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| Full name | Vålerenga Fotball | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Enga Bohemene (The Bohemians) De kongeblå (The Royal Blues) St. Hallvards menn (St. Hallvard’s Men) | ||
| Short name | VIF | ||
| Founded | 29 July 1913; 111 years ago (1913-07-29) | ||
| Ground | Intility Arena Valle Hovin,Oslo | ||
| Capacity | 16,555[1] | ||
| Chairman | Thor Gjermund Eriksen | ||
| Head coach | Geir Bakke | ||
| League | Eliteserien | ||
| 2024 | First Division, 1st of 16 (promoted) | ||
| Website | www | ||
 Current season | |||
| Active departments of Vålerengens Idrettsforening | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Vålerenga Fotball (Norwegian pronunciation:[ˈvôːɽɛŋɑ]ⓘ) is a Norwegian professionalfootball club fromOslo, and a part of the multi-sport clubVålerengens IF. The club currently competes in theEliteserien after being promoted from theNorwegian First Division in 2024. Founded in 1913, the club is named after the neighbourhood ofVålerenga. Vålerenga's home ground isIntility Arena, located inValle-Hovin. Vålerenga are five-time league champions and four-timeNorwegian Football Cup champions, having last won the league in2005 and the cup in2008. Vålerenga is generally considered to be the largest football club in Oslo, and they are known for their loyal supporters.
The history of Vålerenga Fotball goes back toFotballpartiet Spark, which was founded in 1898 by pastorHans Møller Gasmann. An early mission for Gasmann was to give the local youth social activity and exercise. On a larger scale, the club was part of the movement known asMuscular Christianity.[2] A successor to this football club,Idrettslaget Spring, was founded on 29 July 1913 by a group of teenage factory workers. A year later, the club changed its name toVaalerengens Idrættsforening. Rooted in the neighborhood of Vålerenga on the east end of Oslo, the club would recruit players and supporters from the many workers in the area, in a society then characterized for its low mobility between social strata. Within its first seasons, Vålerengen would compete with the major clubs in Oslo at that time;Lyn,Mercantile andFrigg. Where Lyn and Frigg had a strong identity with theacademia and the upper classes, Vålerengen developed aworking class identity.[2]
Vålerengens Idrettsforening had mixed success in its first years, but fortunes improved as the 1920s came around and the club secured promotion to the Oslo Championships in 1921. Vålerengen won the Oslo Championships four times before a national league (Norgesserien) was established in 1937. In the1948–49 season, Vålerengen finished second.
After this period, Vålerengen entered a period of instability, being relegated from the top division two times in the 1950s.
The charismatic Helmuth Steffens became a central figure in building up the culture in the club after the war. At the beginning of the 1960s, a new generation of local players broke into Vålerengen's first squad. Players likeEinar Bruno Larsen,Terje Hellerud andLeif Eriksen became core personalities of a group of players which eventually became known asBohemene (The Bohemians). The club would become known for its brilliant style of football as the number of people in the audience increased. The players became popular for their charismatic, witty comments and light hearted humour. Vålerengen secured a third place in 1961.
In 1965, Vålerengen won theFirst Division for the first time. By the help of manager Helmuth Steffens and head coach Anton Ploderer, the club had managed to win the title with a team of local players. The league was won in dramatic fashion, with arch-rivalsLyn giving Vålerengen a fight for the title until the final matches of the season.
The Bohemian era came to an end when the club was relegated from the First Division in 1968 and then again to the Third Division in 1970. Vålerengen did not achieve promotion to the top league again until 1974. In 1976, Vålerenga signedOdd Iversen, who at the time had 112 First Division goals to his name. Iversen would help the club reestablish itself in the First Division.
The 80s saw the emergence of a new generation. With the help of players likeTom Jacobsen andVidar Davidsen, Vålerengen would win its firstcup title in 1980.
Led by head coachLeif Eriksen, the team won the First Division title for the second time in 1981 with a style of play characterized by intensity and discipline. The club was unable to reclaim the league title in 1982, but won it again in 1983 and 1984. During the decade, Vålerengen would also become twice runners-up in the cup and also achieve a third place in the league in 1985. Vålerengen had become a stable top team for the first and, to date, only time.
