Northern football in Norway and other countries

[Gerrit]

Which is the club furthest north in the Norwegian league system?

As far as I can see in the tables, Narvik, Hammerfest and Kirkenes are the northernmost names (I may have missed one though) but I have been told there's one even further north: a small village just next to Nordkapp would have a team in the 4th division.

How come Tromsø is the only club above the polar circle that is playing in the higher levels? Kirkenes and Narvik for example are regional centers and have little competition from other football clubs close to them, so they should be able to get a team going there in the higher league levels.

Svalbard... As an Arctic obsessive, I of course researched this. However, Svalbard has only one organised club, being the omni-sport club of Longyearbyen. This club has many sports teams, including a football team. They also have an own ground (a very small one of course) and play friendly games versus teams of scientists and researchers that temporarily stay in Longyearbyen.
The football club of Longyearbyen is the only organised and frequently active football club of the islands, so there is no league (you need at least one more club for that...). Maybe they can sooner or later enter the Norwegian league, I guess it would make sense in the same way like it is logical that Mallorca and Tenerife both play in the Spanish league.

Furthermore on Svalbard, Barentsburg and Ny Alesund have a small football ground but there is no organised club that plays on frequent basis




In other countries I found less useful information as in places like Russia it's hard to get people's addresses that know about this particular subject.

What I did find:
- Murmansk and Archangelsk both have a team in the Russian 5th and 6th division.
- in Iceland, Akureyri has a club in the top division and thereby is the furthest north. Leiftur plays further north but is not in the top division, they are probably the northernmost club in the Iceland leagues though.
- Greenland's northern town Qanaaq has a club in the league, and is the world's northernmost competitive club.
- Canada's arctic territory Nunavut has no organised league, though the extremely northern Grise Fiord (on the southern tip of Ellesmere Island) does often send a schoolboys team in the Nunavut schoolboys games. The Nunavut football association sent me several mails about football in their area, though the emails contradicted each others, for example they were unsure of how many pitches or organised clubs they have.
- no information known about Alaska
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Rosenborg, forever pride of the North!

[erlendmf]

I guess the interest for football is small in Narvik and Kirkenes. They care more about going fising etc. And if they would have a team higher up in the system I don't think they would hav lasten long. Cause isn't much to get there. Crowd for example.

Svalbard isn't really a part of Norway, like Mallorca is to spain. And it's not really anyone living there. So if they would have played in the norwegian league they would have been in one the lower divisions. And that just couldn't work. Because what the teams (both the Svalbard team and the others in the league) had to pay for traveling would have been way to much.

[attach]

It's a myth that all they care about is fishing. It's just a common job.

Svalbard is a part of Norway indeed, but not the main land. Isn't anyone living there? There are about 2000-3000 living on Svalbard. Not only for research purposes either.

[Henri]

I don't think people in Northern parts of Norway are less interested in football, it is more about the distance between the teams and infrastructure. Moreover, it is not that long ago since Mjølner from Narvik played in Eliteserien ("the premiership") - 1989 according to this page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w...%C3%B8lner

[attach]

Even Tromsø is further north than Narvik.

[erlendmf]

Tromsø is a big city, though. 60 000 or something?

[attach]

That's right. A fun fact: It's the same distance between Oslo and Tromsø as between Oslo and Rome.

[doris]

There are polar bears going crazy in the streets in the north of Norway, also in the football arenas. That`s why they don`t have many good teams up there. At least, that`s what I`ve read in American magazines.

[attach]

Lol, god bless America

[ballaballaballa]

Hammerfest FK play in division 2.

http://www.hammerfestfk.no/

[Halfdan]

I was in Narvik, i think it costs to many money to built a good football stadion and the month costs are to high for a small town. I see it in germany, there are 5 big teams with many money and the rest are poor in the first "liga".
@Doris : dont believe what american magazine write *g* in my last american magazine i read that the world are 3000 years old, as a geology student can i said to u its wrong
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My personal motto :
Dont worry be happy !

[Gerrit]

On the other hand, the distances and few inhabitants work in two directions. If you'd get one top division team in Hammerfest, Kirkenes or Vardø they could attract fans from the whole of Finnmark. They would not have any club nearby to take fans away, everyone in the far north would support them.

Svalbard has about 3000 inhabitants, of whom more than half live in Longyearbyen. Should be enough for a club, maybe not a premiership one but still enough for a club. Well, I mean: there is a club already, but they should be allowed into a league, as now they are Svalbard's only club and rely on friendly games against teams visiting the islands.
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Rosenborg, forever pride of the North!

[roya]

Alta is the greatest team in finnmark, last season they played in 1. division.
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Ælske Troillan - Ælske Rosenborg.

[Gerrit]

What division is Kirkenes in currently?
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Rosenborg, forever pride of the North!

[attach]

3. div avd 24

[Gerrit]

and having a decent chance of promoting to the second highest division!

Kautokeino in there as well, also pretty northern Where are Vadsø and Vardø?
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Rosenborg, forever pride of the North!

[2mas]

Norild are from Vadsø.

[Gerrit]

How many spectators would the average game of Norild or Kirkenes attract? They are quite remote, but that may implicate as well that everyone in the direct area of the towns supports the teams rather than travelling far distances to see professional football?
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Rosenborg, forever pride of the North!

[attach]

100 or something, I guess

[HoldBrillan]

More like 30.
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[Makkverk]

You shut up onge. Here in Finnsnes (south for Tromsø) we are almost always ca.200 spectators in every home match, and we are struggeling for dont relegate to the 4th division.

(sorry for my poor english(?))
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[Lloyd]

Gerrit,

You are pretty much looking at places where the snow arrives in late December only to melt away in early May.

The very fact that these sparsely populated areas are able to produce footballers at all is but a minor miracle. Don`t expect too much !

Myself, I`m impressed with the town ov Vadsø. With a population of around 6000, they`ve produced 2 Norwegian internationals; Sigurd Rushfledt and Morten Gamst Pedersen (Blackburn). I suppose miracles do happen......

[Gerrit]

You all know by now that Rushfeldt is my favourite player worldwide... And indeed coming from the extreme north of Norway! He could even play for Lappland in the upcoming 'alternative WC for non-FIFA nations'
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Rosenborg, forever pride of the North!

[Zevs]

Bodø/Glimt are also situated North of the Polar Circle. Although Tromsø is the northernmost team in the world ever to play in the top league. Alta has had a few seasons in 1st div. Kiruna of Sweden has also played at the second highest level in Sweden. Mjølner of Narvik played at the highest level in Norway in 1989. Alta is further North than Tromsø, Narvik and Kiruna is South of Tromsø. Kirkenes isn't actually North of Tromsø, only much further East. Even Kautokaeino is South of Tromsø.

Zevs

[Zevs]