Football in Norway
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Football is the most popular sport in Norway. The Football Association of Norway was founded in 1902 and the first international match was played in 1908. There are 1,822 registered football clubs and about 25,000 teams. There are 393,801 (104,597 of them are girls/women) registered football players. [1] That means that 8.5 % of the population play organized football.
HistoryIn 1885 Christiania Footballclub [sic] the first ever Norwegian club was founded in Oslo, which was formerly known as Christiania. The club played its first match the next year against a group of English sailors, in front of over 2000 spectators. The Football Association of Norway (the NFF), was founded in 1902, and quickly established a cup competition. After the NFF joined FIFA in 1908, Norway had its first ever international match, away against Sweden in Gothenburg, despite Norway taking the lead after a mere 45 seconds, Sweden went on to win 11-3. In 1911 Norway hosted its first international in Oslo, again against Sweden, this time Norway lost 4-0. In 1912 the Norwegian national football team attended the Olympic Games, and were knocked out after losing to Denmark and Austria 7-0 and 1-0 respectively. The NFF hosted the FIFA congress in Oslo in 1914, where a national league was established with six teams competed for the title Drafn, Frigg, Kvik/Halden, Larvik Turn, Mercantile and Odd, who went on to be the first league winners. The Norwegian national men’s team won their only medal at an international championship in 1936 at the Germany Olympic Games. In the relatively successful tournament Norway beat Turkey and hosts Germany 4-0 and 2-0 respectively, losing to Italy in the semi-final, then beating Poland 3-2 in the third-place play-off to take the bronze medal. The team is known in Norway as "Bronselaget" meaning the Bronze team. The Football Association of Norway
The Football Association of Norway (NFF) (Norwegian: Norges Fotballforbund) is the governing body of football in Norway. It was formed in 1902. It organises the men's and women's national teams and the Norwegian Premier League. The current president of the NFF is Sondre Kåfjord, while the General Secretary is Karen Espelund. By January 1st, 2004, there are 1,814 clubs organized in Norway, and 373,532 registered players. The NFF joined FIFA in 1908, and UEFA in 1954. League systemThe current national league system administered by the football association is organised as 1-1-4-24, where Tippeligaen is the highest Norwegian level and Adeccoligaen the second highest, followed by four third level (Division 2) and 24 fourth level (Division 3). A total of 2.5 teams promote from Adeccoligaen to Tippeligaen. The third last team in Tippeligaen play play-off matches against the third best team in Adeccoligaen. Four teams, the winner of each group, promote from Division 2 to Adeccoligaen. Twelve teams (12 of the 24 group winners) promote from Division 3 to Division 2. The group winners play play-off matches.
Cup system
National teamWomen's national teamSee alsoNorwegian football league champions
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