CUP === Final: Vålerenga - Odd Grenland 1-0 Semifinals: Stabæk - Odd Grenland 0-2 Vålerenga - Aalesund 2-0 Quarterfinals: Lyn - Stabæk 2-2 aet, 4-5 on pen. Odd Grenland - Strømsgodset 4-3 Vålerenga - Viking 3-1 Aalesund - Tromsø 2-0 aet LEAGUE ====== PREMIER DIVISION In the end the outcome of the 2002 season was the familiar one, with Rosenborg winning the title. Their 11th championship win in succession. Again, the autumn form of the defending champion could not be matched by any team. Molde finished second. A good performance all round, but dropped points when it mattered the most let them down. The big surprise was Lyn in third position. The team from Oslo lead the way from the start and found themselves 10 points ahead of RBK at some stage. However, a strange change of coach in the summer ruined their chances, although a place in Europe was just reward. Viking grabbed fourth place, but played too many draws to challenge at the top. Stabæk finished just outside the top once again after a mixed season. When will they find the stability all season? Odd Grenland promised much too, but had to be content with losing the cup final. These six teams clearly made up the top half all along. In the bottom half, Lillestrøm looked like going down until some shrewd on-loan strikers saved their season and last year's runners-up finished seventh. Just in front of their Oslo rival and newly promoted Vålerenga, who were difficult to beat, but drew too many matches. However, the cup win at Ullevaal and qualification for Europe made amends for that. Bryne had a stable season harboring just above the bottom three, and finishing nineth. Bodø/Glimt faltered considerably after a bright start, especially after losing their top scorer abroad, but avoided relegation. As did Sogndal, who can prepare for a third successive season in the top flight for the first time. Well done to a club of few resources. Neighbouring Brann had a disasterous year, with financial trouble outside and lack-lustre performances on the pitch. They needed a play-off win to avoid the drop (and possible bankrupcy). Down to the first division go Moss and newcomer Start. Moss fought valiantly but were simply not good enough when it mattered. Whereas Start had no business in the premier division at all, accumulating the least points in the 14-team league history. Rosenborg 26 17 5 4 57-30 56 Champions Cup Molde 26 15 5 6 48-26 50 UEFA Cup Lyn 26 14 5 7 36-29 47 UEFA Cup Viking 26 11 11 4 44-31 44 Stabæk 26 12 6 8 48-34 42 Odd Grenland 26 12 5 9 36-30 41 Lillestrøm 26 10 6 10 37-30 36 Vålerenga 26 7 12 7 38-31 33 UEFA Cup (cup winner) Bryne 26 8 7 11 38-39 31 Bodø/Glimt 26 9 4 13 38-41 31 Sogndal 26 8 6 12 37-51 30 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Brann 26 8 3 15 35-52 27 Play-off ------------------------------------- Moss 26 6 6 14 32-49 24 Relegated Start 26 2 5 19 21-72 11 Relegated Top scorers: ============ 17 goals: Harald Martin Brattbakk, Rosenborg 15 goals: Tryggvi Gudmundsson, Stabæk 12 goals: Bengt Sæternes, Bodø/Glimt 10 goals: Erik Nevland, Viking Attendance: =========== Club Average Rosenborg 14 629 Brann 10 993 Viking 7 504 Lillestrøm 6 922 Vålerenga 6 393 Molde 6 080 Lyn 5 664 Odd Grenland 5 453 Start 4 319 Stabæk 3 748 Bodø/Glimt 3 445 Bryne 3 326 Moss 3 064 Sogndal 2 479 ------ Total average 6 002 (total 1 092 359) FIRST DIVISION As expected Tromsø won the first division and return immediately to the premier division. They were followed up by surprise team Aalesund, who will play against the best for the first time in their history. Another surprise, newly formed Sandefjord Fotball, finished third after a solid season, but could not knock out Brann in the play-off. At the bottom, three of the four newcomers went straight back to where they come from. Only Oslo Øst managed to stay up. Tollnes and Lørenskog were simply not good enough, but Åsane can consider themselves very unlucky. An injury time goal by Skeid in the last round sent the team from Bergen down on goal difference. Ørn-Horten were also saved on the last day (like last year) after coming from behind to win their last game. The fourth team to be relegated was Tromsdalen, whose recovery started too late. Tromsø 30 21 4 5 78-36 67 Promoted Aalesund 30 19 7 4 77-26 64 Promoted ------------------------------------- Sandefjord 30 18 6 6 65-38 60 Play-off - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hønefoss BK 30 18 4 8 64-36 58 Strømsgodset 30 17 4 9 72-51 55 Raufoss 30 17 3 10 71-50 54 Hødd 30 16 4 10 50-41 52 Hamarkameratene 30 11 8 11 60-47 41 Haugesund 30 11 7 12 46-59 40 