List of Norwegian football league champions

The Norwegian football league champions (Norwegian: Seriemester i fotball) are the winners of the highest-level football league in Norway. The League of Norway was competed three times with eleven conferences and play-offs from 1937–38 to 1947–48. It was then replaced by the two-conference Main League, which was replaced by the single-conference First Division in 1963. The top tier changed its name to the Premier League in 1991. The winners of this title are not considered Norwegian football champions, as the title is reserved for the winners of the Norwegian Football Cup.

Sixteen clubs from ten cities have won the honor. With 22 titles Rosenborg is the most successful team, including 13 consecutive titles from 1992 through 2004. In the early years, Fredrikstad was highly successful, winning the first two titles and taking nine titles until 1960–61. Viking then took over dominance and rose to become the second-most winning team with their four consecutive titles from 1972 through 1975. The double—winning the league and cup the same season—has occurred fourteen times by six clubs.

Contents

Format

Attempts to create a national league were started in 1914–16 with the Test League, although this never held any official status. The first official league competition was the League of Norway, which started being contested in the 1937–38 season. It consisted of eleven double round robin conferences, each with six or seven teams, with the conference winners playing a two-legged, four-round play-off. Only two full seasons were contested before it was interrupted by World War II, but the league saw a final season be competed in 1947–48. The Main League started in the 1948–49 season, and saw two conferences each with eight teams. At the season end, the conference winners met for a two-legged final. In the 1959–60 and 1960–61, also bronze matches were played between the two conference runner-ups.

The final season, in 1961–62, saw all 16 teams collected in a single league which was played over one and a half years. Starting with the 1963, ten team were collected into a single league, named the First Division. At the same time, the season changed from a winter to a summer league. From the 1972 season, teams from Northern Norway were also allowed to participate in the First Division, for the first time creating a pan-national league. The same season saw the number of teams increase from ten to twelve. The Premier League, also known as Tippeligaen for the sponsor Norsk Tipping, was created in 1991 and for the first time a single-conference league was created below the top league. The Premier League was expanded to 14 teams from the 1995 season and to 16 teams from the 2009 season.

By year

The following is a list of winners (gold), runners-up (silver) and third place (bronze) teams in the highest-level football league in Norway. It also includes the top scorer and the number of scored goals, and shows teams which won the double.

* Team won the double
Year League Gold Silver Bronze Top scorer
1937–38 League of Norway Fredrikstad* Lyn
1938–39 League of Norway Fredrikstad Skeid
1947–48 League of Norway Freidig Sparta
1948–49 Main League Fredrikstad Vålerenga Arvid Havnås (12)
1949–50 Main League Fram Larvik Fredrikstad Reidar Dørum (13)
1950–51 Main League Fredrikstad Odd Grenland Jon Sveinsson (19)
1951–52 Main League Fredrikstad Brann Jon Tangen (15)
1952–53 Main League Larvik Turn Skeid Gunnar Thoresen (15)
Per Jacobsen (15)
1953–54 Main League Fredrikstad Skeid Gunnar Thoresen (15)
1954–55 Main League Larvik Turn Fredrikstad Harald Hennum (13)
1955–56 Main League Larvik Turn Fredrikstad Willy Fossli (17)
1956–57 Main League Fredrikstad* Odd Grenland Per Kristoffersen (15)
1957–58 Main League Viking Skeid Harald Hennum (17)
1958–59 Main League Lillestrøm Fredrikstad Reidar Sundby (13)
1959–60 Main League Fredrikstad* Lillestrøm Eik-Tønsberg Per Kristoffersen (13)
1960–61 Main League Fredrikstad Eik-Tønsberg Vålerenga Per Kristoffersen (15)
1961–62 Main League Brann Steinkjer Fredrikstad Rolf Birger Pedersen (26)
1963 First Division Brann Lyn Skeid Leif Eriksen (16)
1964 First Division Lyn Fredrikstad Sarpsborg Ole Stavrum (18)
1965 First Division Vålerenga Lyn Sarpsborg Harald Berg (19)
1966 First Division Skeid Fredrikstad Lyn Per Kristoffersen (20)
1967 First Division Rosenborg Skeid Lyn Odd Iversen (17)
1968 First Division Lyn* Rosenborg Viking Odd Iversen (30)
1969 First Division Rosenborg Fredrikstad Strømsgodset Odd Iversen (26)
1970 First Division Strømsgodset* Rosenborg Ham-Kam Steinar Pettersen (16)
1971 First Division Rosenborg* Lyn Viking Jan Fuglset (17)
1972 First Division Viking Fredrikstad Strømsgodset Egil Solberg (16)
Johannes Vold (16)
1973 First Division Viking Rosenborg Start Stein Karlsen (17)
1974 First Division Viking Molde Vålerenga Odd Berg (13)
1975 First Division Viking Brann Start Arne Dokken (18)
1976 First Division Lillestrøm Mjøndalen Brann Jan Fuglset (17)
1977 First Division Lillestrøm* Bodø/Glimt Molde Trygve Johannessen (17)
1978 First Division Start Lillestrøm Viking Tom Lund (17)
1979 First Division Viking* Moss Start Odd Iversen (16)
1980 First Division Start Bryne Lillestrøm Arne Dokken (14)
1981 First Division Vålerenga Viking Rosenborg Pål Jacobsen (16)
1982 First Division Viking Bryne Lillestrøm Tor Arne Granerud (11)
Trygve Johannessen (11)
1983 First Division Vålerenga Lillestrøm Start Olav Nysæter (14)
1984 First Division Vålerenga Viking Start Sverre Brandhaug (13)
1985 First Division Rosenborg Lillestrøm Vålerenga Jørn Andersen (23)
1986 First Division Lillestrøm Mjøndalen Kongsvinger Arve Seland (12)
1987 First Division Moss Molde Kongsvinger Jahn Kristian Fjærestad (18)
1988 First Division Rosenborg* Lillestrøm Molde Jan Åge Fjørtoft (14)
1989 First Division Lillestrøm Rosenborg Tromsø Jahn Ivar Jakobsen (18)
1990 First Division Rosenborg Tromsø Molde Tore André Dahlum (20)
1991 Premier League Viking Rosenborg Start Karl Petter Løken (12)
1992 Premier League Rosenborg* Kongsvinger Start Kjell Roar Kaasa (17)
1993 Premier League Rosenborg Bodø/Glimt Lillestrøm Mons Ivar Mjelde (19)
1994 Premier League Rosenborg Lillestrøm Viking Harald Martin Brattbakk (17)
1995 Premier League Rosenborg* Molde Bodø/Glimt Harald Martin Brattbakk (26)
1996 Premier League Rosenborg Lillestrøm Viking Harald Martin Brattbakk (28)
1997 Premier League Rosenborg Brann Strømsgodset Sigurd Rushfeldt (27)
1998 Premier League Rosenborg Molde Stabæk Sigurd Rushfeldt (25)
1999 Premier League Rosenborg* Molde Brann Rune Lange (23)
2000 Premier League Rosenborg Brann Viking Thorstein Helstad (18)
2001 Premier League Rosenborg Lillestrøm Viking Thorstein Helstad (17)
Frode Johnsen (17)
Clayton Zane (17)
2002 Premier League Rosenborg Molde Lyn Harald Martin Brattbakk (17)
2003 Premier League Rosenborg* Bodø/Glimt Stabæk Harald Martin Brattbakk (17)
2004 Premier League Rosenborg Vålerenga Brann Frode Johnsen (19)
2005 Premier League Vålerenga Start Lyn Ole Martin Årst (16)
2006 Premier League Rosenborg Brann Vålerenga Daniel Nannskog (19)
2007 Premier League Brann Stabæk Viking Thorstein Helstad (22)
2008 Premier League Stabæk Fredrikstad Tromsø Daniel Nannskog (16)
2009 Premier League Rosenborg Molde Stabæk Rade Prica (17)
2010 Premier League Rosenborg Vålerenga Tromsø Baye Djiby Fall (16)
2011 Premier League Molde Tromsø Rosenborg Mostafa Abdellaoue (17)