1985 also saw the signing of strikerJørn Andersen, who would go on to score 23 goals in 22 matches in his sole season for Vålerengen. However, as the club had miscalculated the home crowd average, the club entered severe financial difficulties. Vålerenga was saved from bankruptcy in 1987.
In 1990, now known as Vålerenga, the club was relegated after 14 seasons in the top division. Vålerenga was close to further relegation in the 1992 season, but managed to remain in thesecond highest division thanks to a last round 3–0 win againstEik-Tønsberg IF. In 1994, Vålerenga returned to the top division, but were relegated again in1996. In 1997 Vålerenga won thecup and the1. divisjon and were again promoted toTippeligaen. As earlier in the 1990s, the stay in the top division lasted only a few years.
In the2000 season Vålerenga lost the play-off matches againstSogndal and was relegated to the 1. divisjon. Vålerenga returned toTippeligaen and won thecup in 2002.
The2003 season was poor for Vålerenga and they wound up third last in the league sending them into play-offs againstSandefjord to avoidrelegation. The result was a 0–0 draw in Sandefjord and a 5–3 victory inOslo and so Vålerenga retained the position in the top league and avoided relegation.
Vålerenga rebounded nicely in the2004 season and proved a serious challenge to the dominantRosenborg team in the bid for the league's gold medal. After a frantic final round where Vålerenga beatStabæk 3–0, they missed out on the league title sinceRosenborg beatFK Lyn, Vålerenga's city rivals 4–1. Vålerenga won the silver medal, finishing 2nd to Rosenborg equal on points and goal difference, but Vålerenga had scored fewer goals than Rosenborg during the season, leaving Rosenborg as league champions.
At the start of the2005 season it was apparent that Rosenborg was in bad shape and it seemed like Vålerenga's season to go all the way. After a strong season opening, the surprise of the seasonIK Start – newly promoted to the Tippeligaen – looked to give Vålerenga a fight to the finish, and the two clubs basically alternated on leading the series to the final round. On 29 October it looked to be a thrilling last round reminiscent of the previous year, as both Start and Vålerenga had exactly the same number of points, but Start with a slightly better goal difference. Start metFredrikstad FK at home, while Vålerenga metOdd Grenland away. Eventually Fredrikstad, who faced relegation if they lost, beat Start 3–1 while at the same time Vålerenga managed a 2–2 draw against Odd Grenland. Vålerenga stepped one up from the previous year, and won the title with a one-point margin. The title was Vålerenga's first league title in 21 years, ending Rosenborg's 13-year reign as league champions.
The follow-upseason of 2006 did not start out as well for the reigning champions, and a poor start left them at the bottom of the table after seven rounds, having gained only 5 points. A steady rise in form though still brought the team to 6th place by the time the season was half-through. Late July brought a string of bad results, including embarrassing losses to main rivalFK Lyn, and the exit from theUEFA Champions League, after losing 5–3 on aggregate to Czech clubMladá Boleslav in the 2nd qualifying round. Vålerenga had aimed to qualify for the tournament after missing out the previous year by being defeated by Belgian sideClub Brugge on a penalty shoot-out. After losing five out of seven games between 22 July and 19 August head-coachKjetil Rekdal announced his resignation. Assistant coachPetter Myhre took over as interim manager, and as a result the club regained their form and scored 25 out of the last 30 possible points, bringing the club to a third place in the league, as well as a qualification spot for the 2007–08Europa League. Vålerenga also qualified for play in the 2006–07 ScandinavianRoyal League after finishing among the top four teams in Norway. In October 2006, Petter Myhre was hired on a permanent basis, but he would resign in July 2007, following a string of bad results.
In November 2007,Martin Andresen signed a three-year contract to become the next manager of Vålerenga. Heavy investment from owners and investors saw the signing of several high-profile players, most notablyLars Iver Strand andKristoffer Hæstad. However, despite winning the2008 Norwegian Football Cup, the following season was a disappointment, with Vålerenga finishing 10th in the league. In the 2009 season, Vålerenga finished 7th, reaching the semifinal in the cup. 2010 saw a revitalized Vålerenga, led by a trio of effective forwards,Mohammed Abdellaoue,Bengt Sæternes andLuton Shelton. Vålerenga finished second in the league.
