Football Club Lyn Oslo is a
NorwegianNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
professional
footballAssociation football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players using a spherical ball...
club and a department of the
sports clubA sports club, athletics club or sports association is an eclectic institution oriented to multiple sports, which fields many teams and in several sports, working under the same umbrella organization. In a larger sense, it may also refer to any sports institution, even those that have only one...
Ski- og Fotballklubben Lyn, whose members also participate in
nordic skiingNordic skiing is a winter sport that encompasses all types of skiing where the heel of the boot cannot be fixed to the ski. This includes a wide range of ski equipment and techniques such as classic and skate cross country skiing, ski jumping, biathlon, and telemark skiing...
and
orienteeringOrienteering is a family of sports that requires navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain. Participants are given a map, usually a specially prepared orienteering map, which they use to find control points...
. They are based in the city of
Oslois the capital and largest city in Norway. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the town was largely destroyed by a fire in 1624. The Danish–Norwegian king Christian IV rebuilt the city as Christiania . Oslo, then an alternative name, became official again in 1925...
and play their home games at
Ullevaal StadionUllevaal Stadion, located in Oslo, is Norway's national football ground. The Norwegian Cup final is played at Ullevaal. The stadium is the home ground of FC Lyn Oslo and Vålerenga IF, and is owned by the Football Association of Norway and Vital Forsikring.The stadium currently has a capacity of...
.
Established in 1896, they were founding members of the
Norwegian Football AssociationThe Football Association of Norway is the governing body of football in Norway. It was formed in 1902 and organises the men's and women's national teams, as well as the Norwegian Premier League. The current president of the NFF is Sondre Kåfjord, while the General Secretary is Karen Espelund...
, and have won the League Championship twice and the
Norwegian CupThe Norwegian Football Cup is the main knockout cup competition in Norwegian football. It is run by the Football Association of Norway and has been contested since 1902, making it the oldest football tournament in the country. The tournament is commonly known as Cupen or NM, an acronym formed...
eight times. The club's most recent period of success was during the 1960s, when they won four trophies and reached the quarter-finals of the
European Cup Winners' CupThe UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season, and...
.
Lyn currently play in the
Norwegian Premier LeagueThe Norwegian Premier League is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Its official Norwegian name is Tippeligaen...
, having won promotion in 2000. They are managed by
Gunnar HalleGunnar Halle is a Norwegian football manager and former player. A right back, he played for many years professionally in England and for the Norwegian national team...
, who took over in July 2009, following the resignation of Kent Bergersen. Bergersen had held the post since October 2008.
Lyn has traditionally been perceived as representing the
upperIn sociology an upper class is the group of people at the top of a social hierarchy. Members of an upper class may have great power over the allocation of resources and governmental policy in their area, but only to the extent that the power of the state can intervene in free exchange or distort...
and
middle classThe middle class are any class in the middle of a social schema. In Weberian socio-economic terms they are the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socioeconomically between the working class and upper class. In Marxist terms, middle class commonly refers to either the...
es, whereas the eastside club
VålerengaVålerenga Fotball is a Norwegian football club from Oslo and a part of the multi-sport club Vålerengens IF. Founded in 1913, the club is named after the neighbourhood of Vålerenga...
was seen as belonging to the
workersWorking class is a term used in academic sociology and in ordinary conversation to describe, depending on context and speaker, those employed in lower tier jobs as measured by skill, education, and compensation....
. Although Oslo still maintains an east-west divide in social demographics, the divide is now much weaker in the clubs' supporter bases. Lyn's support base however is very small, both relatively and compared to the other main clubs in the Oslo area, such as Vålerenga, Lillestrøm SK and Stabæk.
History
The club enjoyed some success during the first half of the 20th century, securing many Cup titles, and despite failing to win the league title, had a certain stature in Norwegian football. The Norwegian national football team that won the bronze medal at the
1936 Summer OlympicsThe 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...
included six players from Lyn. The captain of this team was Lyn-player
Jørgen JuveJørgen Juve was a Norwegian football player. He played as a striker for Lyn, and also for the Norwegian national team. He is still the highest scoring player ever for Norway, with 33 goals out of just 45 games...
, who is still the player with the most goals scored for the Norwegian national team.
Lyn won the Norwegian Premier League for the first time in 1964. In 1968 they won The Double, clinching both the League title and the
Norwegian CupThe Norwegian Football Cup is the main knockout cup competition in Norwegian football. It is run by the Football Association of Norway and has been contested since 1902, making it the oldest football tournament in the country. The tournament is commonly known as Cupen or NM, an acronym formed...
, and became the first Norwegian team to reach the quarter final of the
European CupThe UEFA Champions League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe...
.
The Double was followed by a dismal period in the club's history. The club was relegated and lingered about in the lower divisions for 20 years, with only the occasional spell in the Premier League. The fan base eroded and Lyn is said to have lost a generation of supporters.
