The 2012 Tippeligaen 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 ...

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 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 and Sandnes Ulf entered as the promoted teams from the

2011 1. divisjon The 2011 1. divisjon (referred to as Adeccoligaen for sponsorship reasons) was a Norwegian second-tier football season. The season began play on 3 April 2011 and ended on 30 October 2011. The clubs relegated from the 2010 Tippeligaen were Hønef ...

. 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 Strømsgodset is a former municipality in Vestfold county (from 1964 Buskerud county), Norway, today a part of the city of Drammen. History Strømsgodset was originally a small rural annex to the city parish of Bragernes (Drammen). But since th ...

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 lost their match against the league-winners Molde and were relegated, while Sandnes Ulf finished 14th and played relegation play-offs against Ullensaker/Kisa, the sixth-placed team in the

1. divisjon 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 ...

. 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

The promoted teams were Hønefoss (returning after a season's absence) and Sandnes Ulf (their first post- World War II 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 Fredrikstad were relegated directly to 1. divisjon, and will be replaced by

and Sarpsborg who were directly promoted. Five teams entered a play-off for the last Tippeligaen spot in the 2013 season. These were: * A) Sandnes Ulf (by virtue of being the 14th placed team in the Tippeligaen) * B) Sandefjord (by virtue of being the third placed team in the 1. divisjon) * C) Mjøndalen (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

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Discipline

Player

*Most yellow cards: 7 **

Tremaine Stewart Tremaine Stewart (5 January 1988 – 18 April 2021) was a Jamaican professional footballer who played as a forward or winger. Club career Nicknamed 'Tan Tan', he began his career in his native homeland, playing for August Town and Portmore Un ...

(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 Kenneth Udjus (born 2 July 1983) is a Norwegian football goalkeeper who plays for Asker. Youth career He played as a defender as a junior in IK Start, until Thomas Gill discovered his goalkeeping abilities by chance when Udjus was 17. In the 20 ...

(

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 (

)

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 Alexander Toft Søderlund (born 3 August 1987) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Haugesund. He has represented the Norway national team. Club career After playing for Stegaberg IL in his youth, Søderlund played ...

(

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 (Molde)

References

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