American Football in Norway, first 30 years

American Football in Norway began in 1957 when Marines stationed at the American Embassy in Oslo, and teachers from the American school in Bærum began coaching American football to players from two high schools in Oslo, Ullern and Riis, who played their one game per season, on the field wore ice hockey and whatever other protection they could get their hands on to play the game.

During 1967, Henry L. Jones, USMC, arrived in the country and continued the long tradition of Marines coaching football to Norwegians. That same year, Edgar Williams of the Philadelphia Inquirer, in Oslo on vacation, wrote an article about the Norwegian schools’ rivalry and titled it: “Two Marines from Delaware Valley were rival coaches in Norway’s ‘One – Game Season’.” Months later, after the article written by Williams appeared in newspapers in America, football equipment began to arrive from states where mostly Scandinavians lived in USA.

Jones left Norway, lived in the United States before coming back to Norway in February 1975. During 1983, he coached the Trolls (the oldest team in Norway), who stayed undefeated throughout the 1980s. In addition the African American organized the Norwegian American Football Federation (NAFF) and became its first president and national head coach.

NAFF played its first international game in Stockholm, Sweden, and won 38-0. An article of the game appeared in the Norway’s second largest newspaper Dagbladet, on January 28, 1985. In Stockholm, Sweden, again, for the first Scandinavian Cup in American football, to be played by Sweden, Finland and Norway, NAFF became the champion. An article of the Cup appeared in SAGA, Norway’s English language newspaper, on September 19, 1985.

Challenging the Coventry Bears American Football Club in England, on May 9, 1986, NAFF became victorious.

The Norwegians tasted football defeat for the first time when St. Olav College from Minnesota was invited to Oslo during 1986, and the final score was 65-0.

The football players from Norway traveled to Minnesota to play St. Olav College again. NAFF lost again 65-0, the college boys intentionally decided not to run up the score on their visitors. An Article of the game appeared in the local newspaper called The News, Northfield, Minnesota, on July 21, 1988.

St. Olav College arranged for NAFF players to visit the Minnesota Vikings training camp and be able to socialize with the professional players of American football.