During the 90s the club went back and forth between the Premier League and the 1st Division. In 1994, Lyn reached the Norwegian Cup final but narrowly lost 2-3 to
MoldeMolde Fotballklubb is a football club from Molde, Norway. It was founded on 19 June 1911.They currently play in Tippeligaen, the Norwegian top division....
.
Norwegian investor Atle Brynestad bought the club in 1999, in effect saving it from bankruptcy. In 2000, the team was promoted to the Premier League, after winning the 1st division with an unprecedented number of points, and they retained their spot in the top flight the following year. In the 2002-season a strengthened Lyn took the lead early on and had gained a large advantage halfway through the season, but had to settle for a 3rd place finish after a disastrous slump in form. The misery, in part due to the constant hiring and firing of coaches, continued into the next year. Lyn struggled at the bottom of the table for most of the season but avoided relegation thanks to the efforts of team captain
Tommy BerntsenTommy Berntsen is a Norwegian footballer and central defender. He currently plays for Lyn in the Norwegian Premier League. He is now the captain of the club, and regarded as one of the most important players in the clubs history....
, who took on the role as coach after Teitur Thordarson, the 5th coach in two years, had resigned. 2004 was a recovery year for Lyn, ending the season in 6th place and reaching the Norwegian Cup final (lost to
BrannSportsklubben Brann is a Norwegian football club, founded September 26 1908, from Bergen. Brann has been in the Norwegian Premier League since 1987 and play their home matches at Brann Stadion where they had a record-breaking 17,310 in average attendance in the 2007 season...
).
2005 was an eventful year for the club, both on and off the pitch. The club’s youth program was beginning to bear fruits and with former international
Henning BergHenning Stille Berg is a Norwegian former football player. He played as a central defender or right-back. He is manager of Lillestrøm.He is the only player to have won the FA Premier League with two different clubs.-Club career:...
as the new head coach the club claimed 3rd spot in the league. Lyn defeated Rosenborg at Ullevaal for the first time since 1968 and repeated the feat in the away game.
In April, the club's talented Nigerian midfielder John Obi Mikel signed a contract with
Manchester UnitedManchester United Football Club is an English football club, one of the most popular football clubs in the world, based at Old Trafford in Greater Manchester. The club was a founding member of the Premier League in 1992, and has played in the top division of English football since 1938, with the...
, and according to a statement by Lyn's managing director Morgan Andersen, it was the most expensive transfer in Norwegian football to date. The transfer has since been the source of a heated dispute, and Mikel instead joined
ChelseaChelsea Football Club Chelsea Football Club Chelsea Football Club (are a professional English football club based in West London. The team, founded in 1905, play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football...
after a long period of time. FIFA released an announcement stating that Lyn had done everything correct in the process. The transfer is said to have cost Chelsea £16 millions. £12 million of this to Manchester United and £4 million to Lyn.
On Friday 10 October 2008, Chelsea announced on their website that they were initiating legal proceedings against Lyn Oslo and their former director Morgan Andersen in an attempt to recover the entire £16 million fee paid. Chelsea maintain that this was due to the contract of the original transfer being based on a fradulant misrepresentation.
Achievements
- Norwegian Premier League
The Norwegian Premier League is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Its official Norwegian name is Tippeligaen...
:
- Winners (2): 1964, 1968
- Runners-up (4): 1937-38, 1963, 1965, 1971
- Norwegian Football Cup
The Norwegian Football Cup is the main knockout cup competition in Norwegian football. It is run by the Football Association of Norway and has been contested since 1902, making it the oldest football tournament in the country. The tournament is commonly known as Cupen or NM, an acronym formed...
:
- Winners (8): 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1945, 1946, 1967, 1968
- Runners-up (6): 1923, 1928, 1966, 1970, 1994, 2004
- Oslo Championships:
- Winners (8): 1915, 1917, 1922, 1926, 1930, 1935, 1936, 1937
- Runners-up (2): 1909, 1919
Recent history
| Season |
|
Pos. |
Pl. |
W |
D |
L |
GS |
GA |
P |
Cup |
Notes |
| 2001 |
ES |
11 |
26 |
6 |
8 |
12 |
40 |
49 |
26 |
2nd round |
|
| 2002 |
ES |
3 |
26 |
14 |
5 |
7 |
36 |
29 |
47 |
quarter-final |
|
| 2003 |
ES |
10 |
26 |
8 |
6 |
12 |
34 |
45 |
30 |
last 16 |
|
| 2004 |
ES |
6 |
26 |
9 |
10 |
7 |
30 |
31 |
37 |
final |
|
| 2005 |
ES |
3 |
26 |
12 |
8 |
6 |
37 |
21 |
44 |
3rd round |
|
| 2006 |
ES |
7 |
26 |
10 |
5 |
11 |
33 |
36 |
35 |
last 16 |
|
| 2007 |
ES |
9 |
26 |
10 |
4 |
12 |
43 |
46 |
34 |
quarter-final |
|
| 2008 |
ES |
7 |
26 |
11 |
5 |
10 |
38 |
34 |
38 |
quarter-final |
|
| 2009 |
ES |
16 |
27 |
2 |
10 |
15 |
28 |
49 |
16 |
quarter-final |
Relegated to Adeccoligaen The First Division is the second highest division of the Norwegian football league system. Since 2005, the official name of the league has been Adeccoligaen after its sponsor Adecco....
