Chairman Roger Gulliksen Location Sandefjord, Norway Founded 1998 | Ground Capacity 6,600 Website Club home page Ground Komplett Arena | |
 | ||
Nickname(s) Guttane (The Boys), The Whalers 2016 OBOS-ligaen, 2nd (promoted) Profiles | ||
Sandefjord Fotball is a Norwegian professional football club, founded on September 10, 1998. The club plays in the Tippeligaen. Their home ground is the Komplett Arena, located in Sandefjord, Vestfold.
Contents
The club reached the Norwegian First Division in 1999, where they made quick progress and soon settled as strong competitors for promotion to the Premier League. Finishing third in the First Division both in 2002 and 2003 they qualified for play-off matches, but lost both times. In 2004 they finished fourth, but the 2005 season finally proved a success, when they placed second and earned automatic promotion to the highest division.
The club performed surprisingly well in their first Tippeligaen season, finishing ninth in the table and reaching the cup final. However, the 2007 season was a disaster and they finished last and were relegated to the Adeccoligaen.
After a poor start to the 2008 season in the Adeccoligaen, Sandefjord recovered strongly to finish second and qualify for automatic promotion to Tippeligaen. In the 2009 season Sandefjord Fotball finished at eight place, their strongest performance in Tippeligaen to date. In 2010 Sandefjord Fotball were relegated to the Adeccoligaen. After fighting for promotion the following years, they finally won the OBOS-ligaen title in 2014, earning a promotion back to Tippeligaen. They were relegated the next year, but got back up again the following season.
History
Sandefjord Fotball were formed by parent clubs IL Runar and Sandefjord Ballklubb in 1998. They replaced Sandefjord Ballklubb in the 2nd division in 1999, and secured immediate promotion to the 1st division. There the club made quick progress and soon settled as a strong competitor for promotion to the Tippeligaen. Finishing third in the 1st division both in 2002 and 2003 they qualified for play-off matches, but lost both times, against Brann and Vålerenga. The 2003 play-off was lost after some controversial decisions by referee Jonny Ditlefsen that were all in Sandefjords disfavor. When manager Tom Nordlie left after the play-off games, Sandefjord Fotball hired Arne Dokken as their new coach. He was fired after just one season, 2004, when they finished fourth. But the 2005 season finally proved a success, with Tor Thodesen as their new coach. Placing second, Sandefjord earned automatic promotion to the highest division, where they finished 9th in their first season.
The 2007 season ended badly and they finished last and were relegated to the Adeccoligaen. The players went to the board of directors together and requested the hiring of a new coach. Instead of firing Thodesen, the board kept him. After a bad start to the 2008 season, they fired Thodesen and hired Patrick Walker. The team played better after this, and he moved the team from a relegation place to a promotion place in the table in eight games. They continued their form and was placed second in the table, and earned a promotion after just one season.
After a disappointing 2010 season in Tippeligaen, earning only 12 points, they ended the season in last place and was relegated once again, this time for a longer period.
The following three seasons in Norwegian First Division did not go as planned for a Sandefjord team that were fighting for promotion. Ending third in the table in both 2011 and 2012, was followed by an even worse finish in 2013, ending in eight place. Something had to be done and the club took measures by firing manager Arne Sandstø and hiring former Nottingham Forest and Blackburn Rovers player Lars Bohinen as their new manager. He was brought to the club from Asker where he had success as coach. Sandefjord went on to have their best season ever in the OBOS-ligaen earning 69 points and winning the league title. This was their second ever trophy, the first one being the Norwegian Second Division in 1999. Back in Tippeligaen they ended in last place going back to OBOS-ligaen alongside Mjøndalen. But in the Norwegian First Division in 2016 season they clinched their second promotion in three years by finishing second, only beaten by Kristiansund.
Colours and badge
Sandefjord Fotball's colours are blue. They play in blue shirts, blue shorts and white socks. When the club was formed in 1998, it was decided that the new club would have different colours from its parent clubs Sandefjord BK (yellow and black) and Runar (white). The club changed their badge before the start of the 2006 season. This was mainly for press purposes. The old badge had a yellow field as well as the blue and red. The new badge only has the colours red and blue. Further on, the white whale tail on the badge links to Sandefjord citys whaling history. After the promotion in 2014, Sandefjord played one season in an alternate home kit which consisted of half blue and half red, as in their badge. Relegated back to OBOS-ligaen in 2016, they were back playing in an all blue home kit again.
Stadium
Sandefjord Fotball play their home games at Komplett Arena. Komplett Arena was opened on July 21, 2007, and cost about 100 million kr. This is an all modern stadium, with a capacity of about 6,000. Record attendance was set during the opening game versus Lyn on July 21, 2007. 8 103 people attended this game. In the future it is planned to expand the stadium to a capacity of 12 500. Field measurements are 105 x 68 meters.
Before Sandefjord Fotball started to use their new home arena, Komplett Arena, they used to play their home encounters at Storstadion. Sandefjord Fotball played their home games at Storstadion from 1999 to 2007. As the stadium itself did not live up to the standards one could expect from a modern football stadium, it was finally decided to build the new and modern Komplett Arena and start a new and exciting chapter in the young clubs history.
Honours
Current squad
As of 15 March 2017.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
For season transfers, see transfers winter 2014–15 and transfers summer 2015.