An intro to Rosenborg and the Trondheim area
23/10/03 11:27 | English info
· The Area
· The Climate
· ”Welcome to Hell!”
· Norwegian Football
· European Accomplishments
· The Manager
· The Stadium
· The Fans
· The Players
· Player Philosophy
· Ex-Rosenborgers
· Visiting Foreign Fans
The Area
Rosenborg Ballklub (RBK) originates from the place ”Rosenborg” in the city of Trondheim, mid- Norway. Once the capital of Norway (under the name Nidaros) Trondheim is now Norway’s third largest city, after Oslo and Bergen. The population is app. 150,000.
Trondheim is the capital of the ”county” Sør-Trøndelag, Sør meaning South. The airport is located in the county Nord-Trøndelag, Nord meaning North. People from these two counties are called ”Trøndere”, and are very proud of their geographical and cultural heritage. App. 99% of the football loving community in these two counties support Rosenborg. The supporters travel to the home games from a circle almost as far as 200 km around the city. There are no other top division teams located in between.
There are also other football teams in Trondheim, such as Byåsen, Strindheim and Nardo. Out of these teams, Strindheim has had a guest visit in the top division, however, no rivalry with Rosenborg exists. Any local player from any of these clubs has been a Rosenborg fan at some point in his life, and probably still is. Rosenborg’s ”local” rivals are Molde FK, former club of Manchester United’s Ole Gunnar Solskjær. Molde is app. 300 km’s southwest of Trondheim, the nearest top division club in the other direction being Bodø Glimt app. 500 km north.
The Climate
Trondheim is located on the Trondeims-fjord. Typical for Norwegian cities inside fjords, like Oslo, is that the climate is a mixture of coastal and inland type. Fairly wet, but substantially less rain than the typical coastal cities like Bergen and Stavanger. Typically, the summers are warmer and the winters are colder in Trondheim and Oslo than in Bergen and Stavanger. This makes Trondheim and ideal place for all sorts of sports and outdoor activities all year round, and some of the best skiers in the world come from the Trondheim area.
When football games are played in the winter, be sure to come well dressed, minus 10 degrees C with high humidity can fell awfully chilly…
”Welcome to Hell!”
Away fans travelling to Trondheim via plane, should not be too intimidated when greated by such signs. Allthough this may bring out associations of playing one of the Istanbul teams, rest assured, the greeting is friendly and sincere, the airport is situated app 32 km east of Trondheim in a place called Hell. Make sure you take the trip down to the railway station and take a picture of yourselves in front of the sign, you will forever be able to prove that ”you followed your team to Hell and back!”
Norwegian Football
The Norwegian league follows the same nomenclature as the British, where the current 1 division is not the top division.
The Norwegian equivalent of the Premier League is ”Tippeligaen” and it consists of 14 teams. The two bottom placed teams are automatically relegated to the 1 division, the third placed team from the bottom plays a qualifier against the third team in the 1 division where the prize is a spot in next year’s “Tippeliga”.
Different teams have dominated at different times in Norwegian football. And as can be observed in other countries, the dominating team is always disliked by everyone else. Viking from Stavanger dominated Norwegian football in the seventies, Lillestrøm and Vålerenga from Oslo in the eighties and Rosenborg in the nineties. Rosenborg have now won the league 12 years in a row, and there are not many supporters of other clubs that would want to see a thirteenth league championship going to Trondheim. They’re considered to be the Man United of Norway, of course on a totally different scale. When Man United look to the whole world to buy players, Rosenborg are being accused of milking the other Norwegian clubs of their best players. But where Manchester United have gotten their incredible wealth from their popularity around the world, Rosenborg have earned their money through their performances in the Champions League and through player sales solely. There is not much revenue potential from an average crowd of 15,000 people on their home games and the market for supporter equipment is very slim, relatively speaking. Whilst the fans of other clubs would love to see another team win the league, it seems as if the gap now is bigger than ever.
European Accomplishments
Rosenborg have performed very well despite having resources and a player material far behind Europe’s finest. Another drawback is of course the climate. With snow on the ground from October until April, an indoor training ground was regarded a necessity a few years back if Rosenborg were to keep up with the pace. The quarter final in the Champions League between Rosenborg and Juventus in 1997 was in fact played outdoors on Lerkendal Stadium 5 days after the last event of the World Skiing Championships in the same city. The game ended a 1-1 draw in Trondheim and Juventus won 2-0 in Turin. Rosenborg advanced to the quarter finals that year by eliminating AC Milan 2-1 at San Siro through goals by Harald Brattbakk and Vegard Heggem. A couple of seasons later, RBK advanced through to the last 16 by winning a group consisting of Feyenoord, Borussia Dortmund and Boavista. Other accomplishments over the recent years include strong victories over Real Madrid, Olympiakos, Panathinaikos, Besiktas, IFK Gothenburg, Porto, Blackburn Rovers, Paris Saint Germain, Athletic Bilbao, Deportivo La Coruña and two draws with Bayern Munich. Victories over Helsingborg of Sweden and Brøndby of Denmark have ensured Rosenborg’s position as the best club team in Scandinavia.
