Wikipedia

Vålerenga Fotball Damer

This article is about Vålerenga Fotball's women's section. For the men's section, see Vålerenga Fotball.

Vålerenga Fotball Damer is the women's football branch of Vålerenga Fotball. Based in Oslo, the team plays in Norway's top league, Toppserien.

Vålerenga Fotball
Full nameVålerenga Fotball Damer
GroundIntility Arena
Oslo
Capacity16,555
Head coachNils Lexerød
LeagueToppserien
2024Toppserien, 1st (champions)
Websitehttps://www.vif-damefotball.no

The team first won promotion to Toppserien in 2011 after earning promotion from the First Division. This made Vålerenga the third Norwegian club with both a men's team and a women's team in the top-tier league, and the first club to have its own women's team win promotion to Toppserien, as the two other clubs, Stabæk Fotball and Lillestrøm SK, inherited another club's women's team.[1]

In 2020, the club made record by winning the Toppserien and the NM Kvinner, their first major titles after finishing runners-up at the previous editions.[2][3]

History

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Founded in 1913, Vålerenga established a women's team for the first time in 1982. After several seasons in lower divisions, Vålerenga decided to make a restart in 1991. They temporarily put down their women's first team, and focused on building youth teams for the next five years. Based on the players coming through their youth teams, they restarted their women's first team in 1996 at the fifth tier of Norwegian football. They were promoted several times the following years, and played at the second tier in the 2000 season.[4]

After spending years at the second and third tier, The team won promotion from the First Division to Toppserien in 2011. This made Vålerenga the third Norwegian club with both a men's team and a women's team in the top-tier league, and the first club to have its own women's team win promotion to Toppserien, as the two other clubs, Stabæk Fotball and Lillestrøm SK, inherited another club's women's team.[5]

In the following years, Vålerenga established itself at the top tier of Norwegian football. In 2015, the board of Vålerenga Fotball stated that by 2020 the club should be a leading club in women's football.[6]

After playing indoors in Vallhall Arena for several years, Vålerenga moved into the newly built Intility Arena in 2017. The first match played at the stadium was the Toppserien game against Kolbotn, which Vålerenga won 2–0.[7] In 2017 they also reached the Norwegian Cup Final for the first time, which they lost 0–1 to Avaldsnes.

In 2020, the club won the Double, winning both the Toppserien and the NM Kvinner for the first time in the club's history.[8][9] They won 2–0 against LSK Kvinner in the Cup Final, and were also ending LSK Kvinner's streak of six consecutive league titles. In 2023, Vålerenga won their second league title.[10]

Vålerenga qualified for the UEFA Women's Champions League group stage for the first time in the 2024–25 season.[11]

Players

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Current squad

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As of 29 September 2024[12]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   SWE Tove Enblom
2 DF   NOR Sara Hørte
3 DF   USA Michaela Kovacs
4 DF   NOR Iselin Sandnes Olsen
5 DF   NOR Selma Pettersen
6 MF   SWE Tilde Lindwall
7 MF   DEN Janni Thomsen (captain)
8 MF   SWE Linn Vickius
9 FW   NOR Elise Thorsnes
10 MF   NOR Olaug Tvedten
11 MF   NOR Emma Stølen Godø
13 FW   NOR Mimmi Löfwenius
14 FW   NOR Mawa Sesay
No. Pos. Nation Player
15 MF   NOR Ylinn Tennebø
16 MF   NOR Ronja Arnesen
18 MF   NOR Thea Bjelde (vice-captain)
19 MF   ISL Sædís Rún Heiðarsdóttir
20 FW   NOR Tuva Espås
21 FW   NOR Karina Sævik
22 MF   NOR Tomine Enger
27 DF   NOR Lina Klech
30 MF   NOR Stine Brekken
31 GK   NOR Thiril Erichsen
32 GK   USA Jalen Tompkins
41 GK   NOR Pia Grinde-Hansen
— FW   SWE Felicia Rogic

Out on loan

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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
17 DF   NOR Ane Jørgensen (at Hønefoss)
29 FW   NOR Mari Nyhagen (at Røa)

Coaching staff

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Position Name
Director of football Steinar Pedersen
Head coach Nils Lexerød
Assistant coach Aleksander Olsen
Player developer and analysis Simon Hansen
Goalkeeper coach Andreas Thorsen Schoute
Fitness coach Luciano Arias
Head of medical Helene Moa
Physio Siri Nesheim
Equipment manager Henning Aamodt

Notable former players

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Managers

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Period Manager
2005–2007   Kjell Gustad
2008   Arne Berger
2009–2013   Cecilie Berg-Hansen
2014   Glenn Rostad
2015   Leif Tsolis
2016   David Brocken
2016–2017   Kjell Gustad
2018–2019   Monica Knudsen
2020–2021   Jack Majgaard Jensen
2022–present   Nils Lexerød

Recent seasons

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Season Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup Notes
2010 1. divisjon 3 22 11 6 5 38 24 39 Second round
2011 1. divisjon ↑ 1 20 14 3 3 52 22 45 Third round Promoted to Toppserien
2012 Toppserien 8 22 6 5 11 27 47 23 Third round
2013 Toppserien 5 22 8 8 6 41 37 32 Semi-final
2014 Toppserien 7 22 9 3 10 27 45 30 Third round
2015 Toppserien 10 22 6 3 13 22 42 21 Third round
2016 Toppserien 9 22 6 5 11 25 48 23 Third round
2017 Toppserien 7 22 10 4 8 38 33 34 Final
2018 Toppserien 6 22 10 3 9 37 35 33 Quarter-final
2019 Toppserien 2 22 14 4 4 41 24 46 Final
2020 Toppserien 1 18 11 5 2 39 14 38 Winners
2021 Toppserien 4 18 11 2 5 46 17 35 Winners
2022 Toppserien 2 18 12 3 3 48 12 39 Quarter-final
6 4 1 1 16 3 15
2023 Toppserien 1 27 17 8 2 68 28 59 Final

Source:[13]

Honours

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References

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  1. ^ "Vålerengas kvinnelag rykket opp til Toppserien" (in Norwegian). TV2. 8 October 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  2. ^ "Vålerenga wins first Toppserien title". Kick442.com. 6 December 2020.
  3. ^ "Vålerenga complete historic domestic double". Goal.com. 13 December 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  4. ^ "Damelagets historie" (in Norwegian). Vålerenga. 6 February 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  5. ^ "Vålerengas kvinnelag rykket opp til Toppserien" (in Norwegian). TV2. 8 October 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  6. ^ "I 2015 vedtok Vålerenga at de skulle bli best i Norge. Slik forklarer de nybakte seriemesterne suksessen" (in Norwegian). Aftenposten. 6 December 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  7. ^ "Ett år har gått siden åpningshelgen" (in Norwegian). Vålerenga. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  8. ^ "Vålerenga wins first Toppserien title". Kick442.com. 6 December 2020.
  9. ^ "Vålerenga complete historic domestic double". Goal.com. 13 December 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  10. ^ "Vålerenga tok gull etter LSK-hjelp" (in Norwegian). TV2. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  11. ^ "Meet the UEFA Women's Champions League group contenders". uefa.com. 28 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  12. ^ "A-laget - spillere". vif-damefotball.no. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  13. ^ "Vålerenga Fotball Damer". NIFS (in Norwegian). NTB. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
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