Official Vålerenga IF Thread

Founded: 19.07.1913
Stadium: Ullevaal Stadion
Nicknames: Bohemene, Oslos Stolthet (Pride of Oslo), Enga
Chairman: Odd Skarheim
Manager: Martin Andresen



Vålerenga Fotball is a Norwegian association football club from Oslo and a part of the multi-sport club Vålerengens IF. Founded in 1913, the club is named after the neighbourhood of Vålerenga. Vålerenga's home ground, as of 2010, is Ullevaal Stadion, the stadium for the Norway national football team. The previous stadium was Bislett Stadion, which hosted speed skating and track and field events in addition to football, and hosted the 1952 Winter Olympics.

The history of Vålerenga goes back to Fotballpartiet Spark which was founded in 1898, which became Idrettslaget Spring on 29 July 1913. Later the club changed its name to Vaalerengens Idrættsforening.
Vålerengen won the Oslo Championships four times before a national league (Norgesserien) was established in 1937. In the 1948/49 season Vålerengen finished second.

In 1965 Vålerengen won the 1st division (now Tippeligaen) for the first time, and in the 80s they won 3 league championships and 1 cup championship. During that decade they also were twice cup runners-up and placed 3rd in the league in 1985.
However, the team was relegated to the 3rd division in 1970, and weren't back in the top league again until 1974.

In 1990 Vålerenga were relegated after 14 seasons in the top division. Vålerenga was close to further relegation in the 1992 season, but managed to remain in the second highest division thanks to a last round 3-0 win against Eik-Tønsberg IF. In 1994, Vålerenga returned to the top division, but were relegated again in 1996. In 1997 Vålerenga won the cup and the First Division and were again promoted to Tippeligaen. As earlier in the 90s, the stay in the top division lasted only a few years.

In the 2000 season Vålerenga lost the play-off matches against Sogndal and was relegated to the 1st division. Vålerenga returned to Tippeligaen and won the cup in 2002. The 2003 season was poor for Vålerenga and they wound up third last in the league sending them into playoffs against Sandefjord to avoid relegation. The result was a 0-0 draw in Sandefjord and a 5-3 victory in Oslo and so Vålerenga retained the position in the top league and avoided relegation.

Vålerenga rebounded nicely in the 2004 season and proved a serious challenge to the dominant Rosenborg team in the bid for the league's gold medal. After a frantic final round where Vålerenga beat Stabæk 3-0, they missed out on the league title since Rosenborg beat FK 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 one fewer goal than Rosenborg during the entire league campaign, leaving Rosenborg as league champions.

At the start of the 2005 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 club sensation IK Start - newly promoted to the Premier League - looked to give Vålerenga a fight to the finish, and the two clubs basically alternated on leading the series to the very last round. On 29 October it looked to be a thrilling last round reminiscent of the previous year, as both Start and Vålerenga had the exact same amount of points, but Start with a slightly better goal difference. Start met Fredrikstad FK at home, while Vålerenga met Odd Grenland away. As the opening whistle blew the scene was set for some nail-biting football minutes around Norway. 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. History was made on several levels that night as it marked the first time in 21 years that Vålerenga won the league, and most notably it put an end to the 13 year long reign of Rosenborg.

The follow-up season of 2006 didn't start out as well for the reigning champions, and a poor start left them at the very end 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 rival FK Lyn, and the exit from the UEFA Champions League qualifier after losing 5-3 on aggregate to Czech club FK Mladá 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 side Club Brugge K.V. on a penalty shoot-out. After losing five out of seven games between 22 July and 19 August head-coach Kjetil Rekdal decided enough is enough, and announced his resignation.

Assisting coach Petter Myhre took over, and as a consequence the club regained their form and scored 25 out of the last 30 possible points, bringing the club to yet another medal in the league, the third consecutive, as well as a qualification spot for the 2007-2008 UEFA Cup. Vålerenga has also qualified for play in the 2006-2007 Scandinavian Royal League after finishing among the top four teams in Norway. In 2008 Vålerenga again won the cup. In 2009 the team made the semi final in the cup.

2010: Vålerenga have not lost at home so far this season with five matches left at home, and are 9 points behind Rosenborg for the title. It's in total eight mathces left. Rosenborg will be fighting for a Cupfinal and wants to advance in Europa League, while Vålerenga, who were knocked out of the cup in 2nd round, only have the league gold to focus on. We could be up for a tight season just like in 2004 where Rosenborg won with ONE SINGLE GOAL.



Martin Andresen was a regular on many Norwegian national youth teams while playing for Moss, Viking and Stabæk Fotball from 1995-1999. After the 1999 season, Andresen was sold to Premier League club Wimbledon in a deal worth £1,8 million. But like many of the other Norwegians in the club, his stay became short and unsuccessful. He did however score once against Liverpool. After a short loan spell at Molde, Andresen returned to his motherclub Stabæk in 2001, where he proved himself to be one of the best central midfielders in Norway.

After a brilliant 2003 season, where Stabæk captured the bronze medals in the Norwegian Premier League, Andresen was loaned out to the Premiership club Blackburn Rovers from February-August 2004, but did not sign a longer deal with the English club. Andresen once again decided to return to Stabæk to save the club from relegation from the Norwegian Premier League, but despite that Andresen played even while injured, Stabæk couldn't save their spot in the highest Norwegian league. Andresen, not willing to play in the Adeccoliga, asked to be sold. Many clubs in Norway were interested in the newly appointed national team captain, but the high price scared many away, including the champions Rosenborg. Vålerenga looked set to capture Andresen just before Christmas 2004, but Brann, with help from local investors signed the midfielder on 23 December 2004.

Andresen was announced as the new manager of Vålerenga on 6 November 2007 while still under contract with Brann for the remainder of the year. Brann terminated their working relationship with Andresen the day after. He signed a three year long contract with Vålerenga as player and manager. After head coach Tor Ole Skullerud resigned in 2009, Andresen became the first player/head coach in the Norwegian top division (Tippeligaen) since Kjetil Rekdal (also with Vålerenga) in 2002. Today he is alone as a manager for Vålerenga, and he has taken his team to the top of Norwegian football.

Domestic Honours

Tippeligaen (5)
1965, 1981, 1983, 1984 & 2005

Norwegian Cup (4)
1980, 1997, 2002 & 2005

Oslo Championship (4)
1927, 1932, 1933 & 1934

Runner up:

Tippeligaen (2)
1948/49 & 2004

Superfinale (1)
2009

Norwegian Cup (2)
1983 & 1985

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