Fotballklubben Eik Tønsberg Allianseidrettslag (formerly known as Eik-Tønsberg), is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

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 ...

club from the Eik neighborhood of

Tønsberg Tønsberg , historically Tunsberg, is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, eastern Norway, located around south-southwest of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near its mouth onto the Skagerrak. The administrative ce ...

Vestfold Vestfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in Eastern Norway. In 2020 the county became part of the much larger county of Vestfold og Telemark. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it bordered th ...

. The club got its current name on 1 January 2020 after a merger with

FK Tønsberg FK Tønsberg was a football club from Tønsberg, Norway, founded on 10 October 2001 as a cooperation project between 20 local clubs. The new team replaced Eik-Tønsberg in the Norwegian Second Division beginning in the 2002 season. The first ...

. The football team competes with the name FK Eik Tønsberg 871 where the number represents the founding year of the town of

History

The club was founded as ''Eik Idrettsforening'' on 14 March 1928, and included the city name

in 1989. Before 1988, the district Eik was located in Sem municipality, but Sem was incorporated into Tønsberg. It was formerly a team of nationwide importance. The team played their first season in the

Norwegian top division 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 ...

in the 1957–58 season and finished in sixth place out of eight teams in group B. In the 1959–60 season they finished second in the Main League group B, reaching a bronze play-off match which they won 4–2 against Vålerengen. Since this was the first time a bronze play-off was held, Eik became the first bronze medalists in Norwegian football's top division. In the following 1960–61 season they won the Main League group B, reaching a gold playoff match which they lost to

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 ...

. Well-known players were Arne Natland,

Arne Høivik Arne Fredrik Høivik (9 January 1932 – 16 March 2017) was a Norwegian footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, Amer ...

and Tore Halvorsen, all of whom were capped by

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 ...

. Eik were promoted to the Norwegian top flight in 1982, finished fifth in 1983, and were relegated in 1985. Among the profiles on this team were midfielder Geir "Bolla" Johansen and striker Nick Sandberg, both of whom played briefly on the international stage, as well as future

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Waltham ...

goalkeeper

Erik Thorstvedt Erik Thorstvedt (born 28 October 1962) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He won 97 caps for the Norwegian national team, and was the starter in goal at the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He played for Viking, Eik-T ...

who left the club after the 1983 season. In the 1990s the team was a mainstay in the 1. divisjon, the second tier. After the 1997 season it even contested a

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

to win promotion to the

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 ...

, but did not win. The team was relegated after the 2000 1. divisjon season, and played in the 2001 2. divisjon.

Merger with FK Tønsberg

On 10 October 2001, a new club was founded.

was to be an umbrella team in the district, and was supported by 20 teams in the region. As Eik-Tønsberg was the best regional team, FK Tønsberg took their place in the league system from

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

and Eik-Tønsberg started anew. Eik-Tønsberg won their

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 ...

group in both 2003, 2004 and 2005, but in each year it succumbed to other clubs in the

promotion playoffs Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or ...

. In 2010 the club also contested the playoffs as the 2nd placed team, but was again defeated, and remained in the 3. divisjon. It was relegated to the 4. divisjon after the 2012 season. The club was promoted back to the 3. divisjon for the 2015 season, but was relegated again in 2016. After the 2020 merger with FK Tønsberg, Eik Tønsberg advanced a tier since FK Tønsberg played in the 3. divisjon at the time.

Recent seasons

Sources:

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eik Tonsberg Football clubs in Norway Eliteserien clubs Sport in Vestfold og Telemark Tønsberg Association football clubs established in 1928 1928 establishments in Norway