Norwegian Premier League

Tippeligaen is a Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system

Norwegian football league system

The current national league system administered by the football association is organised as 1-1-4-12, where Tippeligaen is the highest Norwegian level and Adeccoligaen the second highest, followed by four third level and 12 fourth level ....

, it is the country's primary football competition. The league is also unofficially known under its neutral name Eliteserien (English: The Elite League), although the name has never been official. The name of Norwegian football's top league has been subject for sponsoring since 1991 and Norsk Tipping

Norsk Tipping

Norsk Tipping AS is the national lottery in Norway, located in Hamar. The company offers a wide range of lottery, sports and instant games in the Norwegian market. Norsk Tipping is owned by the Norwegian government and administered by Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs...

 has been the main sponsor of the League since then - hence the official name of the league.

Between 1963 and 1990 the name of the league was 1. divisjon (English: 1st Division), a name that the second level league of the Norwegian football system 'inherited' in 1991. (In 2005 the second level league was officially named Adeccoligaen after its sponsor Adecco

Adecco

Adecco S.A. is a human resources company, based in Glattbrugg near Zurich, Switzerland. Adecco employs 700,000 temporary workers and contractors who are supplied to business clients, and has over 32,000 employees and 5,500 offices in 60 countries and territories around the world...

.) From the fall of 1948 to 1962 the top division of Norwegian football was called Hovedserien (English: The Main League), and between 1937 and the summer of 1948, it was called Norgesserien (English: The League of Norway).

Competition

As of the 2010 season there are 16 clubs in the Norwegian Premier League, half of which are placed in or near the Oslofjord

Oslofjord

The Oslofjord is a bay in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the Torbjørnskjær and Færder lighthouses and down to Langesund in the south to Oslo in the north....

 area. After Bodø/Glimt's relegation last year, Tromsø is now the only team north of the Arctic Circle

Arctic Circle

The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For Epoch 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs north of the Equator....

.
During the course of a season, each club plays the others twice, home and away, for a total of 30 games for each club, and a total of 240 games in a season. The season starts in March and lasts until early November. Rounds played during the weekends are broken up into one game on Saturdays, six 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 16 May round, which is played the day before Norway's Constitution Day

Norwegian Constitution Day

Norwegian Constitution Day is the National Day of Norway and is an official national holiday observed on May 17 each year. Among Norwegians, the day is referred to simply as syttende mai or syttande mai , Nasjonaldagen or Grunnlovsdagen , although the latter is less frequent.- Historical...

, 17 May, is one of the most anticipated rounds of the season. It is often referred to as the "national day of football" and since it precedes a national holiday, games usually see higher attendance than other rounds.

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

Goal difference

In sports such as ice hockey and association football, goal difference is often the first tiebreaker used to rank teams which finish a league competition with an equal number of points....

, 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

Promotion and relegation

In many sports leagues around the world, promotion and relegation is a process that takes place at the end of each season. Through it, teams are transferred between divisions based on their performance that season...

 to the First Division

Adeccoligaen

The Norwegian First Division is the second highest division of the Norwegian football league system. Since 2005, the official name of the league has been Adeccoligaen....

 and the top two teams from the First Division take their place. Traditionally the fourteenth placed team in the Premier League is also in danger of being relegated and must enter play-offs with teams from the First Division to stay in the top flight, but as of the 2011 league, play-offs are not being used.

European qualification

As of the 2009-10 European season the winners of the previous calendar year's Norwegian Premier League enter the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League

UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

, while the second and third placed teams enter respectively, the third and second qualifying rounds of the Europa League

UEFA Cup

The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...

. The fourth placed team may also qualify, depending on what happens in the Norwegian Cup

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...

. Normally the winners of the Cup receive the final spot (entering the Europa League in the third qualifying round). If the winners have already qualified for Europe, the spot is transferred to the fourth placed team. Incidentally, the cup competition is called The Championship, while the winners of the League are merely that - League Winners.

The Norwegian Premier League is nineteenth in the UEFA

UEFA

The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....

 rankings of European leagues based on their performances in European competitions over a five year period.

History

The league has enjoyed tremendous popularity in Norway. Viking of Stavanger

Stavanger

Stavanger is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.Stavanger municipality has a population of 126,469. There are 197,852 people living in the Stavanger conurbation, making Stavanger the fourth largest city, but the third largest urban area, in Norway...

 won the first year the league bore the name Tippeligaen, followed by Rosenborg of Trondheim

Trondheim

Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...

, claiming 13 consecutive titles (1992–2004). During the first years Rosenborg won with a substantial margin, only partly challenged by Bodø/Glimt (1993), 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

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

 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

Kristiansand

-History:As indicated by archeological findings in the city, the Kristiansand area has been settled at least since 400 AD. A royal farm is known to have been situated on Oddernes as early as 800, and the first church was built around 1040...

. 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, and Stabæk won their first-ever title in 2008

Norwegian Premier League 2008

The 2008 Norwegian Premier League season began 29 March and ended 2 November. Brann were the defending champions, having won their third League Championship in 2007...

. Rosenborg then returned for a two-year winning streak in 2009

Norwegian Premier League 2009

The 2009 Norwegian Premier League season is the sixty-fifth season of top-tier football in Norway. The competition, which is also named Tippeligaen for sponsorship reasons, began on 15 March and end on 1 November. Stabæk are the defending champions, having won their first ever League Championship...

 and 2010.

The league has been professional since 1992.

UEFA Rankings

UEFA association coefficient as of the end of the 2010–11 season, for league participation in 2011–12 European football season (Previous year rank in italics)

• 24 (26)   Poland
• 25 (23)   Slovakia
• 26 (22)   Norway
• 27 (25)   Serbia
  Serbian Superliga
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• 28 (24)   Sweden
  Allsvenskan
  Allsvenskan is a Swedish professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Swedish football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Superettan...
  
  

Current members