Sarpsborg 08
Full nameSarpsborg 08 Fotballforening
Founded15 January 2008 (2008-01-15)
GroundSarpsborg Stadion
Sarpsborg
Norway
Capacity8,022[1]
ChairmanHans Petter Arnesen
Head coachStefan Billborn
LeagueEliteserien
2023Eliteserien, 8th of 16
WebsiteClub website

Sarpsborg 08 Fotballforening, commonly known as Sarpsborg 08 or simply Sarpsborg ([ˈsɑ̀ʂbɔr]), 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 club was promoted to the Tippeligaen, the top league in Norway, but finished last and was relegated back to 1. divisjon in 2011. In 2012, they were promoted again and 6 years after, they qualified for their first Europa League group stage. They play their home games at Sarpsborg Stadion.

History

Pre-existence

Football in Sarpsborg has traditionally been dominated by Sarpsborg FK (SFK), which won the Norwegian Cup six times and played 20 seasons in the top division, and to a lesser extent IL Sparta, which won the Norwegian Cup in 1952 and played nine seasons in the top division. However, after SFK's relegation from the 1974, no teams from Sarpsborg played in the top division for the next two decades. In 1999, 16 teams in the Sarpsborg area joined forces to create a team that could compete in the top divisions of Norwegian football, called Sarpsborg Fotball, which overtook SFK's spot in the league-system. In its first season, the team was relegated from the 2. divisjon, and several clubs, including both SFK and Sparta, withdrew from the collaboration.

The remaining clubs in the "Sarpsborg Fotball" project formed a new club called Borg Fotball, which won promotion to the 2. divisjon in 2002, but was relegated again in 2003. Meanwhile, Sparta was promoted to the Second Division the same season, and re-entered the collaboration club which now was renamed FK Sparta Sarpsborg. The club earned promotion to 1. divisjon (the second tier of Norwegian football) in 2005.

Foundation

At the end of the 2007 season, the last major club in the district, Sarpsborg FK, joined the collaboration of teams and ended a rather long and hefty rivalry between the two clubs. At the same time, in an effort to unite the different factions within the collaboration, the jersey was changed and the club renamed itself Sarpsborg Sparta FK. This name remained a source of contention throughout the 2008 season, however, and a new name, Sarpsborg 08 FF, was adopted in 2009.

The 2009 season started badly for Sarpsborg, and it appeared they would be fighting against relegation to the 2. divisjon. The situation worsened when the Football Association of Norway determined that Sarpsborg 08 had submitted an unrealistic budget when they obtained their license to play in the 1. divisjon, and were penalized three points in June, leaving Sarpsborg in a relegation spot.[2] However, after Roar Johansen became coach, the second part of the season went well for the team, which not only climbed out of the relegation spots, but finished fifth, allowing them to participate in the qualification matches for the 2010 Tippeligaen. In the semi-final match of the qualification, Sarpsborg defeated local rivals Fredrikstad FK 2–0 (who were therefore relegated from the top division).[3] In the home match of the qualification final, Sarpsborg defeated Kongsvinger 3–2,[4] but lost the second leg 3–1 and remained in the 1. divisjon.[5]

Promotions and development

The 2010 season ended with a 4–0 home-win against Alta. This meant that the team ended in second place, after league-winner Sogndal, and won the right to play in the 2011 edition of the Tippeligaen.

The 2011 season started with a surprising 3–0 win against Molde in Ole Gunnar Solskjær first match as manager of Molde. But after a good start, Sarpsborg was relegated back to 1. divisjon on 23 October 2011, when they lost 3–0 away at Brann with three rounds left to play. The club finished last with only 21 points.

In the 2012 season, Sarpsborg finished the 1. divisjon in second place and was promoted to Tippeligaen. On 3 January 2013, former Sheffield United striker Brian Deane was appointed as head coach. In 2015, Geir Bakke took over as head coach and led the club to their first Norwegian Cup final. They lost the 2015 Norwegian Football Cup final 0−2 against Rosenborg. In 2017 they repeated the feat and reached the final again, but lost 2–3 against Lillestrøm. Sarpsborg finished in third place in the 2017 Eliteserien, their first medal-winning position in club history.