|
Records
- Greatest home victory: 11-2 vs. Viking FK, July 28, 1968
- Greatest away victory: 14-2 vs. Kristiansund FK, May 6, 1951
- Heaviest home loss: 1-8 vs. Strømsgodset IF, May 16, 1969
- Heaviest away loss: 1-10 vs. Strømsgodset IF, June 16, 1968
- Heaviest European loss: 0-10 vs. Leeds United
Leeds United Association Football Club , commonly referred to as simply Leeds United, or informally Leeds, are an English professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire...
, European Cup Rd.1, leg 1, Sept 1969
- Highest attendance, Ullevaal Stadion
Ullevaal Stadion, located in Oslo, is Norway's national football ground. The Norwegian Cup final is played at Ullevaal. The stadium is the home ground of FC Lyn Oslo and Vålerenga IF, and is owned by the Football Association of Norway and Vital Forsikring.The stadium currently has a capacity of...
: 35,000 vs. Sarpsborg FK, September 29, 1946
- Highest average attendance, season: 8,089, 1968
- Most appearances, total: 420, Ola Dybwad-Olsen 1964-1978
- Most appearances, league: 219, Ola Dybwad-Olsen 1964-1978
- Most goals scored, league: 119, Ola Dybwad-Olsen 1964-1978
- Most goals scored, season: 25, Ola Dybwad-Olsen 1968
- Most goals scored in a game, league: 8, Knut Osnes vs. S.K. Falken
- Most goals scored in a game, UEFA Cup: 6, Eldar Hadzimehmedovic
Eldar Hadzimehmedovic is a Bosnian-Norwegian football player, playing as a striker or as an attacking midfielder, who is currently playing for Lørenskog IF.- Career :...
vs. Runavik, August 28, 2003
Colours and badge
Lyn's home colours are red and white shirts and blue shorts. The shirts have red sleeves and a red front with a broad, vertical white bar in the middle, which is traditionally twice as wide as the sides (a 25-50-25 red-white-red pattern). The back has the same pattern, with inverted colours.
During the first years the club had two kits, one with blue and white horizontally striped jerseys and white shorts, and a red kit in the same fashion. These were used interchangeably up until at least 1906. It is unclear exactly when the current kit was adopted, but it was in use by the time Lyn had claimed their first Norwegian Cup in 1908. The socks have traditionally been red. White socks have also been used, most recently from the beginning of the 1990s until 2004, when the red socks were brought back.
The club uses an all-blue away kit, though several different colours have been used in the past.
The current club badge is a modified version of a design originally introduced in 1900. It was made by one of the first members of the club, Leif Eriksen, and replaced a silver badge from 1898. The crest features a football in the upper left corner and a pair of skis in the lower right corner, representing the two major sports of the club. While the badge is based on the heraldic shield form of the old
coat of armsA coat of arms, more properly called an armorial achievement, armorial bearings or often just arms for short, in European tradition, is a design belonging to a particular person and used by them in a wide variety of ways. Historically, they were used by knights to identify them apart from enemy...
of Norway, Eriksen was probably not himself familiar with the rules of
heraldic designHeraldry is the profession, study, or art of devising, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound *harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
. The name of the club and the date and year of its founding were written in gold on a white background, violating the so-called
rule of tinctureThe first rule of heraldic design is the rule of tincture: metal should not be put on metal, nor colour on colour . This means that Or and argent may not be placed against each other; neither may any of the colours or paints be...
. Also, the date and year were written in different styles. The badge has therefore been altered twice, in 1996 and finally in 2001. On the current badge the date has been removed and replaced by "18 LYN 96" in red writing on a white background.
Stadium
Lyn's home ground, Ullevaal Stadium, is also the national stadium. It was inaugurated in 1926 by HRH Crown Prince
OlavOlav V was the king of Norway from 1957 until his death.A member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, Olav was born in the United Kingdom as the son of Prince Carl of Denmark and Princess Maud of the United Kingdom and given the names Alexander Edward Christian Frederik...
. Arguably Lyn's most famous supporter, the future King Olav V was a lifelong honorary member of the club. The Norwegian Football Association acquired a majority in the stadium in 1960 and Lyn's ownership has since dwindled to the 13.07% share the club owns today.
Originally the stadium had a running track and could hold more than 35,000 spectators. The running track was eventually removed and there have been several redevelopments over the years, the last of which was completed in 1999 when the main stand was rebuilt. The current all-seater capacity of 25,572 spectators is far greater than Lyn's average attendance (6,653 in 2008).
Current squad
As of 21 August 2009.
Out on loan
External links