CUP === Final: Molde - Lillestrøm 4-2 aet Semifinals: Lillestrøm - Vålerenga 2-0 Molde - Hønefoss BK 1-0 Quarterfinals: Hønefoss BK - Hamarkameratene 4-0 Lillestrøm - Stabæk 3-1 Molde - Odd Grenland 2-1 Vålerenga - Brann 2-1 LEAGUE ====== PREMIER DIVISION For the first time in 13 seasons Rosenborg didn't win the Norwegian championship. In 2005 that honour went to Vålerenga after a solid season, although the team from Oslo didn't win a single one of their last 6 matches! But none of the other challengers could take advantage. Start, leaders for most of the spring and summer faded in fall, and finished second. An incredible result for a newcomer, but a single point in their last game would have given them the title. Lyn Oslo took the last UEFA Cup place making it an excellent season for Oslo. Lillestrøm finished fourth and qualified for Intertoto Cup, whereas Viking missed out on Europe after spending most of the season among the top-4 teams. Brann was second at half way point, but ended only in mid-table. Defending champions Rosenborg had a disasterous season, even flirting with relegation in fall after 6 successive defeats. A strong run-in made sure of seventh position. The last seven teams all fought against relegation. Tromsø and Odd Grenland saved themselves with a very strong second half. Especially Odd Grenland, which were rock bottom at the half way point. Hamarkameratene did just enough to stay up, whereas Fredrikstad saved themselves with a last day win at Start. That left Molde to finish third from bottom, but they easily won in the play-off against Moss and kept their place. Aalesund and Bodø/Glimt were relegated. Newcomer Aalesund played some positive football, but it wasn't enough. Bodø/Glimt lost it towards the end and finished bottom. Vålerenga 26 13 7 6 40-27 46 Champions Cup Start 26 13 6 7 47-35 45 UEFA Cup Lyn Oslo 26 12 8 6 37-21 44 UEFA Cup Lillestrøm 26 12 6 8 37-31 42 Intertoto Cup Viking 26 12 5 9 37-32 41 Brann 26 10 7 9 43-32 37 UEFA Cup (fair play) Rosenborg 26 10 4 12 50-42 34 Tromsø 26 8 10 8 31-30 34 Odd Grenland 26 9 6 11 28-51 33 Hamarkameratene 26 8 7 11 31-37 31 Fredrikstad 26 8 7 11 35-44 31 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Molde 26 8 6 12 40-46 30 Play-off UEFA Cup (cup winner) --------------------------------------- Aalesund 26 6 9 11 30-42 27 Relegated Bodø/Glimt 26 6 6 14 29-45 24 Relegated Top scorers: ============ 16 goals: Ole Martin Årst, Tromsø 14 goals: Egil Østenstad, Viking 13 goals: Thorstein Helstad, Rosenborg 11 goals: Arild Sundgot, Lillestrøm 10 goals: Rob Friend, Molde Attendance: =========== Club Average Rosenborg 17 529 Vålerenga 15 658 Brann 14 840 Viking 13 699 Aalesund 10 639 Start 10 100 Fredrikstad 8 796 Lillestrøm 7 782 Molde 6 509 Lyn Oslo 6 480 Hamarkameratene 5 632 Odd Grenland 5 357 Tromsø 5 063 Bodø/Glimt 4 778 ------ Total average 9 490 (total 1 727 212) FIRST DIVISION Stabæk made sure of a direct return to the top flight after winning the first division. Sandefjord made them company, which was very well deserved after being close for the last three seasons. Moss had a splendid second half of the season, but lost out in the play-off to Molde. Biggest disappointment of the season was Sogndal, which could never fulfill their ambition of an instant return to the top flight and finished mid-table. At the bottom, two newcomers, Alta and FK Tønsberg occupied the bottom two places. Whereas the other two newcomers, Follo and Løv-Ham, finished just above the relegation zone. That meant that Skeid and Mandalskameratene had to go down. The team from Oslo never got out of bottom-4 all season, whereas MK had a disasterous second half after looking quite safe at the halfway point. Stabæk 30 20 7 3 63-23 67 Promoted Sandefjord Fotball 30 19 5 6 58-37 62 Promoted --------------------------------------- Moss 30 17 7 6 54-30 58 Play-off - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Hønefoss BK 30 17 5 8 52-41 56 Bryne 30 14 8 8 55-33 50 Pors Grenland 30 13 11 6 47-45 50 Sogndal 30 11 8 11 47-51 41 Strømsgodset 30 11 7 12 46-45 40 Hødd 30 10 7 13 53-54 37 Kongsvinger 30 11 4 15 41-48 37 Follo 30 8 10 12 40-47 34 Løv-Ham 30 9 4 17 31-47 31 --------------------------------------- Mandalskameratene 30 7 8 15 41-54 29 Relegated Skeid 30 8 5 17 39-58 29 Relegated FK Tønsberg 30 6 7 17 36-56 25 Relegated Alta 30 5 5 20 28-62 20 Relegated SECOND DIVISION In the second division only familiar