CUP === Final: Brann - Lyn Oslo 4-1 Semifinals: Lyn Oslo - Lillestrøm 1-0 Stabæk - Brann 1-3 aet Quarterfinals: Brann - Bryne 3-2 Lillestrøm - Rosenborg 3-2 Lyn Oslo - Hamarkameratene 3-1 Sandefjord - Stabæk 3-4 LEAGUE ====== PREMIER DIVISION For the 13th time in succession Rosenborg won the Norwegian league. But never before has the run-in been closer with second place Vålerenga on identical points and goal difference, just losing out on fewer goals scored! Brann finished third after a strong second fall season which was crowned by winning the Norwegian cup final. Tromsø grabbed the last place in Europe and well deserved after being the early pacesetters and leading until the summer. Newcomer Hamarkameratene surprised everybody by finishing a strong fifth, when all experts predicted a quick return to the first division before the season started. Lyn Oslo, Lillestrøm and Odd Grenland all had good spells for some parts of the season, but eventually ended up in mid-table. At the bottom, Viking were in big trouble in the summer, but recovered well after hiring a new coach. Newcomer Fredrikstad were in even bigger problems, languising rock bottom well into the fall season, but an astonishin sequence of wins in fall secured another season in the top flight. Molde had yet another disappointing season by their standards, narrowly escaping relegation after winning their final two games when they had to. One of those victims, Bodø/Glimt, finished third from bottom, but won out in the playoff games against Kongsvinger. The second victim, Stabæk, were not so lucky and were surprisingly relegated after winning bronze medals in 2003. They were followed down by Sogndal, which had a disasterous fall season, conceding far too many goals. Rosenborg 26 14 6 6 52-34 48 Champions Cup Vålerenga 26 13 9 4 40-22 48 Champions Cup Brann 26 12 4 10 46-40 40 UEFA Cup (cup winner) Tromsø 26 12 4 10 38-32 40 UEFA Cup Hamarkameratene 26 10 8 8 34-33 38 Lyn Oslo 26 9 10 7 30-31 37 (ex Lyn - name change) Lillestrøm 26 8 11 7 45-33 35 Odd Grenland 26 9 8 9 47-44 35 Viking 26 7 12 7 31-33 33 Fredrikstad 26 9 5 12 42-54 32 Molde 26 7 10 9 34-37 31 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bodø/Glimt 26 7 6 13 28-41 27 Play-off --------------------------------------- Stabæk 26 7 6 13 25-40 27 Relegated Sogndal 26 5 7 14 39-57 22 Relegated Top scorers: ============ 19 goals: Frode Johnsen, Rosenborg 15 goals: Alexander Ødegaard, Sogndal 14 goals: Arild Sundgot, Lillestrøm Olivier Occean, Odd Grenland 13 goals: Raymond Kvisvik, Brann Robbie Winters, Brann 12 goals: Gylfi Einarsson, Lillestrøm 11 goals: Markus Ringberg, Fredrikstad Ole Martin Årst, Tromsø Attendance: =========== Club Average Rosenborg 17 383 Vålerenga 14 392 Brann 13 751 Viking 12 439 Fredrikstad 8 696 Lillestrøm 7 114 Tromsø 5 650 Hamarkameratene 5 580 Molde 5 554 Odd Grenland 5 060 Bodø/Glimt 4 591 Lyn Oslo 4 525 Stabæk 4 263 Sogndal 2 550 ------ Total average 7 988 (total 1 453 816) FIRST DIVISION Two teams really stood out in the first division, and both Start and Aalesund secured promotion and a return to the top flight really early. Sandefjord looked like finishing third for the third season in a row all season long, but lost that position to Kongsvinger in the final round. The newcomer couldn't manage their second promotion in a row and lost out to Bodø/Glimt in the playoff despite winning the first leg at home. At the bottom, there was an intense fight to the last round to avoid relegation, involving virtually all remaining teams in the division. The only exceptions being newcomers Vard Haugesund and Tromsdalen, which received their return ticket to the second division pretty early. In the end, Raufoss and Haugesund were the two unlucky ones to go down. Quite surprisingly, as both teams had aspirations for fighting at the other of the table. A really bad season for the city of Haugesund. Start 30 24 2 4 71-28 74 Promoted Aalesund 30 21 1 8 67-36 64 Promoted --------------------------------------- Kongsvinger 30 16 5 9 53-42 53 Play-off - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Sandefjord 30 15 6 9 60-32 51 Mandalskameratene 30 13 6 11 51-55 45 Hødd 30 14 2 14 63-59 44 Bryne 30 11 9 10 54-45 42 Skeid 30 12 6 12 57-56 42 Strømsgodset 30 11 7 12 42-45 40 Moss 30 11 5 14 48-47 38 Pors Grenland 30 11 7 12 56-60 38* Hønefoss BK 30 11 4 15 52-54 37 --------------------------------------- Raufoss 30 10 7 13 42-47 37 Relegated Haugesund 30 11 4 15 44-59 37 Relegated Vard Haugesund 30 7 3 20 43-83 24 Relegated Tromsdalen 30 3 4 23 29-84 13 Relegated * Pors