Toppserien

The Toppserien is the top level of women's association football in Norway. It was founded in 1984.

Toppserien
Founded1984 (1984)
2000–present (as Toppserien)
1996–1999 (as Eliteserien)
1984–1995 (as 1. divisjon)
Country Norway
ConfederationUEFA
Divisions1
Number of teams12
Level on pyramid1
Relegation to1. divisjon
Domestic cup(s)Norwegian Cup
International cup(s)UEFA Champions League
Current championsLSK Kvinner (7th title)
(2019)
Most championshipsLSK Kvinner
Trondheims-Ørn (7 titles each)
TV partnersNRK
Websitefotball.no
Current: 2020 Toppserien

History

Women's league football was introduced on a county basis in 1977. These leagues acted as qualification for the regional (South) league in 1979. Regional leagues were in operation until the formation of the First Division 1984, when the league was divided into three regions, Group Eastern-Norway (Østlandet), Group Western-Norway (Vestlandet), and Group Mid-Norway (Trøndelag). No teams from Northern-Norway (Nord-Norge) played, however. The winners of the three groups met each other for a play-off. Regional leagues for women had been played before 1984, and a championship play-off had been done between the winners of Mid-Norway and Eastern-Norway in 1983 (Trondheims-Ørn beat Setskog 2-1), but this championship was considered unofficial by the Football Association of Norway. In 1986, a group for Northern-Norway was added, and in 1987, the groups and play-off matches were dropped, and one single league with teams from all over the country was played.

The league was known as 1. divisjon (Norwegian for 1st Division) from 1984 to 1995, the Eliteserien (Norwegian for The Elite League) from 1996 to 1999, and the Toppserien (Norwegian for The Top League) from 2000.

Traditionally, Trondheims-Ørn and Asker was the two power-houses of Toppserien, with 7 and 6 championship wins respectively. Trondheims-Ørn finished in the top three 16 out of 23 times from the beginning in 1984 to their current last medal in 2006. In 1998, Asker managed the almost unthinkable, winning every single one of their 18 league games that season (Asker didn't win the double that season, however, as the club was knocked out of the semi-finals of the cup by Trondheims-Ørn). However Asker FK, the women's team within Asker Fotball, became bankrupt at the end of 2008 and most of the players were transferred to a new team within the nearby Stabæk IF, named Stabæk FK (FK = Fotball Kvinner (Football Women)). Asker finished among the top three 18 out of the 25 seasons the club existed. The new Stabæk team began playing in the Toppserien from the 2009 season and won the league in 2010 and 2013. Røa won Toppserien five times from 2004 to 2011. Lillestrøm SK Kvinner won six consecutive titles from 2014 to 2019.

The league

The league currently consists of 12 teams, which play each other 2 times (home and away), for a total of 22 matches. The season lasts from April to October. Teams are ranked by:[1]

  • Number of points (3 points per win, 1 point per draw).
  • Goal difference
  • Goals scored
  • Results between the tied teams.

2020 teams

Locations of teams in the 2020 Toppserien
Team Home city Home ground Since First app. Seasons
Arna-BjørnarIndre Arna (Bergen)Arna Idrettspark2006200119
AvaldsnesAvaldsnesAvaldsnes Idrettssenter201320138
KleppKleppeKlepp Stadion1987198734
KolbotnKolbotnSofiemyr1995199526
LSK KvinnerLillestrømLSK-Hallen1987[lower-alpha 1]198734
LynOsloKringsjå kunstgress201820183
RøaOsloRøa kunstgress2000200021
RosenborgTrondheimKoteng Arena1987[lower-alpha 2]198734
SandvikenBergenStemmemyren2015198727
VålerengaOsloIntility Arena201220129
Notes
  1. As Setskog/Høland.
  2. As Trondheims-Ørn.

