2012 Tippeligaen

The 2012 Tippeligaen was the 68th completed season of top division football in Norway. The competition began on 23 March 2012 and ended on 18 November 2012, with a summer break from 28 May to 30 June.^[2] Molde were the defending champions,^[3] while Hønefoss and Sandnes Ulf entered as the promoted teams from the 2011 1. divisjon. They replaced Start and Sarpsborg 08 who were relegated to the 2012 1. divisjon.

Tippeligaen

Season	2012
Dates	23 March – 18 November
Champions	Molde 2nd title
Relegated	Fredrikstad Stabæk
Champions League	Molde
Europa League	Strømsgodset Rosenborg Hødd (via cup)
Matches played	240
Goals scored	693 (2.89 per match)
Top goalscorer	Zdeněk Ondrášek, Péter Kovács (14)
Biggest home win	Lillestrøm 6–0 Stabæk (4 November 2012)
Biggest away win	Stabæk 0–5 Molde (12 May 2012)
Highest scoring	Brann 6–2 Odd Grenland (15 July 2012)
Longest winning run	5 matches - Molde, Viking[1]
Longest unbeaten run	13 matches - Rosenborg[1]
Longest winless run	13 games - Hønefoss[1]
Longest losing run	9 matches - Stabæk[1]
Highest attendance	20,572 Rosenborg v Hønefoss (16 May 2012)
Lowest attendance	1,876 Hønefoss v Haugesund (29 July 2012)
Average attendance	7,005 12.3%
← 2011 2013 →

On 11 November 2011, Molde won the title with one matchday left to play after a 1–0 home win over Hønefoss.^[4] It was their second consecutive league title and also their second top-flight title overall.

Season summary

Strømsgodset were leading the league most of the season, but four matches before the end of the season there were three teams competing for the title. Rosenborg lost out on the title-race after losing to Strømsgodset and Molde.^[5] Molde secured the title in the 29th round after they won 1–0 at home, while Strømsgodset lost 2–1 against Sandnes Ulf.

Stabæk were relegated after being positioned at the bottom of the table throughout the season. Ahead of the last round, four teams were fighting against relegation, but Fredrikstad lost their match against the league-winners Molde and were relegated, while Sandnes Ulf finished 14th and played relegation play-offs against Ullensaker/Kisa, the sixth-placed team in the 1. divisjon. Sandnes Ulf won the play-offs 7–1 on aggregate (4–0 away and 3–1 at home), and were not relegated.

The average attendance in 2012 were 7,014 spectators, down from 7,995 in 2011, which was the lowest average attendance in Tippeligaen since 2003.^[6]

Teams

Sixteen teams competed in the league – the top fourteen teams from the previous season and the two teams promoted from the 1. divisjon The promoted teams were Hønefoss (returning after a season's absence) and Sandnes Ulf (their first post-World War II top-flight season). They replaced Sarpsborg 08 (relegated after their first ever presence) and Start (ending their three-year spell in the top flight).

Stadiums and locations

Rosenborg

Tromsø

Aalesund

Brann

Fredrikstad

Haugesund

Hønefoss

Lillestrøm

Molde

Odd Grenland

Sandnes Ulf

Sogndal

Stabæk

Strømsgodset

Vålerenga

Viking

Locations of the teams in 2012 Tippeligaen

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.

Team	Ap.	Location	Arena	Turf	Cap.	Manager
Aalesund	11	Ålesund	Color Line Stadion	Artificial	10,778	Kjetil Rekdal
Brann	56	Bergen	Brann Stadion	Natural	17,824	Rune Skarsfjord
Fredrikstad	42	Fredrikstad	Fredrikstad Stadion	Natural	13,300	Trond Amundsen
Haugesund	6	Haugesund	Haugesund Stadion	Natural	5,000	Jostein Grindhaug
Hønefoss	2	Hønefoss	Aka Arena	Artificial	4,000	Leif Gunnar Smerud
Lillestrøm	49	Lillestrøm	Åråsen stadion	Natural	11,637	Magnus Haglund
Molde	36	Molde	Aker Stadion	Natural	11,800	Ole Gunnar Solskjær
Odd Grenland	31	Skien	Skagerak Arena	Artificial	13,500	Dag-Eilev Fagermo
Rosenborg	49	Trondheim	Lerkendal Stadion	Natural	21,850	Jan Jönsson
Sandnes Ulf	3	Sandnes	Sandnes Idrettspark	Natural	3,850	Asle Andersen
Sogndal	14	Sogndal	Fosshaugane Campus	Natural	5,402	Jonas Olsson
Stabæk	17	Bærum	Nadderud Stadion[7]	Natural	7,000	Petter Belsvik
Strømsgodset	25	Drammen	Marienlyst Stadion	Artificial	7,500	Ronny Deila
Tromsø	26	Tromsø	Alfheim Stadion	Artificial	7,500	Per-Mathias Høgmo
Vålerenga	52	Oslo	Ullevaal Stadion	Natural	25,572	Martin Andresen
Viking	63	Stavanger	Viking Stadion	Natural	16,600	Kjell Jonevret

