This is Molde!

Molde FK is a club who comes from the city with the same name, situated in the western part of Norway. They play their home games at Aker Stadion, a stadium they was handed as a gift from their rich uncle Kjell Inge Røkke back in the nineties. The champions is coached by the well known former Man United player Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

About the stadium:

Capacity(Seat/stand): 11.800 (11.000/800) 

Turf: Natural

Opened: 1998

Away Section: Ordinary stand behind the goal.

History (From wikipedia):

Early years (1911–63)

Molde FK was founded on 19 June 1911 by a group gathered by Klaus Daae Andersen (born 30 September 1873); they named J. Ferninand Dahl as the inaugural chairman.On a general election 24 April 1912, it was decided that the club would be named “International”,perhaps because the opponents were primarily visitors from cruise ships or trading vessels,or that it was to make room for the many Danes who worked on the engine factory Gideon.The same year, on 5 August, the club played its first competitive match. The match away against Kristiansund ended 2-2.The rising interest and activity in football in neighbouring towns caused the club to change its name to “Molde Fotballklubb” in 1915.

The breakthrough (1964–77)

On 2 August 1964, Molde shocked nine-time Norwegian Cup Champions and nine-time Norwegian League Champions Fredrikstad by eliminating them from the Norwegian Cup in the Third Round with a 3-2 win at home. Jan Fuglset, Torkild Brakstad, and Harry Hestad, amongst others, played at Molde at that period.The club played in local lower leagues, except from a short visit to the top division in the 1957-58 season. In 1970, Molde was promoted to the second tier and played there for three seasons until its promotion to the First Division with a 5-1 win against Sogndal Fotball in Sogndal on 16 September 1973.

In 1974, Molde returned to the premier division following the debut of several talented players in the first team, which coincided with the return of top level players like Fuglset, Brakstad and Hestad. Molde shocked the established clubs in their first season of the Norwegian First Division, leading the league in nine of 22 league-rounds. Before the last match, Molde would win the league if they beat Sarpsborg and Viking lost against Strømsgodset. Both Molde and Viking won their last match, so Molde won the silver medals, one point behind Viking.

Since then, Molde has generally stayed in the top division and has become one of the nations leading clubs. The club has produced a respectable number of national team players, and players who have gone professional in foreign leagues.

Ups and downs (1978–93)

Between 1978 and 1984, Molde did not play on the same level in two consecutive years. Molde was relegated from the First Division in every even-numbered year, and promoted to the First Division in every odd-numbered year, making it three consecutive promotions and relegations. In fact, Molde and Brann did not play at the same level these years, as Brann were promoted when Molde was relegated and the other way around.

In 1982, Molde played in their first cup final, despite being relegated from the 1982 Norwegian First Division. They lost the final at Ullevaal Stadion 3-2 against Brann.

The 1987 season was the closest Molde has come to winning the league championship, when a draw at home against Moss would have ensured the title. Despite numerous opportunities, Moss won the game 2-0 at Molde stadium, thus winning the league championship, while Molde won their second silver-medals.The attendance of 14,615 set the record at the old Molde stadion.

Molde played their second cup final in 1989. The first match against Viking ended in a 2-2 draw, and the subsequent replay was won 2-1 by Viking.

When Molde again was relegated from Norwegian Premier League in 1993, the club was in major economic difficulties following a number of projects, the most notably of which was an extension of the main stand at Molde stadion.The local businessmen Kjell Inge Røkke and Bjørn Rune Gjelsten started to invest in the club, and have since 1993 invested approximately NOK 500 millionon old debts, new players and the new stadium.

The silver generation (1994–2000)

Åge Hareide was the main coach of Molde in 1994, when they finished second in their First Division group and was thus re-promoted to Tippeligaen. Molde also met their main rivals Rosenborg in the semi-final of the 1994 Norwegian Cup, and with 4-3 on aggregate, Molde qualified for their third cup final. After having lost for Molde, Rosenborg’s coach Nils Arne Eggen called Molde’s playing-style for “arse-football” (rævvafotball). Molde won their first title by defeating Lyn 3-2 at Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo.