Oslo Øst 30 11 5 14 59-71 38 Ørn-Horten 30 7 8 15 38-69 29 Skeid 30 7 7 16 31-48 28 ------------------------------------- Åsane 30 8 4 18 41-59 28 Relegated Tromsdalen 30 8 3 19 40-65 27 Relegated Lørenskog 30 5 5 20 31-72 20 Relegated Tollnes 30 6 1 23 37-92 19 Relegated SECOND DIVISION Only familiar faces being promoted from the second division this time. Big traditional club, Fredrikstad, are back in the first division after an agonising ten year absence in the doldrums. The nine times Norwegian champions attracted massive crowds in their promotion season and a return to the top flight is the next goal. Bærum return to the second level for the first time since 1994, after playing some untypical technical short-passing football. Will they challenge neighbours Stabæk in the long run? Mandalskameratene make up for their unlucky relegation last year with instant promotion. And Alta edge past Byåsen on goal difference to make another attempt to put Finnmark way up north on the Norwegian football map. They last played in the first division in 1995. Group 1: ======== Fredrikstad 26 20 3 3 99-28 63 Promoted ------------------------------------- Kvik Halden 26 15 7 4 65-38 52 Follo 26 13 5 8 51-42 44 Nybergsund 26 12 4 10 41-47 40 Ullensaker/Kisa 26 12 3 11 47-45 39 Romerike 26 10 7 9 54-45 37 Kongsvinger 26 11 4 11 36-31 37 Stabæk 2 26 11 4 11 50-49 37 FF Lillehammer 26 10 5 11 52-57 35 Sprint/Jeløy 26 10 4 12 54-61 34 Eidsvold Turn 26 9 6 11 45-48 33 ------------------------------------- Elverum 26 8 5 13 43-48 29 Relegated Lyn 2 26 6 6 14 36-64 24 Relegated Grindvoll 26 3 1 22 27-97 10 Relegated Group 2: ======== Bærum 26 17 6 3 78-37 57 Promoted ------------------------------------- FK Tønsberg 26 16 6 4 76-28 54 Pors Grenland 26 13 9 4 63-33 48 Molde 2 26 13 6 7 56-40 45 Strindheim 26 11 11 4 62-36 44 Kjelsås 26 13 5 8 46-30 44 Skarbøvik 26 11 7 8 41-39 40 Larvik Fotball 26 9 7 10 41-40 34 Frigg Oslo 26 9 7 10 33-42 34 Langevåg 26 5 9 12 27-45 24 Clausenengen 26 5 7 14 27-62 22 ------------------------------------- Verdal 26 6 3 17 35-67 21 Relegated Træff 26 5 3 18 28-72 18 Relegated Spjelkavik 26 4 4 18 28-70 16 Relegated Group 3: ======== Mandalskam. 26 18 7 1 69-19 61 Promoted ------------------------------------- Løv-Ham 26 18 5 3 62-28 59 Fyllingen 26 14 4 8 65-63 46 Vard Haugesund 26 12 7 7 66-40 43 Fana 26 12 4 10 48-46 40 Nest-Sotra 26 12 2 11 48-63 38 Brann 2 26 10 5 11 48-53 35 Viking 2 26 9 5 12 59-53 32 Vidar 26 9 4 13 44-54 31 Klepp 26 9 3 14 65-68 30 Jerv 26 9 3 14 47-59 30 ------------------------------------- Tornado 26 9 3 14 46-68 30 Relegated Nord 26 8 3 15 37-63 27 Relegated Førde 26 3 5 18 39-66 14 Relegated Group 4: ======== Alta 26 18 2 6 79-38 56 Promoted ------------------------------------- Byåsen 26 17 5 4 79-44 56 Rosenborg 2 26 15 6 5 83-40 51 Levanger 26 12 5 9 69-45 41 Lofoten 26 11 8 7 53-41 41 Mo 26 11 3 12 47-49 36 Steinkjer 26 10 2 14 53-60 32 Skjervøy 26 9 4 13 44-69 31 Skarp 26 8 6 12 62-68 30 Hammerfest FK 26 7 9 10 52-58 30 Vesterålen 26 9 3 14 45-65 30 ------------------------------------- Harstad 26 9 2 15 45-64 29 Relegated Salangen 26 9 2 15 40-79 29 Relegated Stålkameratene 26 7 3 16 39-70 24 Relegated THIRD DIVISION After play-off games half of the 24 third division group winners were promoted: Borg Fotball (2), Mercantile (3), Lillestrøm 2 (5), Gjøvik/Lyn (7), Runar (9), Odd Grenland 2 (10), Ålgård (12), Hovding (15), Averøykameratene (18), Nidelv (20), Narvik (22), Bossekop (24). 2003 ==== Next season's group division of the teams in the second division has been decided as follows: PREMIER DIVISION (14) Bodø/Glimt, Brann, Bryne, Lillestrøm, Lyn, Molde, Odd Grenland, Rosenborg, Sogndal, Stabæk, Tromsø, Viking, Vålerenga, Aalesund. FIRST DIVISION (16) Alta, Bærum, Fredrikstad, Hamarkameratene, Haugesund, Hødd, Hønefoss BK, Mandalskameratene, Moss, Oslo Øst, Raufoss, Sandefjord, Skeid, Start, Strømsgodset, Ørn-Horten. SECOND DIVISION (4x14) Group 1: Borg Fotball, Follo, Frigg Oslo, Jerv, Kjelsås, Kvik Halden, Larvik Fotball, Odd Grenland 2, Pors Grenland, Runar, Sprint/Jeløy, Stabæk 2, Tollnes, FK Tønsberg. Group 2: Averøykameratene, Byåsen, Clausenengen, Eidsvold Turn, FF Lillehammer, Gjøvik/Lyn, Kongsvinger, Lillestrøm 2, Lørenskog, Mercantile, Molde 2, Nybergsund, Romerike, Ullensaker/Kisa. Group 3: Brann 2, Fana, Fyllingen, Hovding, Klepp, Langevåg, Løv-Ham, Nest-Sotra, Skarbøvik, Vard Haugesund, Vidar, Viking 2, Ålgård, Åsane. Group 4: Bossekop, Hammerfest FK, Levanger, Lofoten, Mo, Narvik, Nidelv, Rosenborg 2, Skarp, Skjervøy, Steinkjer, Strindheim, Tromsdalen, Vesterålen.