Aalesund	Brann	Fredrikstad	Haugesund
Color Line Stadion	Brann Stadion	Fredrikstad Stadion	Haugesund Stadion
Capacity: 10,778	Capacity: 17,824	Capacity: 13,300	Capacity: 5,000
Hønefoss	Lillestrøm	Molde	Odd Grenland
Aka Arena	Åråsen Stadion	Aker Stadion	Skagerak Arena
Capacity: 4,000	Capacity: 11,637	Capacity: 11,800	Capacity: 13,500
Rosenborg	Sandnes Ulf	Sogndal	Stabæk
Lerkendal Stadion	Sandnes Idrettspark	Fosshaugane Campus	Nadderud Stadion
Capacity: 21,850	Capacity: 3,850	Capacity: 5,402	Capacity: 7,000
Strømsgodset	Tromsø	Vålerenga	Viking
Marienlyst Stadion	Alfheim Stadion	Ullevaal Stadion	Viking Stadion
Capacity: 7,500	Capacity: 7,500	Capacity: 25,572	Capacity: 16,600

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Incoming manager	Date of appointment	Table
Sogndal	Harald Aabrekk	End of contract	31 December 2011	Jonas Olsson	1 January 2012[8]	Pre-Season
Lillestrøm	Petter Belsvik Magnus Powell (caretakers)	End of contract	31 December 2011	Magnus Haglund	1 January 2012[9]	Pre-Season
Stabæk	Jörgen Lennartsson	Signed by IF Elfsborg	31 December 2011[10]	Petter Belsvik	2 January 2012[11]	Pre-Season
Fredrikstad	Tom Freddy Aune	Resigned	10 May 2012	Trond Amundsen	10 May 2012[12]	13th
Viking	Åge Hareide	Sacked[13]	9 June 2012	Kjell Jonevret	19 June 2012[14]	10th

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Molde (C)	30	19	5	6	51	31	+20	62	Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
2	Strømsgodset	30	17	7	6	62	40	+22	58	Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round[a]
3	Rosenborg	30	15	10	5	53	26	+27	55	Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round[b]
4	Tromsø	30	14	7	9	45	32	+13	49
5	Viking	30	14	7	9	41	36	+5	49
6	Brann	30	13	3	14	57	50	+7	42
7	Haugesund	30	11	9	10	46	40	+6	42
8	Vålerenga	30	12	5	13	42	44	−2	41
9	Lillestrøm	30	9	12	9	46	47	−1	39
10	Odd Grenland	30	11	7	12	40	43	−3	39[c]
11	Aalesund	30	9	11	10	40	41	−1	38
12	Sogndal	30	8	10	12	29	37	−8	34
13	Hønefoss	30	7	12	11	30	42	−12	33
14	Sandnes Ulf (O)	30	8	8	14	44	56	−12	32	Qualification for the relegation play-offs
15	Fredrikstad (R)	30	9	3	18	42	59	−17	30	Relegation to First Division
16	Stabæk (R)	30	5	2	23	25	69	−44	17

Source: fotball.no
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Hødd, which played in the 2012 First Division, also qualified for the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League second qualifying round as winners of the 2012 Norwegian Cup.
2. Tromsø qualified for the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League via the UEFA Fair Play ranking.^[15]
3. Odd Grenland were deducted 1 point for lack of financial control^[16]

