IK Start

Idrettsklubben Start (or simply IK Start) is a Norwegian football club from the city of Kristiansand that currently plays in the Eliteserien, the top tier of the Norwegian football league system. The club was founded on 19 September 1905. The club's current head coach is Azar Karadas. The team plays in yellow jerseys, black shorts and socks at home, and black jerseys, yellow shorts and socks away.

They play their home matches at Sør Arena, opened in 2007. Before moving to Sør Arena, IK Start played their games at Kristiansand Stadion. The team’s official supporter club, “Tigerberget,” existed until 2017, when the IK Start board decided to discontinue having an official supporter club.

History

Start were Norwegian champions in 1978 and 1980. They participated in the European Cup in 1979 and 1981, as well as being qualified for the UEFA Champions League 2006–07. The years since 1995 have been turbulent, but recent investments have given greater expectations for the future. In 2004 they won the Norwegian 1. division and were promoted to the top flight.

In 2005 they reached second place, following Vålerenga, after a strong comeback season in the Tippeligaen. For this, Start earned a place in the UEFA Cup 2006.

In 2006, after beating Skála of the Faroe Islands in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Cup, and Drogheda United of Ireland in the second qualifying round (after penalties), they reached the first round of the UEFA Cup, where they were knocked out by Ajax of the Netherlands.

2007 was a bad year for Start, with problems working as a team and management issues. It led to a disappointing 13th place, leading to Start's relegation to 1. divisjon. In 2008 the club got financial problems. The local government saved the club from bankruptcy. The financial difficulties has plagued Start for several seasons, due to the financial crisis and the Norwegian footballteams overspending, Start being no exception. The last couple of seasons, Start has downsized and saved money, for example by changing the turf on Sør Arena, the hopes being that the savings will keep the wheels turning in Start.

Ahead of the 2009 season, Knut Tørum was appointed head coach of Start. The next two seasons, Start was positioned at the lower half of Tippeligaen although achieving some strong results, like being the only team to beat Rosenborg in 2009, at Rosenborgs homeground Lerkendal, delaying their gold celebration. On 22 June 2011, Start had 13 points in 12 matches, and Tørum decided to resign hours before a cup-match against Strømsgodset, a match Start won without Tørum. Mons Ivar Mjelde replaced Tørum as head coach, but was not able to save Start from relegation. Start started the 2012 1. divisjon in strong fashion, leading the division and winning important matches and won promotion at the end of the season.

Start defeated Stabæk 4–1 on 4 July 2015. From 12 July 2015 to 18 September 2016, Start played 39 consecutive games without a win in Tippeligaen.^[1] This is the longest run without winning a single game across any top division in Europe.

Badge

Since the club was founded in 1905, the club badge had been a blue and white pennant. In November 2017, the badge was replaced with a more modernised version in all black.^[2] The new crest was in use for four years, before Start decided to return to the old one in March 2022.^[3]

Honours

• Eliteserien:
  • Winners (2): 1978, 1980
  • Runners-up (1): 2005
  • Third place (7): 1973, 1975, 1979, 1983, 1984, 1991, 1992
• Norwegian Cup:
  • Semi finalist (7): 1975, 1978, 1988, 2000, 2006, 2011, 2018
• 1. divisjon:
  • Winners (4): 1968, 1972, 2004, 2012
  • Promotion: 1958–59, 1988, 1999, 2001, 2008, 2017

Recent history

{|class="wikitable"

