Norwegian Premier League

Infobox football league
name = Tippeligaen

pixels = 198
country = Norway
confed = UEFA
founded = 1937
champions = SK Brann
season = 2007
teams = 14
relegation = Norwegian First Division
domest_cup = Norwegian Cup
confed_cup = Champions League
UEFA Cup
Intertoto Cup
tv = TV2
website = http://www.fotball.no
current = Tippeligaen 2008

Tippeligaen is the top division for football in Norway. Its official Norwegian name is Tippeligaen after its sponsor Norsk Tipping, the national lottery and bookmaking service. It is also colloquially known as Eliteserien ("The Elite Series"), although the name has never been official.

Between 1963 and 1990 the name of the league was 1. divisjon ("1st Division"), a name that has later been used for the second level league from 1991. (In 2005 the second level league was officially named Adeccoligaen after its sponsor Adecco.) From the fall of 1948 to 1962 the top division was called Hovedserien ("The Main League"), and between 1937 and the summer of 1948, it was called Norgesserien ("The League of Norway").

Format

Competition

There are 14 clubs in the Norwegian Premier League, half of which are placed in or near the Oslofjord area. The Norwegian league is destinguished for having two teams north of the Arctic Circle: Tromsø IL and Bodø/Glimt. The league will be expanded to 16 for the 2009 season.

During the course of a season, each club plays the others twice, home and away, for a total of 26 games for each club, and a total of 182 games in a season. The season starts in early April and lasts until early November. Rounds played during the weekends are broken up into one game on Saturdays, five games on Sundays and one game on Mondays. Midweek rounds are broken up into six games on Wednesdays and one game on Thursdays. For the final two rounds, all games start simultaneously so that no club may gain an unfair advantage by knowing the results of other games in advance of kicking off their own.

The May 16 round, which is played one day ahead of Norway's Constitution Day on May 17, is one of the most anticipated rounds of the season. It is often referred to as the "national day of football"Fact|date=February 2007 and, because it always precedes a national holiday, games are attended by more spectators than for any other round.Fact|date=February 2007

Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then goal difference, goals scored, and then head to head records used to separate teams on equal points. At the end of each season, the club with the most points is crowned "League Winner". The title of "Champions" is reserved for the Cup Winners. The two lowest placed teams are automatically relegated to the First Division and the top two teams from the First Division take their place. The twelfth placed team in the Premier League is also in danger of being relegated and must win a two-legged playoff against the third best team from the First Division to stay in the top flight.

European qualification

The winners of the Norwegian Premier League enter the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, while the second and third placed teams enter the first qualifying round of the UEFA Cup. The fourth placed team may also qualify, depending on what happens in the Norwegian Cup. Normally the winners of the Cup receive the final spot (entering the UEFA Cup in the first round proper). If the winners have already qualified for Europe, the spot is transferred to the fourth placed team. Incidentally, the cup competition is The Championship, while the winners of the League are merely that - League Winners...

The Norwegian Premier League is eighteenth in the UEFA rankings of European leagues based on their performances in European competitions over a five year period, behind Switzerland's Super League and ahead of Serbia's Superliga. [cite web | url = http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/data/method3/crank2007.html | title = UEFA Country Ranking 2007 | accessdate=February 14 | accessyear=2007] This also make it the best league in Scandinavia.

History

The league has enjoyed tremendous popularity in Norway. Viking of Stavanger won the first year the league bore the name Tippeligaen, followed by Rosenborg of Trondheim, claiming 13 consecutive titles (1992-2004). During the first years Rosenborg won with a substantial margin, only partly challenged by Molde, Lillestrøm and Brann. However, this was streadily narrowing down towards a dramatic finish in 2004, where the Trondheim team tied with Vålerenga of Oslo in game points, but finished ahead on goals scored. However, in 2005 the winning streak came to an end as Vålerenga clinched the title, one point ahead of Start of Kristiansand. Rosenborg was never in contention that season and would finish only 7th. In 2006, Rosenborg returned to the top of the league, coming back from 10 points behind Brann at the halfway point to clinch the title with a match to spare. Brann won the league in 2007.