Positions by round

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
Molde	3	10	3	9	6	8	7	3	2	2	2	1	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	2	2	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1
Strømsgodset	13	8	8	3	3	1	1	2	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	2	2	3	3	3	2	2	2
Rosenborg	2	2	5	2	1	3	2	1	3	5	4	5	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	1	2	3	3	3
Tromsø	5	4	1	1	2	5	6	4	5	4	5	4	5	5	5	7	7	9	9	6	4	4	5	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
Viking	7	3	9	5	8	12	11	10	11	12	10	10	12	13	11	9	8	6	4	5	8	6	6	7	8	6	5	5	5	5
Brann	15	7	12	12	14	14	14	13	12	13	11	11	8	10	9	8	9	7	5	7	5	5	4	6	5	5	6	6	6	6
Haugesund	12	6	7	10	7	4	4	5	4	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	5	4	7	4	6	7	7	8	7	8	8	8	7	7
Vålerenga	4	9	2	4	9	7	3	6	8	9	8	8	10	7	6	5	6	8	8	9	7	8	8	5	6	7	7	7	8	8
Lillestrøm	10	11	15	13	15	15	15	15	14	14	14	14	15	14	12	13	13	11	11	11	12	12	12	12	12	12	11	10	9	9
Odd Grenland	16	16	13	14	13	11	10	9	9	7	12	12	13	11	14	12	11	12	12	12	11	11	11	11	11	11	10	11	10	10
Aalesund	8	12	11	8	10	10	12	11	13	8	7	7	9	8	8	10	10	10	10	10	9	10	10	10	10	9	9	9	11	11
Sogndal	1	1	4	6	4	2	5	7	10	11	13	13	11	12	10	11	12	13	13	14	13	15	14	13	13	13	13	13	14	12
Hønefoss BK	9	13	10	7	5	6	9	12	6	6	6	6	6	6	7	6	4	5	6	8	10	9	9	9	9	10	12	12	12	13
Sandnes Ulf	6	14	14	15	12	9	8	8	7	10	9	9	7	9	13	14	14	14	14	13	14	14	15	15	15	15	14	15	13	14
Fredrikstad	14	5	6	11	11	13	13	14	15	15	15	15	14	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	15	13	13	14	14	14	15	14	15	15
Stabæk	11	15	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16

Source: nifs.no
Notes: As of the last match in each round; delayed matches are not included.

Relegation play-offs

Main article: 2012 Eliteserien promotion/relegation play-offs

At the end of the season, Stabæk and Fredrikstad were relegated directly to 1. divisjon, and will be replaced by Start and Sarpsborg who were directly promoted.

Five teams entered a play-off for the last Tippeligaen spot in the 2013 season. These were:

• A) Sandnes Ulf (by virtue of being the 14th placed team in the Tippeligaen)
• B) Sandefjord (by virtue of being the third placed team in the 1. divisjon)
• C) Mjøndalen (by virtue of being the fourth placed team in the 1. divisjon)
• D) Bodø/Glimt (by virtue of being the fifth placed team in the 1. divisjon)
• E) Ullensaker/Kisa (by virtue of being the sixth placed team in the 1. divisjon)

The four 1. divisjon teams first played a single game knockout tournament, with the winner (Ull/Kisa) advancing to a two-legged tie against the Tippeligaen team (Sandnes Ulf) for the 16th and final spot in the 2013 season. Sandnes Ulf retained their Tippeligaen spot with an aggregate 7–1 win over Ull/Kisa.

Results

---

21 November 2012 (2012-11-21)

19:00 CET (UTC+1)

Ullensaker/Kisa	0–4	Sandnes Ulf
	Report	Traustason 24' Gytkjær 80' Helle 85' Holmvik 90'

Jessheim Stadion, Jessheim

Attendance: 1,310

Referee: Tom Harald Hagen

---

24 November 2012 (2012-11-24)

19:00 CET (UTC+1)

Sandnes Ulf	3–1	Ullensaker/Kisa
Høiland 20' Gytkjær 31' (pen.), 68' (pen.)	Report	Rosenkilde 18'

Sandnes Stadion, Sandnes

Attendance: 2,633

Referee: Per Ivar Staberg

Sandnes Ulf won 7–1 on aggregate.

---

	First round					Second round					Final round
	3	Sandefjord	3
											14	Sandnes Ulf	4
	6	Ullensaker/Kisa	4
						6	Ullensaker/Kisa	2			6	Ullensaker/Kisa	0
						5	Bodø/Glimt	0
	4	Mjøndalen	1
	5	Bodø/Glimt	2

