Rosenborg B.K.

Rosenborg B.K.

Full name: Rosenborg Ballklub

Nickname: Troillongan (The Troll Children)

Founded: May 19, 1917

Ground: Lerkendal Stadion, Trondheim

Capacity: 21,166

Chairman: Terje Svendsen

Manager: Per-Mathias Høgmo

League: Tippeligaen

2005: Tippeligaen, 7^th

The Squad:

Goalkeepers: Espen Johnsen, Lars Hirschfeld, Alexander Lund Hansen

Defenders: Miika Koppinen, Christer Basma, Vidar Riseth, Ståle Stensaas, Bjørn Tore Kvarme, Abdoulrazak Traoré, Andreas Nordvik

Midfielders: Roar Strand, Ørjan Berg, Jan Gunnar Solli, Per Ciljan Skjelbred, Alexander Tettey, Marek Sapara

Forwards: Karim Essediri, Øyvind Storflor, Michael Kleppe Jamtfall, Yssouf Kone, Daniel Braaten

Past & Present

Early years

On May 19, 1917, twelve young men from Rosenborg in Trondheim founded Sportsklubben Odd. The name Odd was a tribute to Odd of Skien, the most successful team in Norway at the time. Odd spent their first few years playing against other local teams before attempting to join the regional series in 1920.

By 1926, management of the club had passed on to a new generation of members, and it was through their efforts that Odd was finally admitted into the regional series in 1927, ten years after the club was founded. A year later, all was set for entry into the Football Association of Norway, had it not been for the fact that the association refused to have two member clubs with the same name. The club therefore took on its current name, Rosenborg Ballklub, on October 26, 1928.

More recently:

The year 1985 may have been a turning point in Rosenborg's fortunes, but it was in 1988 that things really started to happen. The club received fresh capital from its new main sponsor and was fully professionalized. Nils Arne Eggen returned to Trondheim to once again become head coach, this after leading Moss to the league title in 1987. In the waning years of the 1980s, the club secured double-wins twice, in 1988 and 1990.

Rosenborg went on to dominate Norwegian club football throughout the 1990s. In stark contrast to the Norwegian national team's defensive and often criticized (yet highly effective) style of play at the time, Rosenborg achieved success through strict adherence to crowd-pleasing, offensive football. The Norwegian Premier League, established in 1991, was won 13 times in a row from 1992 onwards. The Norwegian Cup was won five times.

At the end of 2002 Rosenborg saw the retirement of Nils Arne Eggen after many successful years, during which he was only relieved once, in the 1998 season, by his assistant, Trond Sollied. Eggen was replaced by Åge Hareide, who had previously led both Helsingborg and Brøndby to championships in their respective leagues.

Rosenborg were champions again in 2004 but it was only through a better goal difference that they were able claim the title.

In November the club announced the return of Nils Arne Eggen as a sort of advisor to former assistant manager, Per Joar Hansen, who was promoted to manager. Bjørn Hansen and Rune Skarsfjord would also act as assistant managers.

The scheme proved so unsuccesful that Rosenborg's 2005 season was for the most part a disaster. The club battled to avoid falling into the relegation zone for much of the season, Eggen left his role midways, and Per Joar Hansen was sacked in August. Per-Mathias Høgmo followed Hansen as the club's manager immediately after his departure. His first months were marred by a series of embarrassing losses and an early exit from the cup, but with a late-season return to form the team held on to its place in the top flight and managed to yet again qualify for the Champions League.

The Ground

Rosenborg play their home games at Lerkendal Stadium. Lerkendal was opened August 10th 1947, and saw major upgrades in 1996, and from December 2000 to October 2002, when it was made into an all-seater, modern stadium.

The current capacity is 21,166. Record attendance through all times is officially 28,569

Field measurements are 105 × 68 meters.

The Colors & Badge:

The founding members of Rosenborg bought their first kits in 1918. The shirts were blue with a yellow vertical stripe on the front and the shorts were white. The current white shirts and black shorts, introduced in 1931, were another tribute to the football club Odd. A shirt sponsor was introduced for the first time in 1971.

Rosenborg normally use black shirts and white shorts for away matches, or either all-white or all-black kits. A color often used for away shirts in the past has been red.