Toppserien

The Toppserien is the top level of women's association football in Norway. Founded in 1984, the league acquired official status in 1987 and was named 1. divisjon fotball for kvinner until 1995, when the name "Toppserien" was officially adopted ahead of the 1996 season.

The league consisted of 10 teams from 1987 to 2006, and 12 teams from 2007 to 2019. Before the 2020 season, a new league structure was decided, which involved reducing to 10 teams and introducing play-offs, before returning to 12 teams from 2026.^[1] In 2025, Toppserien was ranked as the eighth-best women's football league in Europe according to the UEFA coefficient ranking.^[2]

History

Women's league football was introduced on a county basis in 1977. These leagues acted as qualification for the regional (South) league in 1979. Regional leagues were in operation until the formation of the First Division 1984, when the league was divided into three regions, Group Eastern-Norway (Østlandet), Group Western-Norway (Vestlandet), and Group Mid-Norway (Trøndelag). No teams from Northern-Norway (Nord-Norge) played, however. The winners of the three groups met each other for a play-off. Regional leagues for women had been played before 1984, and a championship play-off had been done between the winners of Mid-Norway and Eastern-Norway in 1983 (Trondheims-Ørn beat Setskog 2-1), but this championship was considered unofficial by the Football Association of Norway. In 1986, a group for Northern-Norway was added, and in 1987, the groups and play-off matches were dropped, and one single league with teams from all over the country was played.

The league was known as 1. divisjon (Norwegian for 1st Division) from 1984 to 1995, the Eliteserien (Norwegian for The Elite League) from 1996 to 1999, and the Toppserien (Norwegian for The Top League) from 2000.

Traditionally, Trondheims-Ørn and Asker was the two power-houses of Toppserien, with 7 and 6 championship wins respectively. Trondheims-Ørn finished in the top three 16 out of 23 times from the beginning in 1984 to their current last medal in 2006. In 1998, Asker managed the almost unthinkable, winning every single one of their 18 league games that season (Asker didn't win the double that season, however, as the club was knocked out of the semi-finals of the cup by Trondheims-Ørn). However Asker FK, the women's team within Asker Fotball, became bankrupt at the end of 2008 and most of the players were transferred to a new team within the nearby Stabæk IF, named Stabæk FK (FK = Fotball Kvinner (Football Women)). Asker finished among the top three 18 out of the 25 seasons the club existed. The new Stabæk team began playing in the Toppserien from the 2009 season and won the league in 2010 and 2013. Røa won Toppserien five times from 2004 to 2011. Lillestrøm SK Kvinner won six consecutive titles from 2014 to 2019.

Competition format

The league currently consists of 12 teams, which play each other 2 times (home and away), for a total of 24 matches. The season lasts from April to November. Teams are ranked by:^[3]

• Number of points (3 points per win, 1 point per draw).
• Goal difference
• Goals scored
• Results between the tied teams.

Clubs

Current members

Notes

1. ^ As Sandviken.
2. ^ As Avaldsnes.
3. ^ As Setskog, Setskog/Høland and Team Strømmen.
4. ^ As Trondheims-Ørn.
5. ^ As Fortuna.

List of champions

Medalists by year

The following medals have been awarded:^[4]

Below is a list of the gold, silver and bronze medalists in the Toppserien since its beginning in 1984. The Norwegian Women's Cup has been played since 1978. From 1984 to 1995 the name of the league was 1. divisjon ("First Division"), and between 1996 and 1999 the name was Eliteserien ("The Elite League", a generic name) before getting its current name, Toppserien in 2000.

From 1984 to 1985, the league was divided into three sections, and after the inclusion of teams from Northern Norway there was four sections in 1986, with the championship decided through a play-off. Since then it has been a round-robin decided through a league table.

Medalists by club

The following clubs have won the top division in Norwegian football since 1984.

¹ = In 2008 Stabæk was handed the license to play in the top league, and also took over the best players from Asker, because of financial problems in the latter. But the rest of Asker remains, and they still have their top female team - in league three. Therefore, Stabæk is not to be considered the successor of Asker.
² = Athene Moss was Sprint/Jeløy successor, so one bronze as Athene Moss in 1998 is included.
³ = LSK Kvinner is the successor of Setskog/Høland and Team Strømmen.
⁴ = Rosenborg is the successor of Trondheims-Ørn.
⁵ = Brann is the successor of Sandviken.
⁶ = Haugesund is the successor of Avaldsnes.
⁷ = In 2025 Bodø/Glimt took over the women's team of Grand Bodø, but Grand Bodø continues to field a senior women's team in the lower leagues. Therefore, Bodø/Glimt is not to be considered the successor of Grand Bodø.

Managers

See also

• List of football clubs in Norway
• List of Toppserien clubs
• Eliteserien (men's top division)

References

1. ^ "Toppserien utvides til 12 lag". Toppserien.no. 2025-10-15. Retrieved 2026-03-11.
2. ^ "UEFA Women's Country Coefficients". UEFA. Retrieved 2026-03-11.
3. ^ "2011 regulations". fotball.no. pp. 96–97. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
4. ^ "Norway - List of Women Champions". RSSSF. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
5. ^ "Fotball, Sport | LSK Kvinner seriemester i fotball for fjerde år på rad". 15 October 2017.
6. ^ "NILS LEXERØD NY HOVEDTRENER: – DEN MEST ATTRAKTIVE TRENERJOBBEN" (in Norwegian). Vålerenga Fotball Damer. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
7. ^ "ANDRÉ BERGDØLMO NY HOVEDTRENER FOR LSK KVINNER" (in Norwegian). LSK Kvinner FK. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
8. ^ "PM: Tilbake i Stabæk!" (in Norwegian). FK Bodø/Glimt. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
9. ^ "Lein trekker seg som trener i Rosenborg" (in Norwegian). Rosenborg BK. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
10. ^ "Shroot er Rosenborgs nye hovedtrener" (in Norwegian). Rosenborg BK. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
11. ^ "Ny hovedtrener for damelaget" (in Norwegian). FK Haugesund. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
12. ^ "Kent Rudning klar som ny hovedtrener for Molde FK Kvinner" (in Norwegian). Molde FK. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
13. ^ "Dragsten og Lyn skiller lag" (in Norwegian). Lyn Fotball. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
14. ^ "Martin Lindmark blir ny hovedtrener for AaFK Kvinner" (in Norwegian). Aalesunds FK. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
15. ^ "Martin Klemetsrud Lindmark takker for seg i Hønefoss" (in Norwegian). Hønefoss BK. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
16. ^ "Ta godt i mot vår nye hovedtrener" (in Norwegian). Stabæk Fotball. Retrieved 20 December 2025.
17. ^ "Vår nye hovedtrener er på plass" (in Norwegian). Røa IL. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
18. ^ "Her er Branns nye hovedtrener" (in Norwegian). SK Brann. Retrieved 9 January 2026.

External links

• League at toppserien.no
• League at nrk.no