Vålerenga Fotball

Early days (1913–45)

The history of Vålerenga Fotball goes back to Fotballpartiet Spark, which was founded in 1898 by pastor Hans Møller Gasmann. An early mission for Gasmann was to give the local youth social activity and exercise. On a larger scale, the club was part of the movement known as Muscular Christianity. A successor to this football club, Idrettslaget Spring, was founded on 29 July 1913 by a group of teenage factory workers. A year later, the club changed its name to Vaalerengens Idrættsforening. Rooted in the neighborhood of Vålerenga on the east end of Oslo, the club would recruit players and supporters from the many workers in the area, in a society then characterized by its low mobility between social strata. Within its first seasons, Vålerengen would compete with the major clubs in Oslo at that time: Lyn, Mercantile and Frigg. Where Lyn and Frigg had a strong identity with the academia and the upper classes, Vålerengen developed a working class identity. Vålerengens Idrettsforening had mixed success in its first years, but fortunes improved as the 1920s came around and the club secured promotion to the Oslo Championships in 1921. Vålerengen won the Oslo Championships four times before a national league (Norgesserien) was established in 1937. In the 1948–49 season, Vålerengen finished second. After this period, Vålerengen entered a period of instability, being relegated from the top division two times in the 1950s.

The Bohemians (1946–68)…

Eliteserien: Winners (5): 1965, 1981, 1983, 1984, 2005 Runners-up (3): 1948–49, 2004, 2010 Norwegian Cup: Winners (4): 1980, 1997, 2002, 2008 Runners-up (2): 1983, 1985 Norwegian First Division/Landsdelsserien: Winners (7): 1953–54, 1958–59, 1976, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2024 Superfinalen: Runners-up (1): 2009