I shall be following this keenly. I love these 'world of football' threads and it's great to see a new one, complete with unashamed bias. Does Hammerfest have a team?

Moonlight shadow wrote:
For Bergen read Marseilles or Liverpool. It's a port city, it was part of the Hanseatic League therefore open to the world for centuries and they have their own city anthem that they much prefer to the Norwegian one. They have their own brewery as well, Hansa...

I have probably a false impression of Norway and Norwegians because I've only been there but I found the place friendly and open, most local are dead keen to have a natter with you and the girls are delightfully pretty and independent.
That's a good round-up of Bergen, and I have to - shamefully - admit that Hansa is actually my favourite Norwegian brewery, at least beer-wise.

Your impression of Norway is a little false, but not because of the city, which is actually quite representative. The girls are pretty, we are sort of friendly, but only when inebriated! When we are sober we are quite reluctant to talk to strangers. When drunk, however, we love everyone...

delicatemoth wrote:
I shall be following this keenly. I love these 'world of football' threads and it's great to see a new one, complete with unashamed bias. Does Hammerfest have a team?
Thanks for the encouragement (is that a word?), deli.

Hammerfest does indeed have a team, Hammerfest Fotballklubb (I think you're able to translate that yourself). However, they're in division 3, which is the fourth highest level here. Hammerfest is however known as the most violent town in Norway, for some reason, compared to population density. That doesn't say much, though, we're not very hot-blooded up here.

Also, MS, Brann fans have always had a decent relationship with us Lillestrøm supporters, as they hate Vålerengen almost as much as we do. It's been said that when Lillestrøm and Brann face each other, the highest roar in the stadium is always when the announcer announces that Vålerengen have conceded a goal :)

I'll echo delicatemoth's sentiments - thanks for the thread MachoMorten.

I'm an occasional visitor to Tromsø, so they're my team for the coming season.

Excellent and very interesting. I was in Oslo in 2005 (and also in lovely Bergen) and went to Valerenga v Lyn. I had the impression that these were big rivals. Cal : my team RWD Molenbeek (rip) played Viking in the Champions cup in 1975, maybe you were at the game? I was at the one in Brussels.

Cheers, Me Old, but why are you visiting Tromsø occationally? Surely the northern lights and snowy mountain tops get boring after a while?

StephL wrote:
Valerenga v Lyn. I had the impression that these were big rivals. Cal : my team RWD Molenbeek (rip) played Viking in the Champions cup in 1975, maybe you were at the game? I was at the one in Brussels.
Vålerengen and Lyn are supposed to be big rivals, but until Lyn's promotion in 2002 they hadn't played each other for 25 years or so. That meant that most of the people attending the matches weren't even born the last time they faced each other, so the rivalry is mostly created by the media ("wow, two Oslo teams facing off!").

The fact is that Lyn has basically no fan base, even though coming from Norway's capital and biggest city. They had a ridiculous record of attendance every single year during their stay up, until they finally got relegated (and bankrupt) last year. Lyn is a living joke, the only thing that kept the supposed "rivalry" with Vålerengen alive was that they never lost against them. Until the meeting between the clubs last autumn, when Lyn was already relegated, Vålerengen had not beaten Lyn since the early 80s.

The real derby in the Oslo region (and Norway) is Lillestrøm v Vålerengen, but with both clubs underperforming lately, it's not what it used to be. Hopefully, we'll bring it back this year. Lillestrøm is up-and-coming and Vålerengen is utter shite - perfect for us ;)

Regarding Molenbeek - Viking: I'm far too young to have attended that match. However, I was in Brussels just three weeks ago, shitfaced most of the time. So much beer in that city!

MachoMorten wrote:
Cheers, Me Old, but why are you visiting Tromsø occationally? Surely the northern lights and snowy mountain tops get boring after a while?

Oulu might share snow and long periods of darkness with Tromsø, but this part of Finland is really flat. I get an urge to see some real mountains every now and then.

Ah, didn't know you were Finnish. (Everyone here is British until proven or at least stated otherwise...) I can understand it, then. I spent a few days in Tromsø one December, and it was pitch black all day. Quite remarkable. At two in the afternoon, it felt like midnight!

Anyway, here's something about Tromsø's chances this year:

They have one of the league's best goalkeepers in Sead Ramovic, and a couple of great defenders to match it. Tom Høgli is a Norway international and Miika Koppinen was a key player for Rosenborg a couple of years back. In midfield, there's nothing spectacular, but a bunch of good, hard-working players perfect for the Norwegian league. Up front, 37 year old Sigurd Rushfeldt is still going strong. He only needs 13 more goals to become the all-time top scorer in the Norwegian league, which is impressive as he spent a number of years abroad, in Spain and Austria.

The side just screams of mid-table limbo, although I see them in the upper half. They play a bit like Bolton did under Allardyce, breaking down the opposition's game plan and making it a war. They also profit from the blizzard-like conditions at home in the spring and late autumn.

PS: The Tromsø city shield has a reindeer on it...

MachoMorten wrote:

It's been said that when Lillestrøm and Brann face each other, the highest roar in the stadium is always when the announcer announces that Vålerengen have conceded a goal :)

Which I suppose says all you need to know about both Brann and Lilleström. In inferiority we unite!

