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Rosenborg BK history

Rosenborg BK (RBK) are the best and biggest club in Norway. In the period 1992-2004 the club won the Norwegian league every single season. That's amazing 13 titles in a row!

 The Rosenborg players celebrating the 2004 league title!

The club was founded in 1917, but in the first 40 years RBK was just a "neighbourhood club" for youngsters who wanted to play football, ice hockey and handball. Rosenborg was far from being a top club in their hometown of Trondheim.

But in 1960 a miracle happened: Rosenborg, totally unknown for Norwegian football fans, came from nowhere and won the Norwegian cup! Four years later they copied this success, and won the cup once more. In 1967 Rosenborg qualified for the Norwegian premier division for the first time, and in their first season they went all the way and won the championship!

After some glory days in the 1960s and the start of the 70s, the club went into 15 years of depression. In 1977 the club played in 2nd division (second highest level in Norway at that time) and if it had not been for devoting fans and club members, Rosenborg would probably have been "erased" from Norwegian football.

Led by their legandary coach, Nils Arne Eggen (pictured), Rosenborg managed to turn the bad sitution around and things soon looked brighter. In 1985 the club was back on the top by winning the Norwegian league after a thrilling final round game against the old rivals Lillestrøm.

This was the start of the golden age for Rosenborg. In the period 1988-2006 RBK won the league 16 times - 13 in a row 1992-2004 - and the cup 6 times!

The club managed to qualify for the UEFA Champions League 8 years in a row (European record!) between 1995 and 2002, even though they often met hard opponents like Besiktas and Panathinaikos in the qualifying games. In the 1996-97 season Rosenborg for sure was "discovered" by Football Europe by beating AC Milan 2-1 away at the San Siro. This ment title favourites AC Milan were knocked out of the Champions League, while Rosenborg went through to the quarter-finals, as the first Norwegian club ever.

In the last decade, many big European clubs have bought players from Rosenborg. John Carew (Valencia, Roma, Besiktas, Lyon), André Bergdølmo (Ajax, Borussia Dortmund), Steffen Iversen (Tottenham, Wolverhampton), Bjørn Tore Kvarme (Liverpool, St. Etienne, Real Sociedad, Bastia), Øyvind Leonhardsen (Wimbledon, Liverpool, Tottenham, Aston Villa), Harald Brattbakk (Celtic), Vegard Heggem (Liverpool) and Stig Inge Bjørnebye (Liverpool, Blackburn) are just a few examples.

Nevertheless the club has always managed to find good replacements for the players leaving Lerkendal Stadium. Even though Rosenborg could have used the income from transfer fees and Champions League prize money to buy players from all over the world, they have continued to sign Norwegian domestic players. In the moment all first team players are from Norway, mostly from the city of Trondheim and the surrounding areas. The club states that they are "a local club with local players entertaining the hometown fans".

Rosenborg have an average attendance of 17,500 at league matches. This is impressive in a city of just 150,000 inhabitants.

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