Vålerenga Fotball Damer

This article is about Vålerenga Fotball's women's section. For the men's section, see Vålerenga Fotball.
Vålerenga Fotball
Full nameVålerenga Fotball Damer
GroundIntility Arena
Oslo
Capacity16,555
Head coachNils Lexerød
LeagueToppserien
2024Toppserien, 1st (champions)
Websitewww.vif-damefotball.no

Vålerenga Fotball Damer is the women's football branch of Vålerenga Fotball. Based in Oslo, the team plays in Norway's top league, Toppserien.

The team first won promotion to Toppserien in 2011 after earning promotion from the First Division. This made Vålerenga the third Norwegian club with both a men's team and a women's team in the top-tier league, and the first club to have its own women's team win promotion to Toppserien, as the two other clubs, Stabæk Fotball and Lillestrøm SK, inherited another club's women's team.[1]

In 2020, the club made record by winning the Toppserien and the NM Kvinner, their first major titles after finishing runners-up at the previous editions.[2][3]

History

Founded in 1913, Vålerenga established a women's team for the first time in 1982. After several seasons in lower divisions, Vålerenga decided to make a restart in 1991. They temporarily put down their women's first team, and focused on building youth teams for the next five years. Based on the players coming through their youth teams, they restarted their women's first team in 1996 at the fifth tier of Norwegian football. They were promoted several times the following years, and played at the second tier in the 2000 season.[4]

After spending years at the second and third tier, The team won promotion from the First Division to Toppserien in 2011. This made Vålerenga the third Norwegian club with both a men's team and a women's team in the top-tier league, and the first club to have its own women's team win promotion to Toppserien, as the two other clubs, Stabæk Fotball and Lillestrøm SK, inherited another club's women's team.[5]

In the following years, Vålerenga established itself at the top tier of Norwegian football. In 2015, the board of Vålerenga Fotball stated that by 2020 the club should be a leading club in women's football.[6]

After playing indoors in Vallhall Arena for several years, Vålerenga moved into the newly built Intility Arena in 2017. The first match played at the stadium was the Toppserien game against Kolbotn, which Vålerenga won 2–0.[7] In 2017 they also reached the Norwegian Cup Final for the first time, which they lost 0–1 to Avaldsnes.

In 2020, the club won the Double, winning both the Toppserien and the NM Kvinner for the first time in the club's history.[8][9] They won 2–0 against LSK Kvinner in the Cup Final, and were also ending LSK Kvinner's streak of six consecutive league titles. In 2023, Vålerenga won their second league title.[10]

Vålerenga qualified for the UEFA Women's Champions League group stage for the first time in the 2024–25 season.[11]

Players

Current squad

As of 30 March 2025[12]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  SWE Tove Enblom (captain)
2 DF  NOR Sara Hørte
3 DF  USA Michaela Kovacs
4 DF  NOR Iselin Sandnes Olsen
5 DF  NOR Selma Pettersen
6 MF  SWE Tilde Lindwall
7 MF  SUI Naina Inauen
8 MF  SWE Linn Vickius
9 FW  NOR Elise Thorsnes
10 MF  NOR Olaug Tvedten
11 FW  NOR Marie Moen Preus
14 FW  NOR Mawa Sesay
15 MF  NOR Ylinn Tennebø
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 MF  NOR Ronja Arnesen
17 MF  SWE Ronja Aronsson
18 MF  NOR Thea Bjelde (vice-captain)
19 MF  ISL Sædís Rún Heiðarsdóttir
20 FW  NOR Tuva Espås
21 FW  NOR Karina Sævik
22 MF  NOR Tomine Enger
23 MF  NOR Eline Hegg
24 GK  NOR Pia Grinde-Hansen
27 DF  NOR Lina Klech
30 MF  NOR Stine Brekken
31 GK  NOR Thiril Erichsen

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player

Coaching staff

Position Name
Director of football Steinar Pedersen
Head coach Nils Lexerød
Assistant coach Aleksander Olsen
Player developer and analysis Simon Hansen
Goalkeeper coach Andreas Thorsen Schoute
Fitness coach Luciano Arias
Head of medical Helene Moa
Physio Siri Nesheim
Equipment manager Henning Aamodt

Notable former players

Managers

Period Manager
2005–2007 Kjell Gustad
2008 Arne Berger
2009–2013 Cecilie Berg-Hansen
2014 Glenn Rostad
2015 Leif Tsolis
2016 David Brocken
2016–2017 Kjell Gustad
2018–2019 Monica Knudsen
2020–2021 Jack Majgaard Jensen
2022–present Nils Lexerød

Recent seasons

Season Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup Notes
2010 1. divisjon 3 22 11 6 5 38 24 39 Second round
2011 1. divisjon ↑ 1 20 14 3 3 52 22 45 Third round Promoted to Toppserien
2012 Toppserien 8 22 6 5 11 27 47 23 Third round
2013 Toppserien 5 22 8 8 6 41 37 32 Semi-final
2014 Toppserien 7 22 9 3 10 27 45 30 Third round
2015 Toppserien 10 22 6 3 13 22 42 21 Third round
2016 Toppserien 9 22 6 5 11 25 48 23 Third round
2017 Toppserien 7 22 10 4 8 38 33 34 Final
2018 Toppserien 6 22 10 3 9 37 35 33 Quarter-final
2019 Toppserien 2 22 14 4 4 41 24 46 Final
2020 Toppserien 1 18 11 5 2 39 14 38 Winners
2021 Toppserien 4 18 11 2 5 46 17 35 Winners
2022 Toppserien 2 18 12 3 3 48 12 39 Quarter-final
6 4 1 1 16 3 15
2023 Toppserien 1 27 17 8 2 68 28 59 Final
2024 Toppserien 1 27 24 1 2 74 17 73 Winners

Source:[13]

Honours

References

  1. ^ "Vålerengas kvinnelag rykket opp til Toppserien" (in Norwegian). TV2. 8 October 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  2. ^ "Vålerenga wins first Toppserien title". Kick442.com. 6 December 2020.
  3. ^ "Vålerenga complete historic domestic double". Goal.com. 13 December 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  4. ^ "Damelagets historie" (in Norwegian). Vålerenga. 6 February 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  5. ^ "Vålerengas kvinnelag rykket opp til Toppserien" (in Norwegian). TV2. 8 October 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  6. ^ "I 2015 vedtok Vålerenga at de skulle bli best i Norge. Slik forklarer de nybakte seriemesterne suksessen" (in Norwegian). Aftenposten. 6 December 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  7. ^ "Ett år har gått siden åpningshelgen" (in Norwegian). Vålerenga. Archived from the original on 2022-02-21. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  8. ^ "Vålerenga wins first Toppserien title". Kick442.com. 6 December 2020.
  9. ^ "Vålerenga complete historic domestic double". Goal.com. 13 December 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  10. ^ "Vålerenga tok gull etter LSK-hjelp" (in Norwegian). TV2. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  11. ^ "Meet the UEFA Women's Champions League group contenders". UEFA. 28 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
  12. ^ "A-laget - spillere". vif-damefotball.no. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  13. ^ "Vålerenga Fotball Damer". NIFS (in Norwegian). NTB. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
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