Rosenborg are one of Europe’s most experienced Champions League clubs, with 8 consecutive appearances. There’s nothing like being a football fan in Trondheim when the dark autumn comes, the floodlight is being lit, the temperature creeps down towards freezing and the giants of European football come to visit! All good things must come to an end though, and this season, Rosenborg was eliminated from the CL after having lost 1-0 on aggregate against one of Europe’s strongest teams, Deportivo La Coruña from Spain.
The Manager
One of the most influencial persons behind Rosenborg’s success over the recent years is ex-manager and coach Nils Arne Eggen. A teacher of education, former Rosenborg and Vålerenga player, socialist and a chainsmoker during games, he’s considered to be quite a character in Norwegian football. Extremely knowledgable, enthusiastic, hot tempered, a gracious winner but a rotten loser he’s considered to be Mr Rosenborg himself. Nils Arne Eggen did in fact spend two years in the eighties as a manager with Moss FK south of Oslo. The first year he took them from second divison up into the top flight, the next year they won the league. Eggen strongly dislikes the way European football has developed where money plays an increasingly more important role, and he, as opposed to most other Norwegians, has no affection whatsoever for English football. Maybe because he got tired of losing a top player or two every season to foreign clubs. He is however accused of being a bit of a hypocrite as he tends to spend a lot of money himself on domestic purchases.
Out of several gems coming from the man’s mouth over the last years, one of the better was when he wanted some more enthusiasm on the training sessions from one of the new young players. He yelled at him, screamed at him, but the player just accepted it. Then Eggen yelled;
- but for God’s sake, can’t you at least tell me to f***k off!??”
The players had the utmost respect for the man, however, sometimes he went over the line and then was told back. In a friendly a few years back, he kept yelling and screaming to a point where one of the more experienced players ran over to him on the sideline and shouted back;
- Nils, it’s about time you shut your mouth now, ok?
Nils could be extremely mad, but only for two seconds at the time, any press journalist can confirm that.
Rosenborg is not at all like the Norwegian national side. Rosenborg are entertaining and play the ball along the ground. Nils once said;
- people do not pay good money to come to Lerkendal and watch throw-ins, they want goals.
In a CL qualifier against Inter Bratislava, RBK were one nil up, got a bit cocky and were suddenly 3-1 down, before they came back and equalized. Before the return leg at home, Nils was asked if they were gonna play a bit more defensive if they were one nil up this time. Nils replied;
- If we’re two-nil up, we’ll start defending. Maybe.
Rosenborg won 4-0.
In the 2003 season, Rosenborg's manager was Åge Hareide. Hareide previously coached both Helsingborg and Brøndby to domestic league championships in their respective countries, Sweden and Denmark. Hareide was also previously the manager of arch rivals Molde and was not a very popular man amongst the Rosenborg faithful. He was soon accepted though, and proved that he was capable of continuing Eggens fine work. At the end of the season though, the most pessimistic of the Rosenborg fans were proven right - despite assurances of the contrary, Hareide accepted an offer from the Norwegian FA to become the Norwegian national manager.
This was not taken lightly, neither amongst the club management nor the fans, and Hareide is a person not remembered with joy at Lerkendal. Current manager is Ola By Rise, a former Rosenborg goalkeeper and a Rosenborger through and through. By Rise has been assistant manager for several seasons but has now proved that he is more than capable of leading the ship himself.
One season in the nineties, Eggen had a year off and the club was coached by former player and Rosenborg hero Trond Sollied who currently is manager in Belgian top club FC Brügge, where he has experienced massive success.
Nils Arne Eggen's son, Knut Torbjørn Eggen, was an important player for Rosenborg in the eighties and early nineties - he is now manager in Fredrikstad FK and took them from the 2 division straight up into "Tippeligaen" in two seasons.
The Stadium
Rosenborg’s home ground is called Lerkendal Stadion and is located on the outskirts of Trondheim, however still within walking distance from the city centre. Max attendance was in the fall of 1985 when more than 30,000 people witnessed Rosenborg clinching their first league championship in 14 years through a 1-0 victory over fiercest contenders Lillestrøm. The goal was scored by the above mentioned Trond Sollied. The stadium is now brand new, a proper football stadium, totally enclosed by stands, all seated and with no running track. The capacity is 21,000.
The Fans
People from Trøndelag have always been known as a pretty quiet bunch who don’t open their mouth unless they strictly have to. Hence, for a long period, the Lerkendal faithfuls’ supporter chants were ”YES!” when Rosenborg scored, and ”NO!” when a goal went the wrong way. Nowadays, the atmosphere is much better, mainly thanks to the efforts of the hardcore Rosenborg fans by the name ”Kjernen” – “the Core”. Hardcore in the sense that they are dedicated and follow their team everywhere, and believe me, going to away games in Norway requires lots of travel and money. Violence on Norwegian football grounds is practically non-existent. Rosenborg’s nickname is ”Troillungan”, directly translated meaning ”the Troll Kids”, in a trøndersk dialect however, the meaning is more a kid who is a bit naughty.
