The 2012

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 ...

was the 68th completed season of top division

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 competition began on 23 March 2012 and ended on 18 November 2012, with a summer break from 28 May to 30 June.

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 ...

were the defending champions, while

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, ...

and

Sandnes Ulf Sandnes Ulf is a Norwegian association football club from Sandnes, Rogaland, currently playing in the 1. divisjon, the second highest division in the Norwegian football league system. The club play their home matches at Øster Hus Arena. The clu ...

entered as the promoted teams from the 2011 1. divisjon. They replaced

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 ...

and

Sarpsborg 08 Sarpsborg 08 Fotballforening, commonly known as Sarpsborg 08 or simply Sarpsborg (), is a Norwegian football club based in Sarpsborg, playing in Eliteserien. Sarpsborg 08 and its predecessors played in 1. divisjon from 2005 to 2010. In 2010, the ...

who were relegated to the

2012 1. divisjon The 2012 1. divisjon (referred to as Adeccoligaen for sponsorship reasons) was a Norwegian second-tier football season. The season began on 9 April 2012 and ended on 11 November 2012. Two clubs, Start and Sarpsborg, were relegated from the 2011 ...

. On 11 November 2011, Molde won the title with one matchday left to play after a 1–0 home win over Hønefoss. It was their second consecutive league title and also their second top-flight title overall.

Season summary

Strømsgodset were leading the league most of the season, but four matches before the end of the season there were three teams competing for the title. Rosenborg lost out on the title-race after losing to Strømsgodset and

. Molde secured the title in the 29th round after they won 1–0 at home, while Strømsgodset lost 2–1 against Sandnes Ulf. Stabæk were relegated after being positioned at the bottom of the table throughout the season. Ahead of the last round, four teams were fighting against relegation, but

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 ...

lost their match against the league-winners Molde and were relegated, while

finished 14th and played relegation play-offs against Ullensaker/Kisa, the sixth-placed team in the 1. divisjon. Sandnes Ulf won the play-offs 7–1 on aggregate (4–0 away and 3–1 at home), and were not relegated. The average attendance in 2012 were 7,014 spectators, down from 7,995 in 2011, which was the lowest average attendance in Tippeligaen since 2003.

Teams

Sixteen teams competed in the league – the top fourteen teams from the previous season and the two teams promoted from the 1. divisjon The promoted teams were

(returning after a season's absence) and

(their first post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

top-flight season). They replaced

(relegated after their first ever presence) and

(ending their three-year spell in the top flight).

Stadiums and locations

:''Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.

Managerial changes

League table

Positions by round

Relegation play-offs

At the end of the season, Stabæk and

were relegated directly to 1. divisjon, and will be replaced by

and

Sarpsborg Sarpsborg ( or ), historically Borg, is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sarpsborg. Sarpsborg is part of the fifth largest urban area in Norway when paired with neigh ...

who were directly promoted. Five teams entered a play-off for the last Tippeligaen spot in the 2013 season. These were: * A)

(by virtue of being the 14th placed team in the Tippeligaen) * B)

Sandefjord Sandefjord () is a city and the most populous municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, Norway. The municipality of Sandefjord was established on 1 January 1838. The municipality of Sandar was merged into Sandefjord on 1 January 1969. On 1 ...

(by virtue of being the third placed team in the 1. divisjon) * C)

Mjøndalen Mjøndalen is a built up area in Drammen municipality in Viken county (formerly Buskerud county), Norway. It is situated south of the Drammenselva River opposite of Krokstadelva. History Mjøndalen has traditionally been a railway site most ...

(by virtue of being the fourth placed team in the 1. divisjon) * D) Bodø/Glimt (by virtue of being the fifth placed team in the 1. divisjon) * E) Ullensaker/Kisa (by virtue of being the sixth placed team in the 1. divisjon) The four 1. divisjon teams first played a single game knockout tournament, with the winner (Ull/Kisa) advancing to a two-legged tie against the Tippeligaen team (Sandnes Ulf) for the 16th and final spot in the 2013 season. Sandnes Ulf retained their Tippeligaen spot with an aggregate 7–1 win over Ull/Kisa. ;Results ---- ---- ''Sandnes Ulf won 7–1 on aggregate.'' ----

Results

Season statistics

Top scorers

Source:

Top assists

Source:Alt om fotball
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Discipline

Player

*Most yellow cards: 7 ** Tremaine Stewart (Aalesund) *Most red cards: 1 **23 players

Club

*Most yellow cards: 48 **Lillestrøm *Most red cards: 3 **Fredrikstad **Sandnes Ulf **Vålerenga

Attendances

Awards

Annual awards

Goalkeeper of the Year

The Goalkeeper of the Year award awared to Kenneth Udjus (

Sogndal Sogndal is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located on the northern shore of the Sognefjorden in the traditional district of Sogn. The village of Hermansverk is the administrative center of Sogndal municipality. Other villages i ...

)

Defender of the Year

The Defender of the Year award awared to

Vegard Forren Vegard Valgermo Forren (born 16 February 1988) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for KÍ Klaksvík. He was capped over 30 times for the Norway national team. Born in Kyrksæterøra, Forren was originally a yo ...

(

)

Midfielder of the Year

The Midfielder of the Year award awared to

Magnus Wolff Eikrem Magnus Wolff Eikrem (born 8 August 1990) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays for Molde FK in Eliteserien. His regular playing position is in attacking midfield, though he can play anywhere across the midfield. Career Early years Bor ...

(Molde)

Striker of the Year

The Striker of the Year award awared to Alexander Søderlund (

Haugesund Haugesund () is a municipality on the North Sea in Rogaland county, Norway. While the population is greater in the neighboring Karmøy municipality, the main commercial and economic centre of the Haugaland region in northern Rogaland and southern ...

)

Coach of the Year

The Coach of the Year award awared to

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 ...

(Molde)

References

{{2012–13 in European football (UEFA) Eliteserien seasons 1