Sandefjord Fotball

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Sandefjord
Full nameSandefjord Fotball
Nickname(s)Guttane (The Boys) Hvalfangerne (The Whalers)
Founded10 September 1998; 25 years ago (1998-09-10)
GroundJotun Arena
Capacity6,582
ChairmanGunnar Bjønness
Head coach(es)Hans Erik Ødegaard
Andreas Tegström
LeagueEliteserien
2023Eliteserien, 13th of 16
WebsiteClub website
Current season

Sandefjord Fotball, commonly known simply as Sandefjord, is a Norwegian professional football club, founded on 10 September 1998. The club currently competes in Eliteserien, the top tier of the Norwegian football league system. Their home ground is the Jotun Arena, located in Sandefjord, Vestfold.[1]

The club reached 1. divisjon in 1999, where they made quick progress and soon settled as strong competitors for promotion to the top division. Finishing third in 1. divisjon both in 2002 and 2003 they qualified for play-off matches, but lost both times. In 2004 they finished fourth. In 2005 season they placed second and earned automatic promotion to highest division.

The club, in their first Tippeligaen season, finished ninth in the table and reached the cup final. In 2007 they finished last and were relegated to 1. divisjon.

In the 2008 season in 1. divisjon, Sandefjord recovered from a poor start to finish second and qualify for automatic promotion to Tippeligaen. In the 2009 season Sandefjord finished eighth, their strongest performance in the top flight to date. In 2010 Sandefjord were relegated to 1. divisjon. They won 1. divisjon title in 2014, earning promotion back to Tippeligaen. They were relegated in the 2015 season, but were then promoted in 2016. Their spell in the top flight would last two seasons on this occasion. However, the club was to again win promotion after spending the 2019 season in 1. divisjon.

History[edit]

Sandefjord were formed by parent clubs IL Runar and Sandefjord Ballklubb in 1998. They replaced Sandefjord Ballklubb in 2. divisjon in 1999, and secured immediate promotion to 1st division. There the club made quick progress and soon settled as a strong competitor for promotion to the Tippeligaen. Finishing third in 1. divisjon in 2002 and 2003 they qualified for play-off matches, but lost both times, against Brann and Vålerenga. The 2003 play-off was lost after some controversial decisions by referee Jonny Ditlefsen that were all in Sandefjords disfavor.[2] When manager Tom Nordlie left after the play-off games, Sandefjord Fotball hired Arne Dokken as their new coach. He was fired after just one season, 2004, when they finished fourth. But the 2005 season finally proved a success, with Tor Thodesen as their new coach. Placing second, Sandefjord earned automatic promotion to the highest division,[3] where they finished 9th in their first season.

The 2007 season ended badly and they finished last and were relegated to 1. divisjon. The players went to the board of directors together and requested the hiring of a new coach. Instead of firing Thodesen, the board kept him. After a bad start to the 2008 season, they fired Thodesen and hired Patrick Walker. The team played better after this, and he moved the team from a relegation place to a promotion place in the table in eight games. They continued their form and was placed second in the table, and earned a promotion after just one season.

After a disappointing 2010 season in Tippeligaen, earning only 12 points, they ended the season in last place and was relegated once again, this time for a longer period.

The following three seasons in 1. divisjon did not go as planned for a Sandefjord team that were fighting for promotion. Ending third in the table in both 2011 and 2012, was followed by an even worse finish in 2013, ending in eight place. Something had to be done and the club took measures by firing manager Arne Sandstø and hiring former Nottingham Forest and Blackburn Rovers player Lars Bohinen as their new manager. He was brought to the club from Asker where he had success as coach. Sandefjord went on to have their best season ever in 1. divisjon earning 69 points and winning the league title. This was their second ever trophy, the first one being the 2. divisjon in 1999. Back in Tippeligaen they ended in last place and were relegated back to 1. divisjon alongside Mjøndalen. In the 2016 season they clinched their second promotion in three years by finishing second, only beaten by Kristiansund.

Colours and badge[edit]

Sandefjord Fotball's colours are blue. They play in blue shirts, blue shorts and white socks. When the club was formed in 1998, it was decided that the new club would have different colours from its parent clubs Sandefjord BK (yellow and black) and Runar (white). The club changed their badge before the start of the 2006 season. This was mainly for press purposes. The old badge had a yellow field as well as the blue and red. The new badge only has the colours red and blue. Further on, the white whale tail on the badge links to Sandefjord city's whaling history. After the promotion in 2014, Sandefjord played one season in an alternate home kit which consisted of half blue and half red, as in their badge. Relegated to 1. divisjon in 2016, they were back playing in an all blue home kit again.

Stadium[edit]

Storstadion

Sandefjord Fotball play their home games at Sandefjord Arena, previously called Komplett.no Arena and Komplett Arena due to sponsorship deals. Sandefjord Arena was opened on 21 July 2007, and cost about 100 million kr. This is an all modern stadium, with a capacity of about 6,582. Record attendance was set during the opening game versus Lyn on 21 July 2007. 8,103 people attended this game. In the future it is planned to expand the stadium to a capacity of 8 000. Field measurements are 105 x 68 meters.

Before Sandefjord Fotball started to use their new home arena, Release Arena, they used to play their home encounters at Storstadion. Sandefjord Fotball played their home games at Storstadion from 1999 to 2007. As the stadium itself did not live up to the standards one could expect from a modern football stadium, it was finally decided to build the new and modern Release Arena and start a new and exciting chapter in the young club's history.