On 30 August 2018 Sarpsborg 08 qualified for the group stage of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League for the first time in history.[6]

African springboard

Sarpsborg 08 has gained a reputation as one of the best springboards for African players in need of a European acclimatization club. Senegalese Makthar Thioune played three years for Sparta Sarpsborg and Sarpsborg Sparta (Sarpsborg 08's predecessors) in the second tier, and when Molde purchased him in 2009 he was immediately "Player of the Year" in the top league, with the third highest rating in a 25-year period. He later played in Germany. Another big Sarpsborg 08 transfer in 2014 happened when Guangshou R&F manager Sven Göran Eriksson purchased Aaron Samuel from Sarpsborg 08 for €1.4m. Samuel blossomed in Sarpsborg with 13 goals in a year, after only 2 goals in big city club Vålerenga. He also scored both his goals for Nigeria in 2014. In 2017 Sarpsborg 08 signed Krepin Diatta from Senegal. He hardly played in his first half year in the club, but then blossomed with 5 goals and 8 assists in 3 months. Diatta was then sold to Brügge for €2.65m and later to Monaco for €16.7m. In 2019 Sarpsborg 08 signed Malian Ismaila Coulibaly and while acclimatized he only started 5 matches in the first 35 league matches while in the club. Then he was given the chance at a time the club was rock bottom with five losses in five matches. The club then took 17 points in the next 6 weeks and Coulibaly dominated with 4 goals, leading to Sheffield United purchasing him for €2m. Being only the 16th largest municipality in Norway, the processing of African teenage talents has been a major success factor leading to Sarpsborg 08 fighting above the size of the city.

Recent history

Season League Pos.[7] Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup Top scorer Player of the year [8] Notes
Pre-existence
2000 2. divisjon ↓ 9 22679 333625 First round Jon Bjerkholt As Sarpsborg Fotball, relegated to the 3. divisjon
2001 3. divisjon 5 221228 473338 First round Pål Østby As Navestad in tables, commercial name was FF Sarpsborg
2002 3. divisjon ↑ 1 221921 761459 First round Jørn Holmen Name changed to Borg Fotball, promoted to 2. divisjon
2002 3. divisjon 2 221651 672753 First round As FK Sparta Sarpsborg, status as secondary club
2003 2. divisjon ↓ 11 225912 355624 Second round Gjermund B. Hansen As Borg Fotball, relegated to the 3. divisjon, name changed to FK Sparta Sarpsborg 2
2003 3. divisjon ↑ 1 221741 882455 Second round Lasse Alexandersen As FK Sparta Sarpsborg, promoted to the 2. divisjon
2004 2. divisjon 2 261646 633852 Second round Lasse Alexandersen As FK Sparta Sarpsborg, now defined as primary club
2005 2. divisjon ↑ 1 262114 902864 Second round Ronald Turner Promoted to the 1. divisjon
2006 1. divisjon 10 3011613 445637 First round Fredrik Dahm Makhtar Thioune
2007 1. divisjon 13 308814 505232 Second round Bjørnar Johannessen Bjørnar Johannessen Avoided relegation because Raufoss had its license revoked
Club history
2008 1. divisjon 10 3010713 454337 Third round Martin Wiig Are Tronseth Name changed to Sarpsborg Sparta FK
2009 1. divisjon 5 3015510 473847 Second round Martin Wiig Are Tronseth Name changed to Sarpsborg 08 FF
2010 1. divisjon ↑ 2 281666 543654 Third round Martin Wiig & Morten Giæver Ole Heieren Hansen Promoted to the Tippeligaen
2011 Tippeligaen ↓ 16 305619 316521 Fourth round Martin Wiig Øyvind Hoås Relegated to the 1. divisjon
2012 1. divisjon ↑ 2 301965 734363 Third round Martin Wiig Tom Erik Breive Promoted to the Tippeligaen
2013 Tippeligaen 14 308715 405831 Second round Martin Wiig & Moi Elyounoussi Duwayne Kerr
2014 Tippeligaen 8 30101010 414840 Semifinal Bojan Zajic Joachim Thomassen
2015 Tippeligaen 11 3081012 374934 Runners-up Bojan Zajic Anders Trondsen
2016 Tippeligaen 6 301299 353745 Quarterfinal Pål A. Kirkevold Sigurd Rosted
2017 Eliteserien 3 3013125 503651 Runners-up Patrick Mortensen Sigurd Rosted
2018 Eliteserien 8 3011811 463941 Third round Patrick Mortensen Joachim Thomassen Europa League group stage
2019 Eliteserien 12 3051510 304030 Third round Kristoffer Zachariassen Kristoffer Zachariassen
2020 Eliteserien 12 308814 334332 Cancelled Mustafa Abdellaoue Anton Saletros
2021 Eliteserien 8 3011613 394439 Quarterfinal Ibrahima Koné Bjørn Inge Utvik
2022 Eliteserien 8 3012513 575441 Second round Tobias Heintz Anton Saletros
2023 Eliteserien 8 3012513 555241 Quarter final Mikkel Maigaard