! Season ! ! Pos. ! Pl. ! W ! D ! L ! GS ! GA ! P !Cup !Notes |- |2002 |Tippeligaen |style="text-align:right; background:#FFCCCC" | 14 |style="text-align:right"|26||style="text-align:right"|2||style="text-align:right"|5||style="text-align:right"|19 |style="text-align:right"|21||style="text-align:right"|72||style="text-align:right"|11 |Fourth round |Relegated to the 1. divisjon |- |2003 |1. divisjon |style="text-align:right"|9 |style="text-align:right"|30||style="text-align:right"|12||style="text-align:right"|4||style="text-align:right"|14 |style="text-align:right"|53||style="text-align:right"|50||style="text-align:right"|40 |Third round | |- |2004 |1. divisjon |style="text-align:right; background:#DDFFDD"| 1 |style="text-align:right"|30||style="text-align:right"|24||style="text-align:right"|2||style="text-align:right"|4 |style="text-align:right"|71||style="text-align:right"|28||style="text-align:right"|74 |Third round |Promoted to the Tippeligaen |- |2005 |Tippeligaen |style="text-align:right; background:silver"|2 |style="text-align:right"|26||style="text-align:right"|13||style="text-align:right"|6||style="text-align:right"|7 |style="text-align:right"|47||style="text-align:right"|35||style="text-align:right"|45 |Fourth round || |- |2006 |Tippeligaen |style="text-align:right" |6 |style="text-align:right"|26||style="text-align:right"|10||style="text-align:right"|7||style="text-align:right"|9 |style="text-align:right"|29||style="text-align:right"|32||style="text-align:right"|37 |Semi-final | |- |2007 |Tippeligaen |style="text-align:right; background:#FFCCCC"| 13 |style="text-align:right"|26||style="text-align:right"|6||style="text-align:right"|8||style="text-align:right"|12 |style="text-align:right"|34||style="text-align:right"|44||style="text-align:right"|26 |Fourth round |Relegated to the 1. divisjon |- |2008 |1. divisjon |style="text-align:right; background:#DDFFDD"| 3 |style="text-align:right"|30||style="text-align:right"|17||style="text-align:right"|8||style="text-align:right"gv|5 |v|58||style="text-align:right"|34||style="text-align:right"|59 |Fourth round |Promoted to the Tippeligaen |- |2009 |Tippeligaen |style="text-align:right" |9 |style="text-align:right"|30||style="text-align:right"|10||style="text-align:right"|10||style="text-align:right"|10 |style="text-align:right"|46||style="text-align:right"|52||style="text-align:right"|40 |Third round || |- |2010 |Tippeligaen |style="text-align:right" |8 |style="text-align:right"|30||style="text-align:right"|11||style="text-align:right"|9||style="text-align:right"|10 |style="text-align:right"|57||style="text-align:right"|60||style="text-align:right"|42 |Quarter-final | |- |2011 |Tippeligaen |style="text-align:right; background:#FFCCCC"| 15 |style="text-align:right"|30||style="text-align:right"|7||style="text-align:right"|5||style="text-align:right"|18 |style="text-align:right"|39||style="text-align:right"|61||style="text-align:right"|26 |Semi-final |Relegated to the 1. divisjon |- |2012 |1. divisjon |style="text-align:right; background:#DDFFDD"| 1 |style="text-align:right"|30||style="text-align:right"|20||style="text-align:right"|6||style="text-align:right"|4 |style="text-align:right"|71||style="text-align:right"|35||style="text-align:right"|66 |Fourth round |Promoted to the Tippeligaen |- |2013 |Tippeligaen |style="text-align:right" |9 |style="text-align:right"|30||style="text-align:right"|10||style="text-align:right"|8||style="text-align:right"|12 |style="text-align:right"|43||style="text-align:right"|46||style="text-align:right"|38 |Quarter-final | |- |2014 |Tippeligaen |style="text-align:right" |12 |style="text-align:right"|30||style="text-align:right"|10||style="text-align:right"|5||style="text-align:right"|15 |style="text-align:right"|47||style="text-align:right"|60||style="text-align:right"|35 |Fourth round | |- |2015 |Tippeligaen |style="text-align:right" |14 |style="text-align:right"|30||style="text-align:right"|5||style="text-align:right"|7||style="text-align:right"|18 |style="text-align:right"|35||style="text-align:right"|64||style="text-align:right"|22 |Second round | |- |2016 |Tippeligaen |style="text-align:right; background:#FFCCCC"| 16 |style="text-align:right"|30||style="text-align:right"|2||style="text-align:right"|10||style="text-align:right"|18 |style="text-align:right"|23||style="text-align:right"|59||style="text-align:right"|16 ||Third round ||Relegated to the 1. divisjon |- |2017 |1. divisjon |style="text-align:right; background:#DDFFDD"| 2 |style="text-align:right"|30||style="text-align:right"|16||style="text-align:right"|7||style="text-align:right"|7 |style="text-align:right"|57||style="text-align:right"|36||style="text-align:right"|55 ||Second round ||Promoted to the Eliteserien |- |2018 |Eliteserien |style="text-align:right; background:#FFCCCC"| 15 |style="text-align:right"|30||style="text-align:right"|8||style="text-align:right"|5||style="text-align:right"|17 |style="text-align:right"|30||style="text-align:right"|54||style="text-align:right"|29 ||Semi-final ||Relegated to the 1. divisjon |- |2019 |1. divisjon |style="text-align:right; background:#DDFFDD"| 3 |style="text-align:right"|30||style="text-align:right"|19||style="text-align:right"|5||style="text-align:right"|6 |style="text-align:right"|54||style="text-align:right"|31||style="text-align:right"|62 ||First round ||Promoted to the Eliteserien |- |2020 |Eliteserien |style="text-align:right; background:#FFCCCC"| 15 |style="text-align:right"|30||style="text-align:right"|6||style="text-align:right"|9||style="text-align:right"|15 |style="text-align:right"|33||style="text-align:right"|56||style="text-align:right"|27 ||Cancelled ||Relegated to the 1. divisjon |- |2021 |1. divisjon |style="text-align:right" |9 |style="text-align:right"|30||style="text-align:right"|10||style="text-align:right"|8||style="text-align:right"|12 |style="text-align:right"|59||style="text-align:right"|59||style="text-align:right"|38 ||Fourth round || |- |2022 |1. divisjon |style="text-align:right" |3 |style="text-align:right"|30||style="text-align:right"|16||style="text-align:right"|6||style="text-align:right"|8 |style="text-align:right"|63||style="text-align:right"|38||style="text-align:right"|54 ||Fourth round || |- |2023 |1. divisjon |style="text-align:right" |5 |style="text-align:right"|30||style="text-align:right"|12||style="text-align:right"|10||style="text-align:right"|8 |style="text-align:right"|49||style="text-align:right"|30||style="text-align:right"|46 ||Third round || |- |2024 |1. divisjon |style="text-align:right" |12 |style="text-align:right"|30||style="text-align:right"|9||style="text-align:right"|8||style="text-align:right"|13 |style="text-align:right"|45||style="text-align:right"|57||style="text-align:right"|35 ||First round || |- |2025 |1. divisjon |style="text-align:right; background:#DDFFDD"| 2 |style="text-align:right"|30||style="text-align:right"|16||style="text-align:right"|7||style="text-align:right"|7 |style="text-align:right"|58||style="text-align:right"|35||style="text-align:right"|55 ||Second round ||Promoted to the Eliteserien |- |2026 |Eliteserien | ||||||| ||||| ||Second round || |}