Honours[edit]

Recent history[edit]

Season Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA Pts. Cup Notes
2003 1. divisjon 3 30 19 4 7 71 41 61 3rd round Lost promotion play-offs to Tippeligaen
2004 1. divisjon 4 30 15 6 9 60 32 51 Quarter-finals
2005 1. divisjon 2 30 19 5 6 58 37 62 3rd round Promoted to Tippeligaen
2006 Tippeligaen 9 26 9 5 12 37 47 32 Runners-up
2007 Tippeligaen 14 26 4 4 18 26 53 16 2nd round Relegated to 1. divisjon
2008 1. divisjon 2 30 17 9 4 46 25 60 3rd round Promoted to Tippeligaen
2009 Tippeligaen 8 30 10 10 10 39 44 40 2nd round
2010 Tippeligaen 16 30 2 6 22 25 58 12 Fourth round Relegated to 1. divisjon
2011 1. divisjon 3 30 16 5 9 61 38 53 3rd round
2012 1. divisjon 3 30 16 7 7 44 29 55 Quarter-finals
2013 1. divisjon 8 30 12 7 11 39 39 43 3rd round
2014 1. divisjon 1 30 20 9 1 62 24 69 2nd round Promoted to Tippeligaen
2015 Tippeligaen 16 30 4 4 22 36 68 16 Quarter-finals Relegated to 1. divisjon
2016 1. divisjon 2 30 18 5 7 54 34 59 Quarter-finals Promoted to Eliteserien
2017 Eliteserien 13 30 11 3 16 38 51 36 2nd round
2018 Eliteserien 16 30 4 11 15 35 57 23 2nd round
2019 1. divisjon 2 30 19 8 3 53 30 65 3rd round Promoted to Eliteserien
2020 Eliteserien 11 30 9 8 13 31 43 35 Cancelled
2021 Eliteserien 10 30 10 6 14 38 52 36 2nd round
2022 Eliteserien 14 30 6 6 18 42 68 24 Quarter-finals
2023 Eliteserien 13 30 8 7 15 47 55 31 1st round

Current squad[edit]

As of 26 March 2024[4]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Finland FIN Hugo Keto
2 DF Norway NOR Fredrik Berglie
3 DF Norway NOR Vetle Walle Egeli
4 DF Norway NOR Fredrik Carson Pedersen
5 DF The Gambia GAM Maudo Jarjué
6 MF Norway NOR Sander Risan Mørk
7 FW Norway NOR Eman Markovic (on loan from IFK Göteborg)
8 MF Sweden SWE Aleksander Damnjanovic Nilsson
9 FW Norway NOR Alexander Ruud Tveter
10 MF Switzerland SUI Loris Mettler
11 FW Sweden SWE Darrell Tibell
14 FW Iraq IRQ Danilo Al-Saed
16 FW Norway NOR Wally Njie
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 DF Norway NOR Christopher Cheng
18 MF Sweden SWE Filip Ottosson
21 MF Syria SYR Simon Amin
22 DF Norway NOR Martin Gjone
26 DF Norway NOR Filip Loftesnes-Bjune
27 FW Norway NOR Jakob Dunsby
30 GK Norway NOR Alf Lukas Noel Grønneberg
31 MF Norway NOR Sebastian Holm Mathisen
34 FW Norway NOR Storm Bugge Pettersen
42 FW Norway NOR Beltran Mvuka
47 DF Norway NOR Stian Kristiansen
DF Norway NOR Andreas van der Spa
MF Norway NOR Marcus Melchior

Out on loan[edit]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player

Management[edit]

Key people[edit]

Position Nat Name
Managing director Norway Espen Bugge Pettersen

Coaching staff[edit]

Position Nat Name
Head coaches Norway
Sweden
Hans Erik Ødegaard
Andreas Tegström
Goalkeeping coach Spain Javi Ortiz
Top player developer Norway Tom Helge Jacobsen
Physio Norway Matias Moen Skoglund
Osteopath/physio Norway Espen Strøm-Normann
Physical trainer Iceland Arnór Snær Gudmundsson
Development leader Denmark Martin Jensen
Under-19 head coach Bosnia and Herzegovina Samir Saric
Analysis/scouting/under-19 assistant coach Norway Geir Ludvig Fevang
Equipment manager Norway Marco Antonsen

Manager history[edit]

Name Nat From To
Trond Skrede Norway 1999 2001
Tom Nordlie Norway 2002 2003
Arne Dokken Norway 2004 2004
Tor Thodesen Norway 2005 2008
Patrick Walker Republic of Ireland 2008 2011
Arne Sandstø Norway 2011 2013
Lars Bohinen Norway 2013 2017
Magnus Powell Sweden 2018 2018
Martí Cifuentes Spain 2018 2020
Hans Erik Ødegaard
Andreas Tegström
Norway
Sweden
2021

References[edit]

  1. ^ Gjerseth, Simen (2016). Nye Sandefjord. Liv forlag. Page 113. ISBN 9788283301137.
  2. ^ "Rasende på dommeren". vg.no (in Norwegian). VG. 23 November 2003. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
  3. ^ "Endelig opprykk". nrk.no (in Norwegian). NRK. 30 October 2005. Archived from the original on 29 November 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
  4. ^ "Lag". sandefjordfotball.no (in Norwegian). Sandefjord Fotball. Retrieved 26 March 2024.

External links[edit]