List of champions

Below is a list of the gold, silver and bronze medalists in the Toppserien since its beginning in 1984. The Norwegian Women's Cup has been played since 1978. From 1984 to 1995 the name of the league was 1. divisjon ("First Division"), and between 1996 and 1999 the name was Eliteserien ("The Elite League", a generic name) before getting its current name, Toppserien in 2000.

From 1984 to 1985, the league was divided into three sections, and after the inclusion of teams from Northern Norway there was four sections in 1986, with the championship decided through a play-off. Since then it has been a round-robin decided through a league table.

Winner by year

The following medals have been awarded:[2]

Year Champions Runners-up Third place Name of league
1984 Sprint-Jeløy (1) Trondheims-Ørn Nymark 1. divisjon
1985 Nymark (1) Asker Trondheims-Ørn
1986 Sprint-Jeløy (2) Troll Klepp
Grand
1987 Klepp (1) Sprint-Jeløy Asker
1988 Asker (1) Klepp Trondheims-Ørn
1989 Asker (2) Sprint-Jeløy Klepp
1990 Sprint-Jeløy (3) Asker Klepp
1991 Asker (3) Sprint-Jeløy Sandviken
1992 Asker (4) Setskog/Høland Sprint-Jeløy
1993 Sprint-Jeløy (4) Trondheims-Ørn Asker
1994 Trondheims-Ørn (1) Asker Sprint-Jeløy
1995 Trondheims-Ørn (2) Setskog/Høland Sandviken
1996 Trondheims-Ørn (3) Sandviken Asker Eliteserien
1997 Trondheims-Ørn (4) Asker Klepp
1998 Asker (5) Trondheims-Ørn Athene Moss
1999 Asker (6) Trondheims-Ørn Klepp
2000 Trondheims-Ørn (5) Asker Kolbotn Toppserien
2001 Trondheims-Ørn (6) Kolbotn Arna-Bjørnar
2002 Kolbotn (1) Asker Trondheims-Ørn
2003 Trondheims-Ørn (7) Kolbotn Asker
2004 Røa (1) Trondheims-Ørn Fløya
2005 Kolbotn (2) Team Strømmen Fløya
2006 Kolbotn (3) Trondheims-Ørn Røa
2007 Røa (2) Kolbotn Asker
2008 Røa (3) Team Strømmen Asker
2009 Røa (4) Stabæk Kolbotn
2010 Stabæk (1) Røa Kolbotn
2011 Røa (5) Stabæk Kolbotn
2012 Lillestrøm SK (1) Stabæk Arna-Bjørnar
2013 Stabæk (2) LSK Kvinner Arna-Bjørnar
2014 LSK Kvinner (2) Stabæk Arna-Bjørnar
2015 LSK Kvinner (3) Avaldsnes Røa
2016 LSK Kvinner (4) Avaldsnes Stabæk
2017 LSK Kvinner [3] (5) Avaldsnes Stabæk
2018 LSK Kvinner (6) Klepp Arna-Bjørnar
2019 LSK Kvinner (7) Vålerenga Klepp
2020 Vålerenga (1) Rosenborg Avaldsnes

Winners by club

The following clubs have won the top division in Norwegian football since 1984.

As of after the 2020 season
Club Winner Runner-up Third
Rosenborg4 773
LSK Kvinner3 750
Asker1 666
Røa 512
Sprint/Jeløy2 433
Kolbotn 334
Stabæk1 242
Klepp 126
Vålerenga 110
Nymark 101
Avaldsnes 031
Sandviken 012
Troll 010
Arna-Bjørnar 005
Fløya 002
Grand Bodø 001

1 = In 2008 Stabæk was handed the license to play in the top league, and also took over the best players from Asker, because of financial problems in the latter. But the rest of Asker remains, and they still have their top female team - in league three. Therefore, Stabæk is not to be considered the successor of Asker.
2 = Athene Moss was Sprint/Jeløy successor, so one bronze as Athene Moss in 1998 is included.
3 = LSK Kvinner is the successor of Setskog/Høland and Team Strømmen.
4 = Rosenborg is the successor of Trondheims-Ørn.

See also

References

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