European record

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Agg.
2018–19 UEFA Europa League 1QR Iceland ÍBV 2−0 4−0 6−0
2QR Switzerland St. Gallen 1−0 1–2 2−2 (a)
3QR Croatia Rijeka 1−1 1−0 2−1
PO Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv 3−1 1–2 4−3
Group I Turkey Beşiktaş 2–3 1–3 4th
Belgium Genk 3−1 0–4
Sweden Malmö 1–1 1–1
Notes
  • 1QR: First qualifying round
  • 2QR: Second qualifying round
  • 3QR: Third qualifying round
  • PO: Play-off round

Players

Current squad

As of 4 September 2023[9][10]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Norway NOR Kjetil Haug (on loan from Toulouse)
2 MF Norway NOR Elias Haug
3 DF Spain ESP Arnau Casas
4 DF Norway NOR Bjørn Inge Utvik
5 DF Norway NOR Magnar Ødegaard
6 MF Norway NOR Martin Høyland
8 MF Denmark DEN Jeppe Andersen
10 MF Sweden SWE Ramon Pascal Lundqvist
11 MF Sweden SWE Simon Tibbling
12 GK Norway NOR Jarik Sundling
14 FW Norway NOR Jo Inge Berget
16 DF Norway NOR Joachim Thomassen
17 MF Norway NOR Anders Hiim
18 MF Gabon GAB Serge-Junior Martinsson Ngouali
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 FW Denmark DEN Henrik Meister
20 DF Norway NOR Peter Reinhardsen
21 GK Norway NOR Anders Kristiansen
22 FW Norway NOR Kristian Opseth
23 MF Norway NOR Niklas Sandberg
25 MF Denmark DEN Mikkel Maigaard
29 MF Denmark DEN Victor Torp
30 DF Nigeria NGA Franklin Tebo Uchenna
31 DF Denmark DEN Anton Skipper
32 DF Norway NOR Eirik Wichne
40 GK Norway NOR Leander Øy
72 MF Norway NOR Sander Christiansen
74 FW Norway NOR Aridon Racaj
98 MF Norway NOR Rafik Zekhnini

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Norway NOR Simen Vidtun Nilsen (on loan at Skeid)
7 FW Norway NOR Martin Hoel Andersen (on loan at Kongsvinger)
— FW Denmark DEN Gustav Mogensen (on loan at Hødd)

Notable players

Below are notable players who have represented Sarpsborg 08. To appear in the section below, a player must have either at least two international matches or Champions League matches (group stage or later), 150 official club matches or 30 club goals, including appearances and goals for preceding teams mentioned in pre-existence phase. Players are sorted by birth date.

Managers

Sarpsborg 08 FF managers from 2008 to present

References

  1. ↑ "Stadion" (in Norwegian). Sarpsborg 08 FF. Archived from the original on 6 May 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
  2. ↑ Haraldsen, Stian (2009-06-25). "Mister tre poeng og havner på nedrykksplass" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
  3. ↑ Eide, Ole Kåre (2009-11-07). "Har snudd Sarpsborg på hodet" (in Norwegian). Aftenposten. Archived from the original on 2009-11-08. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
  4. ↑ "KIL fikk viktige bortemål, Sarpsborg vant". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 2009-11-09. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  5. ↑ Pettersen, Gry (2009-11-12). "Tapte opprykkskampen" (in Norwegian). Sarpsborg Arbeiderblad. Retrieved 2009-11-13.
  6. ↑ Aulstad, Vegard (2018-08-30). "Sarpsborg 08 til Europa League-gruppespillet" (in Norwegian). VG. Retrieved 2018-08-30.
  7. ↑ "Norsk & Internasjonal Fotballstatistikk" (in Norwegian).
  8. ↑ "NTB-børsen" (in Norwegian).
  9. ↑ "Lag / Sarpsborg 08". Sarpsborg 08 FF. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  10. ↑ "Sarpsborg 08 - Spillere". Norwegian Football Federation (in Norwegian).
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