Nice to see that all of the old names are still going strong, is it because the league is shite or are they genuinely still good players.
Glad that you Lilleström side stayed up, you had your dates when you were out here. As they play in the same colours as Fenerbahçe or have the same nickname, I forgot which one, there is no way I can support them. I saw Valerenga play Besiktas in the UEFA cup while Carew was still playing for them and they came back from 3-0 down to go through on away goals, Autumn 98 I guess.
Does any team play in red and black, if so then they have to be my team.

Just a quick word before going to bed: I was way off about Brann - Haugesund, which ended in a surprising 0-0 draw. Didn't see the match, but from what I hear, Haugesund's keeper Kristiansen was unbeatable.

I'm due up in four hours as we are headed to Ålesund by bus tomorrow, so no update until sometime Monday.

StephL wrote:
Excellent and very interesting. I was in Oslo in 2005 (and also in lovely Bergen) and went to Valerenga v Lyn. I had the impression that these were big rivals. Cal : my team RWD Molenbeek (rip) played Viking in the Champions cup in 1975, maybe you were at the game? I was at the one in Brussels.

Nope, I never attended any Viking Euro matches - would have been on a schoolday, so it was weekends for me.

This Norsk nostalgia is making me feel I need to save some money and plan a summer trip to Norge -- was last there in 1990 and made a long rail trip to Narvik. Stayed at a nice campground where the wife and I vowed to take a swim north of the Arctic Circle - we did and couldn't wait to get toweled off!

Speaking of which, does Narvik have a football team in the lower divisions?

MachoMorten wrote:
Just a quick word before going to bed: I was way off about Brann - Haugesund, which ended in a surprising 0-0 draw. Didn't see the match, but from what I hear, Haugesund's keeper Kristiansen was unbeatable.

I'm due up in four hours as we are headed to Ålesund by bus tomorrow, so no update until sometime Monday.

Perhaps you wish you did not go as it ended up like you predicted, how long was the trip?

Cal Alamein wrote:
Speaking of which, does Narvik have a football team in the lower divisions?
They do. They're called Mjølner (like the hammer of Thor from Norse mythology). They're currently in Division 3 (like Hammerfest), the fourth highest level. They were, however, the first club from the north to play "premiership" football a looong time ago...

Antepli Ejderha wrote:
Perhaps you wish you did not go as it ended up like you predicted, how long was the trip?
Indeed. The bus left Lillestrøm at six in the morning, making it to Ålesund around three in the afternoon. After the match, it took about nine hours to get home as well. All in order to see our mighty canaries get smashed by a team that really should be inferiour to us. But that's the way it goes in Ålesund: We have lost three in a row there, always conceding three goals...

The list of results from the first round (Vålerengen - Viking is tonight):

Brann - Haugesund 0-0
Aalesund - Lillestrøm 3-0
Odd - Stabæk 2-3
Tromsø - Hønefoss 2-0
Strømsgodset - Kongsvinger 2-0
Start - Sandefjord 2-0
Molde - Rosenborg 1-2

Except from the Brann game, no results were especially surprising. Rosenborg already beat their main contenders and look as sharp as ever. Strong away win for Stabæk as well.

For once a good start to the season for Valerenga with a 2-0 at home to Viking after two superb goals from our striker Mohammed Abedelloue, or Moa for short.

The win was all the more pleasing as we played against one of the stronger sides in the leagie, and despite Viking's dominating the game for long periods. If we can win this type of games and collect three points in this manner, we should be able to spend the season close to the top of the table.

Anyway, Morten, nice to see another Norwegian around here and a good idea with this thread. We had a thread going for the 2007 season, with the main contributons from me and another Norwegian poster called Otto Katz, who seems to have disappeared.

I am not much around here myself anymore either, apart from a little lurking. However, as I would never trust a LSK fan to even be remotely able to give a balanced account of Norwegian football, I may submit a few posts on this thread from time to time.

Antepli Ejderha wrote:
Nice to see that all of the old names are still going strong, is it because the league is shite or are they genuinely still good players.
Glad that you Lilleström side stayed up, you had your dates when you were out here. As they play in the same colours as Fenerbahçe or have the same nickname, I forgot which one, there is no way I can support them. I saw Valerenga play Besiktas in the UEFA cup while Carew was still playing for them and they came back from 3-0 down to go through on away goals, Autumn 98 I guess.
Does any team play in red and black, if so then they have to be my team.
Lot to go around here, I'll try my best to get through it all.

1. The league is quite shite, but the old ones who are still performing, have still got it to some extent. Rushfeldt, the guy chasing the goal record, scored in the opening match. I don't think he'll ever get too old.

2. The reason you can't appreciate Lillestrøm is because we, like Fenerbahce, are known as the canaries.

3. Autumn 98 is right. I was actually at the home game for vif at Ullevaal, as I was 14 at the time and my older brothers, who are all Vålerengen fans, insisted to bring me along. Northern European Turks filled up most of BJK's section, but they lost 1-0.

4. No teams in black and red, I'm afraid. Any other constellations you can appreciate?

Cheers Belhavka. You're probably doing the right thing guarding me, as the bias has been heavy already and will only get worse.