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Norwegian Premier League for women

Toppserien
Country  Norway
Confederation UEFA
Founded 1984
Divisions 1
Number of teams 12
Level on pyramid 1
Relegation to 1. divisjon
Domestic cup(s) Norwegian Cup
International cup(s) UEFA Champions League
Current champions Lillestrøm SK (4th title)
(2016)
Most championships Trondheims-Ørn (7 titles)
TV partners NRK
Website fotball.no
2017 Toppserien

The Toppserien is the top level of women's association football in Norway. It was founded in 1984.

Women's league football was introduced on a county basis in 1977. These leagues acted as qualification for the regional (South) league in 1979. Regional leagues were in operation until the formation of the First Division 1984, when the league was divided into three regions, Group Eastern-Norway (Østlandet), Group Western-Norway (Vestlandet), and Group Mid-Norway (Trøndelag). No teams from Northern-Norway (Nord-Norge) played, however. The winners of the three groups met each other for a play-off. Regional leagues for women had been played before 1984, and a championship play-off had been done between the winners of Mid-Norway and Eastern-Norway in 1983 (Trondheims-Ørn beat Setskog 2-1), but this championship was considered unofficial by the Football Association of Norway. In 1986, a group for Northern-Norway was added, and in 1987, the groups and play-off matches were dropped, and one single league with teams from all over the country was played.

The league was known as the First Division (Norwegian: 1. divisjon) from 1984 to 1995, the Elite League (Norwegian: Eliteserien) from 1996 to 1999, and the Top League (Toppserien) from 2000.

Traditionally, Trondheims-Ørn and Asker have been the two power-houses of Toppserien, with 7 and 6 championship wins respectively. Trondheims-Ørn has finished in the top three 15 out of 21 times, while Asker has been among the top three 16 out of 21 times. In 1998, Asker managed the almost unthinkable, winning every single one of their 18 league games that season (Asker didn't win the double that season, however, as the club was knocked out of the semi-finals of the cup by Trondheims-Ørn). However Asker FK, the women's team within Asker Fotball, became bankrupt at the end of 2008 and most of the players were transferred to a new team within the nearby Stabæk IF, named Stabæk FK (FK = Fotball Kvinner (Football Ladies)). The new team will play in the Toppserien from the 2009 season.


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Wikipedia

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