Norwegian Premier League 2005

The 2005 season of the Norwegian Premier League (Tippeligaen) began on April 10, 2005, and was concluded with the last of 26 rounds played on October 29. 3 points were given for wins and 1 for draws.

Vålerenga, the winner of this year's season will enter the second round of next year's Champions League qualification, while number 2 (I.K. Start), number 3 (Lyn) and the cup winner enter the UEFA Cup qualification round. The top four teams qualify for Royal League.

Number thirteen (Aalesund) and fourteen (Bodø/Glimt) were relegated, while number twelve (Molde) had to play two qualification matches (home and away) against number three (Moss) in Adeccoligaen (where number one and two are directly promoted) for the last spot in next year's season. Molde won the qualification matches.

The greatest surprises of the 2005 season were the great performance of I.K. Start, promoted to the Premier League in the 2004 season and ended up winning silver, and the disappointing performance of Rosenborg B.K. which fought against relegation from the Premier League after winning it for 13 straight seasons.

The season ended on a sad note as Fredrikstad's Dagfinn Enerly got a serious neck injury in the last round match against Start, which made him a paraplegic.

1,726,145 people attended the matches, and that's a new record for the Norwegian Premier League. It is 300,000 more than the previous year. It is also more than twice as much as in 1995, when only 841,717 attended the matches during the whole season.

League table

P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Relegation/Promotion

*Bodø/Glimt and Aalesund were relegated.
*Stabæk and Sandefjord were directly promoted.
*Molde won playoff against Moss, 5-2 on aggregate.
**Match 1: Moss 2-3 Molde
**Match 2: Molde 2-0 Moss

International

*Vålerenga goes to UEFA Champions League 2006-07 qualification round
* Start (2nd), Lyn (3rd) and Molde (cup winner) go to UEFA Cup 2006-07 qualification round
*Vålerenga (1st), Start (2nd), Lyn (3rd) and Lillestrøm (4th) qualify for Royal League 2005-06

Top scorers

* 16 goals:
** flagicon|Norway Ole Martin Årst, Tromsø
* 14 goals:
** flagicon|Norway Egil Østenstad, Viking
* 13 goals:
** flagicon|Norway Thorstein Helstad, Rosenborg
* 11 goals:
** flagicon|Norway Arild Sundgot, Lillestrøm
* 10 goals:
** flagicon|Canada Rob Friend, Molde
* 9 goals:
** flagicon|Norway Morten Berre, Vålerenga
** flagicon|Norway Bengt Sæternes, Brann
* 8 goals:
** flagicon|Norway Jo Tessem, Lyn
** flagicon|Norway Marius Johnsen, Start
** flagicon|Norway Espen Olsen, Ham-Kam
** flagicon|Scotland Robbie Winters, Brann
** flagicon|Slovenia Robert Koren, Lillestrøm
** flagicon|Canada Olivier Occean, Odd Grenland
** flagicon|Sweden Markus Ringberg, Ham-Kam
** flagicon|Norway Jan Derek Sørensen, Lyn

See also

*2005 in Norwegian football
*Adeccoligaen 2005

External links

* [http://www.fotball.no Norwegian Football Association]
* [http://www.n3sport.no/03/Table.asp?TournamentId=256576 Fixtures, results and table for Tippeligaen 2005]