faces won promotion. Two teams, Haugesund and Tromsdalen managed an instant return to the first division after being relegated in 2004. Although Haugesund could only finish second behind Viking 2 in their division. Oslo Øst secured promotion after two seasons in the second division following their relegation in 2003. They held off favourites Raufoss all season long. Due to economical problems Oslo Øst will compete as Manglerud Star Toppfotball in 2006. The fourth promotion spot went to Sparta Sarpsborg, which held off Vard Haugesund in the end. Sparta have spent several decades in the lower leagues, but are now back at the second level of Norwegian football for the first time since 1962! Group 1: ======== Sparta Sarpsborg 26 21 1 4 90-28 64 Promoted --------------------------------------- Vard Haugesund 26 19 3 4 88-27 60 Notodden 26 16 1 9 74-36 49 Bærum 26 14 6 6 66-42 48 Drøbak Frogn 26 13 0 13 64-41 39 Groruddalen 26 11 6 9 61-49 39 Tollnes 26 11 4 11 49-46 37 Ørn-Horten 26 12 1 13 34-67 37 Sprint/Jeløy 26 9 4 13 45-61 31 Sarpsborg FK 26 9 1 16 45-60 28 Odd Grenland 2 26 8 4 14 35-55 28 --------------------------------------- Mercantile 26 8 1 17 31-91 25 Relegated Kvik Halden 26 6 5 15 38-52 23 Relegated Fram Larvik 26 4 5 17 25-90 17 Relegated Group 2: ======== Oslo Øst 26 19 3 4 82-29 60 Promoted --------------------------------------- Raufoss 26 18 4 4 68-34 58 Nybergsund 26 16 5 5 57-26 53 Lørenskog 26 13 6 7 67-38 45 Ullensaker/Kisa 26 11 6 9 41-40 39 Molde 2 26 10 5 11 58-59 35 Eidsvold Turn 26 9 7 10 45-49 34 Gjøvik/Lyn 26 10 4 12 36-44 34 Kjelsås 26 10 4 12 41-53 34 Lillestrøm 2 26 9 6 11 42-53 33 Brumunddal 26 9 3 14 48-58 30 --------------------------------------- Træff 26 7 4 15 40-57 25 Relegated Frigg Oslo 26 6 3 17 44-77 21 Relegated FF Lillehammer 26 4 2 20 26-78 14 Relegated Group 3: ======== Viking 2 26 17 5 4 46-19 56 --------------------------------------- Haugesund 26 14 9 3 65-31 51 Promoted Flekkerøy 26 15 5 6 49-32 50 Sandnes Ulf 26 11 9 6 57-43 42 Fyllingen 26 11 7 8 45-33 40 Ålgård 26 10 5 11 48-40 35 Jotun Årdalstangen 26 10 4 12 34-44 34 (*) Stord/Moster 26 9 6 11 39-47 33 (#) Åsane 26 10 3 13 36-47 33 Fana 26 10 3 13 37-50 33 Klepp 26 7 8 11 32-43 29 --------------------------------------- Egersund 26 5 8 13 34-51 23 Relegated Hovding 26 6 5 15 39-64 23 Relegated Brann 2 26 5 7 14 45-62 22 Relegated (*) Jotun Årdalstangen changed their name to Årdal. (#) Stord/Moster changed their name to Stord Sunnhordland. Group 4: ======== Tromsdalen 26 17 4 5 64-34 55 Promoted --------------------------------------- Mo 26 15 2 9 59-44 47 Levanger 26 14 4 8 68-45 46 Strindheim 26 13 6 7 65-39 45 Steinkjer 26 14 1 11 64-62 43 Skarp 26 13 4 9 61-60 43 Byåsen 26 13 3 10 69-44 42 Ranheim 26 11 5 10 63-54 38 Harstad 26 9 8 9 46-47 35 Rosenborg 2 26 10 2 14 51-59 32 Kolstad 26 8 4 14 43-62 28 --------------------------------------- Lyngen/Karnes 26 8 1 17 55-89 25 Relegated Lofoten 26 7 2 17 40-89 23 Relegated Innstranden 26 5 4 17 30-50 19 Relegated THIRD DIVISION After play-off games half of the 24 third division group winners were promoted: Korsvoll (2), Vålerenga 2 (3), Hamarkameratene 2 (6), Åmot (7), Stabæk 2 (8), Start 2 (11), Kopervik (13), Askøy (14), Kristiansund BK (18), KIL/Hemne (19), Steigen (21), Hammerfest FK (24). 2006 ==== Next season's group division of the teams in the second division has been decided as follows: PREMIER DIVISION (14) Brann, Fredrikstad, Hamarkameratene, Lillestrøm, Lyn Oslo, Molde, Odd Grenland, Rosenborg, Sandefjord, Stabæk, Start, Tromsø, Viking, Vålerenga FIRST DIVISION (16) Bodø/Glimt, Bryne, Follo, Haugesund, Hødd, Hønefoss BK, Kongsvinger, Løv-Ham, Manglerud Star, Moss, Pors Grenland, Sogndal, Sparta Sarpsborg, Strømsgodset, Tromsdalen, Aalesund SECOND DIVISION (4x14) Group 1: Bærum, Drøbak/Frogn, Lørenskog, Odd Grenland 2, Notodden, Sarpsborg FK, Sprint/Jeløy, Stabæk 2, Tollnes, FK Tønsberg, Vålerenga 2, Ørn-Horten, Åmot, Årdal Group 2: Byåsen, Groruddalen, Kjelsås, Kolstad, Korsvoll, Kristiansund BK, KIL/Hemne, Levanger, Molde 2, Ranheim, Rosenborg 2, Skeid, Steinkjer, Strindheim Group 3: Askøy, Fana, Flekkerøy, Fyllingen, Klepp, Kopervik, Mandalskameratene, Sandnes Ulf, Start 2, Stord Sunnhordland, Vard Haugesund, Viking 2, Ålgård, Åsane Group 4: Alta, Brumunddal, Eidsvold Turn, Gjøvik/Lyn, Hamarkameratene 2, Hammerfest FK, Harstad, Lillestrøm 2, Mo, Nybergsund, Raufoss, Skarp, Steigen, Ullensaker/Kisa