The Norwegian football champions () or Eliteserien champions, are the winners of the highest-level football league in Norway. Norgesserien was competed three times with eleven conferences and play-offs from 1937–38 to 1947–48. It was then replaced by the two-conference Hovedserien, which was replaced by the single-conference 1. divisjon in 1963. The top tier changed its name to the Tippeligaen in 1990, and to the current Eliteserien for 2017 and beyond. 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 26 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.
At the end of the 1937–38 season, Fredrikstad were the first club to be crowned champions in the history of the championship. Rosenborg have won 26 titles, the most of any club. Fredrikstad are second with nine. Rosenborg dominated during the 1990s and 2000s, winning 13 consecutive league titles from 1992 to 2004. Fredrikstad secured all their titles before the league changed its format to a one-group top division in 1963. Third-most title winning team Viking dominated in the 1970s when they won five of their eight titles. Rosenborg and Viking are the only teams to have won the league title three or more consecutive times. All the clubs which have ever been crowned champions are still in existence today and all take part in the top six tiers of the Norwegian football league system - the football pyramid.
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 runners-up.
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 1. divisjon, for the first time creating a pan-national league. The same season saw the number of teams increase from ten to twelve. The league was renamed to Tippeligaen in 1990, after the sponsor Norsk Tipping, and in 1997 a single-conference league was created below the top league for the first time. The Tippeligaen was expanded to 14 teams from the 1995 season and to 16 teams from the 2009 season.
List 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 shows teams that won the double.
Team won the double by winning the Norwegian Football Cup the same season
Season League Gold Silver Bronze Winning manager 1937–38Norgesserien FredrikstadLyn — 1938–39NorgesserienFredrikstad (2)Skeid — 1947–48NorgesserienFreidigSparta — 1948–49HovedserienFredrikstad (3)Vålerenga — 1949–50HovedserienFram LarvikFredrikstad — 1950–51HovedserienFredrikstad (4)Odd — 1951–52HovedserienFredrikstad (5)Brann — 1952–53HovedserienLarvik TurnSkeid — 1953–54HovedserienFredrikstad (6)Skeid — 1954–55HovedserienLarvik Turn (2)Fredrikstad — 1955–56HovedserienLarvik Turn (3)Fredrikstad — 1956–57Hovedserien Fredrikstad (7)Odd — 1957–58HovedserienVikingSkeid — 1958–59HovedserienLillestrømFredrikstad — 1959–60Hovedserien Fredrikstad (8)LillestrømEik-Tønsberg 1960–61HovedserienFredrikstad (9)Eik-TønsbergVålerenga 1961–62HovedserienBrannSteinkjerFredrikstad 19631. divisjonBrann (2)LynSkeid 19641. divisjonLynFredrikstadSarpsborg 19651. divisjonVålerengaLynSarpsborg 19661. divisjonSkeidFredrikstadLyn 19671. divisjonRosenborgSkeidLyn 19681. divisjon Lyn (2)Rosenborg Viking 19691. divisjonRosenborg (2)FredrikstadStrømsgodset 19701. divisjon StrømsgodsetRosenborgHam-Kam 19711. divisjon Rosenborg (3)LynVikingTor Røste Fossen 19721. divisjonViking (2)FredrikstadStrømsgodset 19731. divisjonViking (3)RosenborgStart 19741. divisjonViking (4)MoldeVålerenga 19751. divisjonViking (5)BrannStart 19761. divisjonLillestrøm (2)MjøndalenBrann 19771. divisjon Lillestrøm (3)Bodø/GlimtMolde 19781. divisjonStartLillestrømViking 19791. divisjon Viking (6)MossStart 19801. divisjonStart (2)BryneLillestrøm 19811. divisjonVålerenga (2)VikingRosenborg 19821. divisjonViking (7)BryneLillestrøm 19831. divisjonVålerenga (3)LillestrømStart 19841. divisjonVålerenga (4)VikingStartPer Anders SjøvoldDag Vestlund 19851. divisjonRosenborg (4)LillestrømVålerengaArne DokkenHarald Sunde 19861. divisjonLillestrøm (4)MjøndalenKongsvinger 19871. divisjonMossMoldeKongsvinger 19881. divisjon Rosenborg (5)LillestrømMolde 19891. divisjonLillestrøm (5)RosenborgTromsø 1990Tippeligaen Rosenborg (6)TromsøMolde 1991TippeligaenViking (8)RosenborgStart 1992Tippeligaen Rosenborg (7)KongsvingerStart 1993TippeligaenRosenborg (8)Bodø/GlimtLillestrøm 1994TippeligaenRosenborg (9)LillestrømViking 1995Tippeligaen Rosenborg (10)MoldeBodø/Glimt 1996TippeligaenRosenborg (11)LillestrømViking 