The 2011 season was the 106th season of competitive

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The season began on 18 March 2011 for

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () 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. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

, 3 April 2011 for

Adeccoligaen The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon and OBOS-ligaen (named sponsor is property developer OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon are p ...

, with

2. divisjon The Norwegian Second Division, also called 2. divisjon and often referred to as PostNord-ligaen for sponsorship reasons, is the third-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. There are 28 teams divided into two groups, and at the ...

and

3. divisjon The Norwegian Third Division, also called 3. divisjon, is the fourth highest division of the men's football league in Norway. Like the rest of the Norwegian football league system, the season runs from spring to autumn, running approximately from ...

both starting six days later on 9 April 2011. 2. divisjon and 3. divisjon ended on 22 October 2011 while

ended eight days later on 30 October 2011 and

finished on 27 November 2011.

Events of the season

January

8 January 2011: Thorbjørn Svenssen,

's most capped player with 104 games, dies from a stroke at the age of 86.

August

13 August 2011:

Start Start can refer to multiple topics: *Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports *Standing start, and rolling start, in an auto race Acronyms *St ...

beat Adeccoliga side Alta 1–0 and through to the semi final of 2011 Norwegian Football Cup. 2009 winners Aalesund is heading for another Cup-victory after beating Rosenborg at home. 14 August 2011:

Fredrikstad FK Fredrikstad Fotballklubb (also known as Fredrikstad or FFK) is a Norwegian association football, football club from the town of Fredrikstad. With nine league championships and eleven Norwegian Football Cup, Norwegian Cup wins, FFK is one of the ...

denies

Ole Gunnar Solskjær Ole Gunnar Solskjær (; born 26 February 1973) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who played as a forward who last managed Premier League club Manchester United. As a player, Solskjær spent the majority of his care ...

success in the

Norwegian Football Cup The Norwegian Football Cup ( no, Norgesmesterskapet i fotball for herrer) 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 ...

in his first year as a manager in Norway.

Molde Molde () is a town and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Peninsula, surrounding the Fannefjord and Moldefjord. The administrative centre of the m ...

lost 2–3 at

Fredrikstad Stadion The Fredrikstad Stadion is a football stadium in Fredrikstad, Norway and home of the Norwegian First Division team Fredrikstad FK. It is located in an area which formerly used to be a large shipyard (locally known as Værste or FMV), but which no ...

after extra time. In

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

, Brann knocked out

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

on penalties shoot-out, with

Piotr Leciejewski Piotr Leciejewski (; born 23 March 1985) is a Polish professional football who plays as a goalkeeper for MKP Wołów. Career Leciejewski impressed instantly with his explosive reflexes, and was one of Sogndal's best players when he arrived. In ...

saving three of Vikings four penalties.

September

2 September 2011: With a late penalty goal from

Mohammed Abdellaoue Mohammed "Moa" Abdellaoue ( ar, محمد عبد اللاوي; born 23 October 1985) is a retired Norwegian footballer who played as a forward. He started his career with Skeid and Vålerenga before moving to Germany where he played for Hannover ...

won 1–0 against

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, keeping Norway joint top of UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying Group H with two matches remaining. 6 September 2011:

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

won 2–0 against Norway in

Parken Parken Stadium, also known simply as Parken and as Telia Parken (2014–2020), is a football stadium in the Indre Østerbro (''Inner Østerbro'') district of Copenhagen, Denmark, built from 1990 to 1992. The stadium, which features a retractable ...

, after two goals from

Nicklas Bendtner Nicklas Bendtner (; born 16 January 1988) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a forward. His preferred position was centre-forward, but he has also played on the right side of attack, and occasionally on the left. A large, ...

. The chances for Drillo's men to reach

UEFA EURO 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

is now very small. 10 September 2011:

Notodden Notodden () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city and List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold og Telemark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Øst-Telemark. ...

secured promotion to 1. divisjon with six matches left to play, after beating

Førde Førde is a former municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It was located in the traditional district of Sunnfjord. The administrative center was the town of Førde which in 2016 had 10,255 inhabitants. Other villages in Førde ...

