Full name | Vålerenga Fotball |
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Nickname(s) | Enga, Vål'enga, the Bohemians, the Pride of Oslo, St. Hallvard's Men |
Founded | 29 July 1913 |
Ground |
Ullevaal Stadion Oslo |
Capacity | 28,972 |
Chairman | Thomas Baardseng |
Manager | Ronny Deila |
League | Tippeligaen |
2016 | Tippeligaen, 10th |
Website | Club home page |
Active departments of Vålerengens Idrettsforening | ||
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Football (Men's) | Football Reserves (Men's) | Vålerenga Bredde |
Football (Women's) | Ice hockey | American football |
Vålerenga Fotball (Norwegian pronunciation: [ʋoːləˈrəŋɑ]) is a Norwegian association football club from Oslo and a part of the multi-sport club Vålerengens IF. Founded in 1913, the club is named after the neighbourhood of Vålerenga. Vålerenga's home ground is Ullevaal Stadion, the stadium for the Norway national football team. Vålerenga is currently in the process of building a new 17,834 all-seater stadium, Vålerenga Stadion in Valle-Hovin. The new stadium is set to be finished in September 2017 and will replace the club's need of Ullevaal Stadion, halfway through the Eliteserien season. Vålerenga are five time Tippeligaen champions and four times Norwegian Football Cup champions, having last won the league in 2005, and the cup in 2008.
The history of Vålerenga Fotball goes back to Fotballpartiet Spark, which was founded in 1898 by pastor Hans Møller Gasmann. An early mission for Gasmann was to give the local youth social activity and exercise. On a larger scale, the club was part of the movement known as Muscular Christianity. A successor to this football club, Idrettslaget Spring, was founded on 29 July 1913 by a group of teenage factory workers. A year later, the club changed its name to Vaalerengens Idrættsforening. Rooted in the neighborhood of Vålerenga on the east end of Oslo, the club would recruit players and supporters from the many workers in the area, in a society then characterized for its low mobility between social strata. Within its first seasons, Vålerengen would compete with the major clubs in Oslo at that time; Lyn, Mercantile and Frigg.