Viking Magazine - April 2015 - 13
BY CHRISTINE JOHNSON
W
ith the arrival of spring comes the return of one of Norway's most
popular sports-football (known as soccer in the United States). The
country boasts approximately 25,000 teams ranging from youth
to professional. Every summer, Oslo hosts one of the world's largest youth
football tournaments, The Norway Cup.
Here, we give you a primer on football in Norway, including a look at
the league system, milestones in the sport's history, players to watch and
upcoming tournaments.
The League System
Men's national league football is organized a bit
differently in Norway compared to the United
States. The United States Soccer Federation breaks
the teams into three divisions: Major League Soccer,
the North American Soccer League and the United
Soccer Leagues Professional Division. Meanwhile,
the Norwegian Football League forms the teams
into in a pyramid-like system with four levels.
At the top of the pyramid is the premier league,
Tippeligaen, which is comprised of 16 clubs. The
league's season lasts from March through early
November, with each club playing 30 matches.
When the season wraps, the two teams at the
bottom drop down a level to the OBOS-ligaen.
The OBOS-ligaen, or First Division, also has 16
clubs. The winners and runners-up at the end of
the season are promoted to Tippeligaen. The clubs
that fi nish in the last four spots are relegated to
Fair Play ligaen.
Fair Play ligaen, or Second Division, is made up
of four groups of 14 clubs, for a total of 56 clubs. At
season's end, the winner in each of the four groups
moves up to OBOS-ligaen, while the bottom three
teams in each group shift to Third Division.
Third Division is broken into 10 groups of 14
clubs from southern Norway, and two groups of 12
clubs from northern Norway, for a total of 164 clubs.
Teams in each of these leagues play each other
twice, once at home and once at their opponent's
home fi eld. A team is awarded three points for a
win, and if the clubs play to a draw (or a " tie " ),
each receives one point. The most successful
teams are those that fi nish with the most points.
If at the end of the season two clubs have an
equal number of points, the one with the higher
goal difference reigns.
2014 Tippeligaen Rankings
1 MOLDE FK
2 ROSENBORG BK
3 ODDS BK
4 STRØMSGODSET IF
5 LILLESTRØM SK
6 VÅLERENGA FOTBALL
7 AALESUNDS FK
8 SARPSBORG 08
9 STABÆK FOTBALL
10 VIKING FK
11 FK HAUGESUND
12 IK START
13 FK BODØ/GLIMT
14 SK BRANN
15 SOGNDAL FOTBALL
16 SANDNES ULF
TIPPELIGAEN
Teams: 16
OBOS-LIGAEN
Teams: 16
FAIR PLAYLIGAEN
Teams:
56
THIRD
DIVISION
Teams: 164
sonsofnorway.com VIKING APRIL 2015 13
PHOTOS BY KNUT AAGE DAHL / RBK.NO
http://www.RBK.NO
http://www.sonsofnorway.com
Viking Magazine - April 2015
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Viking Magazine - April 2015
Contents
Viking Magazine - April 2015 - Cover1
Viking Magazine - April 2015 - Cover2
Viking Magazine - April 2015 - Contents
Viking Magazine - April 2015 - 4
Viking Magazine - April 2015 - 5
Viking Magazine - April 2015 - 6
Viking Magazine - April 2015 - 7
Viking Magazine - April 2015 - 8
Viking Magazine - April 2015 - 9
Viking Magazine - April 2015 - 10
Viking Magazine - April 2015 - 11
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Viking Magazine - April 2015 - 13
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