Grenland 2 points deducted for using ineligible players. SECOND DIVISION In the second division only one team, Alta, managed instant return to the first division after being relegated in 2003. Instead, it was to be the season of newly founded superstructure clubs, as both Follo and FK Tønsberg secured promotion few years after being constructed. Follo was last represented by Ski in 1993, whereas Tønsberg was represented by Eik-Tønsberg as late as in 2000. The fourth promotion spot when to Løv-Ham of Bergen, which has never played at the second level before, but had the best record of all second division clubs in 2004. Group 1: ======== FK Tønsberg 26 20 2 4 70-21 62 Promoted --------------------------------------- Sparta Sarpsborg 26 16 4 6 63-38 52 (merger of Sparta + Borg Fotball) Tollnes 26 16 2 8 68-42 50 Kvik Halden 26 12 8 6 70-40 44 Stabæk 2 26 12 2 12 54-59 38 Relegated (*) Ørn-Horten 26 11 4 11 52-65 37 Frigg Oslo 26 10 6 10 50-34 36 Larvik Fotball 26 10 5 11 31-37 35 Kjelsås 26 9 7 10 38-39 34 Odd Grenland 2 26 9 5 12 48-49 32 Sprint/Jeløy 26 8 5 13 52-68 29 --------------------------------------- Mercantile 26 7 7 12 36-55 28 Not relegated (best 10th place team) FK Arendal 26 6 3 17 31-67 21 Relegated Donn 26 3 6 17 29-78 15 Relegated (*) Only next season premier division teams are allowed to field their second teams in the second division. Thus, as Stabæk was relegated from the premier division, Stabæk 2 was relegated too. Group 2: ======== Follo 26 16 6 4 57-22 54 Promoted --------------------------------------- Lørenskog 26 13 9 4 66-40 48 Lillestrøm 2 26 13 8 5 72-37 47 Ullensaker/Kisa 26 14 3 9 56-48 45 Gjøvik/Lyn 26 11 8 7 55-40 41 Nybergsund 26 10 9 7 43-35 39 Oslo Øst 26 10 4 12 45-48 34 Drøbak/Frogn 26 7 12 7 48-44 33 Jotun Årdalstangen 26 9 6 11 45-49 33 (merger of Jotun + Årdalstangen/Lærdal) Eidsvold Turn 26 9 5 12 38-53 32 Molde 2 26 6 11 9 52-60 29 --------------------------------------- Nidelv 26 7 6 13 45-71 27 Relegated Elverum 26 3 8 15 27-74 17 Relegated Skjetten 26 3 7 16 37-65 16 Relegated Group 3: ======== Løv-Ham 26 22 3 1 86-27 69 Promoted --------------------------------------- Bærum 26 17 2 7 75-31 53 Åsane 26 13 3 10 52-37 42 Viking 2 26 12 4 10 43-37 40 Fyllingen 26 12 2 12 56-59 38 Fana 26 10 8 8 48-57 38 Klepp 26 10 6 10 43-49 36 Sandnes Ulf 26 10 4 12 38-47 34 (merger of Sandnes FK + Ulf-Sandnes) Hovding 26 10 3 13 46-54 33 Ålgård 26 9 3 14 37-57 30 Brann 2 26 7 8 11 52-69 29 --------------------------------------- Vidar 26 7 6 13 35-51 27 Relegated Volda 26 8 1 17 39-59 25 Relegated Norheimsund 26 6 5 15 34-50 23 Relegated Group 4: ======== Alta 26 21 0 5 95- 21 63 Promoted ---------------------------------------- Levanger 26 17 6 3 89- 34 57 Strindheim 26 18 3 5 98- 45 57 Mo 26 15 5 6 51- 30 50 Byåsen 26 12 4 10 48- 45 40 Harstad 26 12 3 11 66- 62 39 Skarp 26 11 3 12 44- 40 36 Steinkjer 26 10 4 12 65- 52 34 Kolstad 26 10 3 13 51- 59 33 Lofoten 26 10 2 14 50- 66 32 Rosenborg 2 26 9 3 14 44- 61 30 ---------------------------------------- Vesterålen 26 5 5 16 32- 74 20 Relegated Salangen 26 5 4 17 45-110 19 Relegated Narvik FK 26 2 5 19 27-106 11 Relegated THIRD DIVISION After play-off games half of the 24 third division group winners were promoted: Sarpsborg FK (1), Groruddalen (5), Brumunddal (6), FF Lillehammer (7), Notodden (10), Flekkerøy (11), Egersund (13), Stord/Moster (14), Træff (18), Ranheim (19), Innstranden (21), Lyngen/Karnes (23). 2005 ==== Next season's group division of the teams in the second division has been decided as follows: PREMIER DIVISION (14) Bodø/Glimt, Brann, Fredrikstad, Hamarkameratene, Lillestrøm, Lyn Oslo, Molde, Odd Grenland, Rosenborg, Start, Tromsø, Viking, Vålerenga, Aalesund FIRST DIVISION (16) Alta, Bryne, Follo, Hødd, Hønefoss BK, Kongsvinger, Løv-Ham, Mandalskameratene, Moss, Pors Grenland, Sandefjord, Skeid, Sogndal, Stabæk, Strømsgodset, FK Tønsberg SECOND DIVISION (4x14) Group 1: Bærum, Drøbak/Frogn, Groruddalen, Kvik Halden, Larvik Fotball, Mercantile, Notodden, Odd Grenland 2, Sarpsborg FK, Sparta Sarpsborg, Sprint/Jeløy, Tollnes, Vard Haugesund, Ørn-Horten Group 2: Brumunddal, Eidsvold Turn, Frigg Oslo, FF Lillehammer, Gjøvik/Lyn, Kjelsås, Lillestrøm 2, Lørenskog, Molde 2, Nybergsund, Oslo Øst, Raufoss, Træff, Ullensaker/Kisa Group 3: Brann 2, Egersund, Fana, Flekkerøy, Fyllingen, Haugesund, Hovding, Jotun Årdalstangen, Klepp, Sandnes Ulf, Stord/Moster, Viking 2, Ålgård, Åsane Group 4: Byåsen, Harstad, Innstranden, Kolstad, Levanger, Lofoten, Lyngen/Karnes, Mo, Ranheim, Rosenborg 2, Skarp, Steinkjer, Strindheim, Tromsdalen