Source:^[4]

Current squad

^[5]

Out on loan

i ^{[6] [7] [8]}

^{[9] [10]}

Coaching staff

Former head coaches

European record

References

1. ^ "Start med sin første seier siden 4. juli i fjor: – Det kom en tåre i øyekroken" (in Norwegian). tv2.no. TV2. 25 September 2016. Archived 13 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
2. ^ Haus, Line (13 November 2017). "Start snur etter supporterstorm – endrer logo" (in Norwegian). NRK. Archived 13 March 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
3. ^ "Tilbake til blå og hvit vimpel" (in Norwegian). NRK. 10 March 2022. Archived 13 March 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
4. ^ "IK Start" (in Norwegian). NIFS. Archived 14 March 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
5. ^ "Start sin spillerstall" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 13 April 2026.
6. ^ "Ahmed Adebayo lånes ut til Valletta FC" (in Norwegian). IK Start. 26 January 2026. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
7. ^ Stousland, Vetle Try (30 March 2026). "Deni Dashaev lånes ut til Strømmen IF" (in Norwegian). IK Start. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
8. ^ Stousland, Vetle (27 March 2026). "Marius Nordal lånes ut til Åsane Fotball" (in Norwegian). IK Start. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
9. ^ Sauesund, Asbjørn (25 March 2026). "Felix Kutsche Eriksen klar for Arendal Fotball" (in Norwegian). Arendal Fotball. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
10. ^ Stousland, Vetle Try (29 January 2026). "Jonas Seim lånes ut til Pors" (in Norwegian). IK Start. Retrieved 13 April 2026.

External links

• Official website (in Norwegian)
• Menigheden – official fan club (archived 10 March 2016)