Viking FK - History

History

Viking was founded in Stavanger in 1899 and played mainly local games in the early years. From the 1930s, the club established itself at the national level, playing in the 1933 cup final, which it lost to Mjøndalen. During the 1930s the club produced several of its best known players, most prominently Reidar Kvammen, who played in Norway's bronze medal winning 1936 olympic team. His brother Arthur Kvammen was also capped for Norway, while Bernhard Lund later went on to write the club anthem.

After the Second World War, Viking became a dominant side in the 1950s, beating Lillestrøm in the 1953 cup final and Sandefjord in the 1959 final, as well as winning the league title in 1957–58. Long-serving goalkeeper Sverre Andersen was the most prominent player in this generation, while Edgar Falch also earned several caps for Norway. Rolf and Kåre Bjørnsen, Asbjørn Skjærpe and Leif Nicolaysen were other prominent players, while a young Olav Nilsen began his remarkable Viking career in 1959. The club attendance record also stems from the semifinal of the 1959 cup, when 18,892 spectators saw Viking beat Odd 4–0.

While the 1960s was a somewhat quieter decade for Viking, the club returned to dominate Norwegian football in the 1970s. Viking won four straight league titles from 1972 to 1975, as well as the double in 1979. Innovative 1972 manager Kjell Schou Andreassen has been credited for laying the foundation for the success, with his ideas on cooperative behaviour and his revolutionary use of pacey, attacking full backs Sigbjørn Slinning and Anbjørn Ekeland. However, the team had a new manager every year, with Sverre Andersen, Stuart Williams and Olav Nilsen leading them to the title in the subsequent years, and Tony Knapp managing the 1979 team. Midfielder Olav Nilsen was also a crucial player on the pitch in the first half of the decade, earning the nickname "Olav Viking", while fellow midfielder Svein Kvia was awarded the Norwegian Player of the Year title on several occasions. Arvid Knutsen, Reidar Goa, Hans Edgar Paulsen, Erik Johannessen, Inge Valen, Johannes Vold, Svein Hammerø, Gunnar Berland and Trygve Johannessen were other key players.

The 1980s started well for the club. Kjell Schou Andreassen returned to guide the club to the league title in 1982. They also finished runners-up in the league in 1981 and 1984, and in the cup in 1984, producing players such as Bjarne Berntsen, Per Henriksen, Erik Thorstvedt, Svein Fjælberg, Nils Ove Hellvik, Tonning Hammer, Isak Arne Refvik, Torbjørn Svendsen, Trygve Johannessen and Gary Goodchild. However, the mid-80s saw the club relegated to the second division, and 1987 was the club's worst season in recent memory as the club fell to 8th position in the Second Division, while local rivals Bryne won the cup and neighbouring minnows Vidar almost won promotion to the Premier League.

Something had to be done, and the solution was a massive financial gamble which saw Swedish manager Benny Lennartsson and players Kjell Jonevret and Per Holmberg arrive on large salaries. The gamble paid off when charismatic striker Alf Kåre Tveit secured a controversial penalty in the 95th minute against Vard in the final league game of the 1988 season. Arild Ravndal converted the spot kick to give Viking the victory and secure promotion, dubbed "the miracle in Haugesund". This signalled the start of a new era, and the club won the cup in 1989 and the league in 1991. Lars Gaute Bø, Roger Nilsen, Kent Christiansen, Egil Fjetland, Jan Fjetland, Trond Egil Soltvedt, Mike McCabe and Børre Meinseth were other key players in a young Viking team.

However, many of the young players from the 1991 league winning squad did not manage to live up to their expectations, and the club was almost relegated under new manager Arne Larsen Økland in 1992. Bjarne Berntsen took over as manager in mid-season and secured renewed Premiership status, as well as almost knocking FC Barcelona out of the European Cup. While the club spent most of the 1990s challenging for Premier League medals, it did however never manage to challenge Rosenborg for the league championships. The 1990s was also the era of player exports in Norwegian football, and Viking made substantial earnings from the sales of striker Egil Østenstad to Southampton for £900,000 in 1996 and goalkeeper Thomas Myhre to Everton for £800,000 in 1997, among others. Gunnar Aase, Lars Gaute Bø, Magnus Svensson, Bjarte Aarsheim, Kenneth Storvik, Roger Nilsen and Ingve Bøe were other key players in this generation.

Benny Lennartson returned in 2000 to take over from Dane Poul Erik Andreasen, and this resulted in two bronze medals, a cup title and a memorable European Cup victory over Chelsea. In 2003, Kjell Inge Olsen took over as manager, and the club finished fifth in the league.

At the beginning of the 2004 season, the club moved to its new stadium in Jåttåvågen, named Viking Stadion. At the same time, Roy Hodgson took over as manager. The club finished ninth in its first season in the new stadium and fifth in the 2005 campaign. Brede Hangeland, Egil Østenstad, Peter Kopteff and Frode Hansen were notable players in this period. At the end of the season, Roy Hodgson quit his job as Viking coach to take over as Finland manager, and he was replaced by Tom Prahl.

The 2006 season started poorly for Prahl's team and poor soon turned to terrible. With seven matches to go, the once so feared team were situated at the bottom of the table. Something had to be done and the former Start coach Tom Nordlie was brought in on a three month contract to replace Tom Prahl and save Viking from relegation. Under new leadership, Viking won three of the first four games, jumping to tenth place in the standings, but were then defeated twice in a row to once again fall into the relegation zone. Now lying second from the bottom, it looked like the best the club could hope for was making the play-off spot. The season finale proved to be extraordinary, however, as Viking crushed league runners-up Brann 5–0 at home to pass both HamKam and Odd Grenland in the standings and ultimately retain their spot in the Premier League. Tom Nordlie was considered the favorite for the manager role after the season, but he chose a move to rivals Lillestrøm instead. On November 22 2006, Viking signed Uwe Rösler (who was replaced by Tom Nordlie in Lillestrøm just one week earlier) as their new manager.

Under Rösler, Viking returned as a top team, and claimed the 3rd spot on the table in 2007. However, the following seasons were less successful, with Viking ending on 6th place in 2008 and 10th in 2009. They were also surprisingly knocked out of the UEFA Cup by Finnish team FC Honka in 2008, and suffered an embarrassing loss against rivals Bryne FK in the domestic cup in 2009. After not living up to the expectations two seasons in a row, Rösler resigned from his position as manager on 18 November 2009.

In early December 2009, after a period of massive speculation in local newspapers, Viking signed Åge Hareide, former manager of the Norwegian national football team, as their new manager. Failing to bring any titles to Stavanger, Hareide was sacked by the club on 9 June 2012.

Kjell Jonevret signed as the club's new manager on 19 June 2012. Jonevret has previously had a spell at Viking as a player during his playing career, from 1988 to 1990.