Rosenborg’s dark year was 1977, a year they spent in 2nd division. However, a humerous expression amongst Rosenborg fans, is: ”Never 1991 again!”. That was the last year Rosenborg did not win the league.
As mentioned above, the atmosphere at Lerkendal Stadium is being taken care of by “Kjernen”, located in the West End of the Stadium, and impressive tifo shows are being organized by this group (see link to pictures).
The Players
Rosenborg are striving towards having as large as possible percentage of local players on the team, but are finding it increasingly difficult if they are going to keep up with the challengers. They have even gone so far that they’ve imported foreign players, however not from the most exotic countries in the football world. Goalkeeper Arni Gautur Arason is Iceland’s number one, whereas left fullback Janne Saarinen is a regular for Finland. Arason is no longer Rosenborg’s first choice and Saarinen has been sold, and South African player Macbeth Sibaya only had a short spell with Rosenborg such that the team currently consists of 100% Norwegian players.
In Norway’s Euro 2004 qualifier against Luxembourg, 6 Rosenborg players were on the pitch; goalkeeper Espen Johnsen, defender Christer Basma, midfielders Fredrik Winsnes and Roar Strand and strikers Harald Brattbakk and Frode Johnsen. Brattbakk is a league champion in three different European countries; with Celtic in Scotland, FC Copenhagen in Denmark and Rosenborg. He has so far won the top scorer title in the Norwegian league on three occasions. Ørjan Berg would be a natural choice for Norway, but has chosen to focus his efforts on Rosenborg only and hence, is not available for the national side.
Player Philosophy
As mentioned above, there is a certain pride about being a ”trønder”. The saying goes; ”once a trønder, always a trønder.” Hence, Rosenborg are in the unique position that there are local players around in other clubs, who all have this secret dream of once playing for Rosenborg. It’s a bit like the Basques and Athletic Bilbao. This enables Rosenborg to lend out or even sell players to other clubs knowing that they’ll develop into better players by playing as opposed to sitting on the bench in Rosenborg, and also knowing that the day they’re good enough, they can be brought ”home”. The players are never against a move home, and the Champions League income has made sure that Rosenborg will always be able to come up with an offer the other Norwegian clubs cannot refuse. Roar Strand is a local who played a few seasons for Molde, Harald Brattbakk played for Bodø Glimt and Odd Inge Olsen has also played for Molde. No young player leaves the Trøndelag area to play for another club without first having been thoroughly ”examined” by the Rosenborg scouts.
Ex-Rosenborgers
The list of former Rosenborg players who have gone abroad is long. Vegard Heggem, Bjørn Tore Kvarme and Stig Inge Bjørnebye - Liverpool, Bjørn Otto Bragstad – Derby, Steffen Iversen and Øyvind Leonhardsen - Tottenham, Ståle Stensaas - Rangers, Harald Brattbakk and Vidar Riseth - Celtic, Jon Olav Hjelde - Nottingham Forest, Trond Egil Soltvedt - Southampton, Rune Bratseth - Werder Bremen, John Carew – Valencia, Andrè Bergdølmo – Ajax, Sigurd Rushfeldt - Racing Santander and Jan Derek Sørensen – Borussia Dortmund all played in Rosenborg at some stage in their career before they went abroad. It does seem however these days that the massive flow of Norwegian players out of the country has stopped. It seems that English clubs recently are looking elsewhere for talents, particularly South America, Africa and France. Funnily enough, most of the aforementioned players were more successful at Rosenborg than with their foreign clubs, Harald Brattbakk, Ståle Stensaas and Sigurd Rushfeldt being good examples, two of them are ”home” again better than ever.
Rosenborg is perhaps one of the better examples that no player is bigger than the club. Eggen’s favourite expression is; ”it’s important to go out and play well, but it is even more important to go out and make your teammates play well.” Maybe that’s why a team whose players’ individual skills and price tag is far behind their opponents’, still can match the best in Europe?
Visiting Foreign Fans
There’s not much advice to give to visiting fans regarding behaviour, other than behave the way your mother taught you. If you speak English, which you probably do since you’ve taken the time to read this article, language will not be a problem, 99% of the Norwegian population under the age of 80 speak English very well.
Currency is kroner, ”crowns”. One Euro equals app. 8 kroner.
One thing that might be unusal for foreigners; drinking alcohol is not allowed in public, i.e. outside designated places such as pubs and restaurants, you’d get a fine for that. Alcohol is expensive, you might want to bring some from the tax free shops. You are allowed to bring 1 litre of strong liquor, 1 litre of wine and app. a six pack of beer. Half a liter of beer in a Norwegian pub costs from 5 to 8 Euros.
What you really, really should consider when going to Norway maybe for the first and last time in your life, is to take a few days off and splash out on a boattrip. Take the plane to Bergen, then take the fjordcruise (Hurtigruten) up to Trondheim. It’s a truly magnificent trip and people travel from all over the world to experience the fjords between Bergen and Trondheim.
Thomas Selbekk – once a trønder, always a trønder!
(The two pictures from Trondheim is (C) Vadim Makarov)
