Norway. Two directly relegated and one going to promotion-relegation play-off at the bottom of First Division. Correspondingly, the top two of the Second Division moved directly up and the next two went to the promotion-relegation play-off. Molde and Fredrikstad were directly promoted. Stringheim and Pors – the the play-off.
Hamarkameratene was the outsider in the First Division – 12th with 10 points. Mjøndalen – 11th with 17 points. They went directly down. Goal-difference decided 9th and 10th places: Kongsvinger survived, Brann finished 10th and moved to the play-off.
The round-robin promotion-relegation play-off was a bit of a surprise: Pors clearly was not up to the task, but Brann was expected to win. Well, they finished 2nd – Strindheim prevailed thanks to away victory over Pors, which managed to tie the last game, visiting Brann.
Rather unexpected – Brann relegated to the 2nd Division. Third row: Finn Krogh, Bjørn Erik Brandt, Bjørn Dahl, Ingvar Dalhaug, Tore Strand, Kjell Rune Pedersen, Leif Jordal, Trygve Andersen (assistant coach)
Middle row: Rune Enehaug (physio), Anders Giske, Asgeir Kleppa, Geir Andre Johannessen, Arve Mokkelbost (coach), Stein Norstad, Trond Johansen, Jan Kåre Åsebø (team chief)
Front row:Sjur Krogstie, Øyvind Pettersen, Terje Risa, Geir Austvik, Johnny Rolfsvåg, Lars Hjorth, Trond Nordeide, Neil MacLeod.
Amasing achievement of Strindheim – in two years they climbed from 3rd Division to the 1st! Well deserved too.
Up the table, Viking was apparently in decline – they finished 6th. Good season for the little known Eik – 5th. Start finished with bronze medals and 27 points, but they scored the most goals this year – 47. Lillestrøm was 2nd with 28 points – 3 less than the champions.
Valerengen ended at the top with 31 points from 12 wins and 7 ties. They lost only 3 matches. Their strength was defense – 38-17. Four teams outscored them, including the almost relegated Kongsvinger, but none came even to close to the their defensive record – the 2nd best, Start, allowed 27 goals. Valerengen won its first title in 1981 and now they proved it was not just a chancy victory. They even aimed higher, reaching the Cup final, thus, having wonderful chance for a double.
But it was not to be… their opponent, Moss, outplayed them and won 2-0.
Happy winners receiving the Cup.
It was fantastic moment and no wonder the team celebrated on grand scale -Moss, founded in 1906, never won anything so far. It their first success, their first trophy. Truly historic moment.