During the 1995 season, Molde got known for their three strikers Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Arild Stavrum and Ole Bjørn Sundgot. In their first league-match, Molde won 6-0 against Brann in Bergen, with Solskjær scoring two goals, while Stavrum and Sundgot also contributed to one of Brann’s biggest losses at home.With six straight wins, Molde stayed in the top two positions of the league throughout the season, but eventually finished second 15 points behind Rosenborg.

Solskjær scored thirty-one goals in forty-two matches for Molde and was sold to Manchester United on 29 July 1996, and Molde finished 8th that season. In 1997, Molde finished 4th in the league, and Erik Brakstad replaced Åge Hareide as coach ahead of the 1998 season.Hareide has since then been in charge of Helsingborg, Brøndby, Rosenborg, Norway, Örgryte and is now the coach of Viking

In 1998, Molde played the first 21 matches without losing, which was a Norwegian record until Rosenborg managed 26 matches without losing in 2009.In the 22nd round, Molde lost againstVålerenga while Rosenborg beat Kongsvinger and surpassed Molde on the top of the table and the Rosenborg-player Mini Jakobsen said: “It was fun as long as you managed to keep up. Thank you for helping to create tension in the Premier League!” On 26 September 1998, Rosenborg won 2-0 against Molde in the 23rd round and won the championship, while Molde had to settle with silver.

In 1999, Molde has a successful season, finishing second in the league and reaching the semifinal of the 1999 Norwegian Cup, where they were eliminated by Brann. They participated in theChampions League, in which Molde was drawn against CSKA Moscow in the second qualifying round of 1999–2000 UEFA Champions League. In the first match in Moscow, Molde lost 2-0. In the second leg, a 19-year old Magne Hoseth had his big break-through with two goals when CSKA Moscow was beaten 4-0and qualified for the third qualifying round where they met Mallorca. The first leg against Mallorca ended 0-0 at home, and Andreas Lund became the big hero when he equalized on a penalty and with 1-1 aggregate Molde qualified for the group stage on away goals,and Molde became the team from the smallest city to have qualified for the group stage of Champions League until Unirea Urziceni repeated the feat in 2009–10.In the group stage, Molde was drawn against Real Madrid, Porto and Olympiacos, and with one win and five losses, Molde finished last in their group. On the occasion of Molde’s 100-year anniversary in 2011, the readers of the local newspaper Romsdals Budstikke voted 1999 as the best year in the history of the club.

The “Gunder”-method (2001–2006)

On 6 November 2000, after the sacking of Erik Brakstad, Gunder Bengtsson was announced head coach for two years.After one season, Bengtsson and his assistant Kalle Björklund was signed for three more years.In 2002, Gunder Bengtsson led Molde to second place in the league, but like when he won the league with Vålerenga in 1983 and 1984, there weren’t much enthusiasm around the club’s sixth silver medals, because of the defensive tactics and lack of local players.

In the first six matches of the 2003-season, Molde collected five points, and on 22 May 2003 Bengtsson got fired and was replaced by Odd Berg.In the third round of 2003 Norwegian Cup Molde was eliminated by the second tier team Skeid,Despite the change in the coaching staff, Molde was struggling in the relegation zone throughout the season, but after a 3-2 win away against Sogndal in the last match of the season, Molde avoided the relegation-playoffs.In 2004, the team led by Reidar Vågnes, former assistant coach under Erik Brakstad, but Molde only managed 11th place, four points clear of relegation.

In 2005, Bosse Johansson was the main coach of Molde, and on 15 June 2005 Molde won 3-2 against Nybersund and qualified for the fourth round of the Norwegian Cup, having lost in the third round for three consecutive years.Molde finished 12th in the league, and had to play relegation-playoff against Moss, which Molde won 5-2 on aggregate. Molde won their second Norwegian Cup title on 6 November 2005, when they won 4-2 after extra time against Lillestrøm in the final. Bo Johansson left Molde after only one season in the club, and on Christmas Eve was Arild Stavrum announced as the new Molde-coach.