2–1 in

. 21 September 2011: Brann reach the Cup final after a 2–0 win against

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Fredrikstad. The city of Fredrikstad was founded in 15 ...

. 21 September 2011: With an unlucky own goal,

Haraldur Freyr Guðmundsson Haraldur Freyr Guðmundsson (born 14 December 1981) is an Icelandic retired professional footballer who played as a defender. During his career, Guðmundsson played in Norway for Aalesunds FK and Start; in Cyprus for Apollon Limassol; and had ...

sent his old team, Aalesund to the Cup final, two years after they won the Cup in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, after beating

in the other semifinal.

October

2 October 2011:

move closer to the Tippeliga title with a 2–0 win against title challengers

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

, and becomes the first team this season to win at

Alfheim Stadion Alfheim Stadion is football stadium located in Tromsø, Norway and home of Eliteserien side Tromsø IL. Alfheim has a seating capacity of 6,801 and artificial turf. It is the second northernmost stadium to have been used in European football, aft ...

this season. 19 October 2011:

Hønefoss __NOTOC__ Hønefoss is a town and the administrative center of the municipality of Ringerike in Buskerud county, Norway. Hønefoss is an industrial center of inner Østlandet, containing several factories and other industry. As of 1 January 2008, ...

took another step towards promotion to

2012 Tippeligaen The 2012 Tippeligaen was the 68th completed season of top division football in Norway. The competition began on 23 March 2012 and ended on 18 November 2012, with a summer break from 28 May to 30 June. Molde were the defending champions, while Høn ...

with a 2–1 win against

Asker Asker ( no, Asker), properly called Askerbygda in Norwegian, is a district and former Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus, Norway. From 2020 it is part of the larger administrative municipality Asker, Viken (also known as Greate ...

in 1. divisjon, while

Tom Nordlie Tom Nordlie (born 2 March 1962) is a Norwegian football coach. He has managed several top Norwegian football teams. Playing career Nordlie was not a footballer himself, but he did play for the national water polo team. He has his education from ...

and

Kongsvinger Kongsvinger () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Glåmdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kongsvinger. Other settlements in the municipality include Aust ...

ruined Sandefjord's chances for promotion.

Men's football

Promotion and relegation

League season

Tippeligaen

1. divisjon (Adeccoligaen)

2. divisjon (Fair Play-ligaen)

=Group 1

=Group 2

=Group 3

=Group 4

3. divisjon

Norwegian Cup

Final

Women's football

League season

Toppserien

1. divisjon

Norwegian Women's Cup

Final

Røa Røa is a neighbourhood and a former administrative borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. In 2004 the borough of Røa was merged with neighbouring Vinderen to become Vestre Aker borough. Røa is a suburb of Oslo, located approximately 7 kilometer ...

2–2 ( aet) (6–7 on penalties) Stabæk

Men's UEFA competitions

These are the results of the Norwegian teams in European competitions during the 2011 season. (Norwegian team score displayed first) * For group games in Champions League or Europa League, score in home game is displayed
** For group games in Champions League or Europa League, score in away game is displayed

UEFA Women's Champions League

Knockout stage

Round of 32

National teams

Norway men's national football team

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying

=Group H

= During this season, the

Norway national football team The Norway national football team ( no, Norges herrelandslag i fotball, or informally ''Landslaget'') represents Norway in men's international football and is controlled by the Norwegian Football Federation, the governing body for football in ...

were to play the last five of their eight scheduled Group H qualifying matches for

Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

Friendlies

The

also participated in four

friendly matches An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

Events of the season

January

August

September

October

Men's football

Promotion and relegation

League season

Tippeligaen

1. divisjon (Adeccoligaen)

2. divisjon (Fair Play-ligaen)

=Group 1

=Group 2

=Group 3

=Group 4

3. divisjon

Norwegian Cup

Final

Women's football

League season

Toppserien

1. divisjon

Norwegian Women's Cup

Final

Men's UEFA competitions

UEFA Women's Champions League

Knockout stage

Round of 32

National teams

Norway men's national football team

UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying

=Group H

Friendlies

Norway women's national football team

Managerial changes

Notes and references