Norwegian football

Sports

Overview

What happened

On May 19, 1917, 12 men, including Emil Valstad and Olaf Løhne, founded Rosenborg BK, and by the next day, the team had already played its first match a...

Date

May 19, 1917

Location

Trondheim, Norway

Key people

Emil Valstad, Olaf Løhne, John Carew, Ørjan Nyland

Why it matters

This article provides a detailed account of the founding of Rosenborg BK, including the team's early years and its commitment to developing young players and promoting football in th...

What was Norwegian football?

Association football is the most popular sport in Norway. The Football Association of Norway was founded in 1902 and the first international match was played in 1908. There are 1,822 registered football clubs and about 25,000 teams. There are 393,801 (104,597 of them are girls/women) registered football players, which means that 8.5% of the population play organized football. The first football team in Norway was probably started by a buekorps in Bergen, Nygaards Bataljon, in 1883. In 1885 the first Norwegian club however, Idrætsforeningen Odd, was founded in Skien. The footballing interest was very low, and was put on ice after a few months. However, the club Odd Grenland started up with football again in 1894, and are now Norway's oldest football club.

Background and consequences

The Football Association of Norway (the NFF), was founded in 1902, and quickly established a cup competition. After the NFF joined FIFA in 1908, Norway had its first ever international match, away against Sweden in Gothenburg; despite Norway taking the lead after a mere 45 seconds, Sweden went on to win 11–3. In 1911 Norway hosted its first international in Oslo, again against Sweden; this time Norway lost 4–0.

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Sources and further reading

Use the dated article for the day-specific account; use these references to check the event record and explore its wider historical context.

Date article: Iran Helicopter Crash Kills President Raisi — May 19, 2024 Wikipedia source

Cite this page

MLA

“Norwegian football.” thisDay, thisday.info/history/norwegian-football/. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

APA

Norwegian football. (n.d.). thisDay. Retrieved October 19, 2026, from https://thisday.info/history/norwegian-football/

Chicago

“Norwegian football.” thisDay. Accessed October 19, 2026. https://thisday.info/history/norwegian-football/.

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