1997TippeligaenRosenborg (12)BrannStrømsgodset 1998TippeligaenRosenborg (13)MoldeStabæk 1999Tippeligaen Rosenborg (14)MoldeBrann 2000TippeligaenRosenborg (15)BrannViking 2001TippeligaenRosenborg (16)LillestrømViking 2002TippeligaenRosenborg (17)MoldeLyn 2003Tippeligaen Rosenborg (18)Bodø/GlimtStabæk 2004TippeligaenRosenborg (19)VålerengaBrann 2005TippeligaenVålerenga (5)StartLyn 2006TippeligaenRosenborg (20)BrannVålerengaKnut Tørum 2007TippeligaenBrann (3)StabækViking 2008TippeligaenStabækFredrikstadTromsø 2009TippeligaenRosenborg (21)MoldeStabæk 2010TippeligaenRosenborg (22)VålerengaTromsøNils Arne Eggen 2011TippeligaenMoldeTromsøRosenborg 2012TippeligaenMolde (2)StrømsgodsetRosenborg 2013TippeligaenStrømsgodset (2)RosenborgHaugesund 2014Tippeligaen Molde (3)RosenborgOdd 2015Tippeligaen Rosenborg (23)StrømsgodsetStabæk 2016Tippeligaen Rosenborg (24)BrannOdd 2017EliteserienRosenborg (25)MoldeSarpsborg 08 2018Eliteserien Rosenborg (26)MoldeBrannRini Coolen 2019EliteserienMolde (4)Bodø/GlimtRosenborg 2020EliteserienBodø/GlimtMoldeVålerenga 2021EliteserienBodø/Glimt (2)MoldeViking 2022EliteserienMolde (5)Bodø/GlimtRosenborg 2023EliteserienBodø/Glimt (3)BrannTromsø 2024EliteserienBodø/Glimt (4)BrannViking 2025EliteserienViking (9)Bodø/GlimtTromsøBjarte Lunde Aarsheim Morten Jensen
Total titles won
By club The following is a breakdown of top three league positions by team and also presents the team's home city or town. Teams in bold compete in the Eliteserien as of the 2024 season.
Club City Gold Silver Bronze Winning years Rosenborg Trondheim 26 7 5 1967, 1969, 1971, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 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 9 2 10 1957–58, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1979, 1982, 1991, 2025 Molde Molde 5 11 3 2011, 2012, 2014, 2019, 2022 Lillestrøm Lillestrøm 5 8 3 1958–59, 1976, 1977, 1986, 1989 Vålerenga Oslo 5 3 5 1965, 1981, 1983, 1984, 2005 Bodø/Glimt Bodø 4 6 1 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024 Brann Bergen 3 8 4 1961–62, 1963, 2007 Larvik Turn Larvik 3 0 0 1952–53, 1954–55, 1955–56 Lyn Oslo 2 4 4 1964, 1968 Strømsgodset Drammen 2 2 3 1970, 2013 Start Kristiansand 2 1 7 1978, 1980 Skeid Oslo 1 5 1 1966 Stabæk Bærum 1 1 4 2008 Moss Moss 1 1 0 1987 Fram Larvik Larvik 1 0 0 1949–50 Freidig Trondheim 1 0 0 1947–48 Tromsø Tromsø 0 2 5 — Odd Skien 0 2 2 — Bryne Bryne 0 2 0 — Mjøndalen Nedre Eiker 0 2 0 — Kongsvinger Kongsvinger 0 1 2 — Eik-Tønsberg Tønsberg 0 1 1 — Sparta Sarpsborg 0 1 0 — SteinkjerSteinkjer 0 1 0 — Sarpsborg Sarpsborg 0 0 2 — Ham-Kam Hamar 0 0 1 — Haugesund Haugesund 0 0 1 — Sarpsborg 08 Sarpsborg 0 0 1 —
By region RegionNumber of titlesClubsWinning seasonsEastern Norway Fredrikstad (9), Lillestrøm (5), Vålerenga (5), Larvik Turn (3), Lyn (2), Strømsgodset (2), Fram Larvik (1), Moss (1), Skeid (1), Stabæk (1)1937–38, 1938–39, 1948–49, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1954–55, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1976, 1977, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1989, 2005, 2008, 2013Trøndelag Rosenborg (26), Freidig (1)1947–48, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018Western NorwayViking (9), Molde (5), Brann (3)1957–58, 1961–62, 1963, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1979, 1982, 1991, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2019, 2022, 2025Northern NorwayBodø/Glimt (4)2020, 2021, 2023, 2024Southern NorwayStart (2)1978, 1980
By city / town City / Town Championships Clubs Winning seasonsTrondheim Rosenborg (26), Freidig (1)1947–48, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (9)1937–38, 1938–39, 1948–49, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1953–54, 1956–57, 1959–60, 1960–61Stavanger Viking (9)1957–58, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1979, 1982, 1991, 2025Oslo Vålerenga (5), Lyn (2), Skeid (1)1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1981, 1983, 1984, 2005Molde Molde (5)2011, 2012, 2014, 2019, 2022Lillestrøm Lillestrøm (5) 1958–59, 1976, 1977, 1986, 1989Larvik Larvik Turn (3), Fram Larvik (1)1949–50, 1952–53, 1954–55, 1955–56Bodø Bodø/Glimt (4)2020, 2021, 2023, 2024Bergen Brann (3)1961–62, 1963, 2007Kristiansand Start (2) 1978, 1980Drammen Strømsgodset (2)1970, 2013Moss Moss (1)1987Bærum Stabæk (1)2008
References