Hailing from Kristiansund, he started his career in local club Clausenengen, and played for another two small clubs Jerv and Nordlandet. He was then picked up by Brann, and later by Molde. At Molde he formed a partnership with Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Ole Bjørn Sundgot known as "the three S'es". He then played one season for Stabæk before going abroad with Helsingborg in Sweden. Playing under former Molde coach Åge Hareide, Stavrum became Allsvenskan top scorer in the 1998 season. He came to Scotland in 1999, joining Aberdeen. In his first season, he made 32 appearances and scored 12 goals. He scored 17 goals in his second season with Aberdeen, which made him the second highest goalscorer in the 2000-01 Scottish Premier League. He was popular with the fans in Aberdeen, particularly after he cut and collected his trademark long hair, posting the offending follicles to local journalist Charlie Allan, who had previously claimed said locks were holding the Norwegian back. however, as a result of a contract clause that allowed him to move for a nominal fee, he signed for Beşiktaş in Turkey. This came as a bit of a surprise to Aberdeen, as he was pictured in the Turkish media with a Beşiktaş shirt before Aberdeen were actually aware that he would be leaving. His spell in Turkey was short-lived, as he left within a year. He returned to a second and final spell in the Norwegian league with Molde. He retired from a playing career following the 2004 season. On the international level, Stavrum played for Norway twice, once against Israel in a friendly.
Later career
In the 2005 season Stavrum was appointed coach of Second Division team Bærum SK. Having guided them to a respectable league position, Stavrum was hired by his old team Molde. However, he coached the team to relegation in 2006 and was sacked after the season. It was announced in December 2007 that Arild had signed a two-year coaching contract with Skeid of Oslo. Outside of football, he has written for the media in Norway, as well as occasionally contributing to Scottish newspapers. In 2008, he made his debut as a fiction writer, with the novel31 år på gresspublished by the Norwegian publishing houseOktober.
