Full name | Rosenborg Ballklub |
---|---|
Nickname(s) |
Troillongan ("The Troll Children") |
Founded | 19 May 1917 | as Odd
Ground |
Lerkendal Stadion Trondheim |
Capacity | 21,405 |
Chairman | Ivar Koteng |
Head coach | Kåre Ingebrigtsen |
League | Eliteserien |
2016 | Tippeligaen, 1st |
Website | Club website |
Rosenborg Ballklub, commonly referred to simply as Rosenborg (Norwegian: [²ruːsn̩bɔrg]) or (especially locally) RBK, is a Norwegian professional football club from Trondheim that plays in the Eliteserien.The club have won a record 24 league titles, eleven Norwegian Football Cup titles and have played more UEFA matches than any other Norwegian team. RBK play their home games at the all-seater Lerkendal Stadion which has a capacity of 21,400. Kåre Ingebrigtsen was appointed head coach in July 2014.
The club was founded as Odd in 1917 but were not allowed to play amateur league matches until 1928, when they took the present name. They reached the League of Norway in 1937–38, but were relegated to lower divisions during the 1940s. The club moved to Lerkendal in 1957 and their first title was the 1960 Cup, resulting in their first participation in a UEFA tournament. It was not until the 1960s that RBK was established as Trondheim's leading football team. In 1967 RBK was promoted to the top league where they, except for the 1978 season, have remained ever since. They won three league titles between 1967 and 1971. The club's golden era started with the 1985 league title. From 1991 through 2004 the team won 13 consecutive titles, 10 under manager Nils Arne Eggen. During this period, they also participated in the group stage of Champions League 11 times, reaching the quarter-finals in 1996–97.
On 19 May 1917, 12 young men from Rosenborg in Trondheim founded Sportsklubben Odd. The name Odd was a tribute to Odd of Skien, the most successful team in Norway at the time. Odd spent their first few years playing against other local teams before attempting to join the regional series in 1920. As with most of the "buddy" clubs formed at the time, they were repeatedly denied access. Since many of these players also played for the bigger teams, the authorities feared a possible shortage of players if too many small clubs were let in. As the years went by, disillusioned players began leaving the club, and in 1923 the first team played only a single match.