UEFA Rankings

UEFA Country Ranking for league participation in 2007-08 European football season (Previous year rank in italics) [cite web | url=http://www.kassiesa.com/uefabackup/data/method3/crank2007.html | title=UEFA Country Ranking 2007 | work=Bert Kassies | accessdate=May 30 | accessyear=2007]
* 16
* 16
* 18 ("19") flagicon|NOR Norwegian League
* 19
* 20

Current members

Tippeligaen title holders
Tippeligaen winners

The following fourteen clubs will compete in the Norwegian Premier League during the 2008 season.

Attendance

From 1995 the league was expanded with two teams, and has 182 matches a year. Before that the number was 132 matches a year.There are plans to expand the league to 16 team from the 2009 season. [cite web | url = http://www.fxt.no/tippeligaen/article926475.ece?pos=10 | title = Nettavisen - - 16 lag i Tippeligaen | accessyear=2007]

Last updated: 7 October 2008
Source: [http://fotball.adressa.no/eliteserien/index.jsp?stats=true&type=histgoals adressa.no]

Notable foreign players

Current players are written in bold. The player's nationality is represented by the country's flag. Any given second nationality is represented by a second flag.

* Matías Almeyda
* José Flores
* Roman Kienast
* Paul Scharner
* Kasey Wehrman
* Clayton Zane
* Alanzinho
* Somen Tchoyi
* Patrice Bernier
* Rob Friend
* Olivier Occean
* Alonso Solís
* Martin Fillo
* Allan Gaarde
* Lee Chapman
* Trevor Morley
* Enar Jääger
* Ragnar Klavan
* Joel Lindpere
* Raio Piiroja
* Miika Koppinen
* Aki Riihilahti
* Hannu Tihinen
* Todi Jónsson
* Saihou Sarr
* Heinz Müller
* Uwe Rösler

* Anthony Annan
* Razak Pimpong
* Ólafur Örn Bjarnason
* Ríkharður Daðason
* Stefán Gíslason
* Brynjar Gunnarsson
* Veigar Páll Gunnarson
* Heiðar Helguson
* Garðar Jóhannsson
* Runar Kristinsson
* Helgi Sigurðsson
* Kristján Örn Sigurðsson
* Gunnar Heiðar Þorvaldsson
*flagicon|BUR Yssouf Koné
*flagicon|BUR Abdou Razack Traore
* Didier Konan Ya
* Robert Mambo Mumba
* Andrius Velička
* Michael Mifsud
* Edwin van Ankeren
* Oluwasegun Abiodun
* Odion Ighalo
* Peter Ijeh
* John Obi Mikel
* Chinedu Obasi Ogbuke
* Seyi Olofinjana
* Ali Al Habsi

* Emile Baron
* Mbulelo Mabizela
* Toni Nhleko
* Arthur Albiston
* Charlie Miller
* Robbie Winters
* Mamadou Diallo
* Robert Koren
* Marek Sapara
* Joachim Björklund
* Mikael Dorsin
* Eddie Gustafsson
*flagicon|JPN Stefan Ishizaki
* Tobias Linderoth
* Daniel Nannskog
* Markus Ringberg
*flagicon|EGYflagicon|FIN Rami Shaaban
* Fredrik Stoor
* Christian Wilhelmsson
* Karim Essediri
* Khaled Mouelhi
* Sebastián Eguren
* Adin Brown
* Troy Perkins
* Brian Waltrip
* Brian West
* Fernando de Ornelas

ee also

*Toppserien (Women's Premier League)
*Norwegian football top scorers
*List of football clubs in Norway
*List of Premier League Champions from 1938 to present time

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.fotball.no Football Association of Norway]
* [http://www.rsssf.no/stats/AlltimePremier.html All-time Premier League table from 1963 to 2004]
* [http://www.footballdata.com/leagues/Tippeligaen/ Tippeligaen Stats, Fixtures, Results and Team Profiles]
* [http://www.livegoals.com/livegoals/index.php?menu=1&country=7 Tippeligaen Livescores, Table, Results and Fixtures] en icon