However, Vålerenga could not repeat the success in 2011 and 2012. In October 2012, Andresen and Vålerenga agreed to part ways.
Kjetil Rekdal returned to the club as head coach in January 2013. Facing economic difficulties from previous seasons and being without a shirt sponsorship deal, Vålerenga spent much of the 2014 season dealing with a severe risk of bankruptcy, finally signing a new shirt sponsorship deal withDnB on 29 July.[3] The signing of striker Vidar Örn Kjartansson in front of 2014 season proved to be a huge success, with the Icelandic player scoring 25 goals in 29 games, helping the Oslo club secure a sixth place in the league after a drop in form in the latter half of the season.
On 13 July 2016, Ronny Deila was appointed as the new head coach. Deila was originally planned to take over in January 2017, but was involved in the coaching team for the final games of the 2016 season.[4] Kjetil Rekdal was to become director of sports, but left the club in early 2017. In December 2019, Ronny Deila left to become the coach of New York City Football Club. In January 2020,Dag-Eilev Fagermo became the new head coach.
Vålerenga moved into their newly built stadium,Intility Arena, in September 2017. This was a historic move for the club, after spending 104 years without owning a home stadium.[5] The new stadium is also close to Vålerenga neighborhood of Oslo.
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Up to 1913, Vålerenga's kit was moss green. In 1914, theNorwegian State Railways had a set of blue and red kits left over, which Vålerenga bought cheaply, so their official colours became blue and red. The 2006 season away kit was white with a touch of moss green.
In 2017, Vålerenga opened their own home ground atValle Hovin in Eastern Oslo, calledIntility Arena. The stadium has a capacity of 17,333 on domestic games (15,389 on international games), and the playing surface isartificial grass. The very first match in the ground saw the Vålerenga women's team beatKolbotn Fotball 2–0 on 9 September 2017, withStephanie Verdoia being the first ever goalscorer on the Arena. The next day, the men's team lost 2–1 toSarpsborg 08 in their first game at the stadium. The ground was first calledVålerenga kultur- og idrettspark, before the club agreed a contract with the IT companyIntility to rename the stadium.[6]
Following a press statement made on 15 May 2008, Vålerenga announced that they would be moving home to Valle Hovin after purchasing the area of the proposed stadium for the symbolic sum of 1 Norwegian Krone. In late 2014, the plans were accepted by the city council of Oslo.[7] On 10 June 2014, theEuropean Free Trade Association Surveillance Authority accepted the plans for the stadium.[8]
The foundation stone of the new stadium was laid on 29 July 2015, the club's 102nd anniversary.[9] Construction was begun in the summer of 2015 and is planned to be completed in 2017.[8]
Before moving intoIntility Arena, theUllevaal Stadion was the home ground, a stadium owned jointly by theFootball Association of Norway andVital Eiendom.
From the 1960s till the 1980s and a short period in the end of the 1990sBislett Stadium was Vålerenga's home ground. Bislett Stadium also hosted speed skating and track and field events in addition to football, and hosted the1952 Winter Olympics. Poor conditions and maintenance of Bislett forced Vålerenga to move toUllevaal and agroundshare withFK Lyn.
After Vålerenga moved fromBislett Stadium plans for building their own ground were conceived, but poor results on the field combined with financial problems kept those plans at bay for a few years. After the second place in2004 and the league title in2005 as well as business manJohn Fredriksen's deletion of the club's debt in 2003, the talks of building a ground for Vålerenga resurfaced.
Vålerenga has traditionally drawn support from the area aroundVålerenga, Oslo and various other places on theeast end of Oslo, although today these lines are largely blurred and the club has supporters all over Oslo and the surrounding areas. Up until the early 90s, Vålerenga's supporters were loosely organised. The supporters were sometimes referred to asApeberget, but this is actually a misnomer from a journalist.[10] An independent supporter club calledKlanen ("The Clan") was founded in 1991. The senior team of Vålerenga has reserved shirt number 12 for their supporters.
