Strand was born in Trondheim and played for Rosenborg his whole career, except for the 1993 season when he was loaned out to Molde FK, from he made his debut in 1989 till he retired in 2010. He mostly played as midfielder but as an allrounder he also played as winger and wingback. Strand won the Norwegian top division 16 times as well as the Norwegian Football Cup five times with Rosenborg. He participated in the UEFA Champions League 11 times with Rosenborg and played 71 Champions League matches and 100 matches including the qualification matches. He is third on the list of most appearances in the Norwegian Premier Division. He is looked upon as a hero among supporters of Rosenborg because he has always been loyal to the club without having played abroad where the salaries are higher. He is also highly respected among both players and fans of other Norwegian clubs. The number 6 jersey he used in Rosenborg was retired in his honor. This is the only time Rosenborg has retired a jersey number. Roar Strand has played over 400 matches in the Norwegian Tippeliga. Match number 400 was against HamKam on Sunday 21 September 2008. Sunday 19 April 2009 he played match number 600 for Rosenborg BK. That includes Norwegian top division, Norwegian Cup, European cups and Royal League. Strand shares a European record with Manchester United's Ryan Giggs of scoring in 21 consecutive top flight seasons. That equals Pelé, but is behind Romario, who scored in 23 consecutive seasons.
International
Strand played for various youth teams between 1986 and 1989 before he was called up to the Norwegian U-21 side in 1990, where he played ten games and scored six goals. In 1994, he was called up to the squad for the 1994 World Cup in the United States, but he did not play. His debut came on 5 June in a 2–0 loss against Sweden in the preparation for the World Cup. Strand played in the 1998 World Cup in France and in the 2000 European Football Championship in Belgium and the Netherlands. He retired from the national team in 2003, despite pressure for him to carry on. Strand is one of only 19 players in Champions League history to have made 100 or more appearances in the competition for the same club. He played 42 games and scored four goals for Norway.
Note: European games overlap Norwegian seasons, but in these statistic for example 1999-2000 European season is included in 1999 Norwegian season, even though some games were played in February and March.