By club

The following is a break-down of top three league positions by team and also presents the team's home city or town.

Club City Gold Silver Bronze Winning years
Rosenborg Trondheim 22 5 2 1967, 1969, 1971, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2010
Fredrikstad Fredrikstad 9 9 1 1937–38, 1938–39, 1948–49, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1953–54, 1956–57, 1959–60, 1960–61
Viking Stavanger 8 2 9 1957–58, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1979, 1982, 1991
Lillestrøm Skedsmo 5 8 3 1958–59, 1976, 1977, 1986, 1989
Vålerenga Oslo 5 3 3 1965, 1981, 1983, 1984, 2005
Brann Bergen 3 5 3 1961–62, 1963, 2007
Larvik Turn Larvik 3 1952-53, 1954–55, 1955–56
Lyn Oslo 2 5 4 1964, 1968
Start Kristiansand 2 1 7 1978, 1980
Molde Molde 1 7 3 2011
Skeid Oslo 1 5 1 1966
Stabæk Bærum 1 1 3 2008
Moss Moss 1 1 1987
Strømsgodset Drammen 1 3 1970
Fram Larvik Larvik 1 1949–50
Freidig Trondheim 1 1947–48
Bodø/Glimt Bodø 3 1
Tromsø Tromsø 2 3
Bryne Bryne 2
Mjøndalen Nedre Eiker 2
Odd Grenland Skien 2
Kongsvinger Kongsvinger 1 2
Eik-Tønsberg Tønsberg 1 1
Sparta Sarpsborg Sarpsborg 1
Steinkjer Steinkjer 1
Sarpsborg Sarpsborg 2
Ham-Kam Hamar 1

By city

The following is a list of the league titles distributed by city or town.

City Titles Clubs
Trondheim 23 Rosenborg (22), Freidig (1)
Fredrikstad 9 Fredrikstad (9)
Stavanger 8 Viking (8)
Oslo 8 Vålerenga (5), Lyn (2), Skeid (1)
Skedsmo 5 Lillestrøm (5)
Larvik 4 Larvik Turn (3), Fram Larvik (1)
Bergen 3 Brann (3)
Kristiansand 2 Start (2)
Bærum 1 Stabæk (1)
Drammen 1 Strømsgodset (1)
Molde 1 Molde (1)
Moss 1 Moss (1)