Vålerenga's main rivals includeLillestrøm,Ham Kam,Kongsvinger,Brann andLyn. Since the 90s, the main supporter club has actively worked hard for social issues and againsthooliganism.[11] Despite this, as recently as 2019, isolated individuals within the club's support have engaged in disruptive and dangerous activities during live matches.[12]
| Season | League | Cup | Other competitions | Top goalscorer | Ref(s) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Pos | Att[16] | CL | EL | ECL | Name | Goals | |||
| 1999 | Tippeligaen | 26 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 40 | 53 | −13 | 28 | 11th | 6,626 | 4R | — | — | — | Pascal Simpson | 8 | |
| 2000 | Tippeligaen | 26 | 5 | 9 | 12 | 32 | 44 | −12 | 24 | ↓ 12th | 7,630 | QF | — | — | — | Kjetil Rekdal | 6 | |
| 2001 | 1. divisjon | 30 | 19 | 8 | 3 | 71 | 29 | +42 | 62 | ↑ 1st | — | QF | — | — | — | Kjetil Rekdal | 11 | |
| 2002 | Tippeligaen | 26 | 7 | 12 | 7 | 38 | 31 | +7 | 33 | 8th | 8,782 | W | — | — | — | David Hanssen | 7 | |
| 2003 | Tippeligaen | 26 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 30 | 33 | −3 | 28 | 12th | 9,336 | QF | — | 3R | — | Freddy dos Santos | 10 | |
| 2004 | Tippeligaen | 26 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 40 | 22 | +18 | 48 | 2nd | 14,392 | 3R | — | — | — | Freddy dos Santos | 8 | |
| 2005 | Tippeligaen | 26 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 40 | 27 | +13 | 46 | 1st | 15,658 | SF | 3QR | 1R | — | Morten Berre | 9 | |
| 2006 | Tippeligaen | 26 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 43 | 28 | +15 | 44 | 3rd | 13,873 | QF | 2QR | — | — | Jan-Derek Sørensen | 9 | |
| 2007 | Tippeligaen | 26 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 36 | 7th | 13,837 | 4R | — | 1R | — | Morten Berre | 9 | |
| 2008 | Tippeligaen | 26 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 31 | 37 | −6 | 30 | 10th | 12,700 | W | — | — | — | Mohammed Abdellaoue | 9 | |
| 2009 | Tippeligaen | 30 | 12 | 4 | 14 | 47 | 50 | −3 | 40 | 7th | 10,788 | SF | — | 3QR | — | Bengt Sæternes | 11 | |
| 2010 | Tippeligaen | 30 | 19 | 4 | 7 | 69 | 36 | +33 | 61 | 2nd | 13,646 | 2R | — | — | — | Mohammed Abdellaoue | 15 | |
| 2011 | Tippeligaen | 30 | 14 | 5 | 11 | 42 | 33 | +9 | 47 | 7th | 13,331 | 2R | — | 3QR | — | Bojan Zajić | 8 | |
| 2012 | Tippeligaen | 30 | 12 | 5 | 13 | 42 | 44 | −2 | 41 | 8th | 10,768 | 3R | — | — | — | Marcus Pedersen | 8 | |
| 2013 | Tippeligaen | 30 | 10 | 6 | 14 | 41 | 50 | −9 | 36 | 11th | 9,900 | QF | — | — | — | Morten Berre | 10 | |
| 2014 | Tippeligaen | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 59 | 53 | +6 | 42 | 6th | 9,751 | 4R | — | — | — | Viðar Örn Kjartansson | 25 | |
| 2015 | Tippeligaen | 30 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 49 | 41 | +8 | 49 | 7th | 10,099 | 2R | — | — | — | Daniel Fredheim Holm Deshorn Brown Ghayas Zahid | 7 | |
| 2016 | Tippeligaen | 30 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 41 | 39 | +2 | 38 | 10th | 9,074 | QF | — | — | — | Ghayas Zahid | 8 | |
| 2017 | Eliteserien | 30 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 48 | 46 | +2 | 39 | 8th | 9,703 | SF | — | — | — | Herman Stengel | 6 | |
| 2018 | Eliteserien | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 39 | 44 | −5 | 42 | 6th | 9,180 | QF | — | — | — | Sam Johnson | 11 | |
| 2019 | Eliteserien | 30 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 39 | 44 | −5 | 34 | 10th | 7,834 | 3R | — | — | — | Bård Finne | 8 | |
