of the Year three straight times, having taken the award from 2023 to 2025. Neagu is the only female player to rival that record, with four World Player of the Year titles overall, while Reistad does have a match on the men’s side in the form of Mathias Gidsel, who was awarded the same years as Reistad.

Reistad is one of only two players to have been named in the EHF Excellence Awards every season since the Awards’ introduction, for the 2022/23 season. The other is Ludovic Fabregas.

Reistad has been named Centre Back of the Season three times, in 2023, 2025 and 2026. She was awarded Left Back of the Season in 2024, and clinched the MVP title in 2025. That brings Reistad’s total to five.

In 2024, Reistad completed her team trophy collection — with the gold medal won at Paris 2024, her title list was complete:

• EHF Champions League: 2020/21

• Olympic Games: 2024

• World Championship: 2021, 2025

• EHF EURO: 2020, 2022, 2024

Individually, Reistad’s list of trophies on the open-age international level is rounded out with All-star Team nods at the EHF EURO 2024 (centre back), the 2021 IHF World Championship (left back) and the EHF Champions League 2020/21 (best young player), and the top scorer crown at the 2025 IHF World Championship.

Photos © kolektiff images