Following the Norwegian Cup champions, Molde played in the 2006-07 UEFA Cup. On 25 August 2006, they were drawn to face Scottish giants Glasgow Rangers in the UEFA Cup first round. They were knocked out 2–0 on aggregate after holding Rangers to a 0–0 draw at the Aker stadion.The same year, Molde was relegated, after having been in the relegation zone for the last four seasons. The relegation became final after losing 8-0 against Stabæk at Nadderud, in the second last round of the season. Arild Stavrum was fired at the end of the season

A new era (2007–present)

In December 2006, Kjell Jonevret became head coach after Stavrum got fired, even though Ove Christensen was their first choice.With Jonevret as coach, Molde won the 2007 First Divisionand was again promoted to Tippeligaen.

After the promotion to Tippeligaen, Molde recorded a 5-1 win against Vålerenga on the last day of Moldejazz 2008,as well as eliminating Brann from the cup with an impressive 8-0 win at home four days later.Regardless of these strong results, Molde finished ninth in their comeback-season in the top flight.

Molde was again the second best team in Norway in 2009 after Rosenborg, who overtook Molde unbeaten record from 1998.Conversely, Molde ruined Rosenborg’s march for the double with a 5-0 win at Aker Stadion in the quarter-final of 2009 Norwegian Cup. In the 2009 Norwegian Cup Final, Molde met their local rivals Aalesund, but Aalesund won the cup on penalty shoot-out.

After only 20 points during the first 22 matches in the 2010 Tippeligaen, Kjell Jonevret was fired and replaced by Uwe Rösler.With Rösler as the head coach, Molde collected 20 points in the last 8 matches and avoided relegation.

Prior to the club’s 100-year anniversary, the former Molde and Manchester United player Ole Gunnar Solskjær returned to Molde to manage the team.In the opening match of 2011 Tippeligaen, which was Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s first competitive match, Molde lost 3-0 away against newly-promoted Sarpsborg 08.On 19 June 2011, Molde celebrated their anniversary with a 2-0 win against Sogndal and positioned themselves on the top of the league. Molde was leading the league until they eventually won their first championship on 30 October 2011, when Rosenborg, the only team that could mathematically have still beaten them to first place with two rounds of matches remaining, lost 6-3 at home to

Wolff Eikrem

Key player: Magnus Wolff Eikrem

Though the midfielder is only 21 years old, he has established himself as one of the best midfielders in the league. The former Manchester United player is known for his overwiev and exceptional precise long passes.

Young talent: Martin Linnes

20 year old defender that joined from Kongsvinger before this season.

League position: 2nd

Last five games:

Sandnes Ulf – Molde 0-2

Molde – Tromsø 3-2

Hønefoss – Molde 1-1

Molde – Ham/Kam 3-2

Molde – Rosenborg 4-3

Importance of this match:

Molde is fighting for medals, and has to win if they want to keep hold on the high flying (bastards) Strømsgodset. ODD is placed just above relegation zone, and there is no need to remind that they has to start picking up points soon.

History between the clubs:

All official games has been played in modern times (from 1999). at their homes the home team has enjoyed huge dominance, as shown in the statistics. Noteable results is Moldes 6-1 win in 2001, and The cup quarter final in 2005, where the blues progressed with a 2-1 win.

Transfers between the clubs has never happened as I know, and no one in the two squads has been behind the enemy lines.

Statistics for this clash: (from www.nifs.no)

Games in total: 24

ODD wins: 7

draw: 8

Molde wins: 9

At Aker Stadion

ODD wins:1

draw: 2

Molde wins: 9

Relationship between the fans:

Their supporters are calm and nice. The athmosphere can be a bit fierce whenever Rosenborg is visitting, but not with other clubs in town.