Lillestrøm Sportsklubb is a Norwegian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in the city of Lillestrøm, just outside of the capital

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

. Lillestrøm SK is a Norwegian football club based in Lillestrøm, playing in Eliteserien. The club was founded in 1917, after the merger of two local football clubs. Their home ground is Åråsen Stadion, which has a capacity of 12,250 people, while the principal training ground is Lillestrøm stadion, or the indoor arena, LSK-Hallen. The club holds the Norwegian record for the most consecutive years without being relegated, having played 45 seasons from 1975 until 2019. Over the years the club has had around 40 players who have represented the Norwegian national team. There has also been a number of foreigners who have represented the national teams of

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, and

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History

Lillestrøm SK was founded on 2 April 1917. It has been Norwegian League champions five times, most recently in 1989, and also in 1986, 1977, 1976 and 1959. Additionally, they have won the

Norwegian Cup The Norwegian Football Cup () 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 tournament in the country. The tournament ...

in 1985, 1981, 1978, 1977, 2007 and 2017. When

Arne Erlandsen Arne Erlandsen (born 20 December 1959) is a Norwegian association football, football manager (association football), manager and former player. He is currently the manager for Skeid Fotball, Skeid. During his own playing career he had relative s ...

left for Sweden and

IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or Blåvitt, is a Swedish professional Football team, football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it ...

after the 2004 season, former LSK player and German international Uwe Rösler took over as head coach of the team. His first season in charge became a successful one, with Lillestrøm finishing fourth in the league. This position secured LSK a place in the

Royal League The Royal League was an annual Scandinavian football tournament held three times in the 2000s between teams from the three Scandinavian monarchies (Denmark, Sweden, and Norway), starting after the end of the regular domestic seasons of Norway and ...

. The team also made it to the 2005 Norwegian Cup final, but lost 4–2 to

Molde Molde () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the seat of Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Pen ...

in front of a crowd of 25,000 at

Ullevaal Stadion Ullevaal Stadion () is an all-seater football stadium located in Oslo, Norway. It is the home ground of the Norway national football team, and the site of the Norwegian Cup Final. From its opening in 1926 to 2009 it was the home ground of ...

. In the 2006 season, Lillestrøm were among the top favourites to win the league. Following a disappointing 4th place, it was announced on 13 November 2006 that Uwe Rösler had been fired from his position as head coach of Lillestrøm. Only a few days later Tom Nordlie signed a three-year contract. Ullevaal Stadion VG 2006-05-12

A key signing ahead of the 2007 season included

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a List of cities in Norway, city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Østfold Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipal ...

's Simen Brenne, an attacking midfielder with a knack for scoring important goals. LSK under Nordlie played a 4–3–3 system, which invites rapid transitional play between defence and attack, Lillestrøm finished fourth in the league and won the 2007 Norwegian cup, beating

Haugesund Haugesund () is a municipalities of Norway, municipality and List of towns and cities in Norway, town on the North Sea in Rogaland county, Norway. As of December 2023, the municipality of Haugesund has a population of 37,855. The vast majority of ...

2–0 in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

at Ullevaal Stadion. On 29 May 2008, Tom Nordlie resigned from his position as head coach after a disappointing start of the 2008 season. Statements from Nordlie suggested that fundamental disagreements with club director

Jan Åge Fjørtoft Jan Åge Fjørtoft (born 10 January 1967) is a Norwegian former professional footballer. A powerful centre forward with goalscoring ability, he played professionally in Norway, Austria, England and Germany. In total, he scored 308 goals in 614 ga ...