| 2020 | Eliteserien | 30 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 51 | 33 | +18 | 55 | 3rd | 200 | Cancelled | — | — | — | Viðar Örn Kjartansson | 9 | |
| 2021 | Eliteserien | 30 | 11 | 12 | 7 | 46 | 37 | +9 | 45 | 7th | 4,318 | 3R | — | — | 2QR | Aron Dønnum Henrik Udahl | 6 | |
| 2022 | Eliteserien | 30 | 13 | 5 | 12 | 52 | 49 | +3 | 44 | 6th | 8,670 | 3R | — | — | — | Amor Layouni | 8 | |
| 2023 | Eliteserien | 30 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 39 | 50 | -11 | 29 | ↓ 14th | 10,542 | SF | — | — | — | Andrej Ilić | 9 | |
| 2024 | OBOS-ligaen | 30 | 21 | 6 | 3 | 82 | 31 | +51 | 69 | ↑ 1st | 10,542 | QF | — | — | — | Jones El-Abdellaoui Mees Rijks | 13 | |
Source:[17]
| Competition | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Last season played |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| European Cup UEFA Champions League | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 17 | 25 | 2006–07 |
| UEFA Cup UEFA Europa League | 24 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 21 | 28 | 2011–12 |
| UEFA Europa Conference League | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2021–22 |
| UEFA Cup Winners' Cup | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 17 | 1998–99 |
| UEFA Intertoto Cup | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1999 |
| Inter-Cities Fairs Cup | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 1965–66 |
| Total | 54 | 13 | 16 | 25 | 57 | 89 |
Source:uefa.com, Last updated on 29 July 2021
Pld = Matches played;W = Matches won;D = Matches drawn;L = Matches lost;GF = Goals for;GA = Goals against. Defunct competitions indicated in italics.
Notes: This summary includes matches played in theInter-Cities Fairs Cup, which was not endorsed byUEFA and is not counted in UEFA's official European statistics.
Morten Berre, 281 matches (2003–14)Einar Bruno Larsen, 99 goals (1957–68)
Viðar Örn Kjartansson, 25 goals in 29 matches (2014)
Ekranas, 30 August 2007 (7–1 overall)(numbers as of 3 September 2007)
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Daniel HåkansAki Riihilahti
Allan Kierstein JepsenArni Gautur ArasonBjørn Arild Levernes
Bojan ZajicChristian GrindheimDaniel Fredheim Holm
David Brocken
Deshorn BrownEinar Bruno LarsenEgil OlsenErik FossErik Hagen
Fegor OgudeFreddy dos Santos
Giancarlo GonzalezGhayas Zahid
Gunder BengtssonHenning BergHenry JohansenJohn CarewJørn AndersenKjell Roar KaasaKjetil RekdalKjetil WæhlerKristofer HæstadLars Bohinen
Lars HirschfeldLuton SheltonMartin AndresenMohammed AbdellaoueMohammed FellahMorten BerreNils Arne EggenOdd IversenPa-Modou KahPascal SimpsonRonny DeilaRonny JohnsenSam AdekugbeSteffen IversenThomas HolmTobias GrahnTom Henning HoviTore Krogstad
Troy PerkinsTore Andre FloVidar DavidsenVidar Orn Kjartansson| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Director of football | Joacim Jonsson |
| Head coach | Geir Bakke |
| Assistant coach | Petter Myhre |
| Assistant coach | Jan Frode Nornes |
| Assistant coach |  David Ribeiro |
| Individual players coach | Trond Fredriksen |
| Goalkeeper coach | Gjermund Østby |
| Fitness coach |  Aaron Horne |
| Head of analysis | Lars-Erik Samuelsen |
| Head of academy | Thomas Hafstad |
| Reserve team coach | Øystein Sanden |
| Physio | Carl Fredrik Birkemo |
| Physio | Martin Flesland |
| Equipment manager | Egil Larsen |
| Club doctor | Erik Rosenlund |
(in Norwegian)| The club | |
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| Grounds |
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| Seasons | |
| Other teams | |
| Rivalries | |