Results

Home \ Away	AAL	SKB	FFK	HAU	HØN	LSK	MFK	ODD	RBK	ULF	SIL	STB	SIF	TIL	VIF	VIK
Aalesund	—	2–0	3–0	2–2	2–0	1–2	0–1	2–1	2–2	3–1	2–2	3–1	3–1	0–0	3–1	1–1
Brann	2–1	—	2–0	3–2	3–2	2–3	4–1	6–2	2–1	3–1	5–0	2–1	1–2	0–2	1–2	0–0
Fredrikstad	1–3	3–4	—	0–0	0–2	3–4	0–2	4–2	1–2	3–4	2–1	5–1	2–3	2–0	1–2	3–0
Haugesund	4–2	2–1	1–0	—	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–1	0–1	3–2	0–0	4–1	2–3	1–1	4–2	1–0
Hønefoss BK	3–1	2–1	1–1	3–2	—	0–0	1–1	1–4	1–4	1–1	0–0	0–0	1–1	0–1	1–0	2–2
Lillestrøm	0–0	3–4	1–2	0–0	2–2	—	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–3	1–0	6–0	0–1	4–2	1–1	0–0
Molde	2–1	2–1	2–0	1–0	1–0	3–2	—	3–1	2–0	3–2	2–1	4–3	2–1	3–2	2–0	1–2
Odd Grenland	3–0	1–0	1–1	2–1	4–0	2–0	0–0	—	0–1	2–2	0–4	1–2	2–1	2–2	2–3	1–4
Rosenborg	3–0	3–1	0–1	5–2	0–1	1–1	1–0	0–0	—	2–0	0–0	3–1	3–3	3–0	3–0	1–1
Sandnes Ulf	1–1	3–3	5–1	0–2	1–0	0–1	0–2	0–0	1–1	—	3–1	2–1	2–1	5–1	0–2	2–2
Sogndal	1–1	2–0	1–3	1–1	0–0	1–0	2–1	0–1	0–3	0–0	—	3–1	1–1	1–0	1–0	1–2
Stabæk	0–0	0–4	0–1	0–2	0–2	4–1	0–5	0–2	0–2	2–1	2–1	—	1–2	0–1	1–3	0–1
Strømsgodset	4–0	2–0	5–0	3–3	4–0	3–3	1–1	1–0	2–1	2–1	3–0	3–1	—	2–0	3–2	1–0
Tromsø	1–0	2–0	1–0	2–0	0–0	5–1	1–1	0–1	1–1	3–1	1–1	3–0	4–0	—	3–1	5–1
Vålerenga	0–0	1–1	3–2	2–1	3–2	1–2	1–2	3–1	0–0	4–0	0–2	1–2	1–1	1–0	—	1–0
Viking	1–1	2–1	3–0	0–2	2–1	1–2	1–0	1–0	1–4	5–0	2–1	1–0	3–2	0–1	2–1	—

Source: NIFS (in Norwegian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals	Games	Average
1	Péter Kovács	Strømsgodset	14	28	0.50
	Zdeněk Ondrášek	Tromsø	14	29	0.48
3	Davy Claude Angan	Molde	13	26	0.50
4	Nikola Đurđić	Haugesund	12	18	0.67
5	Rade Prica	Rosenborg	11	26	0.42
	Kim Ojo	Brann	11	29	0.38
	Ola Kamara	Strømsgodset	11	30	0.37
8	Riku Riski	Hønefoss	10	26	0.38
	Bořek Dočkal	Rosenborg	10	27	0.37
	Ulrik Flo	Sogndal	10	27	0.37
	Torgeir Børven	Odd Grenland / Vålerenga	10	29	0.34
	Alexander Søderlund	Haugesund	10	29	0.34

Source:^[17]

Discipline

Player

• Most yellow cards: 7^[18]
  • Tremaine Stewart (Aalesund)
• Most red cards: 1^[18]
  • 23 players

Club

• Most yellow cards: 48^[19][20]
  • Lillestrøm

• Most red cards: 3^[21]
  • Fredrikstad
  • Sandnes Ulf
  • Vålerenga

Attendances

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Rosenborg	200,912	20,572	9,822	13,394	−7.7%†
2	Brann	184,819	17,200	10,418	12,321	−5.3%†
3	Vålerenga	161,526	16,687	8,711	10,768	−19.2%†
4	Viking	148,403	13,443	7,541	9,894	−3.5%†
5	Molde	140,432	11,112	8,503	9,362	−4.6%†
6	Aalesund	137,748	10,247	8,324	9,183	−4.0%†
7	Fredrikstad	106,649	9,215	5,432	7,110	−22.0%†
8	Strømsgodset	91,508	7,451	4,726	6,101	+6.9%†
9	Lillestrøm	85,389	10,239	4,376	5,693	−4.0%†
10	Odd Grenland	77,668	6,713	4,433	5,178	−9.4%†
11	Haugesund	67,985	5,000	3,854	4,532	−0.4%†
12	Tromsø	62,856	5,299	3,644	4,190	−13.9%†
13	Stabæk	58,551	5,508	3,066	3,903	−47.3%†
14	Sandnes Ulf	57,615	4,969	2,875	3,841	+153.2%1
15	Sogndal	54,883	5,207	2,736	3,659	+15.0%†
16	Hønefoss	44,276	4,246	1,876	2,952	+104.9%1
	League total	1,681,220	20,572	1,876	7,005	−12.3%†

Source: nifs.no
Notes:
1: Team played last season in 1. divisjon.

Awards

Annual awards

Goalkeeper of the Year

The Goalkeeper of the Year awarded to Kenneth Udjus (Sogndal)

Defender of the Year

The Defender of the Year awarded to Vegard Forren (Molde)

Midfielder of the Year

The Midfielder of the Year awarded to Magnus Wolff Eikrem (Molde)

Striker of the Year

The Striker of the Year awarded to Alexander Søderlund (Haugesund)

Coach of the Year

The Coach of the Year awarded to Ole Gunnar Solskjær (Molde)