User:Bring back Daz Sampson/Professionalism in Norwegian football

Professional sport developed more slowly in Norway than in most other European nations, partly due to the Nordic culture's preference for amateurism in sports. Semi-professional football was legalised in Norway from 1984, and full-time professionalism from 1991.

Club
Strømsgodset Toppfotball's 11–0 defeat at Liverpool in the 1974–75 European Cup Winners' Cup was reported in the Liverpool Echo as "an 11-0 massacre of the hopeless and hapless Norwegian part-timers from Strømsgodset". In the previous season's Uefa Cup defeat by Leeds United, Strømsgodset's "amateur side included a five foot seven inch postman goalkeeper, office workers, a draughtsman, mechanic and lumberjack."

When Manchester United played a friendly against Rosenborg BK in August 1977, the Daily Mirror reported that the new United manager Dave Sexton "is certain to experiment against the part-timers".

Steve Paterson was invited to sign for top tier Norwegian club Bryne FK in 1981: "It was a part-time club and I was to be given a job as a wireless operator, for some reason. They insisted the job was crucial as it was the only way I could get a work permit."

Recalling his club's 1986–87 European Cup match against Rosenborg, Linfield manager David Jeffrey described the professional status of his opponents: People thought that we would be in with a chance of beating them because they were part-time at the time too, as were we. But when we got there we realised that they were part-time in name alone. They all had jobs with the various sponsors who were big national companies and so spent a lot of time training.

The Rosenborg team which defeated Blackburn Rovers 2–1 in the 1995–96 UEFA Champions League were part-timers. The winning goal was scored by carpenter Ståle Stensaas. Rosenborg remained part-time when they reached the quarter-finals of the following season's competition. When centre-forward Harald Brattbakk joined Celtic for £2 million in December 1997 he gave up his job as a loan broker to turn full-time.

In October 1997, part-timers Tromsø IL beat Chelsea 3–2 in the first leg of their 1997–98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup tie. Strømsgodset remained part-time in 1998 when they were beaten by Aston Villa in the 1998–99 UEFA Cup.

In 1999, Kevin Twaddle joined Lyn Fotball on trial but rejected a lucrative two-year contract offer from the Oslo-based club: "The money was really good, but the funny thing was that Lyn were only part-time. They didn't have any full-time players. Very few of Norway's top teams were full time. They only trained three nights a week, but all the boys were still mega-fit."

In the 2000 Tippeligaen, Rosenborg had five contracted full-time professional players, eight students, six with part-time jobs and one player in the military. In October 2002 part-timers Viking FK eliminated Chelsea from the 2002–03 UEFA Cup. The Daily Mirror described the Rosenborg team who drew 1–1 at Chelsea in the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League as a "bunch of part-timers".

As wage budgets reduced in the Early 2000s recession, there was a move back towards part-time professionalism in the 2003 Tippeligaen as clubs employed increasing numbers of players on semi-professional contracts.

By the 2010 Tippeligaen, 80% of the 372 participating players were full-time professional footballers. The Norwegian Players' Association called the development "frightening" and preferred players to combine their football careers with higher education.

Teacher and aspiring actor Morten Eriksen played Tippeligaen football for Sandnes Ulf in 2012: "I actually could not imagine being a full-time football player. That's not my thing." Sarpsborg 08 FF were promoted to the Tippeligaen in 2013 but decided to remain semi-professional, allowing players to combine their football with other employment and education.

It was reported by the South China Morning Post that Ranheim Fotball were the only part-time team competing in the 2019 Eliteserien. Ranheim had "taken the Eliteserien by storm" in 2018, finishing in seventh place despite not having any full-time footballers and several players with full-time jobs outside football.

National team
When the Norway national football team beat Northern Ireland 2–1 in a September 1974 UEFA Euro 1976 qualifying Group 3 fixture, Malcolm Brodie's report in the Belfast Telegraph described "the humiliation by a team of part-timers".

Norway shocked England in the 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 4 competition in September 1981. Defender Einar Jan Aas praised the contribution of his part-time teammates: "To me, the view that part-timers aren't as fit or as strong as full-time pro's is something of a fallacy. Half a dozen of Norway's players against England have jobs outside football, but they still have plenty of scope to devote as much time to the game as their English League counterparts."