also contributed to his resignation. It later emerged that the conflict between the controversial coach and the players was another big contributor behind Nordlie's departure, his punishing training regime in the run-up to the 2008 season being cited as the main complaint. Nordlie, no stranger to controversy during his career, had reportedly "lost the dressing room" as early as autumn 2007. Erland Johnsen and Frode Grodås stepped in as caretakers until a new head coach was hired. On 19 August 2008, the club announced that Henning Berg would take over as head coach on 1 January 2009, after leaving his post at Lyn. Berg's first task would be to rescue the team from relegation, a feat he accomplished in his very first match as head coach. LSK beat Rosenborg 4–2 in a classic encounter to secure their place in the Tippeligaen. The 2009 season was one of great upheaval. In an increasingly tight economic position, LSK sold or released 11 players before and during the season, with Berg also restructuring the squad and bringing in new talent. Enormous injury problems also made the start to the season a difficult one for Berg's charges. After 9 games, LSK had won none and drawn four and seemed destined for relegation. An impressive comeback saw Lillestrøm deliver a strong second half to the season, eventually finishing 11th. Newcomer Nosa Igiebor had an especially impressive first season in the Lillestrøm jersey. The team continued to impress over the course of the winter and start of the 2010 season. LSK were in early June fifth in the Tippeligaen, undefeated in 14 league matches. They saw, however, a dramatic drop in form over the summer which saw them briefly flirt with relegation, before a late surge of form late in the season salvaged 10th place. In

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, LSK made an exciting start to the new season, scoring an incredible 18 goals from their first five league matches, including a 7–0 drubbing of Stabæk in their first league match of the season – away from home. Early season form was good enough for the team to flirt with the top three until the end of July. Early in August, however, stars Anthony Ujah and Nosa Igiebor were sold to stave off the dire economic straits of the club. Also, in-form Icelandic midfielder Stefán Gíslason was out of contract and left the club. In mid-August, prodigy striker Björn Bergmann Sigurðarson was injured for the rest of the season, and the club failed to win any of their last 11 league games, a new record for Lillestrøm. Coach Henning Berg was sacked three matches before the end of the season as investor Per Berg promised fresh funds for acquiring quality players after the season. The club again flirted with the prospect of relegation; however, the incessant poor form of

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 * Track and field#Starts use in race, Starts use in sport race * S ...

and

Sarpsborg Sarpsborg ( or ), historically Borg, is a List of cities in Norway, city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Østfold Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sarpsborg. Sarpsbor ...

meant Lillestrøm again saved themselves. This despite an abject 34 points gathered over 30 league matches, which normally would mean relegation. Former Elfsborg coach Magnus Haglund was appointed coach after the season. Lillestrøm was quite active in the transfer window ahead of the 2012 season, and bought 11 new players. The change of coach and flurry of transfers did the club no good, however, as they again flirted with relegation until just a few weeks before the end of the season, hovering between 12th and 14th place before a strong finish to the season propelled them into 9th. On the whole the season was deemed a big disappointment, however, and Haglund's position has been subject to debate throughout the winter pre-season. Ahead of the 2013 season, the club again has reined in spending and started the season with a first team squad of just 18 full senior players and additional backup players from the youth academy. LSK under Haglund have performed well away from home (2nd best away record in 2012), but often struggled on their own turf.

Achievements

Eliteserien Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...

: **Winners (5): 1958–59,

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

**Runners-up (8): 1959–60,

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

, 1988,

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

: **Winners (6):

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

**Runners-up (8):

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

, 1955,

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

: **Runners-up (1): 2005–06 *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

: **Runners-up (1):

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Recent history

European record

Summary

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against. Defunct competitions indicated in italics.

List of matches

Records

*Greatest home victory: 10–0 vs. Geithus, 4 October 1953 *Greatest away victory: 7–0 vs. Stabæk, 20 March 2011 *Heaviest home loss: 1–7 vs.

, 15 August 1954 *Heaviest away loss: 1–7 vs. Odd, 7 June 1953 *Highest attendance, Åråsen Stadion: 13,652 vs. Vålerenga, 16 May 2002 *Highest average attendance, season: 9,018 in 2007 *Most appearances, total: 720,

Frode Kippe Frode Kippe (born 17 January 1978) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a central defender, mostly for Lillestrøm in the Eliteserien. He made eight appearances for the Norway national team. With 441 top division appearan ...

1997–1998, 2002–2019 *Most appearances, league: 441,

1997–1998, 2002–2019 *Most goals scored, total: 319, Tom Lund 1967–82 *Most goals scored, league: 154, Tom Lund 1967–82 *Most goals scored, season: 26, Tom Lund 1973

Current squad

''For season transfers, see transfers winter 2023–24.''

Out on loan

Coaching staff

Academy

Administrative staff

Coaches

* Alf Martinsen (1947–50; 1952–53) * Karl Guðmundsson (1958; 1960) * Ragnar Larsen (1962) * Walther Svendsen (1963) * Henry Mathiesen (1964–1965) * Rolf Wahl (1966) * Ivar Christiansen (1967) * Rolf Wahl (1968) * Svein Bergersen/ Rolf Wahl (1971) * Oddvar Richardsen (1972) * Joar Hoff (1973) * Ronny Mathiesen (1974) * Joar Hoff (1975–1976) * Joe Hooley (1977–1980) * Kjell Schou-Andreassen (1980–1982) * Joar Hoff (1982) *

Bill Foulkes William Anthony Foulkes ( or ; 5 January 1932 – 25 November 2013) was an English footballer who played for Manchester United in the Busby Babes teams of the 1950s, and also in the 1960s. His favoured position was centre-half. For Manchester ...

(1984) * Tom Lund (1985–1988) * David Hay (1989–1990) * Tom Lund (1 July 1990 – 30 June 1991) * Ivar Hoff (1991–1993) * Teitur Þórðarson (1994– Sept 9, 1995) *

/ Kjetil Osvold (Sept 10, 1995–1996) * Per Brogeland (1996– 1 June 1997) * Even Pellerud (1997) * Arne Erlandsen (1998–2005) * Uwe Rösler (2005–2007) * Tom Nordlie (2007 – 29 May 2008) * Erland Johnsen ''(caretaker)'' (29 May 2008 – 16 June 2008) * Erland Johnsen (16 June 2008 – 21 Oct 2008) * Henning Berg (21 Oct 2008 – 26 Oct 2011) * Petter Belsvik/ Magnus Powell ''(caretakers)'' (26 Oct 2011–2012) * Magnus Haglund (2012–2015) * Rúnar Kristinsson (2015– 18 Sep 2016) * Arne Erlandsen (20 Sep 2016 – 26 June 2018) * Arild Sundgot ''(caretaker)'' (26 June 2018 – 13 July 2018) * Jörgen Lennartsson (13 July 2018 – 2 December 2019) * Tom Nordlie ''(caretaker)'' (3 December 2019 – 11 December 2019) * Geir Bakke (31 December 2019 – 12 July 2023) * Simon Mesfin/

''(caretakers)'' (12 July 2023 – 20 August 2023) * Eirik Bakke ''(caretaker)'' (20 August 2023 – 21 December 2023) * Andreas Georgson (21 December 2023 – 26 July 2024) * Robin Asterhed ''(caretaker)'' (9 August 2024 – 23 August 2024) * David Nielsen ''(caretaker)'' (23 August 2024 – 30 September 2024) * Dag Eilev Fagermo (30 September 2024 – 10 December 2024) * Hans Erik Ødegaard (10 December 2024 –)

Supporters

Lillestrøm is one of the most supported clubs in Norway, and has the second biggest fan-club in Norway, as the official fan-club, Kanarifansen has more than 5,000 members. Kanarifansen was founded on 3 December 1992 and publishes its own magazines and has its own collection of clothing.

Rivalries

Lillestrøm's biggest rival is

Vålerenga Fotball Vålerenga Fotball () is a Norwegian professional association football, football club from Oslo, and a part of the multi-sport club Vålerengens IF. The club currently competes in the Eliteserien after being promoted from the Norwegian First ...

. The club also has a rivalry with Rosenborg. Their traditional local rival dated back to the clubs foundation is

Strømmen IF Strømmen Idrettsforening is a Norwegian sports club from Strømmen. It has sections for association football, football, sport of athletics, athletics and Artistic gymnastics, gymnastics, and formerly had sections for bandy, orienteering, skiing, ...

References

External links

*
"Kanari-Fansen", the Lillestrøm SK Supporters Club

Stats, history and facts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lillestrom Sk Football clubs in Norway Association football clubs established in 1917 Bandy clubs established in 1917 1917 establishments in Norway Eliteserien clubs Sport in Lillestrøm